Loretta Nall

2012-01-22T10:14:00.002-06:00

I have an OpEd in today's Birmingham News about HB25 the medical marijuana bill which has been prefiled in the Alabama House.

Alabama must enact law for medicinal Marijuana use

Please read, comment and pass along.

Then use this form to determine who your representatives in Montgomery are and contact them and ask for their support on HB25.

Alabama House Roster

Medical Marijuana bill filed in Alabama House

2012-01-13T08:47:00.001-06:00

Rep. Patricia Todd has pre-filed the Michael Phillips Comapssionate Care Act, the medical marijuana bill in Alabama. The number is HB25
It has been assigned to health committee. Please contact your legislators and ask them to support safe access to medical marijuana in Alabama by voting YES on HB25. Legislative contact information is here

The Lucifer Pig

2011-10-10T23:07:00.003-05:00

So, I've got this crazy pig, a Vietnamese pot bellied pig, a male, an intact male, and around this time of year for the last two years he gets downright unmanageable. Oh yeah he's a LARGE pig. I'd put him at least 150. He resembles a mini-tank...or a bulldozer....or maybe a rhinoceros is a more apt description. He has large tusks sticking out each side of his jaw. Sharp ones! He has huge teeth and an huge mouth and he is stronger than an ox.

Now, nine months out of the year he's a really friendly guy. Follows us around the yard and wants belly rubs. But when fall rolls around he becomes a horny, disgusting lucifer of a pig. The bastard is downright scary and dangerous. I should have had him cut when he was young but the vet wouldn't do it and the proscribed method was to find an old farmer who knew how to wield a razor blade. This method involved no anesthesia and I just couldn't subject him to that. I cannot overstate how much I regret that unfortunate decision.

Fall is apparently mating season for pot bellied pigs, regardless of whether or not another pig of the opposite sex is nearby. There isn't a female pig anywhere near my house so the male pig, being the incredibly intelligent animal that he is, has found multiple substitutes for his absent piggy partner. Last year it was logs of firewood and a couple of empty white barrels. When he can get one he has settled for feed buckets. Pretty much anything with a round shape that isn't cemented down will do as a stand in for the real thing.

This season the lucky girl is the ever lovely rectangular garbage can with wheels. You know, the ones that have to be placed at the end of a drive on trash day? Those.

Since fall rolled around poor ol piggy has fallen very hard in lust with the trash cans of two neighbors. Since the trash picks up on my side of the street all the cans have to be placed on that side. When piggy hears them rolling down the driveways destined for his side of the road he squeals with delight. He starts plotting. Gets very busy. And within minutes he has bitten through the chain link fence and worked himself free. We can't keep him penned up on trash day short of a damn underground concrete bunker. I'd put money on him even getting out of that when his gals stand so invitingly at the end of the driveway.

And then, by god, come Friday morning it's on. And he's on....the trash cans.

As soon as the truck empties them and makes them easier to roll around and have his way with them, he shoots down the driveway like a pig with an ACME rocket attached to his ass and right there in front of God and everybody he proceeds to make passionate love to his trash can. Doesn't matter which one he gets to first. Apparently he is equally fond of both. He knocks it down, rolls it around, mounts it from all sides and has his undisputed way with it. With people driving and neighbors with small impressionable children looking on he sprays his nasty piggy jizz into every orifice of his trash can gal all the while squealing and grunting with delight. The wheels, the underside, the handle, he opens the top and gives the inside a good working over too. No can left unjizzed is the motto of this particular pig. And he can go at it for hours. Its like Ron Jeremy eat your heart out.

Last week he got my neighbor from across the streets can and rolled it into the woods. I didn't see it until a few days later. I retrieved it and washed it off and had my husband walk it back over to their house. They weren't home so he was spared the humiliation of offering an explanation. However, this past Friday they saw me at the mailbox and I had to offer up the explanation. Not fun. They are awesome people though, and having seen him go at it with one round object or another over the last few years, including the large plastic pumpkin belonging to the neighbor on my side of the street, they have developed a sense of humor about it. After we returned the can we were able to quarantine and barricade the bacony love machine....until this Friday morning anyway. And that's when all he'll broke loose.

One minute he is seemingly secure in his chain link fence and the next thing you hear is the loud bumping sound of him rolling around one of his bulky girlfriends. Then you have to go tearing out the door and down the driveway to try and wrestle one of his girls away from him. And that, my friends is no easy task. As I mentioned earlier he's a large, strong animal with huge teeth and he uses all of those attributes to keep anyone from disentangling him from his love interest. This Friday my husband went down and took the first can away from him. The pig fought him all the way back up the drive way. Piggy will bite in and hold on. And it's not like you can kick him off. You'd be apt to lose a foot. It's not like you can physically restrain him in any way at all. He's shaped like a muscular bullet and there is no where to grab hold of him. And even if you could grab hold of him no one wants to touch the filthy genetic material slime covered mean bastard anyway. ICK!!!

Well, as I said, my husband gets the first can away and eventually piggy returns to his own yard. We tried to trick him into going up. He was having none of it. None. Of. It. And all we could do is wait for round two. We didn't have to wait long either. Directly we heard the hollow booming sound of the empty can being raped from the bottom of the driveway.

Now, I had just taken a shower and was on my way somewhere and didn't want to be anywhere the foulness of that beast. I thought, "Dammit I'm gonna get hog shit on my shoes and goo no telling where else on my person". I did not want to help. But since my husband did the first one alone I agreed, very reluctantly, to help him this go round.

Now on the first disentangling adventure none of the neighbors were out and about. Not so lucky this go round. My neighbor Budrow, a large and humorous black man with a deep voice and manner of speaking that always makes him sound like he's eating a large greasy pork chop, had ventured out to sit on his porch. Piggy had the other neighbors barrel just off the side of the road and...well you know what he was doing. At first my husband and I just stood there trying to devise a way to get the can away from him safely. The can was down a mild embankment covered with saw briers and slicker than goose shit. No good footing was to be had and the last thing on earth either of us wanted was to lose our footing and fall victim to the sexual advances, hell let's be really honest...it would have been sexual assault, of this rampaging, oinking, squealing horror. So, no going down the embankment to get it. Finally I retrieved a large stick from the truck and from a safe distance I was able to push and prod the pig off enough for my husband to grab the horribly defiled can and sprint for the damn truck to safety.

All the while this spectacle is unfolding I can hear my neighbor howling and snorting laughter on his front porch. Right in the middle of our trying to get the can my neighbor hollers out, "Terry and Loretta das da horniest pig ah eva did see." After the had exhausted his laughter over that witticism he hollers out, "Dat dar pig coulda been a porn star." And when he says porn it comes out sounding like it rhymes with cone. It's like pawn star.

When he said that I nearly fell down in the middle of the road laughing. If anything had been coming I would have been run over. There was no getting control over myself at that point because I am a sucker for humor, even sometimes at my on expense, and I'm sorry but that shit was funny.

I told my neighbor I had his can and would bring it back once it had been de-pigged. By this time piggy had run off to destination unknown and we thought since we now had both cans we were done with the humiliation at least until next Friday.

Wrong!

The very next day my neighbor drives up in my yard and asks for his trash can back. He also mentions that the sneaky pig has stashed a barrel (one that we had been searching for for months) behind his house in a ditch. He kindly requested that we get the barrel while we were there in an effort to keep piggy out of his yard. So we back the truck down again. My husband gets out and goes over to first get the barrel. Luckily piggy was elsewhere at the time, probably having his way with a tree in the woods or some such thing, so there was no wrestling it away from him. As soon as my husband reaches for the barrel my neighbor hollers out in his 'I'm eating a delicious, greasy pork chop voice, "I woulda had brought dat back to you but after all dat love he been done made to it I ain't wanna touch it."

Now, I like the pig when he isn't on a sexual assault rampage of all inanimate objects not welded, nailed or cemented down, but I've had enough. Enough to the point where if the guy who is supposed to come and relieve me of this terrible burden doesn't hurry, piggy is likely to meet with an unhappy end.

I've always heard that vietnamese pot bellied pigs aren't good to eat. But as a friend so poignantly asked me the other day when I relayed this story, "Well, what in the hell do the Vietnamese do with them?"

When bullies get bullied

2011-10-07T18:57:00.000-05:00

I've just returned from my daughter's school where web had a very lively discussion with the offending teacher from yesterday. Up front I will say that I intended to piss her off so I could see how she would react and then measure how her reaction coincided with my daughters description of how she acts in class. And, wouldn't you just know it....she acted just like my daughter said she would. Beautiful!

When we first got there the assistant principal said right off the bat that this teacher had received some emails asking for permission to use the restroom and that she, the teacher, felt it was harassment. I just nodded my head. I don't think it constitutes harassment. If you work in government or for government in some way, in this case she is a teacher and therefore a state employee, and you do something that outrages the public then they are perfectly within their rights to let you know about it. Her email address is public.

But anyway the asst. Principal said that his discussion with her had gone well and that she was sorry and so forth and so on. He said that, much to his surprise, she had even indicated a willingness to apologize to my daughter in front of the class. Her willingness to apologize implies guilt in my eyes. I told him that was fine but that I still wanted to have a chat with her. Then he invited her in. And things got complicated. Quick.

I don't remember exactly what I said first. I believe I asked her to explain to me why she felt the need to make such a big deal out of a request to use the restroom. I told her I could maybe understand her reaction if there was a history of my daughter abusing bathroom privileges. There isn't. And even if there was it would not excuse the teacher's behavior. Something to put her on the defensive for sure. Could have been the fact that I went in with the intent to handle things like a prosecutor. I deposed the defendant. Before the meeting I had my daughter write down everything she remembered from yesterday. I then proceeded to go down the list and ask the teacher if she had said those things.

"Did you tell my daughter that there is no way she had to use the restroom right after the bell rang but not before? If so, then explain how you are more attuned to her biological functions than she is?"

I asked her, "After my daughter returned from the restroom did you ask her in front of everyone if she knew how to use the bathroom?"

I asked her if after my daughter returned from the restroom and was obviously in the throes of a panic attack did she check on her or ask if she needed the nurse. She claims she did. My daughter says differently.

She denied saying any of that. Just flat denied it. Which is exactly what I expected. But she wasn't convincing.

At one point I asked her that after my daughter returned from the restroom did my daughter inform her that there should be an email in her box concerning restroom breaks? She said yes. I asked her if she then checked her email to confirm that and she said yes. I asked her if she, after reading the email, apologized to my daughter for her conduct and she said yes.

My daughter said no, that what actually happened was that the teacher subjected her to further ridicule in front of the class and even kept her after class to lecture her some more. Later on I brought the issue of the email up again and the teacher completely changed her story and denied that my daughter ever said anything about a possible email from the nurse. I reminded her that only a few minutes before she had answered yes to those questions. She denied ever answering yes.

Now, I may or may not have a recording of the entire exchange :) Plus, she said all of that in front of a witness.

I brought up previous incidents that my daughter has shared with me involving this teacher. Namely her propensity to invade personal space and take the liberty of touching my daughter. She likes to put her hand on the student's shoulders and squeeze. I explained that my daughter does not like to be touched if she hasn't invited anyone to touch her. Further, I told her that I see that form of touch as intimidation because it implies that someone else has physical power over your person. I informed her that she is never again to lay one finger on my daughter. She seemed very offended and put off and said, "Well I can promise you
that I will never touch her again!"

"Good then we understand each other," I said.

I then mentioned what my daughter told me a few weeks ago about an altercation she had with this teacher regarding an admission slip. After a student is absent, in order to get back into class, they have to have an admission slip from the office. The excuse for the absence had not made it to the office yet and my daughter thought it had to be there in order to be given an admission slip. When she tried to explain this to the teacher the teacher started her usual routine of ridicule and humiliation in front of the class.

When I asked the teacher if this happened she denied ridiculing my daughter and then immediately contradicted herself by saying out loud and in front of me, "I asked her how she ever made it to 9th grade without knowing what an admission slip is."

For the record my daughter is an honor student and unless it has changed very recently turning in admission slips has nothing to do with whether or not a student passes to the next grade.

Then I said, "And you don't think saying something like that in that manner and tone in front of the whole class is ridiculing or humiliating...condescending maybe? Hateful?"

She didn't. I opined that we obviously have very different views on what constitutes being ridiculing, humiliating, rude and hateful. It was beautiful for her to just come right out and be herself. It was exactly what I wanted her to do. Show her true colors.

Basically she claimed my daughter was rude and hateful and was lying about everything and that she herself was an unsoiled angel in all of this. I told her that I don't buy that because, as far as teachers go, I never get complaints about my daughter, that all I ever get is praise about how polite she is, how helpful she is, how mature she is, what a joy she is to have in class etc....

"Well she was rude to me," she said.

My daughter said, "I wasn't rude to you. I just asked for permission to go to the restroom and you blew up at me in front of the whole class."

Then this crazy whack job all of a sudden said to my daughter "I can still write you up right now!"

And boy howdy that did not go over well with me. I looked at her and said, "You do that but let me remind you that teachers no longer have tenure in Alabama."

She said, "Are you threatening me?" (Well, duh?)

My daughter piped up and said, "Well you just threatened me."

I couldn't believe the teacher was foolish enough to threaten my daughter with a write up a day after the fact and while we were sitting in the office discussing the teachers hateful nature and bullying ways. It was her final attempt to hang on to her imaginary authority. And it was a colossal mistake.

I said, "You can take it however you like...I'm merely pointing out the fact that you no longer have tenure and you'd do well to remember it."

At this point the assistant principal saw that there would be no resolution. He asked me what I wanted to do and I told him that I wished to file a formal complaint and that I was prepared to take it to the top if the education food chain. He again mentioned that the teacher had offered to apologize in front of the class and did we still want that. Before I could say anything my daughter spoke up and said, "I don't want her apology because it wouldn't be sincere." I concurred and stated that her speaking some empty words would not prevent this from happening again. At the point the teacher got up and stormed out. It was hard to keep from giggling...but somehow I managed it.

During further discussion with the assistant principal he pointed out that I hadn't really been nice and had been more than a little provocative. I admitted to as much. My whole intention was to push the teachers buttons and see how she would react. And she did just what I thought she would. Fell right into my trap.

As we got up to leave he asked my daughter if she was checking in. I told him that she would not be checking in (she was very upset) and that she also wouldn't be marching with the band tonight, mainly for medical reasons. I said we would go around to the band room and let the instructor know and the assistant principal said, "Mrs. Nall after that confrontation I think it would be unwise for me to allow you to go anywhere on campus unsupervised." I found that highly amusing.

I held up my hands and said, "I am unarmed except for my tongue." But, in the end, I accepted his offer to inform the band instructor that my daughter would not be there tonight.

Now on Monday I have to go back to the school and start the formal complaint process. This isn't over. And while it may sound odd to some of you I must admit that I had more fun today than I've had in months. There is nothing quite as satisfying and getting to bully a bully. There is nothing like making someone lose their composure like I made that teacher lose hers. I really should have gone to law school.

Is it school or prison?

2011-10-06T13:39:00.002-05:00

Please GO HERE and ask Mrs. Hand for permission to use the restroom. Click the permission link to send her an email request.

It gets harder every day to distinguish between public school and prison. Today has been one of those days.

My daughter has been having alot of medical problems recently. After visit to the doctor yesterday and a medication change I sent a note to the school this morning instructing all her teachers to allow her as many restroom breaks as she needs and to not ask any questions about it. When she got to school this morning she gave my note to the school nurse who converted it into an email and sent out to all teachers. I didn't expect any problems. I mean my instructions were damn clear. If my child expresses a need to go to the restroom then she is to be allowed to do so. End of story.

However, there is this one old bat who can't follow simple instructions. I got an email from my daughter about ten a.m. Asking me to come and pick her up because she had a nasty confrontation with a teacher when she asked to go to the restroom. The bat jumped all over my daughter and humiliated her in front of the entire class about restroom breaks. She said "why didn't you go before the bell rang?" My daughter answered that she didn't have to go then. The bat said "well you know the rules...you have to go before the bell rings." To which my daughter responded that she's sorry but her biological functions aren't on a bell schedule. My god she's not a Pavlov's dog.

My daughter informed her that there was an email in her inbox just waiting to be clicked on that I had sent to school today about restroom breaks. The bat responded that she doesn't have time to check her email, that she has so many other things to do...blah blah blah...even though the asst. Principal said a few minutes ago when I went up there that teachers are instructed to check their email multiple times a day and that they have even been over it multiple times in staff meetings. And if she was sitting in front of her computer (which she was) then why not just check the damn email and avoid humiliating my daughter and getting me up her ass? I guarantee checking the email would have been the wiser course of action. But too late for that now.

Further, the old bat started telling my daughter that she needs to learn to do what she's told and to just sit down and shut up. Now, I don't know about other people but I did not raise my kids to sit down and shut up when other people tell them to. I did not raise them to bow authority just for the sake of bowing. I raised them to speak up for what is right and to always stand up for themselves. Sit down, shut up and do what you're told is NOT in our vocabulary. Never will be. I'm not the kind of parent who addresses school problems by siding with the oppressors and telling them to "whoop their ass and send them back to class". In fact, I am adamantly opposed to corporal punishment. That isn't an issue in this case but I'm trying to make the point that I am not the average parent and my kids aren't the average kids. And I'm proud of that.

So I called the school and asked to speak to this old bat. She was unavailable. So I talked to the assistant principal about this incident. He told me he could meet with me and the bat in the morning. I told him that I was on my way to the school right then. When I got there my daughter was in his office explaining what happened. The first thing I said to her and the assistant principal was "The next time any teacher denies your request to go to the bathroom you have my permission to drop trou and take a massive shit on their desk." Then I told the assistant principal that not even in prison are people required to ask for permission to take care of biological functions.

He was very nice and accommodating. He told my daughter that next time permission for a restroom break is denied that she can just walk out and go anyway and then they can deal with the fallout afterward. I like the idea of her shitting on the teachers desk much more as an act of civil disobedience...but I guess it is impractical. Would get the fucking point across though.

Tomorrow at 11 I am going back to the school to meet with the assistant principal and this hateful bat. The assistant principal warned me that she is stubborn. I say she has no idea what stubborn is as she hasn't tangled with me yet. I told him that I want her to be forced to apologize in front of the entire class since she saw fit to humiliate my daughter in front of the entire class. He said I may not get that. I then told him I'd be happy to remind her that teachers no longer have tenure and that her job is not guaranteed. If I don't get what I want then I will take it all the way to the state board of education.

Be ready for fireworks!

Don't Touch Me

2011-10-05T18:29:00.000-05:00

Today after class I stopped off at a service station to pick up a few things. I was wearing my Vancouver Canucks jersey that Marc Emery gave me and also my STOP THE DRUG WAR backpack that I use to carry all my school books. The service station where I stopped is close to a State Trooper post. And as it happened there was an unmarked car there with a state tag on it. The man driving the car held the door for me. I didn't think anything about it. As I was at the register paying for my items he comes up behind me, puts his hand on my shoulder and asks, "What kind of hockey player are you?"

I looked at him and said "I don't play hockey." I was so stunned that he had touched me it was all I could think to say. And it was a stupid question. Had I not been stunned by his bold act I would have told him to take his fucking hand off me. Where does this guy get off thinking he has the right to touch anyone he isn't currently placing under arrest? I can't stand for my personal space to be invaded by anyone who isn't family or close friend. I most especially hate it when it is a cop using touch as a way to intimidate. And he only did it because he didn't like my backpack. What a fuck wad!

Unless I invite you to do so it is unwise to touch me. I value my personal space and will respect yours.

Fake Reefer Madness

2011-09-30T11:58:00.005-05:00

A few weeks ago members of the Alabama Dept. of Public Health, Alabama Beverage Control and anguished parents who have recently lost kids to suicide came together in Montgomery to try and pin the blame for those suicides on what the media refers to as 'fake marijuana'. The products in question are also known under the brand names of 'Spice', K-2, Black Magic etc... and can be purchased legally in just about any convenience store and tobacco shop across the state. For the record I have not and do not use them and do not recommend that anyone else use them either. About the only point I agree on with those who are having this discussion is that we do not know enough about these substances to assume they are safe. That doesn't mean I want them banned. I contend that if marijuana were legal then there would be no fake crap on the market to begin with. But, that only counts if it is proven that the fake crap caused the suicides.

Now, yesterday the Anniston Star lead with the following story. Go read it.

Suicides raise concerns over legal compound

In this article the parents of the suicide victims make the claim that use of these products is the only possible explanation for the deaths of their children. The Alabama Beverage Control board is adding fuel to the fire by agreeing with them where no evidence exists to support the claim. And, of course, when I point out these issues and others I am threatened with physical violence, a little boy in blue attempts to intimidate me, I am called names and accused of being insensitive. But no real answers are put forth to my reasonable questions. Not surprising.Loretta Nall: I'm very sorry for this family's loss...however it needs to be pointed out that 1) correlation does not equal causation and 2) that if real marijuana, which is completely safe and a known quantity, were legal then there would be no fake marijuana on the market. It is very sad that this family, who is at the guilt phase of grief where they are looking for someone or something to blame for the tragic death of their son, is being used as pawns in the prohibition game. Shame, shame, shame, on Mike Reese of the ABC for using them to promote his political agenda when they are so incredibly vulnerable.

And apparently that just makes me wrong on principal according to commenter Jessica and all the other hysteria prone folks commenting on this thread. You'll have to read all the comments at the AS website. I'm only using the ones where the participants are at least making an attempt at reasonable discussion.

Loretta Nall: Jessica how exactly am I wrong? Wrong about what? If it were my child I would want empirical evidence as to why my child committed suicide. Not speculation, not knee-jerk reaction based on emotion. Cold hard facts. There is no empirical evidence here. It's time we stopped passing laws and restricting basic freedoms just because it makes someone feel better. There are a thousand possibilities as to why this young man took his own life. Only one possibility is mentioned in this article. 999 others are not. Shouldn't we examine all possibilities before passing laws? Doesn't anyone else want laws passed to be based on scientific facts and only after vigorous public debate, so that all our rights and freedoms guaranteed under the US Constitution are protected? Seems to me like the majority of people participating on this comment thread only want laws passed in order to make themselves feel better....so they can think "well I did something" regardless of whether it was the right thing to do.

Emily Collinsworth responds with : We have evidence! .........

Loretta Nall: Emily what scientific evidence do you have that these products were directly responsible for his death? Many people use these products, yet the majority of them do not commit suicide. Why? What one thing is different in those who take their own lives and those who do not after exposure to these products? Now, if everyone or even a small majority of people who used these products started committing suicide then there would be more of a basis for these claims. But that isn't happening. Correlation does not equal causation. No matter how much one might want it to it does not add up to that. There are many reasons kids take their own lives. All of them horrible. I'm a parent of two teens and I can't imagine anything more devastating than that. But if one of them ever resorted to that I would want to know why...not grab on to the first thing that came to mind, although I admit it would be tempting to do so. In order to prevent suicides we have to know the real reasons it is carried out. In none of these cases do we know. Sure, we could go around and ban products because that's easy. What's hard is asking the tough questions of ourselves and doing the research necessary to come up with the right answer. I also want to know is why the ABC board is involved in anything to do with this fake crap to begin with. It isn't alcohol so why is the ABC involved? Not that they should be involved in alcohol either. IMOP they should not even exist. Additionally, I find it ironically sad that an agency whose sole purpose it to sell and make a profit from one of the deadliest drugs ever known to humankind (alcohol) is pointing fingers and making accusations against any other substance. It's pretty hilarious when you think about it. That very few others make the connection is plain scary. I wonder...did any of these kids who took their own lives ever once drink a beer with or without their parents knowledge? I'd put my money on yes. Yet, no one is blaming the ABC board or Budweiser. Why is that do you think?

Jessica Cornwell: Loretta Nall I had a LONG response typed out to you but since Anniston Star's website apparently has some flaws it disappeared so instead I will say this..

1) YOU do not know as much about the ABC Board as you think. 2) Lt. Reese's only agenda is to SAVE LIVES. 3) You do NOT know either of these boys so you do NOT KNOW what they were like, or their lives were like. 4) Spice IS directly related to their deaths and the at least 6 others coast to coast I can name. 5) YOU had your chance to speak and listen to the "cold hard facts" on Sept 19th..YOU were NOT there.

YOU, Mrs. Nall, are assuming you know something about all of this, you do not. Since July this has consumed my life and I will continue to do anything I can to make sure it is banned!

To which I respond

Loretta Nall: Jessica all you have is conjecture. You don't know how much I know about anything. If you really believe that someone whose job it is to sell alcohol has strictly an interest in saving lives then I question your judgement. How is Spice directly related to the deaths of the kids you are referring to? So, they all took spice or similar products and committed suicide. That doesn't mean Spice or other similar products were responsible. They might all have drank milk that morning too or had a beer a few weeks ago, yet no one is looking at those things. There is absolutely NO empirical evidence that these products are responsible for the deaths of these kids. In order for it to be empirical we will have to rule out everything else. Things like home life situation, critical life changing events happening recently, mental illness in any of the family tree, depression (how many of these kids were on an anti-depressant?), was there a history of bullying at school and on and on and on. All of those things and many more would have to be ruled completely out and only spice or related products left before we can even begin to come close to proving that it was the cause. If it was the cause then how did it work? On what part of the mind did it work. How come the majority of people who are using this stuff aren't committing suicide? Can you answer that question? From what I have been reading in these cases it looks like maybe the kids were starting to exhibit signs of mental illness, quite possibly schizophrenia. That particular disease strikes mostly males and usually between the age of 18-25. No one knows what the trigger is for schizophrenia. All science knows is that people are born with it and that at some point in their life it triggers. Signs and symptoms are very similar to what is being described about the behavior of these kids shortly before they took their own lives.

Then Emily comes back with...

Emily Collinsworth: The symptoms of prolonged spice use are paranoia and hallucinations. This has been studied. Brandon was not bullied nor did he have anything wrong in his life. We would not blame it on spice if there could have been some other reason, but there aren't any other possible reasons. You are just being insensitive. Imagine if one of your kids died and you knew why, but there was some ingorant person trying to tell you there had to be something else wrong with them. That is insulting and completely untrue. Maybe you will understand better when this happens to someone in your life which is what WILL happen if people keep abusing this stuff. I bet you're feeding off of this stuff like you get some sick satisfaction out of letting people know everything you think. Well get this, you can't always be right. You aren't even worth all of this time and anger so this is all I am going to say. Just stop being ridiculous and trying to get your opinion out (not to supress it but you have already gotten your point across) and pray for us like any good person would do. That's all we want is prayer and support.

Loretta Nall: Emily, who studied the symptoms of prolonged use of Spice? What were the criteria for the study? Where are the peer reviewed published results? I am not being insensitive. I am being objective. We can't base our laws on the emotions of suffering parents whose children have committed suicide. That isn't how things work...or at least it shouldn't be. You can make all the baseless claims about me you want. That doesn't make them true. You can't argue your point effectively or answer my questions so you are trying to deflect. Please post peer reviewed studies published in credible medical journals which prove that prolonged use of spice and spice-like chemicals cause suicide, depression, paranoia, hallucinations. If it exists you will have no problem posting it for the rest of us to see.

And that is where this conversation currently is. I want facts, scientific proof that these products cause suicide. I want the media to be more objective in covering these types of stories. I'm sick of laws being passed just because it will make someone feel better. And I am sick of slick ass politicians using suffering, grieving parents as pawns in their prohibition games.

Is that to much to ask?

Feel free to join the conversation on the AS website HERE

Alabama Should drug test lawmakers, not Medicaid patients

2011-08-26T10:19:00.002-05:00

I had a great LTE printed in today's BHAM News

Alabama Should Drug Test Lawmakers, Not Medicaid Patients

And some very surprising and supportive commentary follows. Please read and leave a comment on al.com

ANTISEC Destroys Some Alabama Law Enforcement Servers

2011-07-31T18:23:00.000-05:00

Boy oh boy I'd give a lot to see what they got from the following Alabama LEO servers; especially the Alabama Sheriff's Association and Talladega Sheriff's Office.

Alabama Sheriffs

Cherokee County Sheriff

Cleburne County Sheriff

Randolph County Sheriff

Talladega County Sheriff

The entire list can be read here

Favorite Music Moment Ever

2011-07-27T16:51:00.000-05:00

Damn you Auto Correct

2011-07-22T10:08:00.000-05:00

Oh the trials and tribulations of auto-correct on cell phones. Mine usually inserts the word SEX into my texts.

However, thread at Damn You Auto Correct is not only one of the most hilarious things I have ever read....it makes my cell phone's insertion of the word SEX seem incredibly tame by comparison.

A MUST READ!

Shouldn't Drug Court be for Drug Users?

2011-07-11T08:10:00.001-05:00

Not in Shelby County, Alabama, apparently.

Hardly a week goes by that I don't get an email from some unfortunate person who has had a run-in with the law in Shelby County, and as a result, are being forced into the Shelby County Drug Court program. A few months ago it was the forced drug testing of parents with kids enrolled in the program. Today, it's something even more sinister.

Over the weekend I got an email from a woman in Atlanta about her current ordeal involving Shelby Co. Drug Court. Here is what she had to say;

Ms. Nall I have learned a lot about you in my research. I, too, am fighting a case against the Shelby Co. Drug Court. My case has now been moved to district court. I was arrested at a rock concert after someone passed me a joint, I'm not a smoker, so passed it on. Regardless, I was arrested along with the group around me. And although I haven't failed a drug test in Shelby Co. Pre-trial probation, and my arresting officers report says he saw me pass it, not smoke it, the DA refuses to drop my charges. At first the public defender tried to get me to make a deal. If I would just plead guilty, go through the drug treatment program, they would drop my charge. But I do not feel that I am guilty of anything,but being in the wrong place at the wrong time, so thats when I got a lawyer. In circuit court, they offered me to either go through the treatment program (without dropping charges now, b/c I won't admit guilt)or 2 years unsupervised probation w/risk of 90 days in jail. I refused that as well, and now we are going to district court. I didn't mention, I live out of state, so I cannot tell what a hardship it is for me to drive 4 hours one way to take a drug test 3-4 times a week, b/c they refuse to transfer my probation, which I am sure is b/c they will lose my money. But they are about to lose a lot more than that, cause I am determined to fight for my innocence, and my rights as an American. I have grown-up believing that you are innocent until proven guilty, but not in Shelby Co. Alabama. I have had to do everything to defend my character, now the prosecutors are trying to prove that the music I listen to proves that I am a likely drug user, yet they have no evidence. They didn't find any drugs on me and I haven't failed a drug test. They are charging me with constructive Possession (which means I had knowledge of the drugs around me), which has the same punishment as if they found a pound of marijuana on me. I have done a lot of research on the Shelby Co. drug task force and court system. There budget was cut in half at the beginning of the 2011 fiscal year. There director stated that they would whatever possible to maintain their program. Well, I am the example of that. They will charge anyone for anything, because most people will crumble and take their deal, b/c believe me they make it sound like its your only option. The public defender also tried to sell me on what a good program this was, and if I did good in it, I get promoted more quickly.

I never thought that what others were doing around me would affect me. I don't know anyone who would think to themselves, even though I paid for these seats, maybe I should leave my seat or venue to avoid breaking the law? As far as proof, I took my first drug test 6 days after my arrest, and the fact that on the date of my arrest I was 13 weeks and 6 days pregnant, which I also provided doctor documentation in court. It seems to me that there is no way in hell they are going to simply drop my charges. In the meantime, the judge has dropped the pre-trial probation testing, so I don't have to be back there till my district court date. And the only reason I won't just take the drug court is because they refuse to transfer it. It sounds great to me to jump through hoops for 6 months to get rid of all this. But I live 4 hours away.It is a 9 hour round trip for me to wait an hour, pay $30, and piss in a cup. Not to mention I have made the drive twice to meet with my Pre-trial Prob. officer, for her not to show up, and the other time she had a scheduled holiday, yet she set these appointments, and I got fined for missing the appointments. I own a business. It is a major inconvenience, (which is really all the program is designed to be)for me to leave my business unattended 3-4 days a week. It cost my company money, not just me, and we all know its near to impossible to keep a small business thriving these days. I have also used the business argument. I am a thriving member of society; I have a college education (from the state of Alabama). I have hired 6 employees since the new year. I am providing jobs therefore boosting the economy. The more I see how people are treated in Shelby Co. drug court system and the more I hear their testimony, the more I am convinced that there is something wrong with this. Not once have they ever asked me about my drug use or if I need help. They have never offered me a real treatment program. Its piss when your color is called, and pay $30 for your PO to ask you if you are still employed, have same address, or anymore charges. All they do is break people down by dehumanizing them. You need drugs after dealing with those people. I can go on and on about the people employee in the community corrections department. BTW, they don't take debit/credit cards, cash only. There is fine of $20 if you don't have correct change, nor are you allowed to leave to find some place to make change for you. Learned that the hard way my first visit. Its all about making a dollar by any means.

My husband got transferred back to drug court after circuit court, since our lawyer said he didn't have many alternatives left, which I don't think is true. She advised me to continue fighting since they don't have any evidence, but an officers account, but I am not happy with her results. She originally told us she could get my charge dropped, and my husband would just pay a fine, but obviously that's not the case in Shelby Co., and every week she sends us another bill for $500 and I'm not sure what I am even paying for anymore. Can you recommend a lawyer? Someone that may have a personal interest in fighting for a case involving a simple possession (.03 grams found on the ground in front of us), as well as someone who wants to stick to to Shelby Co. dehumanizing court system.

There are obviously a lot of unconstitutional practices going on in Shelby County. As well as some corrupt officials. And someone finally needs to challenge them. I can send you all information public records, and accounts I have found. I will be glad to share more details about my case as well. I want to get the word out about what is going on in Alabama.

So, a patron from out of state wishing to spend money in Shelby County's economy instead gets arrested on a drug related charge, of which there is NO EVIDENCE, and is forced into drug court even though there again there's NO EVIDENCE that this person uses drugs? How about that? Oh, and the concert she was attending was "Widespread Panic". Seems like every time Widespread Panic comes to that area the cops bring out huge buses and about half the crowd are undercover pricks intent on filling those buses with people who spend money in their town. Brilliant!

Now, correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't drug court supposed to be for people who actually use drugs? I disagree with the drug court BS altogether. It is nothing but a money racket that mainly focuses its resources on cannabis consumers (because there are more of us than all other illicit substance users combined and therefore a larger pool of money for them to extort) as opposed to people who have actual drug addictions...say meth addicts for instance. And in this instance the person wasn't using drugs and has passed all drug testing, so there is no evidence of drug use of any kind. So, why is she being forced into drug court?

According to the Shelby Co. Drug Court website Drug Court is an alternative to the traditional court process. In Drug Court, intensive treatment, rather than incarceration, is used as the primary means of coping with drug use, abuse, and addiction. The Program is designed to keep qualified applicants as contributing members of society rather than requiring society to incur the costs of jailing or imprisoning these applicants. Through Drug Court you will receive treatment, specifically designed for you, intended to resolve the issues that brought you before the Court, as well as intensive supervision and interaction by the Court and Drug Court team.

Under those terms this lady does not qualify for drug court because she 1) Doesn't use drugs and therefore is not addicted or abusing drugs 2) She is already a contributing member of society because she is a business owner from out of state 3) Doesn't need treatment (which they don't offer anyway because there is a horrendous lack of treatment space available in Alabama)

By forcing her into this sham they will prevent her from being a contributing member of society by breaking her bank account, placing outrageous hardship on her business and taking money from her that she would likely use to care for her child. They want to make her become dependent on the state so they can turn around and say, "Look how drugs destroy your life....". In other words they make it a self-fulfilling prophecy like they always do.

Another thing that jumps out at me is the bit about being charged an extra $20 for not having correct change and not being allowed to run across the street and get it. I wonder if that is in any of the handbooks or paperwork they give those forced into participating, or if they just spring it on you once you are captive in their court? If I were a betting gal I'd put my money on the latter. Sounds to me like maybe someone in the drug court system has found a way to skim off the top.

As I said before I completely disagree with drug courts altogether. It is nothing but government sanctioned extortion. If you run out of money while in drug court you go to jail anyway. If you make mistakes in drug court you go to jail anyway (and true drug addicts will backslide....it's part of the process). If you don't have money then you never have the opportunity to participate in drug court and that right there is illegal. It is unequal access based on your bank account. Having said that it seems to me that if drug courts must exist then they should be used to address the most serious cases of addiction. Not cannabis consumers and certainly not business owning concert-goers who weren't using drugs at the time of arrest and for which there is no proof that they have ever used drugs. I think this lady is a target for drug court because Shelby County has decided that she has money and they want it.

I also think she can beat the charges. Generally, once they see that the person who they have targeted for their extortion practices intends to fight back the charges will disappear. I am trying to help her find a better lawyer. Stay tuned for developments. If you are in Shelby Co then write your representative and senator and demand that they put an end to this nonsense. Use this new report from the Drug Policy Alliance on the ineffectiveness of drug courts to make your argument.

Drug addiction is a health issue

2011-07-10T07:48:00.000-05:00

by our readers Anniston Star

Jul 10, 2011

Re “Drug task force to begin operations in Clay County” (News article, June 30):

I read this article with dismay. Will law enforcement and the public never learn that our approach to drug use has failed and will continue to fail so long as we insist on treating drug use as a criminal act instead of a health issue?

The “drug war” started more than 40 years ago under Richard Nixon, and in that 40 years more than $1 trillion has been wasted. And for what? Has drug use dropped or ceased altogether? No. Has arresting and incarcerating adults for minor drug offenses stopped others from using drugs? No. Has the drug war made acquiring drugs difficult? No. Has the drug war stopped drugs from coming into or being produced in this country? No. Has the drug war increased the price or decreased the purity of drugs available? No. Has it kept drugs out of the hands of children? Certainly not.

It has created the horrific prison overcrowding we see in Alabama. In our prison system, which was built to hold about 12,000 people, we are running at 195 percent capacity with nearly 30,000 inmates. The state Legislature refused to address this issue in this last session, so now the federal government is coming in to take it over. It has created a police state where everyone is a potential suspect. It has created no-knock, SWAT team raids on the suspicion that someone might have a couple joints in their home. These raids place everyone involved, police, suspects, kids and family pets in extreme danger.

People who are addicted to a substance need no additional help in further complicating their lives. Addiction is a private family matter and should be treated as such. Imagine if we had alcohol task forces who went around kicking in doors, throwing grenades, and imprisoning everyone who liked to occasionally drink a beer?

Enough already.

Loretta Nall
Alexander City

Read more: Anniston Star - Drug addiction is a health issue

Goat Electric

2011-07-07T14:59:00.001-05:00

Check out this new blog Goat Electric

Interesting connection between Chrissie Hynde song "Back on the Chain Gang" and the News of the World scandal.

Also hilarious online vote to make Georgia tags look like a horses butt.

Back from Lu-Z-Anner

2011-07-04T13:19:00.001-05:00

(NOTE:) I started this post about two weeks ago and only just now had time to finish it up

I've just returned from a short trip with my friend Christie to New Orleans where we attended the Southeastern Republican Leadership Conference and voted in the Straw Poll (GO RON PAUL GO!!)

Well, actually, the only reason we went was to vote in the Straw Poll for Ron Paul...because, really...who wants to hang out with a bunch of anti-fun, pro-war, anti-choice, anti-equal rights, bible-thumping, asshole Republicans who do stuff like this for shits and giggles? Not I. And especially not in New Orleans...the party capitol of the South. I keep thinking since most Republicans are against all of the extravagant debauchery that is New Orleans...why did they choose that city for the conference? And the answer is....drum roll...........they are just like everyone else only they lie about it. I saw a number of them on Bourbon Street that weren't wearing red badges (the colored badges of Ron Paul supporters). They want to control what the rest of the country does but not adhere to the same laws and principles.

Now, I've been to New Orleans twice before and both times it was in the winter and the temp was comfortable. This time it was summer and there is only one word to describe the hot jello like heat in the middle of June in New Orleans Louisiana....HELL. I really don't see that hell could be much hotter. It was fucking MISERABLE. I fully understand why NOLA has one of the highest per capita murder rates in the country year after year.

The heat.

If I had to live there I'd kill everybody. I only thought it was hot in Alabama. Let me tell ye...we ain't got jack on New Orleans. Or Mississippi for that matter. I'll get to Mississippi in a minute. No wonder monster storms that spawn F5 tornadoes always come out of Mississippi. GAWD!

Anyway, on the trip down I drove and we took I-10 through Mobile. Just outside of Mobile we hit a monster storm with wicked lightning and hail the size of marbles. I flinched every time one hit the windshield. Many people pulled off the interstate onto the shoulder....which is a totally dumbass thing to do. If someone hydroplanes then those people on the side of the road are going to get smashed. I simply slowed down to about 15 mph and turned the flashers on. I hate driving in rain like that as much as the next person, but if I am on the interstate then I will find an exit to stop at...unless it's on 59 in Mississippi, in which case there are no exits.

Once we got to New Orleans and got checked into the hotel (Never, ever, ever stay at the Hilton Riverside...they want $8 an hour for internet access in your room, and they charge $34 for overnight parking after they have charged you over $200 for the room) we took a little while to cool off and collect ourselves. Then we went out on the town. And yes I did take my 14 year old daughter down Bourbon Street. We stopped to eat on the Riverwalk next to the hotel. The service sucked. There was hardly anyone there and yet it took forever to get our food, which wasn't very good. However the tubs-o-liquor they were selling were tasty indeed. Christie and I both got the 32 oz pina colada. The waiter tried to sell us the 70 oz barrel version for $20 each with a promise to refill it for $10 the next day. He even tried to sell Bell an alcoholic beverage after she asked for root beer. Didn't ask for ID. And wouldn't have. We declined. I'm not much of a drinker, myself. However the frozen 32 oz pina colada hit the spot. I would'a dove in that sucker if the cup had been large enough.

After that we walked a few blocks to Bourbon Street to check out the many sights and sounds. Thank whatever deity you believe in for the overpriced gift shops that line Bourbon Street. They blast out the air conditioning to lure people in. I don't understand how, even with the horribly overpriced merchandise, they can afford what has to be a massive power bill. But goodness it feels soooooo good. We would have had three medical emergencies on our hands had it not been for the air conditioning. It was that hot. I don't understand how people live there. We were so drenched and exhausted by the end that we took a cab the few blocks back to the hotel.

The next morning we met up with a gentleman who directed us upstairs to register with the Ron Paul folks and vote in the Straw Poll. Unfortunately we missed all of the festivities with Dr. Paul the day before because we arrived late. I have had the opportunity to meet him before on a trip to DC. He is incredible.

While waiting in line to vote in the straw poll Christie, Bell and I were given tri-fold brochures promoting the sponsors of the event. Most of them were innocuous enough, selling media services, campaign websites and consulting ect....but one really jumped out at me...the gay bashing ad which stated, "Two dads can never replace a mom." Now, there are loads of gay people in the Republican party (don't ask me why). The former chair of the RNC came out as gay recently. Then there is Mark Foley, Larry Craig and God only knows how many other in the closet members of the Republican party. And yet one of the main sponsors was anti-family because they would rather a kid grow up in an orphanage, be passed around from place to place, be abused by religious whackos and thrown away than to allow two people, who happen to be the same sex to raise a child in a loving, caring home. Jeez I hate Republicans. They are such hate-filled ass wipes, hypocrites and control freaks. Not that Democrats are much better. But at least there is more acceptance and less hate with the D's.

I threw my brochure away. And then washed my hands...with lots of soap and hot water. I say as long as you are a consenting adult and you aren't hurting anyone else then what you do is your damn business and the government has no right to control it or interfere in it in any way.

After we voted in the straw poll we loaded up and headed back to Bama. We decided to come back on 59 through Mississippi since we were staying with Christie for the night just outside Tuscaloosa.

I-59 through Mississippi is the most desolate place on the face of the earth. I thought 65 South between Montgomery and Mobile was desolate and devoid of human life. Let me tell you.... 59 in Mississippi makes it look like a burgeoning metropolis.

Once you cross the state line into Mississippi there is like absolutely NOTHING. No exits, no gas stations, no rest areas with bathrooms, no humans, no nothing. Not even any road kill.It was creepy. I kept wondering how in the hell people get around Mississippi and where in the hell they lived and how one would get there and why there was even an interstate? I mean you'd ride 90 miles in between exits (all 2 of them) and occasionally in the middle of that 90 miles you'd see a neighborhood off to one side of the interstate or the other....but absolutely no way to get there, save driving down a damn embankment. I'm still wondering how one would get to those homes from the interstate. And if you broke down there would be no way for a wrecker to get to you without coming from 100 miles away in either direction. You'd be absolutely screwed...and baked to death by the brutal sun long before anyone got to you. It's like driving through the damn twilight zone.

And the ride itself was terrifying. Now, I love my friend Christie to death....but her driving scares me to death. I drove us out of NOLA and she said since I drove down she would drive back. This was the first time I had ever ridden with her. And on any future road tripping I will volunteer to do all driving. To be fair everyone's driving scares the hell out of me. I'm an incredibly careful driver. I've had one accident (which was caused by a hellacious thunderstorm). Since then I have not be comfortable riding with anyone. If I am in a vehicle I want to be behind the damn wheel. End of story. But I was tired and decided to be a passenger for the ride back.

No sooner had Christie taken the wheel than she began to fiddle with the cd player, the stuff in the floor, her drink etc. While talking to me she ran off the side of the interstate and hit those ridges meant to wake up sleeping drivers. I dove for cover. A few minutes later she did the same thing on the other side. I dove again. Then I told her if she did it again I was driving. And she did it again. Problem was there was absolutely no where to pull over and give me the wheel. We didn't switch places until we crossed back into Alabama. It was the most terrifying ride of my life. And it all happened at the light speed of 80 miles an hour. It's funny....the other day she sent me a text message saying she was on her way to the Dr. and that her mom was driving and that she was scared to death because of it. I wrote back that if her mom scared her then I couldn't imagine how bad her driving was :) It must be genetic.

So, here is my advice to anyone traveling to NOLA and back through Mississippi on 59. Go in the winter. The summer heat will nearly suffocate you. Get your windows tinted to keep from being baked alive in your automobile. Fill up the tank of your vehicle before setting out across 59....otherwise you will be stranded and dead long before anyone gets to you. Have a good spare tire and know how to change it. Take food and water and an empty jug to pee in cause your ass ain't stopping on 59 to pee or get gas or food or anything else for that matter. There isn't even any roadkill to bbq in case of an emergency.

Despite all my snarkiness in this post we actually had a lot of fun. It was great to get out of the house for a few days and see the sights and sound of New Orleans. The ride down was beautiful. Many thanks to Christie for inviting us along on her dime. She is generous to a fault and one of the best friends I have ever had.

Federal Marijuana Legalization Bill Introduced in US House

2011-06-24T11:25:00.001-05:00

Yesterday Rep. Ron Paul (R-Texas...Go Ron Paul Go!!) and Barney Frank (D-Mass) introduced a bill in the House Judiciary Committee that would remove marijuana from the schedule of controlled substances and leave it up to the states to regulate.

Marijuana bill introduced in US House

HB 2306 is not yet available on THOMAS the congressional website similar to our ALISON.

Already the chair of the House Judiciary Cmte., Rep. Lamar Smith is rattling his drug war saber, saying that he will not put the bill on the calendar. Sound familiar? He also said a bunch of other backwards thinking nonsense in his dismissal of this much needed legislation.

I need you to do two things.

1) Contact Rep. Lamar Smith's Office in Washington and demand that he give this bill a fair hearing. Here is his contact information. Go to link below to email him and please also give him a call. Pass this along to everyone you know.

Rep. Lamar Smith
Washington D.C. Office
2409 Rayburn House Office Building
Washington, DC 20515
202-225-4236

2) Go HERE to send a letter to Rep. Lamar Smith and your own US Rep. asking them to support this bill. Pass this along to everyone you know.

We are fast approaching the majority in this country. They cannot deny the will of the people forever. Make sure your voice is heard.

Books you HAVE to read

2011-06-06T07:42:00.000-05:00

If you like to read and especially enjoy Southern Humor then by all means check out the following books by John Pritchard..."Junior Ray" and "Yazoo Blues". My friend Marc Emery sent these to me after he finished them at the federal prison in Yazoo City and I have laughed so hard I've come close to having an accident. For your convenience you can purchase them from Amazon by clicking the links below.

Reading these books has inspired me to collect all the funny essays I wrote during and after my campaign for Governor and self publish them. Who knows...I might make the NYT best sellers list.

Found!

2011-06-06T07:34:00.001-05:00

The miracle of all miracles happened yesterday when we found our beloved Scout!

Bell and I had gone to the store and on the way there she talked about how she had not been sleeping well since Scout went missing because of nightmares that whoever had her was fighting her or abusing her in some other way. I had asked her a couple times if she would like to get another dog but she declined saying that would be like replacing one of her parents should anything every happen to us.

On the way back from the store we decided to go down an out of the way road where we hadn't looked before. We found nothing. Then as we pulled into our driveway my neighbor from about a quarter mile up the road pulled in behind us and I asked him if he had seen our puppy. He said, "The brindle pit bull with a black collar?" and we showed him the flyer and he said, "Yep that's her....she's been at the house for over a week."

What's strange is that I had stopped by his place three times but was too afraid to get out because he owns about 4 large pits and his truck was never there. I never saw Scout out in the yard with the rest of them so I didn't figure she was there.

We jumped back in the truck and went straight over there and as soon as Bell opened her door Scout leaped in and started loving her to death. Scout was a little worse for the wear. Much skinnier and flea and tick infested because her flea and tick pill had worn off while she was gone....but she was otherwise ok. Neighbor said he had wormed them all last week.

We brought her home and the first thing she did was bound in the house and steal Saul's rawhide bone and hop on the couch. She is such a turd. Bell and I gave her a long bath to rid her of bugs, fed her lots, loved on her for a long time and the first thing she did when she went back out was steal some goose eggs, which seem to be her favorite food.

Saul was so happy she was home I swear he smiled. I took him out to play with her in the fence and they had a ball....although she is a tad more snappy than she was before she left. I guess having to fend off three or four other large pit bulls for two weeks brought out the worst in her. But, I'm sure she will settle down in time and once again become the sweet baby we know and love.

Bell went to bed early last night and slept well. In fact, she is still sleeping.

I can't figure out why she just didn't come home. The neighbor's where she was hiding out is like a quarter mile from here and surely she knew the way. But, who knows the minds of dogs? We are just ecstatic that she has returned unharmed. We will be reinforcing the fence so that miss Houdini stays in her own yard from now on.

Lost

2011-05-28T11:54:00.002-05:00

LOST NEAR PEARSON CHAPEL ROAD AND BICE CEMETERY ROAD ON MAY 27. ANSWERS TO SCOUT. WEARING BLACK COLLAR.

BELONGS TO A VERY SAD LITTLE GIRL AND A GERMAN SHEPHERD WHO MISS HER VERY MUCH.

IF SEEN PLEASE CALL 256-625-9599 OR 877-528-5647

$$$ REWARD OFFERED $$$

NO QUESTIONS ASKED

Medical Marijuana OpEd's in BHAM News and Press Register

2011-04-10T06:24:00.000-05:00

Today I had OpEd's on HB386 The Michael Phillips Compassionate Care Act appear in both the Birmingham News and the Mobile Press Register

Birmingham News
Drug War Politics Hurt Medical Marijuana in State

Mobile Press Register
Alabama Should Allow Use of Medical Marijuana

Please go and leave a comment and also write a letter to the editor in response.

To send an LTE to the Birmingham News email it to editor@bhamnews.com

To send an LTE to the Press Register use this link

Morons and Dangerous Dogs

2011-04-07T13:24:00.001-05:00

Why is it that most morons who own dogs go for the dangerous varieties? Like pit bulls, for instance?

This morning at 1:30 or so we were awakened to the most terrible ruckus you've ever heard in the yard. Three large pit bulls were at the back of the pig enclosure trying to get in and eat him. My German Shepherd, who is a house dog and only goes outside on a leash or gets in his fence (because I know he is a dangerous animal) damn near went through the window after them. My pit bull was locked safely away in the shop because I care for her well being and do not leave her out at night.

Two of these pit bulls I have never seen before. The one I have seen is, I am convinced, the parent to the stray we took in a few months ago (she's so sweet). One of the others was white and I never got a good look at the third one. They were barking at the pig and the pig was barking back at them.

Most people may be unaware that pigs can bark. Or maybe they can't and just mine does. But he damn sure barks. Loud. Just like a dog. And the pit bull puppy we have snorts, just like a pig, and farts like a champion! She can flat clear a room.

Anyway, I have no idea who owns this particular pack of roving pit bulls. I haven't seen them in any yards nearby and they ran off through the woods after my husband went out to scare them away. He didn't take the rifle because it was dark and we do have neighbors nearby so shooting blind was out of the question.

The white pit bull turned and barked at my husband and refused to run at first. Finally he/she gave ground and ran off in the woods with the other two.

While I don't know who owns the dogs I do know one thing about them...well maybe two.

1) They are complete fucking morons. If they think they can just let their damn dogs roam the neighborhood, where there are small children and my livestock, without there ever being conflict then morons are all they could be.

2) They are not rational enough to own any breed more dangerous than say a tea cup poodle. Owning dogs they refuse to manage and thereby endangering their neighbors and their neighbors pets means they are bad dog owners.

Why is it that stupid people want mean dogs? And by stupid I mean people who think it is ok to let their dogs destroy other peoples animals, run around on other peoples property and scare the living shit out of other people at 1:30 in the morning? And why pit bulls? Surely they read and watch the news and know what pit's are capable of if not properly trained and contained.

I, personally love the large scary breeds. They are my weapon of choice. And my large scary breeds (German Shepherd and Pit Bull) are contained on my property and never allowed to run around the neighborhood and frighten the neighbors. I have a neighbor who has a pit bull that is in my yard all day and night no matter how many times I ask him to keep her out of here or fire the BB gun at her or throw rocks. I'm getting damn tired of asking and if I can ever lay hands on her then she is going to the pound.

My husband and I went looking for a place to set up an ambush for the pack that attacked last night. We discovered that they had discovered our armadillo hole out in the woods and had murdered a harmless armadillo in a cruel and vicious way. I couldn't even look at it. And that royally pisses me off because I like to feed my dillers. They stand up on their hind legs and look at me sometimes and they look like kangaroos in the face. Cute and harmless. Now dead.

I know that those dogs will be back tonight as soon as things get quiet in the house. I know that 3 dogs is a pack and therefore much more dangerous than two dogs or one. And when they get here we will be waiting for them with a 30.06. Be damned if I will be afraid of going out in my own yard or letting my daughter walk through the woods on OUR property or having my pet pig and goats torn to pieces because some fuckhead douche bag thinks having mean dogs makes his dick look bigger. That's a bunch of bullshit. Earlier when I was outside with my dogs I heard them barking in the distance. My pit puppy came and cowered under my feet.

Behind the pig pen there are large tracks with sharp claw impressions. I think my pig is capable of handling one dog (he's a large, large powerful sucker with HUGE teeth) but three of the bastards would have eviscerated him. I'm actually kind of looking forward to tonight. Not that I like to kill things. Not at all. But having had experience with neighbors and their roaming canines before I have learned it is best to just handle shit and not tell them there was ever a problem. It is my job to protect my family and my pets. And I will do just that.

Note to dumb asses with small penises....owning dogs who are a danger to others that you refuse to contain doesn't make your dick any bigger. It only pisses off your neighbors and gets your dogs killed.

Medical Marijuana Action Alert: Call Rep. Jim McCLendon

2011-04-07T07:33:00.002-05:00

Medical Marijuana Action Alert:

Rep. Jim McLendon who represents Shelby and St. Clair counties and is head of the health committee where our medical marijuana bill has landed this session is hesitant to put it on the calendar. He doesn't believe that his constituents support the bill.

I need everyone in both those counties to call him up and let him know that, in fact, there is a lot of support in his district for this bill. Point out that Cam Ward, who also represented Shelby Co in the House always voted YES in committee (although we are unsure how Senator Ward will vote when this bill finally makes it to the full Senate) and not only did he not get voted out last election he moved up to the Senate.

Also point out that a 2004 statewide poll conducted by The Mobile Press Register and the University of South Alabama found that 76% of Alabamians support medical marijuana.

Here is his contact info. Please be polite and respectful. Ask him to please put the bill on the calendar. Next week would be sublime.

Home Phone 205-467-2656

Montgomery 334-242-7768

Email jim.mclendon@alhouse.org

website Jim Mclendon

HB386 Medical Marijuana Bill Filed in Alabama House

2011-04-02T07:33:00.000-05:00

On Thursday HB386 The Michael Phillips Compassionate Care Act was filed in the Alabama House of Representatives by Rep. Patricia Todd (D- Birmingham). It has been assigned to the health committee.

Please contact the members of the Health Committee and ask them to pass this bill when it comes before them. Here is the letter I sent. Feel free to use it as a template and include your own personal story for wanting this bill passed.

PLEASE BE RESPECTFUL!

Here is the email contact info for members of the health committee. If you had rather call then that info can be found here.

jim.mcclendon@alhouse.org,
mike.millican@alhouse.org,
johnny.morrow@alhouse.org,
elaine.beech@alhouse.org,
laura.hall@alhouse.org,
donnie.chesteen@alhouse.org,
berry.forte@alhouse.org,
ed.henry@alhouse.org,
ron.johnson@alhouse.org,
john.knight@alhouse.org,
paul.lee@alhouse.org,
becky.nordgren@alhouse.org,
april.weaver@alhouse.org,
james.patterson@alhouse.org,
allen.treadaway@alhouse.org

Dear Honorable Members of the House Health Committee,

My name is Loretta Nall and I am executive director of Alabamians for Compassionate Care, a group of patients, physicians, family members and caregivers working to pass comprehensive medical marijuana legislation in Alabama. This is our 8th year of working to get our bill passed out of the House. Last session it passed the judiciary committee for the first time.

On Thursday March 31, Rep. Patricia Todd our bill sponsor introduced HB386 into the House and it was assigned to the health committee.
HB386

Under this bill patients suffering from cancer, HIV/AIDS, MS, wasting syndrome, epilepsy, chronic pain and other debilitating medical conditions would be legally able to use marijuana with a recommendation from their doctor. Physicians who recommend and patients who use medical marijuana would be protected from prosecution under state law. This bill would in no way make it legal for anyone without a recommendation to use marijuana. Considering that the state is now looking at releasing non-violent drug offenders (many of whom are convicted of marijuana related offenses) and lowering penalties for personal possession it only makes sense to take medical marijuana users out of the prison equation. It costs $15,223 per year per prisoner just to house them in the DoC and that is if they are healthy. If they are suffering from one of the conditions listed above that cost rises exponentially.

More importantly it is morally wrong to imprison sick people for trying to feel better sand manage the symptoms of their illness. Just last week the National Cancer Institute admitted that THC the psychoactive ingredient in marijuana is anti-tumor. Here is what they had to say on their website. National Cancer Institute: Cannabis and Cancer

Another reason to support this bill is the potential tax revenue that will be generated. This week the Washington Times estimated that the medical cannabis industry is worth $1.7 billion. In Colorado, which has a population close in size to that of Alabama, the medical marijuana industry has generated $9 million in tax revenue and fees in the last year and generates $50,000 a month in new application fees.

15 states and the District of Columbia have passed medical marijuana legislation. It is time Alabama followed suit. The citizens of Alabama deserve all the same choices that patients in the other states where medical marijuana is legal have. Also, the VA (Veterans Administration) recently said that it would no longer enforce pain contracts against veterans using medical marijuana in states where it is legal. That leaves veterans in Alabama, many of whom use medical marijuana to treat their PTSD, subject to arrest, prosecution and imprisonment under state law. This is beyond wrong. Our veterans deserve better than that.

It can be argued that since the District of Columbia and the VA are both governed by the federal government that medical use of marijuana is no longer illegal under federal law.

Please give this bill consideration and vote YES when it comes before you in a few weeks. Members of Alabama Compassionate Care will be in Montgomery next week and following weeks to meet with you about this bill and answer your questions. Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions.

Respectfully,

Possible Changes in Alabama Drug Policy

2011-03-26T09:11:00.003-05:00

Representative Mack McCutcheon has introduced HB344 as part of Chief Justice Sue Bell Cobb's sentencing reform and prison overcrowding package of bills. It is very interesting and in someways very good. There are some very bad things in it too....like mandatory sentences, life sentences and unreal fines.The part of the bill dealing with possession of marijuana is near the end and in bold. That part is good but falls short of what is really needed with regard to marijuana and that's LEGALIZATION.

Here is the text of the bill. Thoughts?

HB344
By Representative McCutcheon
RFD Judiciary
Rd 1 24-MAR-11

SYNOPSIS: This bill would revise the quantity thresholds for marijuana criminal violations to distinguish between low-level drug users and career criminals by changing penalties for marijuana possession in the first and second degrees and creating the crimes of possession of marijuana in the third and fourth degrees.
This bill would revise the quantity threshold of Schedule I controlled substance criminal violations to distinguish between individual drug users and drug traffickers.
This bill would also restructure criminal drug offense penalties for Schedule II through Schedule V controlled substances based on recommended therapeutic dosages as established by the State Board of Health, which would render the Schedules current based on the lawful allowable dosages as drugs are improved or new drugs become available.
This bill would authorize the State Board of Health to establish monthly therapeutic dosages for Schedules II-V drugs.
Amendment 621 of the Constitution of Alabama of 1901, now appearing as Section 111.05 of the Official Recompilation of the Constitution of Alabama of 1901, as amended, prohibits a general law whose purpose or effect would be to require a new or increased expenditure of local funds from becoming effective with regard to a local governmental entity without enactment by a 2/3 vote unless: it comes within one of a number of specified exceptions; it is approved by the affected entity; or the Legislature appropriates funds, or provides a local source of revenue, to the entity for the purpose.
The purpose or effect of this bill would be to require a new or increased expenditure of local funds within the meaning of the amendment. However, the bill does not require approval of a local governmental entity or enactment by a 2/3 vote to become effective because it comes within one of the specified exceptions contained in the amendment.

A BILL
TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT

To amend Sections 13A-12-211, 13A-12-212, 13A-12-213, 13A-12-214, 13A-12-231, and 20-2-20, Code of Alabama 1975, to revise the quantity thresholds for marijuana criminal violations to distinguish between low-level drug users and career criminals; to revise the quantity thresholds of Schedule I controlled substance criminal violations to distinguish between individual drug users and professional drug traffickers; to restructure criminal drug offense penalties for Schedules II through V controlled substances based on recommended therapeutic dosages as established by the State Board of Health; to create new criminal penalties related to distribution and possession of certain controlled substances; to authorize the State Board of Health to establish monthly therapeutic dosages for Schedules II-V drugs; to add Sections 13A-12-214.1 and 13A-12-214.2 to the Code of Alabama 1975, to restructure the current criminal penalties for the possession of marijuana; to add criminal penalties for the possession of marijuana; and in connection therewith would have as its purpose or effect the requirement of a new or increased expenditure of local funds within the meaning of Amendment 621 of the Constitution of Alabama of 1901, now appearing as Section 111.05 of the Official Recompilation of the Constitution of Alabama of 1901, as amended.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF ALABAMA:
Section 1. Sections 13A-12-211, 13A-12-212, 13A-12-213, 13A-12-214, 13A-12-231, and 20-2-20, Code of Alabama 1975, are amended to read as follows:

§13A-12-211.

"(a) A person commits the crime of unlawful distribution of controlled substances if, except as otherwise authorized, he or she sells, furnishes, gives away, delivers, or distributes a controlled substance enumerated in Schedules Schedule I through V.

"(b) Unlawful distribution of controlled substances, unless otherwise provided, is a Class B felony.

"(c) A person, except as otherwise authorized, who sells, furnishes, gives away, delivers, or distributes a controlled substance enumerated in Schedules II through V, as provided in Section 20-2-25, 20-2-27, 20-2-29, or 20-2-31, where the offense classification is based on the specific Schedule II through V enumeration and the number of tablets, capsules, or pills constituting the monthly therapeutic dosage or the milligrams as established by the State Board of Health, to establish the lawful amount of the controlled substance for possession, including whether the quantity is above or below the monthly therapeutic dosage established by the State Board of Health, commits the crime of unlawful distribution of controlled substance. If the distribution is:

"(1) A Schedule II drug and:

"a. Above the monthly therapeutic dosage, the person shall be guilty of a Class B felony.

"b. Below the monthly therapeutic dosage, the person shall be guilty of a Class C felony.

"(2) A Schedule III drug and:

"a. Above the monthly therapeutic dosage, the person shall be guilty of a Class C felony.

"b. Below the monthly therapeutic dosage, the person shall be guilty of a Class D felony.

"(3) A Schedule IV or V drug and:

"a. Above the monthly therapeutic dosage, the person shall be guilty of a Class D felony.

b. Below the monthly therapeutic dosage, the person shall be guilty of a Class A misdemeanor.

"(d) Any person who knowingly sells, manufactures, delivers, or brings into this state, or who is knowingly in actual or constructive possession of cocaine, cocaine-base, or any mixture containing cocaine or methamphetamine, as described in Section 20-2-25(1) or Section 20-2-27, is guilty of a felony, which shall be known as "unlawful distribution of controlled substance." If the quantity involved is:

"(1) 1.5 grams or more, but less than 28 grams, the person shall be guilty of the unlawful distribution of controlled substance in the first degree, a Class B felony.

"(2) Less than 1.5 grams, the person shall be guilty of unlawful distribution of controlled substance in the second degree, a Class C felony.

"(e) Any person who knowingly sells, manufactures, delivers, or brings into this state, or who is knowingly in actual or constructive possession of any morphine, opium, or any salt, isomer, or salt of an isomer thereof, including heroin, phencyclidine, or lysergic acid, as described in Section 20-2-23(2) or Section 20-2-25(1)a., or of any mixture containing these substances, is guilty of a felony, which felony shall be known as "unlawful distribution of controlled substance." If the quantity involved is:

"(1) 1.5 grams or more, but less than four grams, the person shall be guilty of unlawful distribution of controlled substance in the first degree, a Class B felony.

"(2) Less than 1.5 grams, the person shall be guilty of unlawful distribution of controlled substance in the second degree, a Class C felony.

§13A-12-212.

"(a) A person commits the crime of unlawful possession of controlled substance if:

"(1) Except as otherwise authorized, he or she possesses a controlled substance enumerated in Schedules Schedule I through V.

"(2) He or she obtains by fraud, deceit, misrepresentation or subterfuge or by the alteration of a prescription or written order or by the concealment of a material fact or by the use of a false name or giving a false address, a controlled substance enumerated in Schedules Schedule I through V.

"(b) Unlawful possession of a controlled substance, unless otherwise provided, is a Class C felony.

"(c) A person, except as otherwise authorized, who possesses a controlled substance enumerated in Schedules II through V, pursuant to Section 20-2-25, 20-2-27, 20-2-29, or 20-2-31, commits the crime of "unlawful possession of controlled substance" when in the unlawful actual or constructive possession of drugs enumerated in Schedules II through V, or in violation of the lawful monthly therapeutic dosage or the milligrams for the scheduled drugs as established by the State Board of Health. The therapeutic dosage established for lawful possession is the lawful amount of the controlled substance for authorized possession, which shall be the benchmark to determine whether the quantity in possession is above or below the monthly therapeutic dosage established by the State Board of Health. If the unlawful drug possessed, actually or constructively, is:

"(1) A Schedule II drug and:

"a. Above the monthly therapeutic dosage, the person shall be guilty of a Class C felony.

"b. Below the monthly therapeutic dosage, the person shall be guilty of a Class D felony.

"(2) A Schedule III drug and:

"a. Above the monthly therapeutic dosage, the person shall be guilty of a Class D felony.

"b. Below the monthly therapeutic dosage, the person shall be guilty of a Class A misdemeanor.

"(3) A Schedule IV or V drug and:

"a. Above the monthly therapeutic dosage, the person shall be guilty of a Class A misdemeanor.

"b. Below the monthly therapeutic dosage, the person shall be guilty of a Class B misdemeanor.

"(d) Any person who has the unlawful actual or constructive possession or receipt of any morphine, opium, or any salt, isomer, or salt of an isomer thereof, including heroin, phencyclidine, or lysergic acid, as described in Section 20-2-23(2), 20-2-23(3), or 20-2-25(1)a., or any mixture containing any of these substances, is guilty of a felony, which felony shall be known as "unlawful possession of controlled substance." If the quantity involved is:

"(1) Three grams or more, but less than four grams, the person shall be guilty of unlawful possession of controlled substance in the first degree, a Class B felony.

"(2) One gram or more, but less than three grams, the person shall be guilty of unlawful possession of controlled substance in the second degree, a Class C felony.

"(3) Less than one gram, the person shall be guilty of unlawful possession of controlled substance in the third degree, a Class D felony.

"(e) Any person who has unlawful or actual constructive possession of cocaine, cocaine-base, or any mixture containing cocaine or methamphetamine, as described in Section 20-2-25(1) or Section 20-2-27, or any mixture containing these substances, is guilty of a felony, which felony shall be known as "unlawful possession of controlled substance." If the quantity involved is:

"(1) 14 grams or more, but less than 28 grams, the person is, except as otherwise authorized, guilty of unlawful possession of controlled substance in the first degree, a Class B felony.

"(2) 1.5 grams or more but less than 14 grams, the person is, except as otherwise authorized, guilty of unlawful possession of controlled substance in the second degree, a Class C felony.

"(3) Less than 1.5 grams, the person is guilty of unlawful possession of controlled substance in the third degree, a Class D felony.

§13A-12-213.

"(a) A person commits the crime of unlawful possession of marihuana marijuana in the first degree if, except as otherwise authorized:

"(1) He the person possesses marihuana two or more pounds, but less than 10 pounds of marijuana. for other than personal use; or

"(2) He possesses marihuana for his personal use only after having been previously convicted of unlawful possession of marihuana in the second degree or unlawful possession of marihuana for his personal use only.

"(b) Unlawful possession of marihuana marijuana in the first degree is a Class C B felony.

§13A-12-214.

"(a) A person commits the crime of unlawful possession of marihuana marijuana in the second degree if, except as otherwise authorized, he or she possesses marihuana 10 or more ounces, but less than two pounds of marijuana for his personal use only.

"(b) Unlawful possession of marihuana marijuana in the second degree is a Class A misdemeanor C felony.

§13A-12-231.

"Except as authorized in Chapter 2, Title 20:

"(1) Any person who knowingly sells, manufactures, delivers, or brings into this state, or who is knowingly in actual or constructive possession of, in excess of one kilo or 2.2 10 pounds of any part of the plant of the genus Cannabis, whether growing or not, the seeds thereof, the resin extracted from any part of the plant, and every compound, manufacture, salt, derivative, mixture, or preparation of the plant, its seeds, or resin including the completely defoliated mature stalks of the plant, fiber produced from the stalks, oil, or cake, or the completely sterilized samples of seeds of the plant which are incapable of germination is guilty of a Class A felony, which felony shall be known as "trafficking in cannabis." Nothing in this subdivision shall apply to samples of tetrahydrocannabinols including, but not limited to, all synthetic or naturally produced samples of tetrahydrocannabinols which contain more than 15 percent by weight of tetrahydrocannabinols and which do not contain plant material exhibiting the external morphological features of the plant cannabis. If the quantity of cannabis involved:

"a. Is in excess of one kilo or 2.2 10 pounds, but less than 100 pounds, the person shall be sentenced to a mandatory minimum term of imprisonment of three calendar years and to pay a fine of twenty-five thousand dollars ($25,000).

"b. Is 100 pounds or more, but less than 500 pounds, the person shall be sentenced to a mandatory minimum term of imprisonment of five calendar years and to pay a fine of fifty thousand dollars ($50,000).

"c. Is 500 pounds or more, but less than 1,000 pounds, the person shall be sentenced to a mandatory minimum term of imprisonment of 15 calendar years and to pay a fine of two hundred thousand dollars ($200,000).

"d. Is 1,000 pounds or more, the person shall be sentenced to a mandatory term of imprisonment of life without parole.

"(2) Any person who knowingly sells, manufactures, delivers, or brings into this state, or who is knowingly in actual or constructive possession of, 28 grams or more of cocaine or of any mixture containing cocaine, described in Section 20-2-25(1), is guilty of a felony, which felony shall be known as "trafficking in cocaine." If the quantity involved:

"a. Is 28 grams or more, but less than 500 grams, the person shall be sentenced to a mandatory minimum term of imprisonment of three calendar years and to pay a fine of fifty thousand dollars ($50,000).

"b. Is 500 grams or more, but less than one kilo, the person shall be sentenced to a mandatory minimum term of imprisonment of five calendar years and to pay a fine of one hundred thousand dollars ($100,000).

"c. Is one kilo, but less than 10 kilos, then the person shall be sentenced to a mandatory minimum term of imprisonment of 15 calendar years and to pay a fine of two hundred fifty thousand dollars ($250,000).

"d. Is 10 kilos or more, the person shall be sentenced to a mandatory term of imprisonment of life without parole.

"(3) Any person who knowingly sells, manufactures, delivers, or brings into this state, or who is knowingly in actual or constructive possession of, four grams or more of any morphine, opium, or any salt, isomer, or salt of an isomer thereof, including heroin, as described in Section 20-2-23(2) or Section 20-2-25(1)a., or four grams or more of any mixture containing any such substance, is guilty of a felony, which felony shall be known as "trafficking in illegal drugs." If the quantity involved:

"a. Is four grams or more, but less than 14 grams, the person shall be sentenced to a mandatory minimum term of imprisonment of three calendar years and to pay a fine of fifty thousand dollars ($50,000).

"b. Is 14 grams or more, but less than 28 grams, the person shall be sentenced to a mandatory minimum term of imprisonment of 10 calendar years and to pay a fine of one hundred thousand dollars ($100,000).

"c. Is 28 grams or more, but less than 56 grams, the person shall be sentenced to a mandatory minimum term of imprisonment of 25 calendar years and to pay a fine of five hundred thousand dollars ($500,000).

"d. Is 56 grams or more, the person shall be sentenced to a mandatory term of imprisonment of life without parole.

"(4) Any person who knowingly sells, manufactures, delivers, or brings into this state, or who is knowingly in actual or constructive possession of 1,000 or more pills or capsules of methaqualone, as described in Section 20-2-1, et seq., is guilty of a felony, which felony shall be known as "trafficking in illegal drugs." If the quantity involved:

"a. Is 1,000 pills or capsules, but less than 5,000 pills or capsules, the person shall be sentenced to a mandatory minimum term of imprisonment of three calendar years and pay a fine of fifty thousand dollars ($50,000).

"b. Is 5,000 capsules or more, but less than 25,000 capsules, that person shall be imprisoned to a mandatory minimum term of imprisonment of 10 calendar years and pay a fine of one hundred thousand dollars ($100,000).

"c. Is 25,000 pills or more, but less than 100,000 pills or capsules, the person shall be sentenced to a mandatory minimum term of imprisonment of 25 calendar years and pay a fine of five hundred thousand dollars ($500,000).

"d. Is 100,000 capsules or more, the person shall be sentenced to a mandatory term of imprisonment of life without parole.

"(5) Any person who knowingly sells, manufactures, delivers or brings into this state, or who is knowingly in actual or constructive possession of 500 or more pills or capsules of hydromorphone as is described in Section 20-2-1, et seq., is guilty of a felony which shall be known as "trafficking in illegal drugs." If the quantity involved:

"a. Is 500 pills or capsules or more but less than 1,000 pills or capsules, the person shall be sentenced to a mandatory term of imprisonment of three calendar years and to pay a fine of fifty thousand dollars ($50,000).

"b. Is 1,000 pills or capsules or more, but less than 4,000 pills or capsules, the person shall be sentenced to a mandatory term of imprisonment of 10 calendar years and to pay a fine of one hundred thousand dollars ($100,000).

"c. Is 4,000 pills or capsules or more but less than 10,000 pills or capsules, the person shall be sentenced to a mandatory term of imprisonment of 25 calendar years and to pay a fine of one hundred thousand dollars ($100,000).

"d. Is more than 10,000 pills or capsules, the person shall be sentenced to a mandatory term of life in prison without parole.

"(6) Any person who knowingly sells, manufactures, delivers, or brings into this state, or who is knowingly in actual or constructive possession of, 28 grams or more of 3,4-methylenedioxy amphetamine, or of any mixture containing 3,4-methylenedioxy amphetamine, is guilty of a felony, which felony shall be known as "trafficking in illegal drugs." If the quantity involved:

"a. Is 28 grams or more, but less than 500 grams, the person shall be sentenced to a mandatory minimum term of imprisonment of three calendar years and to pay a fine of fifty thousand dollars ($50,000).

"b. Is 500 grams or more, but less than one kilo, the person shall be sentenced to a mandatory minimum term of imprisonment of five calendar years and to pay a fine of one hundred thousand dollars ($100,000).

"c. Is one kilo, but less than 10 kilos, then the person shall be sentenced to a mandatory minimum term of imprisonment of 15 calendar years and to pay a fine of two hundred fifty thousand dollars ($250,000).

"d. Is 10 kilos or more, the person shall be sentenced to a mandatory term of imprisonment of life without parole.

"(7) Any person who knowingly sells, manufactures, delivers, or brings into this state, or who is knowingly in actual or constructive possession of, 28 grams or more of 5-methoxy-3, 4-methylenedioxy amphetamine, or of any mixture containing 5-methoxy-3, 4-methylenedioxy amphetamine is guilty of a felony, which felony shall be known as "trafficking in illegal drugs" if the quantity involved:

"a. Is 28 grams or more, but less than 500 grams, the person shall be sentenced to a mandatory minimum term of imprisonment of three calendar years and to pay a fine of fifty thousand dollars ($50,000).

"b. Is 500 grams or more, but less than one kilo, the person shall be sentenced to a mandatory minimum term of imprisonment of five calendar years and to pay a fine of one hundred thousand dollars ($100,000).

"c. Is one kilo, but less than 10 kilos, then the person shall be sentenced to a mandatory minimum term of imprisonment of 15 calendar years and to pay a fine of two hundred fifty thousand dollars ($250,000).

"d. Is 10 kilos or more, the person shall be sentenced to a mandatory term of imprisonment of life without parole.

"(8) Any person who knowingly sells, manufactures, delivers, or brings into this state, or who is knowingly in actual or constructive possession of, four grams or more of phencyclidine, or any mixture containing phencyclidine, is guilty of a felony, which felony shall be known as "trafficking in illegal drugs." If the quantity involved:

"a. Is four grams or more, but less than 14 grams, the person shall be sentenced to a mandatory minimum term of imprisonment of three calendar years and to pay a fine of fifty thousand dollars ($50,000).

"b. Is 14 grams or more, but less than 28 grams, the person shall be sentenced to a mandatory minimum term of imprisonment of five calendar years and to pay a fine of one hundred thousand dollars ($100,000).

"c. Is 28 grams or more, but less than 56 grams, then the person shall be sentenced to a mandatory minimum term of imprisonment of 15 calendar years and to pay a fine of two hundred fifty thousand dollars ($250,000).

"d. Is 56 grams or more, the person shall be sentenced to a mandatory term of imprisonment of life without parole.

"(9) Any person who knowingly sells, manufactures, delivers, or brings into this state, or who is knowingly in actual or constructive possession of, four grams or more of lysergic acid diethylamide, of four grams or more of any mixture containing lysergic acid diethylamide, is guilty of a felony, which felony shall be known as "trafficking in illegal drugs." If the quantity involved:

"a. Is four grams or more, but less than 14 grams, the person shall be sentenced to a mandatory minimum term of imprisonment of three calendar years and to pay a fine of fifty thousand dollars ($50,000).

"b. Is 14 grams or more, but less than 28 grams, the person shall be sentenced to a mandatory minimum term of imprisonment of 10 calendar years and to pay a fine of one hundred thousand dollars ($100,000).

"c. Is 28 grams or more, but less than 56 grams, the person shall be sentenced to a mandatory minimum term of imprisonment of 25 calendar years and to pay a fine of five hundred thousand dollars ($500,000).

"d. Is 56 grams or more, the person shall be sentenced to a mandatory term of imprisonment of life without parole.

"(10) Any person who knowingly sells, manufactures, delivers or brings into this state, or who is knowingly in actual or constructive possession of, 28 grams or more of amphetamine or any mixture containing amphetamine, its salt, optical isomer, or salt of its optical isomer thereof, is guilty of a felony, which felony shall be known as "trafficking in amphetamine." If the quantity involved:

"a. Is 28 grams or more but less than 500 grams, the person shall be sentenced to a mandatory minimum term of imprisonment of three calendar years and to pay a fine of fifty thousand dollars ($50,000).

"b. Is 500 grams or more, but less than one kilo, the person shall be sentenced to a mandatory minimum term of imprisonment of five calendar years and to pay a fine of one hundred thousand dollars ($100,000).

"c. Is one kilo but less than 10 kilos, then the person shall be sentenced to a mandatory minimum term of imprisonment of 15 calendar years and to pay a fine of two hundred fifty thousand dollars ($250,000).

"d. Is 10 kilos or more, the person shall be sentenced to a mandatory term of imprisonment of life without parole.

"(11) Any person who knowingly sells, manufactures, delivers, or brings into this state, or who is knowingly in actual or constructive possession of, 28 grams or more of methamphetamine or any mixture containing methamphetamine, its salts, optical isomers, or salt of its optical isomers thereof, is guilty of a felony, which felony shall be known as "trafficking in methamphetamine." If the quantity involved:

"a. Is 28 grams or more but less than 500 grams, the person shall be sentenced to a mandatory minimum term of imprisonment of three calendar years and to pay a fine of fifty thousand dollars ($50,000).

"b. Is 500 grams or more, but less than one kilo, the person shall be sentenced to a mandatory minimum term of imprisonment of five calendar years and to pay a fine of one hundred thousand dollars ($100,000).

"c. Is one kilo but less than 10 kilos, then the person shall be sentenced to a mandatory minimum term of imprisonment of 15 calendar years and to pay a fine of two hundred fifty thousand dollars ($250,000).

"d. Is 10 kilos or more, the person shall be sentenced to a mandatory term of imprisonment of life without parole.

"(12) The felonies of "trafficking in cannabis," "trafficking in cocaine," "trafficking in illegal drugs," "trafficking in amphetamine," and "trafficking in methamphetamine" as defined in subdivisions (1) through (11), above, shall be treated as Class A felonies for purposes of Title 13A, including sentencing under Section 13A-5-9. Provided, however, that the sentence of imprisonment for a defendant with one or more prior felony convictions who violates subdivisions (1) through (11) of this section shall be the sentence provided therein, or the sentence provided under Section 13A-5-9, whichever is greater. Provided further, that the fine for a defendant with one or more prior felony convictions who violates subdivisions (1) through (11) of this section shall be the fine provided therein, or the fine provided under Section 13A-5-9, whichever is greater.

(13) If the totality of the evidence shows that the person is a user and is not engaged in an enterprise involving large quantities of cannabis, cocaine, illegal drugs, or amphetamine, the judge, in his or her discretion, may reduce the trafficking charge to unlawful possession of marijuana in the first degree and sentence the person accordingly.

"(13) (14) Notwithstanding any provision of law to the contrary, any person who has possession of a firearm during the commission of any act proscribed by this section shall be punished by a term of imprisonment of five calendar years which shall be in addition to, and not in lieu of, the punishment otherwise provided, and a fine of twenty-five thousand dollars ($25,000); the court shall not suspend the five-year additional sentence of the person or give the person a probationary sentence.

§20-2-20.

"(a) The State Board of Health, unless otherwise specified, shall administer this chapter and may add substances to or delete or reschedule all substances enumerated in the schedules in Sections 20-2-23, 20-2-25, 20-2-27, 20-2-29, or 20-2-31 pursuant to the procedures of the State Board of Health. and shall have the authority, also pursuant to the administrative procedures applicable to the board for scheduling purposes, to establish the monthly therapeutic dosage for the controlled substances enumerated in Schedules II through V, as found in Section 20-2-25, 20-2-27, 20-2-29, or 20-2-31, which shall serve as the basis for classifying offenses applicable to the lawful and unlawful use, distribution, or possession of the scheduled substances. In making a determination regarding a substance, the State Board of Health shall consider all of the following:

"(1) The actual or relative potential for abuse.

"(2) The scientific evidence of its pharmacological effect, if known.

"(3) The state of current scientific knowledge regarding the substance.

"(4) The history and current pattern of abuse.

"(5) The scope, duration, and significance of abuse.

"(6) The risk to the public health.

"(7) The potential of the substance to produce psychic or physiological dependence liability.

"(8) Whether the substance is an immediate precursor of a substance already controlled under this chapter.

"(b) After considering the factors enumerated in subsection (a), the State Board of Health shall make findings with respect thereto and issue a rule controlling the substance if it finds the substance has a potential for abuse.

"(c) If any substance is designated, rescheduled, or deleted as a controlled substance under federal law and notice thereof is given to the State Board of Health, the State Board of Health shall similarly control the substance under this chapter after the expiration of 30 days from publication in the federal register of a final order designating a substance as a controlled substance or rescheduling or deleting a substance, unless within that 30-day period, the State Board of Health objects to inclusion, rescheduling, or deletion. In that case, the State Board of Health shall publish the reasons for objection and afford all interested parties an opportunity to be heard. At the conclusion of the hearing, the State Board of Health shall publish its decision, which shall be final unless altered by statute. Upon publication of objection to inclusion, rescheduling, or deletion under this chapter by the State Board of Health, control under this chapter is stayed until the State Board of Health publishes its decision.

"(d) Authority to control under this section does not extend to distilled spirits, wine, malt, beverages, or tobacco.

"(e) The State Board of Health shall exclude any nonnarcotic substance from a schedule if such substance, under the federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act, the federal Comprehensive Drug Abuse Prevention and Control Act of 1970, and the law of this state may be lawfully sold over the counter without a prescription."

Section 2. Sections 13A-12-214.1 and 13A-12-214.2 are added to the Code of Alabama 1975, to read as follows:

§13A-12-214.1

(a) A person commits the crime of unlawful possession of marijuana in the third degree if, except as otherwise authorized, the person possesses three ounces or more, but less than 10 ounces of marijuana for his or her personal use only.

(b) Unlawful possession of marijuana in the third degree is a Class D felony.

§13A-12-214.2

(a) A person commits the crime of unlawful possession of marijuana in the fourth degree if, except as otherwise authorized, the person possesses not more than three ounces of marijuana for his or her personal use only.

(b) Unlawful possession of marijuana in the fourth degree is a Class A misdemeanor. If a person has three previous convictions for unlawful possession of marijuana in the fourth degree, each a Class A misdemeanor, the sentence shall be enhanced to a Class D felony.

Section 3. Although this bill would have as its purpose or effect the requirement of a new or increased expenditure of local funds, the bill is excluded from further requirements and application under Amendment 621, now appearing as Section 111.05 of the Official Recompilation of the Constitution of Alabama of 1901, as amended, because the bill defines a new crime or amends the definition of an existing crime.

Section 4. This act shall become effective on the first day of the third month following its passage and approval by the Governor, or its otherwise becoming law.

Crimes and Offenses
Criminal Law and Procedure
Board of Health, State
Controlled Substances
Drugs
Marijuana
Code Amended

ACTION ALERT! Melt Paul DeMarco's Phone Lines TODAY!

2011-03-21T05:57:00.006-05:00

UPDATE: DeMarco heard us loud and clear. For the time being we can cease the phone calls. If we need to start them back at a later date we will. If you are in DeMarco's district please do continue to call him.

This is to all supporters of the Michael Phillips Compassionate Care Act, a bill, which if enacted, would protect physicians who recommend and patients who use marijuana as medicine from arrest and prosecution under state law.

This bill is in it's 8th year in the Alabama House. Last session it finally passed the House Judiciary Committee but got no further due to it being late in the session. Then, of course, there was the election ion November, which brought sweeping changes to the Alabama House and Senate and entirely changed the make up of the House Judiciary Committee. With that committee now being made up of a majority of Republicans I will admit that we were worried about our bill. However, after talking to many of the newly elected Republicans we have found a great deal of support for this bill among them.

Now, to the new problem we have...Rep. Paul DeMarco. Rep. DeMarco has said publicly on the Matt Murphy Show that he would give our bill a fair hearing and place it in the judiciary calendar when Rep. Todd asked for him to. He has also said as much to a few of our members who have spent time in Montgomery every week since the session started. DeMarco is chair of the House Judiciary Committee.

Now, however, he is waffling.

Paul DeMarco told Rep. Todd on Friday that he doesn't want to put our medical marijuana bill on the calendar because he has all the sentencing reform bills. He wants her to take it to health instead. She doesn't want to do that and we don't want her to do that for two reasons...1) Rep. Todd says the health committee is worse than judiciary and our bill would never pass that committee and 2) We have worked only the members of the judiciary committee this session and don't want to change horses in mid-stream.

So, I need all of you out there who support this bill to melt Paul DeMarco's phone lines and flood his inbox starting today.

Here is his contact information.

Montgomery State House - (334) 242-7667
Home Phone:(205) 802-7285
Work Phone:(205) 314-7909

Email: paul@pljpc.com or paul.demarco@alhouse.org

Tell him that you want this bill placed on the Judiciary calendar. Remind him of his words on the Matt Murphy show a few weeks ago and of his words to members of Alabama Compassionate Care who have taken the time to visit him face to face this session. If you are a patient then tell him so. Please be polite. Piss and vinegar will get us nowhere.

Ok get busy! And don't let up until he relents and does what he said he would do.

PS. I just learned from Matt Murphy that Rep. DeMarco will be on his show this morning at about 8:10 a.m. Please use this opportunity to politely harass him and make him stick to his word. Call in # for Matt Murphy is 205-741-1005 or 867-569-1005.

2011 Legislative Session Bills to Support or Kill

2011-03-14T08:12:00.006-05:00

The 2011 Alabama Legislative Session began on March 1. Browsing through the bills that have already been filed I have found both great bills and horrible bills. Let's start with the great ones.

Bills to Support

1. The Michael Phillips Compassionate Care Act - This bill would protect physicians who recommend and patients who use marijuana as medicine from arrest and prosecution under state law. This will be the 8th year we have tried to get it passed. And things actually look pretty good this year. We do not have a bill number yet but hope to have one next week. It will be assigned to the Judiciary Committee. Please contact the members of the judiciary committee and ask them to pass this bill. The linked names on the Judiciary page do not seem to be working. For contact information please go HERE. Emails are ok, phone calls are better and face to face visits are best.

2. HB10 by Rep. Chris England would allow persons with felony drug convictions who have served their time and paid all fines and restitution to be eligible for public assistance (housing, food stamps etc..) Starving people over petty drug convictions only increases crime and makes children, who have nothing to do with what their parents may have done, go hungry.

3. HB23 is the Records Expungement bill sponsored by Rep. Chris England and would allow persons arrested but never convicted of a crime to have all records, including photos and fingerprints expunged from the court. This bill makes complete sense. People who have not been convicted of a crime but have a record are denied jobs, housing, public assistance if they need it and have problems when they travel across borders. For a while when I was traveling to Canada a great deal an additional $1000 was required because an immigration lawyer had to be retained in Canada on my behalf just so I could clear customs.

4. HB128 sponsored by Rep. Chris England would allow first time felony offenders whose crimes did not include moral turpitude to be sentenced to no more than three years in jail, prison or treatment and cap fines that could be imposed. Once the sentence is completed the record of defendant would be wiped clean.

5. HB129 Sponsored by Rep. Chris England - This bill would require probation and parole officers to provide probationers with periodic compliance incentive status updates to afford probationers with the opportunity to understand their compliance status.
This bill would also allow a probationer serving a probationary sentence of greater than one year to receive an automatic compliance incentive review upon completing two-thirds of the probation period or suspension of sentence.
This bill would allow probationers to be transferred to unsupervised probation if in satisfactory compliance with the terms and conditions of probation, including the payment of court-ordered fines and costs, as well as restitution.

6. HB134 Sponsored by Rep. Rod Scott - Under existing law, the driver's license of a person convicted of a drug offense or adjudicated a juvenile delinquent when the underlying offense is a drug offense is required to be suspended for six months.
This bill would delete the requirement for the suspension for all drug offenses except trafficking in illegal drugs.
The bill would also provide for the certification of this act to the United States Department of Transportation by the Governor.

7. HB193 Sponsored by Rep. Mike Jones - The Common Sense Consumption Act - This bill would prohibit lawsuits based on claims arising out of weight gain, obesity, a health condition associated with weight gain or obesity, or other generally known condition allegedly caused by or allegedly likely to result from long-term consumption of food.

8. HB225 Sponsored by our favorite Representative Patricia Todd -

SYNOPSIS: Under existing law, there is no provision to create and maintain a statewide registry of convicted animal abusers.
This bill would require the annual registration of each animal abuser with the local sheriff's department in the county of the abuser's residence and would provide for fines and penalties for violations.
This bill would require each county sheriff to maintain a local registry of animal abusers; to provide this information to certain residents, businesses, and schools; and to forward the registration information to the Department of Public Safety.
This bill would require the Department of Public Safety to create and maintain a central registry of animal abusers that can be assessed by the public.

9. HB247 Sponsored by Rep. Patricia Todd - Under existing law, additional penalties are imposed against a person if the offense committed is motivated by the victim's race, color, religion, national origin, ethnicity, or physical or mental disability.
This bill would provide for those additional penalties for crimes motivated by the victim's sexual orientation or gender identity or expression.

10. HB226 Sponsored by Rep. Patricia Todd - Under existing law, State Department of Education is required to develop a model policy for local school boards pertaining to student harassment prevention. Currently, the term "harassment" does not specifically include as a characteristic of a student the gender identity or sexual orientation of the student or of the individual who is associated with the student.
This bill would expand the definition of "harassment" to include as a characteristic of a student the gender identity or sexual orientation of the student or of the individual with whom the student associates.

(NOTE:) I have a deeply personal interest in the two bills above. My daughter is perceived to be gay by her peers. This perception comes from her extreme modesty because she doesn't dress like a hooker and try to throw her ass on every boy who walks by. Whether she is gay or not is no ones fucking business but hers and her family's. Every day at school she is tormented by vicious hillbilly idiots that could have been cast in 'Deliverance'. Last week she was locked in a closet and the door was barricaded. If she'd had a medical emergency (and that was very possible as she has been having some pretty serious medical problems of late) or if there had been a fire or weather emergency then my daughter could have died and I would right now be in jail for exacting revenge sans the judicial process. The school does only the very minimum when it comes to doling out punishments to the kids who torment her. In the above mentioned case the vicious kids involved were given a few days of in school suspension. After this happened the ring leader of the kids who did this took it to Facebook. I saved the page and printed it out and turned it over to the school resource officer who said there might be enough there to file harassing communications charges. If there is enough you can bet your ass that I will be filing those charges and hope the punk who did this goes to juvenile detention. We'll see how he likes being locked up against his will. Every kid deserves to learn in a non-hostile environment regardless of race, religion, disability or perception of sexual orientation.

11. SB17 Sponsored by Rep. Cam Ward - Under existing law, to gain ballot access, an independent candidate for office must file a written petition signed by at least three percent of the qualified electors who cast ballots for the office of Governor in the last general election.
This bill would reduce the number of names of qualified electors required for independent candidates for statewide office to gain ballot access.

12. HB147 - Sponsored by By Representatives McMillan, DeMarco, Ford, Scott, Hill, Newton (D) McClendon, Johnson (R) Millican, McCutcheon, Treadaway, Thomas, Weaver, Wood, Ison, Boothe, Greer, Collins, Nordgren, Galliher, Roberts, Clouse, Mask, Hubbard (M) Brown and McClurkin

This bill would outlaw the use of gas chambers in Humane Society Shelters. Before I became aware of this bill I thought that when an animal that hadn't found a forever home was put down in a shelter that they were put to sleep just like at the vet's office. Turns out it isn't nearly as humane as that. What they really do is load bunches of dogs or cats into a GAS CHAMBER and gas them. Before sweet death finally comes these poor animals urinate and defecate on themselves and tear each other apart out of fear. Makes me want to cry just thinking about it. This bill would mandate that animals who have to be euthanized are done so with a shot....just like at the vets office.

Please have your pet spayed or neutered so that they don't add to the problem of unlove3d and unwanted animals. When the pitbull puppy showed up here a few weeks ago I called the local shelter to see if it was a no kill. It wasn't. And the lady on the phone told me that last year they had taken in 6000 dogs who were strays or dumped. She said in the first hour and a half of that morning 12 dumped dogs were brought in. How awful. So, take your furry friends to the vet for the snip snip and stop adding to the problem.

Bills to Kill

1. HB91 - Sponsored by Rep. Gaston - This bill would add the following to the Schedule I of the controlled substances list: 3,4-Methylenedioxymethcathinone (Methylone), 3,4-Methylenedioxypyrovalerone (MDPV), 4-Methylmethcathinone (Mephedrone), 4-Methoxymethcathinone, 3-Fluoromethcathinone, and 4-Fluoromethcathinone.
This action would make the drugs subject to regulation and penalties in the same manner as other controlled substances.

2. HB163 - Sponsored by Rep. Farley - Under existing law, the possession of certain named chemical compounds of synthetic cannabinoids is prohibited and subject to criminal penalties. Possession of the substances is a Class C felony except possession for personal use on the first offense is a Class A misdemeanor.
This bill would add certain named chemical compounds of synthetic cannabinoid to the law and would specify that any other chemical compound capable of exhibiting cannabinoid like psychoactivity would be prohibited. Violations would be subject to the existing penalties.

(NOTE: We have plenty of failed drug laws on the books and the last thing this state needs is more. Passage of these two laws would mean more people in prison and more tax dollars wasted to keep them there. Not to mention that the Chief Justice of the Alabama Supreme Court and Republican Governor Robert Bentley are promoting changes to existing drug laws (marijuana) in order to keep people out of prison for personal possession as well as pushing for the release of those currently in prison for marijuana possession. Also, it's important to point out that current prohibition laws are responsible for the rise in synthetic substitutes. In six months there will be a new designer synthetic on the market. This is 'feel good' legislation that needs to die a quick death. Both of these bills have had their second read in the judiciary committee. Please contact the members of the judiciary committee and ask them to kill these bills. )

3. HB157 Sponsored by Rep.'s Rich, Long, Greer, Hammon, Baughn, Nordgren and Collins - Under existing law, there is no requirement that a welfare recipient of TANF, food stamps, or Medicaid must be tested for substance abuse. Also under existing law, there is no requirement that any adult applying for TANF, food stamps, or Medicaid must be tested for substance abuse if there is a reasonable suspicion of the appearance or demeanor of the applicant that implies that the applicant may be under the influence of a controlled substance.
This bill would make such requirements.
This bill would provide for the Department of Human Resources to be responsible for testing; would provide that any positive test results are not admissible in any criminal proceeding; would provide that any adult who fails the test or refuses to take the test would be ineligible for TANF, food stamps, or Medicaid; and would provide for the department to promulgate rules pursuant to the Administrative Procedure Act to implement this act.

(Note: This bill will ensure that innocent children go hungry and without medical care because of something their parents might have done. Drug testing for these services means that poor people or people who have recently lost their jobs due to the economy no longer have any privacy rights. Please remember that a positive drug test does not mean that said drugs were purchased with money that should have been spent on medical care or groceries. Then there is the issue of a false positive which is far more common than people think. Many over the counter medications can cause a false positive on a drug screen. Also, why only illegal drugs? If the purpose of this bill is to make people spend money on the things they should spend it on then why not also test for alcohol, tobacco and cheeseburgers from McDonald's? In my opinion the only ones who should be drug tested are elected officials, state employees and law enforcement personnel. Not poor people who need a little help to feed their families. Let's start at the top and drug test the people who have all the power in this state and all the taxpayer money at their disposal and make all the laws that they themselves are not subject to. Last but not least...you should always fight attempts to make laws that require that you hand over your bodily fluids to the damn government.)

4. HB8 Sponsored by Rep. Long - This bill shall be known as the "Alabama Women Become Property of the State Upon Catching Pregnant Act (title mine). Existing law makes it a crime to knowingly, intentionally, or recklessly expose a child to a controlled substance, chemical substance, or drug paraphernalia.
This bill would clarify the term "child" to include an unborn child in utero at any stage of development regardless of viability. This bill would establish venue for prosecution for exposure in utero in the county where the child is born. This bill would create a rebuttable presumption of exposure in utero if both the mother and the child test positive for the same controlled substance not prescribed by a physician.

(Note: What this bill would really do is deter expectant mothers from seeking out critical prenatal care and rip apart families. No one thinks its a good idea for women to use drugs of any kind, including alcohol and tobacco, while pregnant. However addiction doesn't go away overnight upon becoming pregnant. If a pregnant woman is using drugs then treatment and parenting classes would be the best way to ensure she stops using drugs and is able to care for her child. Not prison. Not DHR. If this bill were really about the health of an infant then alcohol and tobacco which are both proven to cause birth defects would be included. This is another piece of feel good legislation that needs to die quickly.)

5. HB56 Sponsored by By Representatives Hammon, Collins, Patterson, Rich, Nordgren, Merrill, Treadaway, Johnson (R) Roberts, Henry, Bridges, Gaston, Johnson (K) Chesteen, Sanderford, Williams (D) McClendon, Wren, Williams (J) Hubbard (M) Williams (P) Baughn, Moore (B) Long and Canfield.

This is the Arizona style anti-immigration bill and it is absolutely terrible. It legalizes racial profiling (as if we didn't have enough of that already)and would waste tax dollars by deporting Hispanics who are determined to be here without the proper paperwork. Deporting Hispanics before the border is gotten under control is insane. They will just come right back and be deported again and again and again. Do we have a problem concerning immigration? Yes. We do. Is this the way to solve it....by demanding to see someones papers (Nazi Germany anyone?), racial profiling, and tearing apart families who only came here for a better life? NO. Why is there so much hate in this state? People here seem to thrive on it. Anyone they can put down, sic the cops on, be biased against due to skin color they love it. It seems to be a majority of Alabama citizens too. Or a damn loud minority. Where is all the Christian love and compassion which Jesus taught?

There will be other bills added to this list as they are filed. If you've looked around ALISON and have seen a bill that should be added to either of these lists please email me or post on this thread.

Free to good home

2011-02-24T12:01:00.004-06:00

This little cutie pie followed Bell up the driveway after she got off the school bus yesterday. Looks to be a brindle pit bull about 3 or maybe 4 months old. Super sweet and affectionate. She was half starved and so naturally I fed her. She is a darling. Can't get or give enough love and affection. She is incredibly submissive....almost like she has been mistreated, but there are no marks on her that indicate that. I think someone just dumped her out because she is female.

I called the Humane Society here but they are a kill shelter and I just can't have that. Also called a bunch of rescues but they are all at max capacity and can't take any more. I really can't keep her. I have my German Shepherd and he is plenty.

If you would like to give this little angel a home please email me at lorettanall@gmail.com
If you plan to fight her then don't bother contacting me.

Meeting about Goodwater Court Shooting Feb 19 at 6 pm

2011-02-18T15:00:00.002-06:00

On Feb. 19, 2011 at 6 p.m. St. James AME Church will hold a public meeting to discuss the shooting of an unarmed man with a broken hip using crutches to walk by a police officer in Goodwater. I have helped to organize this meeting and spent most of the morning in Goodwater talking to eyewitnesses, local residents and clergy. I will be one of the speakers at the meeting tomorrow night as will the eye witness who saw the whole thing from the row in court, and Mr. Bernard Simelton President of the NAACP will be in attendance with some other members of his group. The ACLU is also going to try and send a representative. A lot of media should be in attendance as well.

What is happening and has been happening in Goodwater, AL for a long time needs to stop and stop now. If you believe that injustice anywhere is injustice everywhere then I hope you will attend this meeting tomorrow night. Here is the Google Map of how to get there.

http://maps.google.com/maps/place?oe=utf-8&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a&um=1&ie=UTF-8&q=st+james+church+goodwater+alabama&fb=1&gl=us&hq=st+james+church&hnear=Goodwater,+AL&cid=8962289816838416940

Goodwater Cop Shoots Unarmed Man on Crutches

2011-02-06T07:01:00.006-06:00

On Feb. 3, 2011 an unarmed man with a broken hip, who was using crutches to walk was shot by Goodwater, AL police officer for arguing with Judge Carlton Teel. There are numerous news articles on the incident. But they are all conflicting.

Witnesses in the courtroom say that Brian Keith Ford was upset at the huge fine levied against him for a misdemeanor charge. He, according to someone who knows him, could only pay half. When the judge refused his request he asked to speak to his girlfriend, which the judge denied. Mr. Ford became upset and he and Judge Teel got into a yelling match. Cops, the judge and lawyers in the courtroom claim that Ford went for the judges gun, which was under his robes and not visible. They also say he grabbed the judge. A Goodwater police officer on security duty in the courtroom then shot Ford once in the stomach and when he was on the ground shot him again in the side.

Witnesses in the courtroom that do not work for the city, the state and who are not lawyers tell a very different story.

They say that there was no gun, Ford never went for any gun, that it was simply a yelling match between the judge and Ford. They said Ford was loud and unruly but didn't do anything to deserve to be shot twice.

Obviously, there are some questions about why this man was shot.

Now, I've had the misfortune of being in that courtroom when the current Judge Teel's older brother, Robert, was judge in 2000. Back then Judge Robert Teel routinely jailed everyone who was unable to pay a fine for misdemeanors. I was jailed for not forking over nearly $800 for a misdemeanor traffic ticket. They refuse to work out any sort of payment arrangements with anyone. If you don't have the money right then and there then you are made to sit along the wall until court is over and then you are taken downstairs to jail. It is the only court I have ever been in that refused to work with people on fines. Considering that Goodwater is a severely economically depressed area (there is one small factory there) I have always found that very odd and well...cruel. I also think it is illegal. I encourage you to read what happened to me in that courtroom. It appears that the current Judge Teel has followed in Robert's footsteps, because according to some of the news stories he, too, is making those unable to pay huge fines for minor offenses sit along the wall (on the floor) until they can be taken to jail, (which is a horrible hole downstairs).

Goodwater is a strange place as far as the legal community goes. It's like an incestuous cabal of related judges and lawyers who run the whole town. The Teel's father was at one time a State Representative. His three sons, Robert, Frank, and Carlton currently control Goodwater. Robert used to be the judge and he retired. Frank Teel is the Asst. DA who was arrested by the ABI for extortion in May of 2010. And Carlton Teel is the current municipal judge. They are white. The vast majority of Goodwater residents are black.

There are some major questions that need to be asked in this case.

1) A Judge sits on an elevated platform where it would be nearly impossible to put ones hands on him. There are some steps to climb to get to the judge. Are we really to believe that this man, with a broken hip and walking on crutches, actually made it past security, up the steps and to the judge before a cop could stop him?

2) Some news outlets are reporting that Ford "tried to forcibly obtain a firearm" that was under the Judge's robe. If it was under his robe then how did Ford know it was there? If it was under his robe then it wasn't visible. A different news outlet is reporting that he tried to take the gun from the cop. And yet another news outlet is reporting that Teel pulled the gun and Ford tried to take it away from him. The ABI is going with Ford trying to take it from the judge after the judge pulled it. Witnesses in the courtroom say there was never a gun except the one Ford was shot with.

3) Are cops in Goodwater so poorly trained that they can't take down a guy with a broken hip who is using crutches to walk?

And there is this oddball story about how Ford got his hip broke in an alleged police chase. Problem is, the police who were reportedly chasing him have said there was no such chase. And, I have questions about this paragraph.

“A Goodwater police officer informed (the trooper) that ACPD was in pursuit of a vehicle that was traveling North on Alabama 9 and he was waiting on the chase to enter his jurisdiction but ACPD called off the pursuit,” the report states. “The Goodwater police officer traveled South on Alabama 9 to try and locate the vehicle and came upon the wreck with the driver still inside. The GWPD police officer believes that the vehicle was the one ACPD was chasing but can’t prove it.”

Now, the ACPD is the Alexander City Police Department. Their jurisdiction is within the city limits, although they do sometimes help the Tallapoosa Sheriff's Dept. out in the county. Highway 9 is in an entirely different county. The part of it referenced in that paragraph is in Coosa County headed toward Clay County. ACPD wouldn't have been anywhere near there as it is way out of their jurisdiction. If it was already on Hwy 9 N. then it would have been well within the jurisdiction of Goodwater PD and Coosa Co. Sheriff's dept. and they would have been giving chase.

Either the ACPD is lying because they were giving chase outside their jurisdiction, or the Goodwater PD is lying because they want to paint this unarmed man they shot as a really bad person....which he might be, but that doesn't justify shooting him when he is unarmed.

The ABI is merely parroting what the Judge, lawyers and cop who fired the shots are saying. Seriously, their statement is almost literally "What They Said", with 'they' being the Judge, cop and lawyers. What about what the eye witnesses who have all said something very different? Does their version not count because they are just common folk?

This case needs to be watched very closely. The municipal court in Goodwater needs to be investigated for jailing people for merely being unable to pay a fine and for refusing to work out payment arrangements. I know that Leeds and at least one more city recently got sued for that practice. The plaintiffs won. It is illegal to jail people on non-jailable offenses for being unable to pay fines. It amounts to debtors prison.

The cop needs to be fired and barred from ever working as a police officer again. Anywhere. Chances are he won't be though. Seems that most places just pass bad cops on from one department to another, like pedophile priests. That is what I've heard regarding this cop already. Nothing is done about them until someone gets killed or brutalized...and even then it is rare that anything is done to them .

Stay tuned for new developments.

Shelby Co. Drug Court Testing Parents of Enrolled Juveniles

2011-01-28T06:54:00.008-06:00

I got an email from a parent in Shelby Co. last night who has a juvenile child enrolled in drug court. This parent informed me that the judge (Kramer) forced a drug test on the spouse under threat of arrest "to prove the parents are good role models" and that this is standard procedure in Shelby Co. drug court.

DO WHAT?!?!?!?

I couldn't believe it. Couldn't figure out how such a thing could be legal. It seems to violate the "innocent until proven guilty" tenet upon which our entire judicial system is founded. The parents of the juvenile haven't violated any laws, they are not under the rule of any courts, no custody battles, no DHR or anything like that. One of the parents is a teacher...so how can they be forced to submit to court ordered drug testing?

Hell, this case wasn't even about drugs to begin with. The kid in question shop lifted a pack of candy bars and got placed on probation. Later the kid tested positive for the fake marijuana that was outlawed last legislative session. I wasn't aware that a test had even been developed for the fake stuff. However, when I googled it I found that they have indeed developed a test to rapidly detect any fun one might possibly have.

Then the parent sent me the paperwork for enrollment and it was right there in black and white.

"Parents, Guardians, or Custodians is/are made party to herein shall"

X Submit to and pass drug and alcohol screens at the request of the drug
court team.

It also says that parents are not to have alcohol in the house and that they must allow entry to any drug court team member who just happens by. Alcohol is legal. This case has nothing to do with alcohol. How can it be legal for drug court to say that parents, who are of legal drinking age, are not allowed to drink alcohol in the privacy of their own home, when this case has nothing to do with alcohol?

Still, I thought this might be a case of some power tripping judge thinking he can get away with anything in his court room. So, I asked a couple of lawyers I know who sometimes have cases in Shelby Co. and they told me that this provision (make parents or guardian a party to case) is in the Alabama Juvenile Code. I looked it up this morning and Section 12-15-31(5) says;

"A PARENT OR GUARDIAN OF THE CHILD CAN BE MADE A PARTY TO THIS CASE PURSUANT
TO § 12-15-31(5), CODE OF ALABAMA 1975. A PERSON MADE A PARTY TO THIS CASE MAY BE
REQUIRED TO PAY ATTORNEY FEES, TO PAY FOR EVALUATION AND TREATMENT, TO PAY FINES,
COURT COSTS, AND RESTITUTION, AND TO PAY FOR CARE, SUPPORT, AND SUPERVISION OF THE
CHILD. A PERSON MADE A PARTY MAY BE SUBJECT TO OTHER THINGS ALSO. FAILURE TO
COMPLY WITH THE ORDERS OF THE COURT CAN RESULT IN CONTEMPT PROCEEDINGS, AND FAILURE TO MAKE PAYMENTS ORDERED CAN RESULT IN A CIVIL JUDGMENT FOR THE COLLECTION OF PAYMENTS ORDERED."

Now, in 1975 when the code was written, there was no such thing as drug court in the State of Alabama. I'm not even sure drug testing existed in 1975. Problem is, the sentence above which says "A person made party may be subject to other things also." That is so broadly written that it can be made to fit anything a judge wants it to fit. It seems to me that the provision was mostly to make the parent responsible for paying the costs associated with juvenile court. It had absolutely nothing to do with drug testing the parents of a juvenile who is in trouble with the law. How can it apply to drug testing parents in 2011?

Also, the code says CAN be made a party...not WILL be made a party or HAS TO be made a party to. It also says persons made party to a case MAY be subject to other 'things'. It doesn't say WILL be subject to other things or what those other things might be.

So, what determines if a parent/guardian/custodian is made a party to a case? Are there any clear cut determining factors? Or is it, as I suspect, left up to the individual judge so that there are no clear guidelines?

I learned from one of the attorneys that I communicated with that if one of the parents fails a drug test they get sent directly to jail. How is putting the parent of a kid in trouble, in jail, supposed to help matters?

I've also asked a family court judge I know about all of this. I want to know is it standard procedure in all drug courts, or is it isolated to Shelby Co.?

All they are really doing is looking for more people to extort in drug court. I guess their reasoning is that if a kid does something wrong (and what kid hasn't shop lifted a piece of candy at least once?) then the parents must be doing things wrong, too. I always thought there had to be evidence of wrongdoing before prosecution could commence. Isn't that how our legal system is supposed to work?

I refuse to accept that this is legal. If it is legal then the only way to change it is through the legislature. I will keep researching it. I'd like to hear from any parents with a child in drug court anywhere in the state, and especially in Shelby Co., that this has happened to. Please email your story to me at lorettanall@gmail.com

In the meantime all parents in Shelby Co. should be aware that this can, and probably will happen to you, if your child somehow winds up in juvenile court.

Update: I spoke with both mom and dad yesterday via phone and got more astonishing details that I want to share.

Mom is a school teacher in an inner city school. She works 10 hours a day. At home she and dad also have a set of two year old twins, one of which is autistic. Dad stays home during the day to watch the kids and has a night job. If dad loses his job then mom will have to leave her job in order to provide child care for her small children. If that happens they will lose their home.

When I talked to dad he told me the whole story about what happened in court. He said the Judge James Kramer was talking about what happens in drug court and what to expect and all of a sudden he said, "Now parents I expect you to be good role models for your children and to prove that you are a good role model I expect each of you to provide me with a urine sample before you leave today."

Dad said he felt like he had been run over by a truck. He said the public defender, who should have been representing him, kept coming over to him and saying, "This is a really great program and you should sign on." Said he must have come over to him 5 or 6 times trying to cajole him into submission. What he didn't do was explain all the consequences for a dirty urine, offer him any advice on his rights. No, nothing like that. That makes me wonder if the Public Defenders office in Shelby Co. is getting some kind of kick back somewhere.

Dad said all the other new parents in drug court that day were practically running over each other to get in line....raising their hands and volunteering to piss in a cup. He said one lady got overlooked and she jumped up and said..."Y'all forgot me. I want to be drug tested too!" (I think I just threw up in my mouth a little)

Dad said he told the probation officer that he had already peed and that he would be unable to leave a sample. He said the PO told him that he would be detained until he complied. When dad asked the PO what would happen if he flat refused he was told that the judge would put him in jail until he changed his mind.

Dad asked the PO what happens if a parent comes up dirty and the PO said, "The Judge will talk to you when you come back on Monday, will probably send you to treatment for marijuana addiction. If you fail another one you will go to jail." And he will obviously be placed in the adult drug court in Shelby Co. which is something like $2500 - $3000 a lick plus the cost of drug testing and probation officer fees.

Dad said the Judge told everyone that the part about not having alcohol in the home didn't mean that the parents couldn't go out to a bar. (Which would mean they would likely have to drive home after drinking. (Yay safety!)

Dad also told me that while enrolled in drug court that parents were not allowed to give their children medication, of any kind, even that prescribed by a physician, until the drug court team approved it. Not kidding. Even doctor prescribed medication has to be approved by these yahoos. There is a case where this judge put a parent in jail for 30 days because she allegedly gave her child something over the counter while the child was enrolled in drug court.

Dad said the PO stood behind him in the bathroom and WATCHED him pee in a cup.

Dad noted that there are no black families in juvenile drug court. I told him that's because drug courts don't believe black people have money so black kids just get sent to jail. I think we have a clear case of unequal access here.

Dad said he asked the judge what if they didn't want their son to go through drug court. He said the judge told him that his son would then have a trial by jury, but with ONLY the juvenile probation officers giving testimony so as not to jeopardize the sanctity of the information, that his son would be found guilty (how the hell does he know that would be the verdict?) and that he would be sent to juvenile detention and then through drug court anyway.

I exchanged emails with Peter Wilkinson of Rolling Stone Magazine yesterday. He has asked for an exclusive print interview and is lobbying his higher ups to get permission to come back to Alabama and cover this story.

This unconstitutional BS will not stand!

There is case precedent. Commentor sixstring found a similar case in Idaho and the Idaho Supreme Court ruled that drug testing parents violates the 4th Amendment to the US Constitution.

Webster Alexander facing 41 years

2011-01-22T20:32:00.005-06:00

It was 8 years ago this month when my friend Marc Emery first alerted me to the plight of then Alabama teenager Webster Alexander whose high school principal Ricky Nichols set him up by placing an undercover cop in the small town Lawrence County high school to pressure the kids into selling him weed for his FAKE cancer stricken grandmother. That's like the sickest shit ever when you think about it.

(Oh do do do read this link to Principal Ricky Nichols . Talk about sweet fucking irony and poetic justice! God it doesn't get any better than that :)

Webster was the unlucky kid to get caught in the snare. He was a first time offender. And they were saying he was going to get 26 years in prison for a few ounces of pot. 26 years for a high school kid. For weed!

Marc called me when that story came up on the news feed all upset and said, "Whatever we have to do, no matter how much it costs, we have to save this kid. You get in the car, I'll wire you some money and you drive to Moulton, Alabama and get to work." I had known Marc about 4 months at that point and other than writing some LTE's and, subsequently going to jail for doing so, this was the first real activist work I ever did.

I went to Moulton a day or two later after I had talked to the family and did a video interview with Webster and his dad. After that was released Rolling Stone called and said they wanted to interview the family and me and write about it for the magazine. I was floored. Some of the pictures from the Rolling Stone article are in the Ricky Nichols link above. I still have that issue. That RS article was BRUTAL to the town all around and most especially to the law enforcement, judge and asshole principal. Marc Emery sent one of his Cannabis Culture journalists down here to do an article on Webster's situation and my activism around it. Alabama media was all over it and it went nationwide.

Finally it came to sentencing day and, because of my efforts and the massive amount of media attention I was able to bring to the case, Webster received one year in jail...sort of. They did actually sentence him to 26 years, but suspended it and placed him on 10 years supervised probation. Within a week he was out on work release and basically only spending nights and weekends actually in jail.

But, as most of us know probation isn't set up to help people succeed. It is, in fact, designed to make people fail. Who in their right mind thinks a kid of 18 or 19 is going to make it through 10 years of pissing in a cup or not running afoul of the law in some other way...like a speeding ticket for instance? Or a tail light out? Or the most ludicrous of all the "no tag light"? For that matter, what adult is going to make it through 10 years supervised probation? I mean, I don't care if it's a child molester. Those sick bastards can die in prison and I think they should. But a kid who was entrapped and pressured to sell weed to an undercover cop?

Webster wrote me once and thanked me for helping save him from 26 years in a state prison. We lost touch after that. A few months ago his wife contacted me on Facebook and let me know that he was doing well and that he is a father now with two small children he adores. Said he had done well on probation and that he had never forgotten me. I've never forgotten him either. I never will. His case is what set me in motion in Alabama. I was outraged. I still am.

Sadly, Webster, 8 years into his 10 years of probation, has been arrested again. A few days ago his sister contacted me on Facebook and told me that he had been arrested and was facing 15 additional years on top of the original 26, because his probation wasn't up on the first case, after he was arrested for having 3 xanax tablets in the wrong bottle. She asked if I could help. The answer, of course, is yes. I will do all I can.

That's 41 fucking years for a piss ant drug charge. 41 years.

I spoke with Webster's father tonight and he said that the police in the tiny Alabama town where they live have hounded and harassed Webster every time he set foot out the door. Said they got him fired from numerous jobs, harassed him walking down the street,harassed him riding his bicycle. In fact, on this latest charge he was riding his bike when the police got him. Every time they laid eyes on him they were fucking with him. I know that's true. I grew up in a tiny Alabama town where that's just the way things were. Once you were in the cops cross hairs they never fucking left you alone. That's why I left my home town as soon as possible. I wish Webster had been able to do the same.

Last week the judge in Webster's case signed an order for him to spend 1 year in a drug treatment facility. Problem is there are no open beds. I hope Chief Justice Sue Bell Cobb reads this post. If she does then I would like her to know that her push for drug courts in this state is completely useless unless there are actual treatment beds and all. But there aren't.

The entire state of Alabama has only 246 treatment beds for women trying to recover from alcohol/drug addiction. I don't know the number for males. If Chief Justice Cobb truly wants to help people stay out of jail because they have a drug problem then she would include/push for funding for treatment facilities. You can't keep people out of jail if there is no where to go but jail. Even a pot smoker like me knows that.

And I'm not talking about these bogus 'treatment' places (like the one Webster has been signed off to go to) that demand huge sums of money from poor people in order to get in, promise to find them work and when they can't or the temp job they do find runs out they start harassing the family for money again. And when the money isn't produced they get kicked out and sent back to jail. Those places should be outlawed. If you can't provide treatment then change then laws so that people who use drugs, but do not harm others, are not criminals. And while you're at it make it a crime punishable by the death penalty for asshole principals to set up high school kids. That'd be real awesome!

Webster Alexander should not be facing 41 years in prison. His original sentence and probation were totally uncalled for. So, is this one. Hell, murderers and child rapists don't get sentences like this one. It's police and court action and the lack of testicular political fortitude to change these ass backwards laws, like this bullshit right here, that keep our prisons running at 195% capacity and costs Alabama taxpayers hundreds of millions of dollars a year. It has to stop. All it does is destroy lives and families. Nothing productive comes from enforcing these barbaric and antiquated laws against non-violent people.

If Webster were to serve the 41 years the ballpark cost at the current rate of $15,223 per prisoner per year would cost Alabama taxpayers $624,143...nearly 3 quarters of a million dollars.

I'll be headed to Moulton, AL again real soon. In the meantime please write a letter to the editor of the Moulton Advertiser expressing your outrage over this unacceptable treatment of Webster Alexander. editor@moultonadvertiser.com

My Daughter is BRILLIANT!

2011-01-22T17:55:00.004-06:00

Today was the Alabama Southern Regional Scholars Bowl competition in Reeltown, AL. For those of you who might not know Scholars Bowl is a Jeopardy-like competition for Jr. high through high school students. My daughter is on the team.

The competition today was six teams from schools in this area. Each team is made up of four students with however many alternates the team wants to have on hand. Bell's team was made up of 5 kids including her, so they only had one alternate. There are three series of ten questions where the kids buzz in to answer and one period where they do a worksheet to hand in. There were six rounds with four students from each school going head to head.

Bell's team has not practiced all year. Not one time.

Bell was in the first group from her school to go and after the first round it was decided that she would be on every round thereafter. :)

My daughter flat out dominated during all 6 rounds. She answered questions that I couldn't answer and probably about 95% of all questions answered for her team.

Her team came in second by only a few points and they are now headed to the state championship competition.

I'm so proud of her I could split. Gives a mama a magnificent feeling to see her child DOMINATE!

I am proud of the whole team....but especially proud of my Bell.

You Go Girl!

Absolute Genius!

2011-01-16T15:58:00.002-06:00

From CNN

A former pharmaceutical sales rep starts a company that places advertisements in the bottom of the plastic bins you place your items into at the airport to go through the X-Ray machine.

Brilliant!

Wonder if they would allow a Free Marc ad? I've already inquired about pricing.

Letters from Marc Emery #8

2011-01-07T17:48:00.003-06:00

Dear Jodie,

The censorship of my mail here at D. Ray James is continuing to outrage me. So far I am aware of;

* 36 letters returned
* An 8 x 10 Christmas card (hand made)
* An electoral map of the Nov. 2 elections
* A US atlas seized
* 75 years of DC comics hardcover denied because its size constitutes a security risk. (it's 12x24x2 and $125)
*Over 100 books denied that have been sent to me
* Numerous magazines returned to sender

For me to receive any books of any kind at all I have to mail out an equivalent number. To receive 5 books I have to send out 5 books to somewhere. Currently I am mailing them to Loretta in Alabama because postal rates to send them withing the US are cheaper than to Canada.

US citizens in federal prisons do not have to experience this discrimination. Additionally US citizens in US federal prisons all have email access to up to 30 correspondents for hours a day. But not for Canadians in a US fed prison. Even the paltry 300 minutes a month of phone access - and there is no reason why D Ray James limits us to 300 minutes - is erratic as this facility can cancel phone access at any time as they did to me Dec. 22 - 27. Some Canadians here have not been able to make a call out for 13 days now, from Dec. 22 to Jan. 4, like Trevor Lubbers from Vancouver and the Canadians from Montreal, New Westminster, Vancouver, still have no phone access as the computer here which controls our phone access just mysteriously cancels our phone access. This happened exclusively to Canadians.

All newspaper clippings get taken out of my mail. Photocopies of newspaper articles get removed. Even a copy of an email sent to D Ray James protesting their tampering with my mail was removed from a letter from Catherine Leach to me! In none of these instances of refused letters, books returned (dozens) books denied me (about 100), Christmas cards rejected, newspaper clippings, was I given any notification as is required by D Ray James and BOP policy and procedure. Most importantly all this mail room behaviour violates Bureau of Prisons policy and procedure. But, the mail room, like everything else about this place, runs not on any established BOP policy but arbitrarily whims made up on the occasion. So, it's MADDENING!

I will consult with lawyer Kirk Tousaw when he visits next week about taking legal action against this place. It routinely violates my civil rights whether it's interference in every aspect of my mail, or in the blatant discrimination that goes on against Canadians in the US Federal prison system. The sign in the intake hall specifies that the US Federal prison system does not discriminate on the basis of national origin! My chart that has been published shows Canadians are to receive nothing here at D Ray James that an American inmate routinely receives at an American 'low security' federal prison - email, exercise equipment, courses and classes i8n skilled trades, word processors, proper reading library and law library, outdoor visitation areas...

When BC MLA Guy Gentner visited me for 4 hours on Sunday Jan. 2 I emphasized that these private prisons, this one run by GEO, which receives $2,400,000,000 from the US Federal govt. in 2010 for prison services; I emphasized that private prisons do not adhere to or operate under any fidelity to Bureau of Prisons policies and procedures: Secondly, the prisons are about warehousing humans using the least possible monetar6y expenditures. A huge percentage of money the taxpayer gives over to GEO goes right into the pockets of the shareholders and executives. Almost nothing is spent on services or rehabilitation for the inmates...unlike a government run US Federal prison.

After being moved from SeaTac FDC on Oct. 27 or thereabouts a full 70 days ago, my property (books, photographs, food, notes, batteries, book light etc..) still has not been delivered to me here at D Ray James. I am satisfied at least that word about these concentration camps for foreigners and Canadians handed over to the US by our compliant Canadian government are getting some small amount of attention. No Canadian should ever be extradited to the US while Canadians get shockingly less opportunities, facilities and access to communications as compared to US citizens in a US Federal prison.

Conrad Black wrote articulately about the prison he was at, Coleman FCI. Yet Coleman is the Hilton of prisons compared to here. Coleman had email, exercise equipment, outdoor visitation areas, extensive courses (Mr. Black taught creative writing)yet Mr. Black is not an American in an American only federal correctional institution.

Americans in Canadian federal prison are treated identical to Canadians in Canadian federal prison. If Americans are going to be putting Canadians in the ghetto facilities based on our nationality, our government should insist on parity; Canadians should have the same access to services that any Americans would get in a low security federal prison.

Compare Lompac FCI or Terminal Island FCI with D Ray James. All are considered low security yet the differences are staggering. Terminal Island has numerous skill trade courses, email, exercise equipment. Lompac has the same 1-2 man cells (unlike my 64 man dorm) outdoor visitation areas. In fact, I qualify to be in a minimum security camp, but because I am Canadian I am denied any opportunity to serve my sentence in a minimum security camp, which are used exclusively for US citizens. D Ray James is run like a medium-high security prison, even though all inmates here are non-violent offenders.

If anyone has suggestions I'd welcome them. Of course, there's little assurance I'll get your letter responses if people do write with their suggestions. I will be meet8ing with my Canadian lawyer and a Georgia lawyer from NORML, Richard Mallory Barnes in the next few weeks to explore my legal options; But this censorship and frugal access to communication in this private prison is frustrating. My treaty transfer paperwork is due in DC by Friday. Jan 21. Only 16 days away.

I need all Americans and Canadians to send letters on my behalf to the DOJ urging my transfer into the Canadian Correctional System. Getting US elected officials to write the DOJ recommending my transfer is especially valuable in aiding my successful transfer.

Trying to keep positive in the US Gulag,

Marc

PS. I cannot understand why Mr. Black, a non-US citizen was not put in one of these, shoddy, cut rate prisons for foreigners. Mr. Black, being a citizen of the UK I believe having given up his Canadian citizenship.

Judge John E. Rochester retires?

2011-01-05T07:15:00.004-06:00

Judge John E. Rochester has retired from the bench due to ill health (I hear). I've been hearing that he would retire for the last two years. Rochester has no business being on the bench after what happened with his drug trafficking son.

For past coverage of the Rochester clan click here.

Good riddance to bad rubbish.

Letters from Marc Emery #7

2010-12-31T19:41:00.000-06:00

Wednesday, Dec. 22, 2010
10:45 a.m.

Dear Jeremiah, Jodie, & Dana,

This morning as I reported to work at 8 a.m. I was informed by Mr. Folk (who is in his last week) that he had to let me go. I said, "Why?" and he said, "Your mail room issues."

Of course, this is about my trying to get books and magazines into the library. As I have told you the GEO group that runs this concentration camp for Canadians, Mexicans and others not officially US citizens get the worst possible treatment or services or education or library, if we get them at all. You have my extensive comparative chart about this GEO group prison DRCJF is to a Canadian compared to how a US citizen is treated in a 'low security' US federal prison. GEO does not want any inmate to have use of a proper library, law library, exercise equipment, email, photo copiers...ANYTHING!

Essentially I was fired from my .12 cent an hour job because I was donating books, magazines, and newspapers. Because in the 3 months the library has been open they haven't received a current magazine (in any language) or bought a book in English for the library. I had contributed 46 books and magazines as of today in the 23 days I worked in the library, including 2 hard cover Spanish-English dictionaries, 2 paralegal texts, coffee table books (Billy Gibbons Rock-N-Roll Gear Head) over-sized illustrated soft covers like "Remembering John Lennon" and "Time's Year in Review". So I was dismissed for adding books and magazines and newspapers to the library while GEO has every intention of stopping or obstructing books/mags/newspapers getting into the library. The library has no relevant Spanish/English reference books even though 850 inmates are Spanish speakers.

While I was writing the last paragraph the excruciating fire alarm went off (for the 18th time it has gone off since I've been here...but over 65 times since Oct. 4 according to staff.) And for the first time they told us to go to the Emergency Exits, which is supposed to be standard operating procedure, but then the Emergency exits won't open (the controllers didn't open them), but when the fire alarm stopped they insisted we go out the fire exit and stay outside for 20 minutes, so they can prove to a fire inspector that we went outside according to fire regulations. Everything in every Dept. is INSANE here. The staff constantly comment on it, too. The management is utterly NUTS though, so the staff like us, can criticize as much as they want, but absolutely nothing changes. It's totally important that Canadians know their Canadian government sent me, FOR SELLING SEEDS,(which would appear to be a widespread activity in Colorado, California, and all of Canada and generally legal and widespread in all of Europe..Netherlands, UK, Spain, Germany etc..) and sent me to the most insanely run concentration camp/federal prison in the United States.

Jeremiah, I've decided to investigate taking a correspondence course, but through a Canadian institution. Can you send me course booklets outlining courses for the incarcerated? I'm not sure what to take, but it will allow me to study and read during the day rather than end up in the kitchen where they will surely try to send me as punishment. It's only a matter of time before this place sends me to solitary to try to stop me from observing how badly this place is mismanaged. Yesterday an Bureau of Prisons liaison from the DOJ was here, he often is, to observe, he says. Well I spent 30 minutes telling him how dysfunctional, illegal and wrongly this place is run. I had to the mail room Nazi out as I had the actual rules and procedure, whereas they were using entirely made-up incorrect premises.I got all my books as I'm entitled, but every manager here is intimidated by me as all of them deviate from the set out in their own D Ray James policy and procedure book, and the BOP policies & procedures, which we can access on Lexus/Nexus.

I will try to get reinstated to my library job. Mr. Folk says although he's "required to dismiss me" I am welcome to use the library any time, all the time and that I'm a real gentleman.

But, I think I will ask you to put the library resuscitation program on hold and simply focus on books I can read personally .

So, please let City Lights, Chris Goodwin and all others know that the noble project is on hold because this place doesn't want inmates to learn (there are still no skill trades or actual education here unlike the dozens of classes, skills, vocations for US citizens in federal prison). They don't want us to gain knowledge or read or learn about the world. They want to remain indifferent to us as human beings, spend as little money as possible on warehousing us.

I really enjoyed two comic books that were sent to me by a person who sent me 20 comic books. But I was only allowed to keep 3 of them, so I kept parts one and two of 'Enemy Ace" by Russ Heath (artist). They were excellent! More Enemy Ace Comics please! After I finish the #1 Ladies Detective Series (got 20 pages to go) I'm going to read a graphic novel "Kill Shakespeare."

By the way, in Psalms 46 of the bible the 46th word from the beginning is "Shake" and the 46th word from the end is "Spear". I believe that's the Bard's thumbprint of his authorship of the King James version of the Bible, at least Psalms anyway. The King James version of the Bible was translated & written during Shakespeare's peak years under the patronage of Queen Elizabeth and King James. Are there any books that ascribe to this theory that Shakespeare has a hand in the King James Bible?

Here are some books from Hamiltonbooks.com Nov. 12 catalog that I would like.
* denotes that I would especially like them.

7474849 The Grand Inquisitors Manual
2437163 The Years of Extermination
* 1793047 Encyclopedia of Monograms
2448777 The Story of English
2434202 The Vale of Kashmir
* 1727664 The Ten Cent Plague
* 7154992 Showcase Presents Enemy Ace

Previous Requests;

* 738842x Humbug
1740733 Blue Shoes and Happiness
* Stoned, Drunk and Dead A $40 retrospective of National Lampoon just published (Available at Amazon)

I believe it will be important to have political actions in place for if/when this place seeks to punish me. Many of the people who work here are fans and supporters of mine. I have had 4 conversations today and yesterday with supporters/admirers/members of the culture who work here. I am well respected by most employees here, because they are ordinary people from the ordinary world, the kind of people I have represented and spoken out on behalf of. But, management, the senior GEO lackeys they will get more confused, nervous and uncertain what to do with me, especially since their junior staff are sympathetic to me, though this does not result in any preferential treatment. But Chris Goodwin, Dana, Jeremiah, Loretta, Jodie, Kirk et. al.and others need to discuss what can be done if I get punished with solitary, or having my mail blocked or being put in the kitchen 8 hours a day. All these actions will be to suppress my awareness and letters about this place. The time is coming shortly, when, like at SeaTac, they simply won't know what to do with me. And that will likely result in them doing the wrong things, punishing me as a consequence.

So I hope that I can find some interesting correspondence courses and read lots of books to use up my time.

Right after I was dismissed from the library the remaining 6 library aides had a big fight and now there's animosity, so the library broke down right away. There is a new librarian there in 10 days so it will be interesting to see what happens then.

Given the Major's questioning me on the length of my kiss with Jodie last Saturday's visit was extraordinarily bizarre. And that he would spy on me kissing Jodie and deciding a kiss is too long, somewhere between 10 seconds and 30 seconds and reprimanding me days later. It's so weird!

My transfer paperwork is required to be in Washington D.C. no Jan. 19th, less than a month away. I really need my supporters to have their letters of support and the recommendation of their congressman and senators done soon. Canadian elected officials should also write to the DOJ or Jodie should have her letter from Canadian elected officials DONE IMMEDIATELY! Don't forget to add Guy Gentner, MLA, to it.

Hope you got my chart comparing the treatment of US Citizens vs Canadian citizens in a US Federal 'low security' prison. Push that, it ought to offend Canadians. Americans in a Canadian federal prison are treated identically to Canadians.

More Soon,
Marc

Loretta Nall on NewsTalk Fort Payne at 7 a.m.

2010-12-28T06:18:00.005-06:00

I will be a guest on NewsTalk Fort Payne The Danny Lee Show at 7 a.m. this morning. Tune in at the "Listen Live" link on the website above if you can.

Letters from Marc Emery #6

2010-12-27T17:57:00.002-06:00

Sunday Dec. 19, 2010
4:20 pm

Dear Jodie & Loretta,

You two just visited and it was wonderful! Having both of you here made it special as we were able to talk outside the usual range of subjects. So pleased to have you Loretta as an official part of the organization (Loretta's note: I am about to fill the position of ad sales manager for Cannabis Culture) That is going to be great for all 3 of us, I assure you!

I'm totally excited by the prospect of elected Representative for the British Columbia Legislature Guy Gentner coming to visit me at D. Ray James, who is nearby in Florida of all things, to investigate private prisons. Please forward an edited compilation of my letters that specifically reference D. Ray James & its treatment of inmates here. Enclosed is that chart I compiled about contrasting regimes for inmates. Also enclosed is an article "Strength to Love: A Challenge to the Private Prison Industry". Both should be copied and forwarded to Mr. Gentner with my edited letters.

As a contrast to the very bad recidivism rate of the US system, where 66% of released inmates re-offend: transfer Canadians moving from the US system to the Canadian system have a recidivism rate of about 3%. An astonishingly low figure! I mention this as Mr, Gentner may be interested in this figure (show him that article too) when you ask him to sign the letter to the Justice Dept. and Public Safety Minister. I hope Loretta is able to introduce him to Ralph whose work with private prisons we should find illuminating!

As I mentioned to you the mail room has been sending back any books and magazines when more than one is in a parcel, even when it comes from Amazon or the publisher. Dana sent me 4 books; A graphic novel"Return of Supreme, The Man who Wanted to Be King, about a fellow who was the basis of Kipling's story "The Man Who Would Be King", A biography of Kipling and a book on Genghis Khan. Jodie had two books returned from here that she sent from Amazon; "On Leadership" Thomas Jefferson and Nelson Mandela's new book "Prison Letters of Nelson Mandela". These were actually refused by the mail room and I wasn't even told about it.

When the mail room removes clippings or other 'contraband' ephemera from the letters I get they do not inform me. So even the mail room here does not adhere to BOP procedures that should be added to my chart. And my newspapers are not being delivered promptly due to mail room weirdness. Of course, I'll go to the mail room on Monday to see what they say. (Loretta's notes: Due to my posting of Marc's letters online the mail room weirdness stopped today. Please see this post for details.

Some reminders: I need a copy of the $100 fine receipt. Make sure you fax him the visitation form he has to fill out immediately and provide him with the fax number to fax it to D. Ray James.

Also, Jodie, be sure to contact the NY Times subscription/circulation dept. and change my address.

It was sure great to see Loretta in 27 months, I guess since Sept. 2008 (Loretta's Notes: It was actually April of 2008, but a very long time either way)

Loretta: I need you to contact the Atlanta field office of ICE and ask those questions about the stipulated deportation order. I'm curious to know if they can provide any information or insight on applications we have been sending in. (Time it takes to process, an FAQ on it, who is the Atlanta field agent, etc).

Also, a divorce kit or a kit with legal forms that includes divorce. Go over all the requests and queries I made and see if you can forward answers to me soon.

Monday, Dec. 20, 2010
Library 9:30 a.m.

Dr. Davis came and said she loved how the library looked and complimented us on a good job. I'm curious to know what the discussion with the mail room will be like at 1 pm. I'll tell you later in this letter how that goes. I'm going to try to talk to the warden about mail room procedure.

I'm having fun working the library. We (or, rather, I) got no new magazines last week so I know the mail room is interfering with those, too. We'll see. So, I'm anxious to get some new materials in here. Today's mail should tell a story.

3:00 p.m.

Well, the mail room told me to come back on Tuesday (tomorrow) to discuss mail matters.

Loretta: I need a kit with do-it-yourself divorce papers good for any state in the US. (Loretta's note: I'm working in that now)

I'd like to be put on this company's mailing list for their monthly catalog:

Edward R. Hamilton
PO Box 15
Falls Village CT 06031-0015

It's also Hamilton Books online. I should get them as soon as someone sends me some books from them.

So, I saw case manager Garret Rodgers and gave him my visitation list addition of MLA Guy Gentner. It says Member of the British Columbia Legislature, Parliament Buildings, as address. He said he would submit it \right away so he could visit me soon. I said it could be as early as Christmas Day or the day after Christmas just to get them to do it right away.

Then I met the Major and explained my books were being rejected when there were two or more in a package and that this was not BOP policy. He actually stopped me to tell me this though:

"I saw you had a visit on Saturday. I was watching you on the camera and the rules say you're supposed to have a brief kiss, not a movie kiss, and your kiss was too long."

I said, "BOP policy at FDC SEA-TAC was 30 seconds, which I believe it was (the kiss in question), and 30 seconds in a 61/2 hour visit is brief. But what do you consider brief, 10 seconds?"

He said, "I'll check on BOP policy, if it 30 seconds or 10 seconds...but 10 seconds sounds like brief to me."

Then I asked him about the strangeness in the mail room. Then I, rather joyfully, said, "A member of my Government, an elected member of the legislature is coming to visit me next, so the kiss won't be a factor there. He's in the Southeast US and he is visiting government officials and he'll be visiting me shortly."

That's when the Major, quite animatedly asked, "WHO ARE YOU?!" and looked carefully at my name tag.

That moment was so satisfying! So, I have no idea if that will change anything around here in regards to my mail or kissing Jodie. But I'm hoping my library resuscitation program can go ahead. Or if the Major or Warden Google my name they are going to get an earful! I'm sure they are doing that right now! I should show him the Angus Reid poll if he wants to know who I am, since the majority of Canadians want me home and a member of the Legislature is coming to see me.

I think I've got a fair bit of business for Kirk I think I'll have three or four Canadians here to retain him on transfer paperwork and procedure. I met a guy who just arrived from New Westminster today and Randy got 36 months for a lot of weed in Oregon. He has 3 daughters, 27, 29, 31 who will likely visit him in Jan. or Feb. But he is just getting here after 3 1/2 months in transit. It seems all the Canadians took no less than 3 months to get here to their designated prison. So my 4 weeks was a record short by comparison.

He was at a county jail for one month, the was at Sheridan FDC for a month, then 3 weeks at Nevada Southern (he hated it there the most he said), then 1 week at Oklahoma City, then here. He was able to get bail until he was sentenced on Sept. 10 (sound familiar?) and then he was supposed to be at Sheridan as his designated prison. At least that's what he hoped & what his lawyer asked the judge for. But, Canadians are not going to BOP prisons anymore. He ended up here. So, I introduced him to Brad and other Canadians. Our number is up to 9 now. Grant (Montreal), Carmen (Van), Peter (Alymer), Trevor (Van), Randy (New Westminster), me (Van), Toronto guy (whose name I forgot), that's 8...I've forgotten somebody.

I need a paperback book in German for Peter. There are places like Sophie's that might sell them and MCC Recenter its an office that works with citizenship's and passport. It's a Mennonite organization that works with providing books for Mennonites. Or you can order German fiction books on Amazon I bet.

They brought the mail. I got my subscription copy of MacLeans, the Dec. 27 issue, so that's great! Not one you sent but my actual subscription. I got two envelopes from you full of articles from Atlantic, my facebook page from Dec 1-6, about wikileaks, rabble.ca, Washington Post and a whole bunch or articles from the news on CC.com. Dec. 10 & 12. I got 80 pages in 2 envelopes!

Then I got CIA & the Culture War book and the Chomsky reader from Jeremiah. Addie and mary Clemons wrote and sent me the novel "Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe" by Fannie Flagg for the library. So, I'm getting those books and subscription copies but I suspect the mail room is doing something with my mail. Mike (Anidas) gets Wall Street Journal and it comes through ok. But, sometimes, his USA Today doesn't show up.

This is a forlorn place, Folkston, with a bizarre prison mail room. However, we shall see what happens tomorrow at 1:00 pm when I talk to the mail room woman.

I had a great visit with you both. Loretta, I hope you can make FreeMarc.ca real functional with links to all my blogs, articles, interviews, in other words a great resource for anyone who wants to learn about my work, my career, my current situation, how they can help, where to send books, money, letters, how to organize Free Marc activism activities etc. And, when you're not doing that sell lots of ads!

Marc

Great News from Marc Emery

2010-12-27T16:10:00.002-06:00

I just talked to Marc and he said these blog posts containing his letters have created quite a change among the staff at D. Ray James. He said everyone is calling him by name, being nice to him, working to fix the problems he has complained about etc. He said that someone from the BOP is there today and they are pissed like bears about the phone problem. Turns out the problem is with the computer system at the prison and not with the phone company PCS. The BOP inspectors are very upset that it has gone on for 6 days and is still going on.

He said today he got 51 books and loads of magazines from his supporters. Many thanks to all of you who participated in the Christmas book drive. Not only have you made Marc happy you have provided something for the other inmates to take their minds off their terrible situation of being in prison for simply being in the US without the proper paperwork. I still can't believe that Americans are willing to pay hundreds of millions of dollars for such bullshit! As he said in one of the letters I posted it would be better to let them work and pay taxes and support themselves instead of us being forced by the government to support them. Hell, they are obviously willing to work. That is why they came to the US in the first place. Non-violent people do not belong in prison. And it shouldn't be a crime to want a better life for your family.

He said to tell Dana Larsen that he got the book on Jailhouse Lawyer and Prison Legal News. He said to tell Catharine Leach that he got her books on Keith Richards. He said the policy about books has changed. I'm not sure what it was before (probably in a letter somewhere) but as of today he is allowed 5 books and three magazines a day. He said when he was called for his mail that it was one huge stack of boxes and envelopes.

He said for me to keep posting the letters he sends me because they are reading and it is having the desired effect.

I want to say a few words about my experience with the staff at D. Ray James thus far. The staff there is actually very nice. One counselor named Mr. Maynard has been an absolute gem to me and to Marc. He has helped with every question, returned all my phone calls and spoke with Marc over the weekend when he was having a very difficult time. He told me he understood the frustration about the phones and said he would be frustrated too...because it could easily be his son or daughter in there and he would want to be able to talk to them and know how they were doing.

On my visit a couple weeks ago my back began to hurt very badly after sitting in a chair that had no arm support for many hours. One of the guards noticed my discomfort (because I repeatedly got up and stretched and massaged my lower back) and he brought me over a better chair to sit in. I am not used to being treated like a human being in a prison setting and was very grateful for his kindness.

From what I have observed of the guards and employees there they all seem like good, salt of the earth type Southern country people (like me) who probably only took that job in order to be able to feed their families (who the hell wants to actually work in a prison right?). The area where the prison is located is severely economically depressed. There is no visible industry anywhere there. I don't think their not doing the things that Marc has complained of is deliberate (or at least most of it isn't). I think it probably has a great deal more to do with lack of proper training from GEO.

So, to the staff at D. Ray James, thank you for reading and responding with an effort to make things better for those incarcerated at your facility. A special thanks to Mr. Maynard and to the nameless guard who was kind enough to get me a better chair when he saw that I was in pain.

Letters from Marc Emery #5

2010-12-27T11:15:00.002-06:00

Friday, Dec. 10, 2010 10:30 am to Noon

Dear Loretta,

I hope you are reading my letters to Jodie because then you know about my hell night when we got moved because our dorm heater was dysfunctional (as it had been for 3 weeks but no one cared to fix it until they were in violation of the law when the outside temps dropped below freezing.) Then we got terrorized by SWAT-style C.O's herding us around to a filthy, unready dorm; We got returned the next day, and now we think our existing dorm (Q-2) is like the Hilton. Changing perspective!

Among my 2 million requests our law library brain trust needs a directory or addresses for

*Presidential pardons
*Attorney Generals Office at Department of Justice
*Directory of Bureau of Prisons from director, transfer division
*ICE, including regional offices
*Addresses of all federal detention centers (there's about 30-50 in the USA)

This is so we can write on behalf of prisoners. Check to see if there is a book or something that is a guide/reference handbook to the Dept. of Justice regarding contacting various departments.

I need a reprint of an article that appeared in Forbes once with the pot leaf on the front page "Inside Dope" I think it was called, by Quentin hardy. From the net is fine. (Loretta's note: I have this printed and ready to send)

Any exposes you can find on GEO and any lawsuits against them. Any lawsuits by INS prisoners like us against BOP/GEO/CCA. Reprint those and send them. (Loretta's Note: This has not yet been done. If any of you reading this want to help fill Marc's requests this would be a great thing to research for him and send to him. Also finding the contact information listed above would be a wonderful thing to do. I try to fill as many of his requests as I can but fall behind due to traveling to see him, family duties, school and my work as executive director of ACC. Any and all help from his supporters to get this information to him will be greatly appreciated)

If any of your people want to send paperbacks or magazines in excellent condition, one per envelope, I'm sure Dana can work out a postage compensation fund.

As you can see I'm determined to change this place by sheer force of will and with my army of supporters. One paperback book or magazine foes a long way here. The quality of letter writing by my correspondents is getting very good. I read Jodie some very touching and inspiring letters from several people I received in just one day all saying I've changed their life in substantial and fundamental ways. Since Jodie's been fragile the past two weeks (she's feeling overwhelmed) I try to remind her she's making a huge impact and keeping my reputation higher than ever. The Knowledge Network (in Canada) ran "Prince of Pot" movie nationwide again Wednesday right after the Angus Reid headlines "Canada wants Prince of Pot Returned Home" showed up days earlier. "The Principle of Pot" 3 DVD's that's out now is selling well and I really like that movie, too.

This week I received 12 new or like new magazines from December so already the magazine library rack looks greatly improved. I got a nice atlas of the solar system in Spanish, Billy Gibbons "Rock-N-Roll Gear head" big coffee table book and a few other good books for the library, none of which have been stolen yet. (magazines only get taken by the staff it seems. The Chaplain walked off with the latest issue of Rolling Stone magazine that I donated and said, "Back in an hour." 24 hours later no Rolling Stone magazine.

Hello! 8th Commandment "Thou shalt not steal"

(Loretta's notes: The magazine in question was eventually returned)

I am in good spirits and am pleased you will be escorting Jodie next weekend and visiting me on Sunday. She needs a lot to get done including a letter to the DOJ on my behalf by mid-Jan signed by elected officials in Canada and the US (hopefully) urging my transfer. The trip to see me is exhausting and its gloomy, rainy, dark at 4:00 pm in Vancouver and the Holiday season is particularly hard on her without me there.

And no doubt you have burdens yourself, but i hope your two children are not amongst your problems. (Loretta's note: My kids are no problem at all. They are spectacular and we are very, very close) I look forward to meeting them one day.

I watched an Auburn vs. Alabama State (Loretta's note: It was actually the SEC Championship game Marc watched...Auburn vs. South Carolina) last weekend because I know Auburn is your team and Alex's (my son) University. That quarterback Cam Newton is AMAZING! (Loretta's Note: Damn right!) 13-0 for the season;l that's a hell of a record. On the news this morning was some business about his father refusing to attend the Heisman trophy award ceremony (which Newton is sure to win). You'll have to explain what that is all about and why such a thing got on the news in a letter or when I see you in person. (Loretta's note: I did explain all about the NCAA investigation and why Cecil Newton did not attend the Heisman ceremony to Marc when I visited a few weeks ago)

I read in Time Magazine of some mean, bastard sheriff who arrested Willie Nelson for pot (Texas I think) that he hoped Willie would get sent to his jail where he would delight in making 73 year old Willie "cook and clean all day." What a piece of SHIT! Read that in the new Time magazine a supporter sent me to put in the library, but it was just a quote by the sheriff beside Willie's mugshot.

There is a full page ad in Wednesday's USA Today for CNBC's "Marijuana USA" special on Wednesday night. It's a full page image of a black & white suit with a big pot leaf on it. The same marijuana growers alas who contributed to sinking Prop. 19 no doubt.

Keep reading all my letters to Jodie and Dana and you, of course, I need you to know what's going on.

Love you,
Marc

P.S. Get a catalog or online website for this store in Miami

Bookstore
Revistas & Periodicos Inc.
Foreign books, newspapers, and magazines
7971 SW 40th St.
Suite 10
Miami, FL 33155
Phone 305-264-4516

This place handles Spanish language material I need to order for the library as well as giving specific information to supporters who want to help me replenish the library.
I have ordered a catalog but I can use a few and I want you to have one to advise supporters on Facebook

Letters from Marc Emery #4

2010-12-26T12:03:00.003-06:00

Tuesday 5 pm
Dec. 7, 2010

Dear Loretta,

Today was another interesting day; the guy from Laos who's in here because he's not a US citizen (speaks perfect English, engaged to marry a Chinese-American, trying to marry her in Jan., when she visits him here in prison) but is not deportable because the US doesn't have a transfer treaty with Laos (or the following countries: Cambodia, Vietnam, Cuba); well the Justice of the Peace agreed to come out to the prison to conduct the marriage ceremony. That's the biggest hurdle overcome. Now the Warden or Chaplain really have no excuse at all not to allow the wedding, but they are still trying to find one. But, the BOP regulations are pretty clear, as we keep reminding them.

Today, inspectors were here from the BOP asking about the quality of the food we get served. BOY THAT WAS GOOD! I told them the only 'fresh' fruit we ever get is a scrawny orange that Florida/Georgia would be ashamed of, once every two days. Never an apple or banana or God forbid, Georgia is the "Peach State", how bout some peaches? The BOP requires we get fresh fruit every day. That's violated for sure! Then I said, "We get too much of the same repetitive corn/corn products and ground beef/ground chicken stuff day in and day out."

Getting our commissary is a total clusterfuck! We had to wait one hour to 90 minutes outside to get our purchase items. At 1 pm there were 100 guys lined up to pick up their items. The dispensing window did 1 inmate every 3-4 minutes, but that meant an average wait of 45-60 minutes. That'll have to change.

I worked on several treaty transfers today, a number of 1/2 deportations, ordered some more magazines on the library tab, and tonight the library opens from 7-9 pm, so it will be packed. I'm working evenings also. The key is to become indispensable as well as on top of everything. New inmates arrived today, another 75 to 100, including two Canadians. I haven't met them because they are in solitary (they couldn't process them readily into dorm even though they are fully aware they are arriving), one Swede, one Lebanese. Both speak English well. I gave them the orientation of this place (here's what really goes on and we're here to help.") Meaning the library staff which has evolved to be a multi-national brain trust of cynics and jailhouse lawyers. And they indicated they were appalled at how the place runs.

Yet, progress is happening. A spectacular new photocopier was turned on today in the library. What we can use it for or how often and how much it will cost remains unknown. (Loretta's note: They have thus far been unable to use it at all.) Tonight or tomorrow we will be read the riot act on who & how it can be used. I hope any of the knowledgeable library aides (that's us who work there) can use it on behalf of inmates. We shall see.

The computer was activated yesterday. It's in constant use even though it's not hooked to a printer , but we are lobbying to get it hooked up!

So, I need you to find out the following:

What is the subscription price of "Hola!"

It's a magazine from Spain
Phone: 91-781-17-64 or email them at suscripciones@hola.com

Another magazine I need subscription info on is 'Muy Interesante'
01-800-849-9970 www.tususcripcion.com

Put it out there! Need to find out if there is a group in Canada that assists Honduran refugees (from Honduras of course!)
ec
I need books in Spanish, French, Portuguese, popular fiction in those languages. Ask my Facebook supporters to send paperbacks or softcovers to me for the inmates who read these languages. There are no books here at all in French (inmates from France, Caribbean and Quebec) and Portuguese (for Brazilians).

If anyone has a copy of Jean M. Auel's "Plains of Passage" book #4 in the series (English) that would be a great Christmas gift for one inmate.

If you are able to get parole regulations for prisoners in the Bahamas I'd appreciate it. There are two Bahamian's who are applying for treaty transfers back to the Bahama's (illegal entry into US) and want to know how much of their US sentence they would have to serve in the Bahamas.

The library under some weird rule cannot have books about religion --- at least they won't order them-- so if anyone wants to send me a book about philosophy or religious ideas in Western culture that would be welcome by some inmates who have asked.

Here is a list of Spanish magazines that I am requesting a year subscription to for the library;

Spanish Magazines

Don Balon
GO (en espanol)
Mechanica Popular (en espanol)
Men's Health (en espanol)
National Geographic (en espanol)
My Interesante
People (en espanol)
TV y Novelas
Pre Seso
El Zeta
Readers Digest (en espanol) and English
American Curves (in English and Spanish)

A magazine that would be extremely popular (perhaps the most popular) would be a 'girlie' magazine called 'American Curves', which is allowed in prisons (Loretta's notes: I have purchased a years subscription to National Geographic and American Curves for Marc so no need to duplicate those.)

These can be sen to me at;

Marc Scott Emery # 40252-086
Unit Q Pod 2
D Ray James Correctional Facility
PO Box 2000
Folkston GA, 31537

Or they can be sent directly to the Librarian at;

Mr. Folk, Librarian
DRJCF
PO Box 2000
Folkston, GA 31537-9000

Any subscription arriving that way will appear to be a subscription ordered by the librarian or library aide (me) in the normal course of events.

Broadway News in Seattle sells single copies (the latest issue) of many magazines as well as subscriptions. They are at http://www.mymagazinestore.com
Subscriptions are cheaper at http://www.tradewindspublications.com
Single copies should be mailed to me.

Loretta, I need a divorce package from Arizona. can you call up the county clerk in AZ, specifically Besbee AZ and send me a divorce packet?

I bought these shower shoes that are so good! The ones I was using (standard prison issue) were terrible (albeit tolerable) but I jumped at the chance to buy a new pair of actual super high quality shower shoes. Ask Dana for this money. I said to him I'd be a money pit in here. Tell him I'm doing God's work battling the Anti-Christ, so I'm worth it. I'll send him a letter thanking him. I called him yesterday to thank him for keeping me comfortable here.

I have a cold but I'm so busy and excited about my work that it doesn't bother me. I really appreciate that you are teaming up with me to research this stuff.

Thanks for being my Wing-Man.

Doing God's work Behind Bars

Peace & Justice

Marc

Letters from Marc Emery #3

2010-12-26T10:29:00.003-06:00

Sunday night 7 pm Dec. 5, 2010

Dear Loretta,

Jodie's visits were AWESOME! Only 5 inmates had visitors all day, most if not all inmates here are from Mexico, Colombia, Cuba or other Hispanic countries, living in the US (often with wives or family or children who are US citizens) for the past 2-30 years. They will be deported on release. It's all nutty! They could solve this problem by allowing any immigrant to work and pay taxes with no option to collect benefits for 10 years (until they've paid 10 years in taxes) and by legalizing drugs! The US taxpayer is paying a fortune for incarce3rating these people who normally work and support their families.

But visits are rare here, because all of them are from California or the Western, Southwestern States etc., None are from the Southeast.

Look forward to seeing you when you come with Jodie on Dec. 19.

You'll be needed to escort Jodie on Friday Dec. 17 to Sunday Dec. 19 (departing evening) Friday Dec. 31st to Sun. Jan. 2 (evening). These BHAM to Jacksonville flights should be booked ASAP for best prices. You may want to leave J'ville on Mondays but for the purposes of school of Monday you may need to leave on Sundays. Butu, then school is probably closed on Dec. 19 and Jan. 2 so perhaps hanging out with Jodie till Monday is a better idea. Talk to her about it.

By now you've probably put $100 on my commissary account somewhere between Dec. 12-16. Then I'm ok till Jan. 1 or so.

There are some other requests for current catalogs for magazine subscriptions, addresses of places, I'll get you to research it for me as nowhere in this place (unlike SeaTac) are we connected to email or the internet.

I've put out word to my supporters to send paperbacks, single copy magazines or magazine subscriptions to me or D Ray James C.F. Library. It's going to take a while but I'll get that library relevant yet! I already do legal forms for 1/2 time served deportation, appeals and other legal assistance in the library.

I also prepare job application paperwork for the Hispanic (700 out of 750 inmates here) inmates to get them jobs in the area they would prefer before they get assigned to the dreaded kitchen or dining hall at .12 cents an hour. Once you are assigned a job you can't quit for three months, or they threaten to send you to solitary. Kitchen work is 8 hours a day 5 days a week at .12 cents an hour! So, inmates come to me and I say, "Pick a job" (laundry, translating, orderly, clerking, medical aide etc.) and I'll write up a request application and direct it to the one guy who works here and can assign a job immediately. So far all of them have gotten the jobs they wanted. So, I like my library job. But, if they turn down my transfer application I've got numerous legal actions planned against this place based on the clear discrimination of deportable aliens (like me) vs. USA inmates. The BOP claims that they don't discriminate against foreign nationals incarcerated in US facilities but that is patently not true. This GEO group does/is allowed to deviate from BOP policy affecti8ng us as compared top USA inmates several areas.

My transfer paperwork is underway and is requi8red to be back in Washington, DC by Jan. 16. Then a decision on approval/rejection should be done by end of Feb. If approved it goes to Ottawa for their approval. If approved there I'd end up in Canada by July or August and out on parole by mid-November.

LET'S HOPE!

I hope to have the library ship shape by mid-Feb. At least if I'm stuck here I'll hopefully have a job I like and do good work on.

I'm busy now from 6 am when I get up; I eat, shower & shave, go to the library at 8 am, return to dorm at 10:30 am, write letter #1 til noon, lunch, begin letter #2, go to library at 1 pm, return to dorm at 3:45 pm, call Jodie for 5 minutes, finish letter #2, eat at 5:30 pm, return, write Jodie's daily letter, with additions after my mail arrives at 730 pm, finish Jodie's letter, do letter #3. By 10 pm I've looked at my mail, read most letters and glanced at the newspapers, which I take to the library next day, along with any magazines or paperbacks or hardcovers anyone has sent me to read or for the library. (Eventually my 12 subscriptions to magazines will start showing up too.)

So, that's my day from 6 am to 10:30 pm. When I'm exhausted I fall soundly asleep. That's each day Monday -Friday, no time to play cards or watch TV or movies or listen to radio. On weekends if I have a visit that is from 830 am to 330 pm. I'll write a letter or two (like this one now) to catch up. I do my laundry every 2 or 3 days (like today after Jodie's visit).

I pick up my commissary purchases on Tuesday morning. I commission the artists to make a special card for Jodie every 10 days or so, right now they are working on a special hand-done Christmas card for her from me. That costs me $4 in commissary goods. Any crafts or other services I require (any onion, green pepper, banana for example) costs .75 cents for an excellent banana, $1 for half an onion, $1 for half a green pepper, that gets paid out of my commissary. So, each week I have a few lists of items I have to get to pay debts.

I'm in no danger here. I get along fine with all the inmates and GEO staff. I'm polite and acknowledge that the C.O's are in charge. There's no privacy but it no longer bothers me. Our property is stored in two inconvenient bins I keep under my bunk but it will become more complicated when my property arrives from SeaTac. I'm looking forward to my book light, books, notes and photos of Jodie.

My money in the commissary accounts at SeaTac, Oklahoma City and Nevada Southern should begin arriving this week which is about $160 from OK City, $170 from SeaTac and $75 from Nevada Southern. That'll give Dana a break for a few weeks.

So, considering I've been here only 18 days my progress is good. Job I like at the incredible pay of $7.25 a week! Transfer paperwork underway. New shoes. Food for evenings ( I always have chicken, tuna, chocolate bars, potato chips, envelopes and stamps and whatever I need.) I'm super busy.

You are being super helpful with getting money on my commissary account Dana & Jodie's letters to me, escorting my wife. In fact, without you I'd be really screwed! You, after Jodie and Dana are the most important person in my life without question! THANKS!

And actually I would have been bored with the desert at Taft and I feel I have a purpose here, to help inmates , activate the library (we should have the photo copier operational this week, and a word processor is being put in, we use typewriters now to do paperwork for the inmates). I should get piles of mags for the library and books donated. I hardly have time to read anything myself anymore.

Love you, See you soon,
Marc
xxx

Loretta: need you to do these things.

I need magazine current subscription listing from

Broadway News
206-324-7323 (Ph)
206-324-2521 (fax)

mymagstore.com
info@mymagstore.com

I need current magazine subscription list from

Grant Publications
414-543-5616
414-543-2469

Need subscription rates to D Ray James Corr. facility for;

The Nassau Guardian Online (printed edition)
1-242-302-2360
This is Nassau Bahamas

The Miami Herald - How much is a subscription of this paper to D Ray James CF?

(Loretta's Notes: I contacted both the newspapers and have yet to hear back from either of them)

Letters from Marc Emery #1

2010-12-26T08:47:00.003-06:00

Dear Loretta, Monday, Nov. 29 7 pm

Checking on my commissary account I see you put $300 on the account Nov. 19. 14 days later would be Friday Dec. 3, 15 days would be Sat. Dec. 4. Try every day to put another $300 on my account. I have .02 cents in there right now and my phone minutes will run out on Thursday or Friday, although I don't call Jodie Friday (she's in the air)Saturday or Sunday (visiting me) or on Monday (in the air); but I am desperate so I hope Access Corrections takes that money soon.

Otherwise today was a good day. I got a job in the library Monday (8 - 10 am, 1-3 pm) to Friday. I'd prefer not to work at all. I'll have lots of newspapers, books and magazines to read. Today I got 56 letters alone, that will take me weeks to respond to, even more now. But its also a job I can help others at. We dispense legal paperwork for appeals. I want to get some magazines/books in there.

Side notes from letter: As of Thursday I will have no money for phone or commissary. HELPLESS PLEASE HELP! If you can't put money on my account by Saturday then you'll have to get all my supporters to call the prison about me being starved for money by their insane policies. Have people call here and GEO headquarters. (Loretta's notes: This was rectified)

4:30 pm Tuesday, Nov. 30

Today was my first full day at the library and I got the entire book collection re-labeled, straightened out and looking as good as possible. However, it is a very sad library. They have no current magazine subscriptions. The most recent copy of Rolling Stone is August 2009, Michael Jackson's Death issue.When it converted from the State Prison the company that owned the State Prison (Cornell) canceled all the magazine subscriptions and GEO has not renewed any of them. So, I need you to ask people to send me a subscription of any good magazine, especially Spanish language ones for me to put in the library.

Same with any new or like new paperback books or magazines bought by anyone. Should be sent one per envelope. The library can't take books from the public weirdly, (everything about this place is all weird, odd, or contrary to BOP regulations ---- this whole set up is wrong. And it doesn't seem to have ordered any new books. They are all ancient library books, most very worn out. There are a few good books and the small collection of Spanish language books were bought new. But they have maybe 250 Spanish books total and they need about 2,000 - 5,000 books in Spanish alone. There are no more than 100 recent or like new books out of 2,500 English language books. Most of these are 10 to 40 years old and obsolete. The inmates are truly being ripped off here. Yet the prison employs probably 150 people, but they have nothing to do and know little; they just warehouse us. Inmate labor (at .12 to .20 cents an hour)does most of the work in the kitchen, maintenance. Yet the yard and volleyball court are already deteriorating because no professional grounds keeping (watering and fertilizing the yard for one) is being done.

GEO has run this place for 2 months now and progress in any area is not happening (putting money on inmate accounts; collect calls, getting inmate property from previous prison, getting inmate money from previous prison, visitation forms.) Its supposed to be low security but our movements are rigidly controlled. We're searched all the time. The 6 Canadians are isolated. Very challenging.

I have 20 stamps left so I am going to last on stamps if my phone time stops Thursday. Please keep calling the prison and beg them to change this strange restriction on inmate deposits. The BOP limit is $10,000 on any inmate account. Inmates can issue checks drawn on their inmate accounts to pay bills, order books and magazines, pay lawyers - let alone cover phone bills like my phone account. Its so cruel and completely punitive, as sop many of the rules about this place are, the way GEO runs this place.

The food is very repetitive too, with almost no fresh fruit, after 12 days here I can tell you I'm going to hate this place after 60 or 90 days.

Called Dana and told him to send you $500 to use on my account. I talked to Jodie and she's having a rough day. She cried the entire 15 minute phone call. She's exhausted and frazzled.

Kirk, my lawyer, is supposed to come in the next few weeks and this place is so badly run legal action ought to be taken. But once I get money so I can get phone time and essentials I will feel better. I was distressed at Jodie being so distraught. I'm going to call you up and urge you to call her and calm her a bit. Reassure her.

I'm very excited to get a visit from you. Excited to see Jodie Saturday and Sunday but she's worried about being turned away, being tired when she sees me, money in my account. I understand, I worry about those concerns and more, too.

I worry that they are not working on making the transfer paperwork happen, even though Sylvia Royce (US lawyer in Washington D.C. hired to make this happen) is supposed to call this week.

So, you can tell that though I am glad I got a library job I worry about all these things because this place is so bizarrely run and I feel I will be stranded helplessly in this place.

Like I say, I'll feel way better once I see you and Jodie in visits. Write me often and keep trying to put money in my account.

Please visit soon!

Thank you so much for everything!

Love you,
In Gratitude and Affection

Marc

Letters from Marc Emery #2

2010-12-25T16:54:00.003-06:00

Below are the letters Marc Emery has written me from prison and asked me to post online so that everyone knows what's happening to him. These may be somewhat out of chronological order, but that won't matter because the information is relevant no matter what order it is in.

If you are Canadian please use these letters by sending them to your elected officials, the Justice Minister and anyone else who will be instrumental in getting Marc transferred back to Canada.

Monday, Dec. 6, 2010,

Dear Loretta,

I sent you a letter yesterday asking you to do a number of things. This morning I saw you had put $150 on my account, so I am financially OK until Dec. 18 or so.

I am going to use you as a researcher/go-to person in a variety of requests. I already ask Jeremiah to do journalism and research on specific prison issues and Jodie gets swamped with my requests, but from you I'll often need you to find a phone number, fax number, address or send a request for catalogs (often books and magazines) or documents of a legal nature, BOP regulations etc.

My first request relates to work I do in the inmate library. In there I often fill out a cover letter and request for what amounts to a fast track deportation. Basically, as you can tell by (*stipulated deportation order and pursuant to A.R.S. 41-1604-14) letter, if an inmate meets the criteria set out in points 1-6 he can request to be deported after half of his sentence has been served.

We type in the inmates name, BOP number, address at DRJCF (although it's in top right corner too) on the cover letter (marked #1) and on the stipulated deportation order (marked #2). We type their name, BOP number & return address too. And they mail it completed to the addre3ss listed on the form letter (Atlanta ICE office). I've done about 15 of those in the last week. Here is what I would like you to find out for me by calling the Atlanta ICE office and asking the following questions.

1) What is the name of the field director in the Atlanta office that these letters go to?

2)What is the phone number?

3) What is the fax number?

4) Do they have an FAQ or information online or in reprint or policy paper about this ARS 41-1604-14 that you can get, make a copy of so that I can make additional copies?

5) What is the turn around time in processing these applications?

6) Does the field manager or staff there have any advice on making applications easier, more successful or clear for the purposes of getting the deportation to happen?

Another thing I need you to find is the definition of class 1,2,3,4,5,6, felonies. As you can see the eligibility for deportation at 1/2 time is to those with class 3 through 6 felonies.

I understand Class 1 is murder, arson, serious bad shit, but I'd like to know, if a list is available, what offense3s are in each class. Can you find that out and send me what you find?

I also need to know a place I can order Spanish language books/Spanish language magazines from. Retail is fine. We typically want to order only one copy of each. You might find stores online with outlets in Miami nearby. Print out their ordering info, list of titles. I especially need their phone, fax, email, terms and catalog.

I'm in charge of acquisitions so I need catalogs and online catalogs reprinted so I can order books, magazines and newspapers for the library.

Also enclosed is a print out called "Legal News" (I'll need this back). It's from the Winton, NC INS low security facility that just closed down its INS part at Rivers Correctional in Winton.

I want you to google that case: Case # 1:09-cv-00200 (RWR) Patel et al. US Bureau of Prisons et al.

The arguments made there are substantially the same arguments I made to Jeremiah in a 14 page letter I sent him Friday. Ask to get a copy of that letter faxed or emailed to you. It's meant to be a blog by me and it outlines my opinions on how GEO and the BOP discriminate against foreign nationals in this and probably other facilities contracted out.

One thing has changes, the limits on deposits. First deposit $300 made out Oct. 19. No further deposits were possible until Nov. 30 when $200 was put in. On Dec. 6, only 7 days later $150 was put in, exceeding the previous restricted limit of $300 in 10/11 days. As $350 has been put in a combined 7 days. The front office says the limit is now $300 per day in an inmates account. We won't test that threshold , but clearly $350 deposited in 7 days is a change from $300 max in 10 days.

So, progress is being made. I love my library job. I get to help inmates, get magazines, books, reference material for them. Today i helped an inmate arrange to get married here. The chaplain, warden and counselor are all giving him the run around but BOP policy is very clear on in-prison marriages. (Look up the policy at BOP) and they (the prison) require very little consent, it's just a few formalities, but the people here have never done one so they keep saying, "talk to the chaplain" who says, "I don't know anything about that, talk to the warden" who says, "the chaplain has to approve it." In fact, the chaplain has nothing to do with marriage approvals. If the inmate and his fiance legally qualify the warden MUST marry them at the earliest convenient opportunity with a justice of the peace present. The only stipulation is that it can't threaten the security of the prison (DUH!) and the inmate has to cover the cost of the Justice of the Peace and marriage license. So, I got out BOP policy, underlined and highlighted the clear policy for the warden to read and sent our would be groom to unit manager Carter with BOP policy and a polite summary of the run around so far and what is the correct prison procedure for in-prison marriages. Feels.....AWESOME!

So, I'll let you know when he is getting married. It's not complicated and there is almost nothing in the ordinary circumstances that can derail a prisoner who wants to marry a legally qualified woman. So far he's encountered a lot of, "I don't know how that's done, but there are many here in authority who seem unaware there is a BOP policy ON EVERYTHING and it's very clear.

So, I'll let you) and I'm hoping I get some magazines or paperbacks to add to the library shelves.

OK, more tomorrow. I know you are super busy already so I hope you'll forgive me getting you as my researcher - inmate rights liaison - helper - library assistant person. I hope you find helping me do good a fun thing.

I love you,
Marc

Messages from Marc Emery

2010-12-25T15:43:00.010-06:00

Below is a chart that Marc Emery sent me and asked me to post online. These first three are (is?) a comparison chart between showing the differences in how Americans and foreigners in the federal prison system are treated. The images get much larger if you click them and then click them again once they come up.

The next are printed articles about private prisons.

About to post this on Facebook. Please share with everyone you know. I tried to upload these images to facebook but couldn't for some unknown reason.

I am about to finish typing all of the letters he has sent me and post them here and on facebook as well.

It's A MIRACLE!!!

2010-12-23T20:41:00.005-06:00

Raw Story is reporting that televangelist and general loony toon 700 Club host and founder of The Christian Coalition Pat Robertson said "Pot isn't the Devil's Harvest and that he thinks imprisoning people for possession of a couple of ounces is destroying the lives of young people and bankrupting our country.

No....I am not pulling your leg, yanking your chain, playing an early April Fool's joke or trying to get on over on you.

He really said that!

Now, I'm pretty sure that I have never agreed with anything Pat Robertson has said. EVER. But, a lot of people, especially those say in and around say Alabama, agree wholeheartedly with everything he says. And that could be a very positive thing for those of us who are trying to change the laws governing marijuana.

If you are a church going person please take this article with you on Sunday and show it to your preacher. Encourage them to consider giving a sermon on it and see where it goes.

What to say to Iraq and Afghan War Veterans

2010-12-20T18:15:00.009-06:00

Please excuse my repeated use of the word FUCK in various forms throughout this post.

On my trip through Jacksonville Airport this weekend I witnessed some of the most heart wrenching reunions between soldiers returning from Iraq and Afghanistan and their families. I've thought about little else all weekend.

While I was waiting for Jodie to arrive it seemed like hundreds of soldiers dressed in their BDU's were coming through the airport. It was both heartbreaking and heart warming to see the wives/husbands coming back and their spouses and children waiting anxiously with signs to welcome them home. There were many tears and much joy. I cried every time a dad or mom walked by me in a uniform and their small children ran to them with open arms screaming DADDY or MOMMY and were picked up and swung around and smothered with kisses and love. How can any human with a heart not cry at such a thing?

What really got to me though were the soldiers coming back without their fucking arms, legs, half their heads etc...You'd have to be a real cold hearted mother fucker, regardless of how you feel about the war, to not be affected by seeing what, in reality, are nothing more than kids coming back from that HELL missing their limbs. If you are from the South and, Alabama in particular, then you know that Alabama sacrifices more sons and daughters to war than any other state. That is directly related to the poverty and lack of good educational opportunities that define this godforsaken hell hole. The majority of them join the military for college funds.

After I picked up Jodie she told me about something that happened on her plane ride from Chicago to Jacksonville. And it has prompted this post more so than anything else.

She said that in Chicago there was a woman with a couple of young kids, one a little boy about 5 or 6. In front of her was a soldier with his goddamn legs blown off. The little boy started talking to his mom about the soldier and pointing at him etc. His mom told him, "That man is a hero who has been fighting for our freedoms." The little kid asked if he could say hello and the mom gave him permission. Jodie said the little kid went up and started talking to the soldier with no legs, NO GODDAMN LEGS, telling him how he liked his uniform and all sorts of things of that nature. She said the soldier was quiet and just looked at the kid for a minute....that it was very hard to read the soldiers eyes and gauge what he might be thinking. Finally the soldier with NO GODDAMN LEGS asked the kid his name. The kid told him and the soldier said, "Nice to meet you." And that was all he said.

Shit like that makes me so fucking mad my head could literally explode. I am against the war....obviously. But I support the kids sucked into the fucking meat grinder with all my heart. How dare some faux patriot just ASSUME that the soldier feels like a hero. How dare they ASSUME that any soldier called to duty approves of and supports what they had to fucking do in war. How dare that ignorant bitch claim this war, this endless fucking war, has anything to do with American freedom. It has NOTHING to do with protecting American freedoms and everything to do with nation building and major oil pipelines. If it were truly being fought to protect American freedoms (which are disappearing rapidly) I would be completely behind it.

Today, when I went through security at Jacksonville airport I saw those TSA bastards molest an old crippled man who was unable to stand in their fucking porno machine. His wife protested loudly, bless her heart, to no avail. They practically held him up so that could grab his goddamn testicles...all because he couldn't stand on his own or raise his arms above his head. Then as we were going through the gate to get on the plane an 80 year old granny set off the alarm, that no one was even aware was there, with her pace maker and her steel rods in her back and she was sexually assaulted and her her belongings rummaged through in front of everyone. I was glad to see the people around me pissed off about that. Granny spoke her peace to those filthy government bastards who get off on sexually assaulting disabled and old defenseless people and asked them just what about her at her advanced age would cause that after she had already cleared TSA. I spoke up and said, "You know the terrorists (which is really the American government IMHO) have won when we allow them to treat us that way in our own country. I bet they are sitting over there saying, "and then they grab their balls and vagina's.....like this...hehehe". Then I asked those in immediate hearing range if they reckoned that all of the soldiers around the airport had fought for THIS! There was a loud murmur of agreement with my sentiments.

See, there are no freedoms in the US any longer....not when shit like this happens. And I bet you that very few if any soldiers risked life and limb in Iraq and Afghanistan so that MeMaw and PePaw could be sexually molested trying to fly home for fucking Christmas.

So, here is my advice...for whatever it is worth. The next time you see a veteran returning home from or the other of the unnecessary meat grinder wars America is perpetuating across the globe...and just feel you just absolutely MUST MUST MUST say something to them then say ONLY the following.

"I'm glad you make it back alive." That's all you need to say.

Don't you dare fucking assume that just because they are in uniform that they agree with what they had to do or that they in any way feel like heroes or heroines or feel like you do. And, while you are at it, reexamine your support for these wars and your faux fucking patriotism and Nazi-ish nationalism that you have been taught since your first day in kindergarten when you were forced to recite the Pledge of Allegiance.

That's where all this bullshit starts when you really think about it. What does any tiny child know about politics, government and war? They barely know how to NOT shit or wee wee in their pants. And what does any adult know about the horrors of war if they themselves have not experienced it firsthand? How dare they claim to know what someone who has experienced it thinks or feels?

Visiting Marc Emery

2010-12-19T18:56:00.004-06:00

Today for the first time in nearly three years I got to see my mentor, close friend, and freedom fighter extraordinaire Marc Emery. The last time I saw Marc was when he flew me to Vancouver to relax and participate in the 420 festivities in 2008 where I was subsequently filmed by CBC throwing huge joints to the crowd. I remember spending 3 days on the top floor of the BCMP rolling up that 7 pounds of weed into joints with loads of other activists. It was a great time.

I met Marc in 2002 on the Cannabis Culture forums. I flew to Vancouver a few months later to meet him and learn about activism and brought what I had learned back to Alabama and went to work. He was with me every step of the way after my arrest, hired me to write occasionally for CC magazine, sent staff down to cover my trial, hired me to anchor POT TV News and sent me jet setting all over North and South America covering horrific drug war stories. In short the man made me what I am and is responsible for the fact that there is even a movement in Alabama to bring about rational, sane drug policies. I owe him a great deal in terms of making shit happen and making him proud of his investment in me over the years. And it has been huge investment is you ask this poor country girl. I love Marc more than words can ever adequately convey.

Throughout his arrest by the DEA and all of his trials and tribulations we have remained very close, talking via phone and email often. I promised him that on the offhand chance he wound up in the South to serve his time that I would be Jodie's escort and visit him every two weeks. I never thought they would send him here. But, in many ways it is a great thing (for him) that they did. Not so great for them....which they will soon realize. When they do they will have him on the first plane out of here and back to Canada. I will explain what I mean by that in a minute.

But, first, the visit.

We arrived at 8:30 which is when they begin allowing visitors in. And even though there are over 900 people imprisoned there there were only 6 visitors for three inmates today. It was extremely sad. The reason for that is because most of the people imprisoned there are simply being held in prison because they are in the US illegally and are waiting to be deported. I assume most of them are probably very poor and their families can't travel from Central and South America or even the West Coast of the US to visit.

We had to fill out a form swearing that we weren't carrying anything illegal into the prison and surrender our keys and ID's. As we were preparing to go through the metal detector a female guard told Jodie to stand back from the desk. Jodie stood back and the guard said, "I think your dress is too short" and she proceeds to call Captains and other higher ups on her radio. Hell I expected them to break out the damn ruler and measure. Jodie's dress was sitting right on top of her knee cap and seemed plenty long enough to me. She told them that the BOP handbook states that dresses and skirts cannot be more than 1 inch above the knee and that she was within the limit. They broke out the rule book and she pointed out that specific rule to them. Two black male guard came in and looked her over and decided we could visit after all. I told her if she hadn't been good looking we would have had to come back to the hotel and had her change. But, luckily, they were civilized enough to let us in.

We proceeded to the metal detector and although I had absolutely no metal on me anywhere I set the damn thing off. They said it was probably my shoes so I took them off and put them through the x-ray machine and went back through the metal detector and it was fine. Which is weird because the shoes were leather slip ons with no metal that I could see.

We were then led through a series of locked doors and concertina wire (which is very odd for a low security facility) and into the visitation room. A minute or so later Marc was led through another door and there was much hugging and kissing and a few tears...mostly from being so happy to finally see him with my own eyes, and lay my own hands on him and know that physically, at least, he is doing fine. He's a little skinny, but has been able to get out and get some sun here in South Georgia so he no longer looks starving, pale, and gaunt like he did at Sea-Tac.

Visitation last from 8:30 to 3:30 and between the three of us we kept up a constant conversation about what is being done to get him home, what needs to still be done to get him home, what life is like for him inside prison etc. Jodie held one of his hands and I held the other for nearly the entire visit. Physical contact is so important to the human soul and being deprived of it does terrible things to ones mind. It was just really great to touch him.

If you know Marc than you know he is willing and able to keep up a rapid machine gun fire of conversation. It's so funny when he calls me. When I see the number I grab a pen and paper and as soon as the call is connected He says "Hi Loretta" and then launches off into a 1 to 2 minute list of instructions of things he needs done. I rarely get to actually do much talking to him at all :) I was very pleased to see that prison has done absolutely nothing to dampen his enthusiasm for the love of gab. Nor has it cowed him in any way.

In fact, he has done just what I, and probably everyone who knows him at all, thought he would do....he's taken the damn place over, has a devoted following of other inmates who have come to depend on him for help with their paperwork, lodging complaints against the prison, getting the library on order, counseling people when they are down and standing up for the little guy. Just being Marc in other words.

I think they really fucked up when they decided to send him to a prison that was only recently taken over from the state by GEO group. They really don't have their shit together, ignore all the BOP rules, violate every policy and procedure, and are just plain unorganized. Marc hates disorganization and dirt. He is an organizer...perhaps the greatest organizer of our time (to me there is no question about that) and it is just his nature to make sure things are done right and according to established rules. Sending him to a place where that isn't the case has allowed him to focus his incredible energy and determination of all of the things that need doing, that are done wrong, or not at all, and he stays extremely busy. He knows more about how the place is supposed to be run than the people they have hired off the street, with absolutely no training whatsoever, know about it and will likely ever know about it. He said the warden told him he is 'tantalizing' which is an extremely odd word to use. All of this channeling of energy has kept sadness and depression at bay. He has something to focus his considerable will upon and that makes him extremely dangerous....only the authorities inside the prison haven't realized it yet. When they do you can bet they will figure out that transfer application process real quick and have his rabble rousing ass on the first flight back to Canada they can get him on. I can't wait til that happens. I'll have a good long laugh on that day.

He gets along well with all of the staff. they treat him with respect and he reciprocates in kind. All of the other prisoners look up to him. They've even started this chant when his huge stacks of mail come every day. They start chanting FREE MARC! FREE MARC! and he responds "THAT'S A GREAT IDEA". If he doesn't respond right away they get louder and louder until he either responds or one of them responds for him. It's quite hilarious!

And while all of this is really great to know it is still imperative that we all continue to do everything we can to get him sent back to his home country to serve his time. He has absolutely no business in South Georgia. So, please don't slack off just because he is coping well and doing all he can to make life behind bars tolerable for himself and the others who are suffering the same fate. Tomorrow or Tuesday when I have had a day to recover from this trip I will post a gargantuan list of all the things he needs done. I want all of you reading this to pick one thing...anything...and DO IT. Report your progress to me and I will keep him up to date on everything that is happening and who is doing what. In order to keep his spirits up we must let him know that we are all working on his behalf to rectify this terrible wrong that has been committed by our government in our goddamn name.

When our visiting time was over (and it seemed to fly by) we all embraced again and man I tell you it was difficult to walk away and leave him there. He saluted us and I told him to "Hang on Commander", which is what I always used to call him and then we were led back to the free world. I'm so happy conditions weren't deplorable and that there was no hint of violence. I am used to dealing with Alabama state prisons which are nothing but giant torture chambers and disease incubators and filled with extreme violence and danger. This prison leaves a great deal to be desired....but by God at least it ain't state prison and for that we can be thankful.

A couple of announcements before I close this out. Today Marc and Jodie asked me to be the new ad sales manager for the CC website, which I am happy to do because I can sell matches to the devil (I used to sell cars after all) and because I could really use the extra cash. Marc also asked me to take over the Free Marc website and keep it updated by posting the letters he writes me and organizing the information on how to help him all in one place. I won't be using the current website, because I am unfamiliar with the format. I will be transferring everything there to a blog format (like this one) because I am familiar with that and it is simple and easy to use.

So, be sure to check back in the coming days for the new website and for the huge list of things that need to be done to help Marc. There will be plenty to go around....and then some.

Christmas book drive for Marc Emery

2010-12-14T08:27:00.004-06:00

I get a letter and a phone call from Marc Emery nearly every day. He has been given the position of Librarian at D Ray James correctional facility in Folkston, GA. That is a perfect position for him seeing as how he has owned some sort of book store since the age of 16, is a genius despite not even possessing a GED and loves to read more than anyone I know.

Problem is that the library he is in charge of has almost no books and absolutely no magazines. What books they do have are years outdated. And there are no Spanish books or magazines anywhere in the prison, despite the fact that 700 of the 750 inmates are Spanish speaking.

So, Marc has asked me to organize a book and magazine drive for the prison. Here is what I need readers to do.

Buy a year subscription to any of the following magazines and have them sent to

Marc Emery #40252-086
Unit Q Pod 2,
CI D Ray James,
PO Box 2000,
Folkston GA, 31537

Here is a list of magazines he requested.

Spanish Magazines

Don Balon
GO (en espanol)
Mechanica Popular (en espanol)
Men's Health (en espanol)
National Geographic (en espanol)
My Interesante
People (en espanol)
TV y Novelas
Pre Seso
El Zeta
Readers Digest (en espanol) and English
American Curves (in English and Spanish)

Marc has also requested that books and magazine you may have just laying around the house be sent. One per envelope addressed to him or to the other librarian Mr. Folk, at the same address (sans the prisoner number if sending to Mr. Folk).

So please take a moment and order a years subscription to one of these magazines listed above, look around your house for books and magazines that you are no longer using, pack them up and send them off. This is important and a very small thing to do for someone who badly needs your help.

Subscriptions are cheaper at Tradewindspublications.com

Marc is hanging in there best he can. The conditions are deplorable, food gross and insubstantial and at least one employee is an absolute monster. From his letter the other day

"Today the inspectors were here from the BOP asking about the quality of the food we get served. Boy that was good! I told them the only "fresh" fruit we ever get is a scrawny orange that Florida/Georgia would be ashamed of, one every two days. Never an apple or a banana. God forbid Georgia is the Peach state, How bout some peaches?"

Good that he is keeping his sense of humor intact.

Please make his stay there more bearable by sending the magazine subscriptions listed above. Also send him a subscription of the Miami Herald (both Spanish and English) and a subscription to the Nassau Guardian.

Soft cover books and magazines may be sent through regular post. Hard cover books must be ordered and delivered from a bookstore such as Amazon.

Miraculous outcome in Michael Lapihuska Case

2010-12-13T14:37:00.009-06:00

An amazing thing happened today due to the diligence, passion, and determination of the people who make up the ranks of Alabamians for Compassionate Care.

For those readers who may have missed the previous coverage of the Michael Lapihuska case you can read about it here and here. In short, Michael is a native Alabamian who moved to California in the 1990's so that he could legally use the only medication that works for his multiple conditions. Marijuana. He became a licensed patient.

On December 15, 2009 Michael had returned home to Anniston to visit his family. One night while walking down the road and minding his own business he was accosted by an Anniston police officer and accused of hitchhiking. The cop demanded that Michael consent to a search and being scared to death he did. The cop found his medicine in prescription bottle and Michael showed him his medical card from California...and was promptly arrested and jailed because Alabama does not yet have a medical marijuana law. He contacted me and asked for help and we at ACC came to his defense. With a fury!

We wrote numerous letters to the Anniston Star on his behalf. You can read those here. The Anniston Star also did a feature article on his situation.

Michael began attending ACC meetings and events all across Alabama and practically swamped the Oxford/Anniston area with handouts and flyers about his case and about the Michael Phillips Compassionate Care Act. He was a tireless and energetic advocate for the only medication that works for him and for others who need/use it but are too afraid to speak out.

A couple of months ago ACC members from as far away as Cullman and Alexander City converged on Anniston to attend his first court hearing. Michael was not even aware that he had a court hearing that day. He had not been notified by the circuit clerks office nor by his then attorney. Thankfully I have friends in the legal community who are more than willing to look up a case for me. The same thing happened today.

Last week I spoke with Michael and asked him when his next court date was. He said he hadn't heard anything and that his lawyer wasn't returning his calls. So, once again I called up a friend in the legal community and found out that Michael had a pre-trial hearing today and that his trial date had been set for Jan. 24, 2011. I told Michael who knew nothing about it.

I picked him up this morning and took him to court. We sat in court for about an hour and when most of the cases had been called he asked me if he should go and ask the D.A. if he was on the docket for today...just like last time. And, just like last time she said he was. He told her that he had not been notified and had it not been for me he wouldn't have known to be there. She said he was lucky he showed up or else a Failure to Appear warrant would have been sworn out for him. She told him that his lawyer wasn't going to be there until 10:15 so we decided to step outside and call her.

He called her and she told him he was not on the docket for today...that she had just gotten off the phone with the judge and he confirmed that. Michael told her that he was in court 'right now' and had just talked to the prosecutor and saw his name on the list and was told that she (his lawyer) was on the docket for 10:15. She said she would be there in a few minutes.

When we got back in the courtroom she was already there and in front of the Judge discussing his case. We sat down to wait and a few minutes later she took us out to a private consultation room. She asked Michael if he would accept a plea deal. We asked what kind and told her anything that didn't include unsupervised probation was out of the question due to marijuana being his legal, doctor approved medication. She said she would ask for unsupervised probation.

Michael was very reluctant to take the deal. In reality he had done nothing wrong, should not have been stopped in the first place much less searched and didn't feel he should be being put through this whole charade to begin with.

I told him that he should take the deal because it was as close as we were ever likely to get to getting him off scot free. That a deal like this in Alabama is unheard of for someone with a record like his (multiple possession charges for marijuana before he was a legal patient). He said he thought a jury would not convict him. I asked him to please remember where he was....that he would not be able to raise a medical defense in Alabama because we do not have a medical necessity law. I told him that my case all those years ago was different....that I wasn't facing 10-20 years in a state prison running at 195% capacity....that he could do more on the outside to change the law than inside. To please take the deal.

He finally decided...and it was a very difficult compromise for him...I mean he really, really struggled with it...to take the deal if she could get it. He said he felt like he had caved, that he hadn't stood true to his values. I told him that was nonsense...the court is what caved by offering that deal. I told him he had absolutely nothing to feel sad about...that he had won if they offered the deal we wanted.

The lawyer came back in with the paperwork and said that the prosecution had agreed to the deal...all he needed to do was sign. I looked over the agreements and saw that the deal we had discussed was not in there and asked her about it. She said the D.A. didn't want it in writing. I asked her if we got in there and the DA or the Judge didn't accept his plea to 2 misdemeanors could he withdraw it and continue on with the trial as originally planned. She assured me that he could. I also asked her if this deal would be dependent on him passing a drug test today. She said she would work that out, that they usually do, but since this is his medicine she would try and avoid it. I told her if she couldn't then the deal would be off.

She began reading Michael his rights. She told him that the Judge would ask him if he had anything to say and that he should just say no. He said he didn't know if he could do that because he had plenty that he wanted to say about how fucked up this whole situation is, how he is a LEGAL patient, about how the law is wrong etc. I told him to please try not to say anything (and trust me I know how HARD it is to bite your tongue when in that situation) and he said he would do his best.

So, finally he signed the plea agreements, albeit it unhappily, and we proceeded back into the courtroom. When the Judge asked him if he had anything to say...he paused...and God it was a very long pause and I thought he was about to unload on the Judge and then he said "No."

The Judge asked him if he planned to return to California and Michael said "Yes". Then he sentenced him to 365 days in county, suspended, and 2 years UNSUPERVISED Probation, $250 on each count, court costs and lawyer fees and told him he was free to go.

Before that though his lawyer said, "Don't talk to the media because it will make the prosecution look soft on drugs and that will make it hard for me to work deals in the future." I told her we would try not to celebrate too much. As soon as we were out of there I called the Anniston Star and told them of the outcome since her request was just a request and not part of the deal Michael had signed.

I also asked the AS to investigate the fact that Michael was never notified about today's hearing and that even his lawyer was unaware....that if I hadn't known to get him to court that he would have been arrested for FTA through no fault of his own. Personally I think they did that shit on purpose. I can see it happening once....but twice? And the second time his lawyer didn't even know. Yeah...something's definitely up.

The fact that the media coverage was mentioned at all tells me all I need to know. ACC did one hell of a job coming to Michael's defense and alerting the public to this total miscarriage of justice. I want to personally than everyone who wrote a letter to the Anniston Star on his behalf, made comments on the letters that were printed, came to court with him, took him back and forth to ACC meetings and helped him in other ways.

WE DID IT Y'ALL!!! We defeated the dragons in Calhoun County and none of it would have been possible had it not been for you brave souls who dared to stand up and stare down the Alabama Criminal INJUSTICE system.

Many thanks are also in order to the Anniston Star. They picked up this story and ran with it the whole way through and published nearly every letter we sent in for Michael. Had it not been for them and their willingness to cover this issue then we would have never made the court fear us and back down today. Many thanks Anniston Star.

I never again want to hear that political advocacy and things like letter writing and showing up with someone for court don't have an effect. We made them cry uncle today and you should all be very proud of the part you played in it. I am still in shock that it turned out this way. Extremely happy in a bitter sweet way....but absolutely shocked.

Next!

Only in Alabama...

2010-12-06T19:50:00.003-06:00

Only in Alabama will you find an 8 point buck as part of the Nativity Scene. Gee, I don't remember that from the KJV. Saw this at the local Christmas Parade and just had to share.

Duck a la Orange Anyone?

2010-12-04T20:37:00.003-06:00

Amazing game. Just effin amazing! Garcia took an absolute beating! National Championship here we come!!!!

Duck a la Orange anyone?

WAR EAGLE!

2010-11-26T07:46:00.004-06:00

So, today is the BIG day....the day all of us Auburn fans have been waiting a year for.

PAYBACK!

I never brag before an Auburn - Alabama game, because, despite either team having a terrible year none, of it matters when the Iron Bowl kicks off.

I believe Auburn will win today. I predict the score will be Auburn 35 Alabama 31.

Wish I could be there. Since my son is a student at Auburn I do plan to attend next year since the game will be in Auburn and I will have season tickets!

WAR DAMN EAGLE!

Happy Thanksgiving

2010-11-25T07:11:00.004-06:00

A very happy and tummy satisfying Thanksgiving to all of my friends across the US today.

Here is what's on the Nall menu.

Turkey
Mashed Potatoes
Homemade Mac n Cheese
Turnip Greens
Green Bean casserole
Dressing
Cheesecake with cherry topping
Crown Royal Black and Ginger Ale

Hope y'all have a great one!

Loretta Nall vs. Senator Jeff Sessions

2010-11-19T06:22:00.009-06:00

I may have mentioned a time or two on this blog my intense dislike of one Senator Jeff Sessions, the white supremacist, douche bag, Howdy Doody look alike Republican US Senator from Alabama. May have mentioned it. If not then let me say again that I have an intense dislike for this buffoon. How he continues to get elected is baffling....but he does. I've never voted for him and never will unless he is a contestant in a Hodwy Doody look alike contest.

I will say that in his long, disappointing career he has done two things that I consider decent. Those two things are the last two things one would expect from Senator Jeff Sessions, seeing as how he once said he thought the Ku Klux Klan was ok until he learned some of them consumed marijuana. He co-sponsored a bill to stop prisoner rape and he supported a bill to remove the powder/crack cocaine disparity in sentencing. He didn't go nearly far enough on the powder/crack sentencing reduction. It was a 20 to 1 disparity and he thought getting it down to 5 to 1 was good enough. It isn't.

Now Jeff has shown himself for the true hypocrite that he is. During the confirmation hearings for DEA Administrator Michele Leonhart Sessions had the following to say.

Perhaps due to the failure of Prop 19 in California (and despite the passage of medical marijuana in Arizona), Kohl, along with Democratic Sens. Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island and Al Franken of Minnesota, made no mention of medical marijuana. Republican Sen. Jeff Sessions of Alabama, however, made it his prime focus.

“I’m a big fan of the DEA,” said Sessions, before asking Leonhart point blank if she would fight medical marijuana legalization.

“I have seen what marijuana use has done to young people, I have seen the abuse, I have seen what it’s done to families
. It’s bad,” Leonhart said. “If confirmed as administrator, we would continue to enforce the federal drug laws.”

“These legalization efforts sound good to people,” Sessions quipped. “They say, ‘We could just end the problem of drugs if we could just make it legal.’ But any country that’s tried that, Alaska and other places have tried it, have failed. It does not work,” Sessions said.

“We need people who are willing to say that. Are you willing to say that?” Sessions asked Leonhart.

“Yes, I’ve said that, senator. You’re absolutely correct [about] the social costs from drug abuse, especially from marijuana,” Leonhart said. “Legalizers say it will help the Mexican cartel situation; it won’t. It will allow states to balance budgets; it won’t. No one is looking [at] the social costs of legalizing drugs.

Now, let me get this straight. Jeff Sessions is supposedly a strong supporter of States Rights....yet he wants the DEA to continue to violate States Rights and directives from the DoJ to leave alone those states which have passed medical marijuana laws? Hell, even my old buddy Troy King got this right when he filed an amicus brief on behalf of Angel Raich when she took former US Attorney General to the Supreme Court over medical marijuana.

Jeff Sessions is adamantly opposed to socialized medicine which he and others define as the government getting in between doctor and patient...yet he wants the government to do just that where medical marijuana is concerned? That is the definition of socialized medicine.

Sessions says that no countries which have legalized marijuana have seen improvements? And then he mentions Alaska....which isn't a country BTW, and which has seen very real success with their experiment of allowing up to 4 ounces of marijuana in the privacy of ones own home. Even Sarah Palin, who Sessions likely worships and fantasizes about, said that someone smoking a joint in the privacy of their own home does not rise to the level of needing to be interfered with.....that government has more important things to do. For once I agree with her.

And what about Portugal, which decriminalized all drug use in 2001? How do their drug use rates compare to the US?

According to TIME Magazine...

"Compared to the European Union and the U.S., Portugal's drug use numbers are impressive. Following decriminalization, Portugal had the lowest rate of lifetime marijuana use in people over 15 in the E.U.: 10%. The most comparable figure in America is in people over 12: 39.8%. Proportionally, more Americans have used cocaine than Portuguese have used marijuana."

Looks to me like Portugal is faring far better than the US.

And stop this nonsense that marijuana destroys lives. It is the damn laws that destroy lives. If marijuana in and of itself destroyed lives then people like George Bush, Sarah Palin, Bill Clinton, Barak Obama, Thomas Jefferson and George Washington would have had their lives destroyed from it's consumption. But they didn't....and neither has anyone else.

We have had marijuana prohibition in place since the 1937 Tax Act and the days of racist enforcer Henry Anslinger. And name one positive thing it has brought us. Has prohibition stopped people from getting marijuana? No. What it has done is turn a natural plant that anyone who wants it could grow into a commodity that is worth about as much as gold and thereby funded violent, dangerous Mexican cartels who make 61% of their profits from the importation of marijuana into the US.

Has it stopped kids from having unfettered access to marijuana? No. It has provided unfettered access to marijuana. Drug dealers don't ask for ID and they never will until the sale of marijuana is brought under regulation.

Prohibition has filled our prison system to bursting with non-violent people who have no business there. In Alabama our prison system is running at 195% capacity in large part because of this damn drug war. You think Sessions cares?

So, I will run against Senator Jeff Sessions in 2014. In order to do that I will need ballot access. And for that I will need the signature of every Alabama citizen who is tired of people like Jeff Sessions talking out both sides of their mouth and keeping in place the laws which have proven destructive, wasteful and futile. Please download the ballot access petition HERE fill it out and mail it to me at...

Loretta Nall for US Senate
4633 Pearson Chapel Rd
Alexander City, AL 35010

Print out loads of them and have all your friends, family and co-workers sign it. We have to get signatures which equal 3% of the votes cast in this last gubernatorial election. I am not sure what the exact number is but will inquire with the Secretary of States office today. Seems to me like I only need 5000 to qualify for federal office and not 3% of the ballots cast in the last gubernatorial election.

If we get started now then getting my name on the ballot should be no problem. Let's roll!

Go VOTE!

2010-11-02T06:46:00.002-05:00

Please take the time today and exercise your right to vote in the General Election. If you don't participate then you have absolutely no say in decisions others make that affect your life.

Also, if you are a praying person then pray hard that Prop. 19, the Regulate, Tax and Control Cannabis Initiative in California passes. If you are not a praying person then keep your fingers crossed. Former Mexico President Vicente Fox recently said of Prop. 19...."May God let it pass." He knows that 61% of the violent drug cartel profits come from the sale of marijuana smuggled into the states from Mexico and he knows that legalization would practically bankrupt the cartels overnight. Seeing as how some 28,000 Mexican people have lost their lives to the unspeakable violence that prohibition has brought us I'd say he knows probably better than anyone what legalization will do. Listen to the man.

They're Smoking Weed!

2010-10-29T16:40:00.003-05:00

A Dallas news anchor in San Francisco to cover the World Series trips out on the fact that people are smoking pot right out in the open. HYSTERICAL!

View more news videos at: http://www.nbcbayarea.com/video.

That Naughty Pig

2010-10-20T06:41:00.006-05:00

As most of my readers know I own a male pot belly pig named Snuffalufagus, who is very sweet and likes his tummy scratched whenever he can get it. What they don't know (unless they have owned one and found out the hard way) is that pigs are completely oversexed animals (if you don't have them castrated when they are young) and will hump anything even remotely round.

I didn't have mine castrated when he was young. My vet dislikes pigs immensely and would not do it. He told me to find an old black farmer to do it. I asked a friend of mine if he knew of any farmers who fit that description and he said yes. I asked him about how the procedure was performed and he told me, "Well the farmer catch the pigs head up in a wooden thing, then he takes a razor blade and slices open the sac, pops out the balls, cuts them off, throws some turpentine in there and that's it. The pig will act like he dyin' for about 4 days then he will get up and be fine...most of the time anyway." I asked about anesthesia for my little pig and was told that none would be given.

Since I like my pig and thought that procedure sounded a lot like torture, I decided against getting him castrated. I now deeply regret that decision.

See, my pig is a flat out sex maniac. He humps anything round. Barrels, logs, he's made more than one attempt at the goats, cats, and would probably go after the dog if he could get close enough. We gave him a barrel a few months ago....but after a fierce bout of pig/barrel fornication, in which he rolled it down the driveway, across the road and into the neighbors yard (forcing me into a very embarrassing situation of having to explain why my pig was in my neighbors yard having relations with a barrel) we took it away.

Now, the pig has gotten his revenge. Every day (at least until this week) Snuffy was allowed to be out of his pen for a few hours in the evening. He likes to roam around in the woods, root for acorns, muscadines, and other tasty things to eat, and terrorize the other animals who happen to be out when he is. Other than a time or two, I have never known him to travel to the neighbors yard (remember the barrel episode?) and never gave it much thought. However, I should have foreseen what was bound to happen.

A few weeks ago one of my neighbors put up her Halloween decorations. Their house sits right next to mine and so her decorations, which consist of a scarecrow hanging on a fence and a large, ROUND, pumpkin, are just a few feet from the bottom of my driveway.

When we first noticed the decorations my husband said, "You know pig is going to go after that pumpkin...he won't be able to resist it." I said...'Man I hope not."

And then it happened. Day before yesterday I hear a knock on the door. When I answer it I see my neighbors adult son standing there. After we exchange pleasantries he asks me, "Say...y'all ain't seen a large plastic pumpkin around here anywhere have you? I seen your pig just humping the hell out of it yesterday afternoon and now it's disappeared. My mama really loved that pumpkin."

I don't think I've ever wanted to crawl under a rock so badly in my life.

"No", I said, "I haven't seen a pumpkin around anywhere. And I am so sorry you had to witness that incident. My pig has a thing for all things round. Let me look around the property and see if I can locate your pumpkin. If I can't I will replace it or give your mom the money if I am unable to find one."

He was agreeable to that. So, I looked all over my 2.15 acres of wooded property and there was no large, bright orange plastic pumpkin to be found. Piggy has her stashed somewhere I guess. I just can't figure out where he would have hidden it. Hell, you'd think a big orange plastic pumpkin with a jack-o-lantern face would be pretty easy to spot. Not so...at least not in this case.

So, yesterday I went to Walmart with the intent of purchasing another plastic pumpkin to replace the one that piggy befouled. But they didn't have any. All they had were the inflatable kind for $50. And, let's face it, an inflatable pumpkin would fare far, far worse in a go round with piggy than a plastic one did.

Anyone know where I can get a large, plastic pumpkin? I feel bad about my animal destroying another's property and want to replace it.

Piggy is currently on lock down until I can get him a better place built that won't require him being let out to roam every day. I hate that because he so enjoys being loose, kicking up his heels, wagging his tail, and trotting around the yard. But, nothing round is safe when he is loose and in the interest of preserving neighborly relationships I will keep him secure until a better pen is built or until I can find someone with adequate facilities to take the horny little porcine.

Say, anyone want a pig?

UPDATE: PUMPKIN FOUND!

As you can see he stashed her in a huge stand of nasty looking saw briers! That damn pig! Now I gotta wade through those evil things to rescue her and return her to her spot in front of the Scarecrow.

Headed to Anniston for Michael Lapihuska hearing

2010-10-08T06:47:00.002-05:00

I and other members of Alabamians for Compassionate Care are headed to the court house in Anniston, AL this morning for a docket hearing on Michael Lapihuska's case. We will have signs calling for jury nullification and acquittal as well as this handout for passers-by. If you are in or around the Anniston area please come out and join us. The courthouse is located at

25 W 11th St Anniston, AL

Holy S*!#...What a SNAKE!

2010-10-04T15:42:00.002-05:00

Got the below picture with the following explanation in my email this morning.

Looking for hogs in Georgia with his shotgun, heard a rattle and his first instinct was to point and shoot. Dude is about 6’2”. Look at the head on that thing!!!
Eastern Diamondback

That snake is enough to make my friend Tim Lennox pass out on sight! Cover your eyes Tim!

Seriously though...GOOD GOD that thing is a monster. Hell, I'd still be shooting it.

Speaking at UAB on Wednesday

2010-10-04T06:27:00.003-05:00

On Wednesday, October 6, I, along with Thomas Pearson from Alabama NORML, will be speaking at UAB. I will be speaking about the medical marijuana bill and how to get involved in getting it passed and Thomas will be speaking about marijuana legalization in general and what benefits the state would reap should they ever decide to have a serious conversation about legalization. Details are below. The event is free. Please come out and join us.

Ending Alabama’s War on Marijuana Consumers

Heritage Hall room 121

Wednesday, Oct. 6th @ 7 pm

Representatives from Alabama NORML and Alabamians for Compassionate Care discuss strategies and opportunities for changing Alabama’s misguided, costly and harmful marijuana laws.

Is this a case of fratricide?

2010-10-01T15:55:00.007-05:00

The Cullman Times is reporting that police gunned down a wild, huge, sharp-tusked, aggressive boar hog near Cullman High School.

Problem is....it wasn't any of those things. According to the picture of said beast below...it was a small, relatively harmless pot bellied pig. I have one that looks almost identical. He likes to get his belly and legs scratched.

What is truly telling about the way police reported this incident is that it is the exact way they report about the people they arrest. They blow shit up to the Nth degree, demonize the suspect, etc....and this was a pig...who could not come back later and challenge their story.....and they still lied and blew things way out of proportion.

I think this is a clear case of fratricide...and if they barbecue him and eat him then it will be cannibalism.

Then again...that's not really fair to the pig. In fact, it is an insult to pigs, which are smart animals and make great pets, to be placed in the same category with cops.

Poor piggy! They really didn't have to kill him.

So, will these people get probation from Judge Rochester?

2010-09-30T06:51:00.005-05:00

The Clay Times Journal has released the Grand jury report from August and 9 out of 11 indictments are for controlled substance violations.

I can't help but wonder if these poor souls will be shown the same favoritism and leniency that was shown to Alex Rochester, the son of Judge John Rochester....the judge who will be presiding over these cases. If I were a betting gal I'd put my money on NO.

I've been hearing numerous reports that Alex Rochester violated his probation a few months ago....but his probation was not revoked and he was not placed in prison. However, there have been no papers filed in the court system to that effect. Of course, if your daddy is the judge then it'd be really easy to keep those papers from making their way into the AlaCourt system. Also odd that the probation office in the Court House caught fire right around the same time the reports about Alex violating probation were coming in. Those reports came from people who saw him in court and from a couple of different lawyers in Clay County.

Grand Jury report given

Wednesday, September 29, 2010 1:16 PM EDT

The following was released by Clay County Circuit Clerk Jeff Colburn regarding results of the August session of the Clay County Grand Jury.

The following indictments were issued. Readers are reminded these people are still presumed innocent unless they plead guilty or are found guilty by a jury in a regular session of court.

Christopher Glenn Ackles, two counts of Unlawful Distribution of a Controlled Substance.

Cedric Bernard Adair, Obstruction of Justice.

Billy Wayne Atchley: Unlawful Distribution of a Controlled Substance, three counts.
Angie Lee Beamon, Unlawful Distribution of a Controlled Substance.

Gerald Bishop, Unlawful Distribution of a Controlled Substance.

James Bishop, two counts of Unlawful Distribution of a Controlled Substance.

Laura Ann Boyd, two counts of Unlawful Distribution of a Controlled Substance.

Lisa Dawn Brannon, Possession of a Controlled Substance and Use/Possession of a Controlled Substance.

Bradley Ray Brown, Use/Possession of a Controlled Substance, Possession of Marijuana First Degree.

Donald Lyn Brown, Possession of a Controlled Substance.

James Harold Bunt II, Theft of Property Second Degree, two charges, and two charges of Burglary, Third Degree.

Jessica Marie Businelle, Burglary Third Degree.