I love it. From the article: On Monday June 27, Logan Darrow Clements, faxed a request to Chip Meany the code enforcement officer of the Towne of Weare, New Hampshire seeking to start the application process to build a hotel on 34 Cilley Hill Road. This is the present location of (Supreme Court Justice) Souter's home.
Clements, CEO of Freestar Media, LLC, points out that the City of Weare will certainly gain greater tax revenue and economic benefits with a hotel on 34 Cilley Hill Road than allowing Mr. Souter to own the land.
The proposed development, called "The Lost Liberty Hotel" will feature the "Just Desserts Café" and include a museum, open to the public, featuring a permanent exhibit on the loss of freedom in America. Instead of a Gideon's Bible each guest will receive a free copy of Ayn Rand's novel "Atlas Shrugged."
Clements indicated that the hotel must be built on this particular piece of land because it is a unique site being the home of someone largely responsible for destroying property rights for all Americans.
I really like my Gmail, and I really like Firefox, and all its extensions, particularly Gmail notifier, which tells you that you have a new email in your Gmailbox without having to open a new tab or window to check. but lately it hasn't been working. Logging in wouldn't authenticate. But, thanks to Stuart's weblog, here's the fix!
Wanna track a flight for a friend or loved one? Click Here. You can track flights in real time, and not even need a flight #. If you know the aitline, the airport, and roughly when they are leaving, you can search for the flight and then track it. Pretty darn cool.
Tom Cruise is as mad as a hatter. Of that, there is no question. By now, millions of bloggers are commenting on the recent NBC Today Show's interview with Tom Cruise, conducted by Matt Lauer[excellent transcript]. Cruise nails the point home that he is an arrogant opinionated arsehole (not unlike me, but I don't get nearly as much coverage in the press). He is so brainwashed by $cientology mythos that he can no longer speak as a rational human being. I fear because of the prevalence of the played one in a movie. Being a movie star, or even a $cientologist does not make one an expert in anything, except maybe being an actor, and a malleable sucker with too much money on their hands. But he will use your name a lot in order to appear like he's actually rationally discussing something.
The argument started when the subject of Brooke Shields came up. She has just recently released a book in which she discusses, apparently at length, her experience with post-partum depression. In May, Tom criticized Shields for using as well as speaking in favor of the drug Paxil. Cruise also said, "Here is a woman, and I care about Brooke Shields because I think she is an incredibly talented woman, you look at (and think), where has her career gone?"At the time, Shields was starring in a London revival of the musical "Chicago" (and receiving rave reviews for her performance as Roxie Hart). Shields responded that Cruise's statements about anti-depressants were "irresponsible" and "dangerous." She said he should <>"stick to fighting aliens" (ostensibly a reference to Cruise's starring role in War of the Worlds, but also to $cientology doctrine and teachings), and let mothers decide the best way to treat post-partum depression.
I could not have said it better, Brooke.
Here's prize nuggets from the NBC interview:
"psychiatry is-- is a pseudo science"
"There is no such thing as a chemical imbalance."
"Well, isn't it okay"
"If you start talking about chemical imbalance, you have to evaluate and read the research papers on how they came up with these theories... That's what I've done."
I'll stipulate that drugs are dispensed far too widely as a solution, rather than an adjuct to therapy. I'll stipulate that America, and society in general, wants quick fixes, immediate solutions, and "answers in a pill".
I've also known people who've had therapy, had anti-depressants, and have had ritalin. Yes, it works, no it's far from perfect. But it's better than holding tin cans while someone watches a needle and asks you questions.
Let's just set the record straight on $cientology.
It's not a religion. Unless by religion, you mean scheme to bilk the gullible out of their money, founded by an insane hack science fiction writer. Wait, I know what some of you are saying, "All religions sound like the writings of insane hack science fiction writers"... Well, that is a discussion for another time. Right now, the focus is $cientology, it's nutty beliefs, and what you must pay to play. Last I checked I could still go to mass for free, and never, ever was I forbidden from confession when I didn't drop an envelope into the basket. (Yeah, I was raised Catholic.). $cientology is, by no means, free.
It's not a science. Unless by science you mean you mean scheme to bilk the gullible out of their money, founded by an insane hack science fiction writer.
Why are so many celebrities $cientologists? One theory, postulated on a Fark.com message board, by this member, stated: I've been thinking about poor ol' Tom and his current spat of nuttiness. I think I have it (bear with me)...
He just became OTVIII, wherein he was given the kewl news that Hubbard is (more or less) God, that's pretty much the straw that broke his back. He then had to FACE REALITY and decide that Scientology is batshiat-crazy, but by that time--because of all the "auditing" he's been through they (the CoS) have a lot of info/ammo against Tom...things like latent homosexuality or other things "juicy." They're using this to keep Tom in line, continuing the course, get converts, etc. But Tom knows how to kill that and keep his super-secret audit session material hushed up: He does what they want but he acts all crazy to discredit himself, thus keeping converts away--which is what Tom wants--and at the same time keeping his records private.
It's a ruse. He's just learned Scientology is a dead-end, wants out but can't leave, and is trying to remove himself effectively from the equation. Travolta, also another OTVIII figured this out too, but he just clammed up. Nothing but business from him, this keeps his secrets from leaking out as well.
In the end the CoS is who wins, Tom and Travolta are pawns who woke up but can't leave the nightmare.
I wouldn't hesitate to think that $cientology has lots of "dirt" from celebrities, gleaned from all the auditing sessions. Either that, or these celebrities are A)Being paid lots of hush money, and B)They are at a very high tier in the grand $cientology Pyramid Scheme.
But you know what, hey, believe what you want. But at least, if someone claims that All of your problems are due to your body being inhabited by the 75 million year old ghosts of aliens killed by thermonuclear detonations set by a galactic big cheese named Xenu, hey, more power to you. Just make sure you get a receipt.
John, care to ad anything?
Thanks!
Oh, and finally, don't a celebrity's word on anything, or a weblog's, for that matter, as final.
I interviewed my kids for GeoRadio.Org. It was fun, and I hope the submission gets accepted. Until I can get it hosted at Archive.Org, it can be heard here.
Wow, over at Archive.org, they've got this thing called the "Wayback Machine", that let's you search for old web pages... Just for kicks I plugged in my old website, and lo and behold, There it is, in all of its glory... Of particular coolness are the Tie-dye pages, and in particular, How to Tie-Dye. I may have to start doing that again. I forgot how much fun it was.
This is how liberty dies. Sorry to use such a corny phrase, but it seemed more appropriate here than in it's original context. In a recent ruling, the US Supreme Court, decided that event though the constituents and lawmakers of at least 10 States want access to medical marijuana, it is still a federal crime, regardless that it is not crossing state lines, and used for personal relief of symproms. Su much for states rights. So much for your body being your own. So much for choosing your own medicine, unless it's one advertised during the evening news.
Is this your idea of a criminal? It's our governments.
Even our own president had said that this was an issue to be decided by each state. 6 out of 9 justices felt otherwise. So much for leader of the Free World". People worry about the Separation of Church & State? We need to worry about the Separation or Corp & State.
An exhaustive search of the literature finds no credible reports of deaths induced by marijuana. The US Drug Abuse Warning Network (DAWN) records instances of drug mentions in medical examiners' reports, and though marijuana is mentioned, it is usually in combination with alcohol or other drugs. Marijuana alone has not been shown to cause an overdose death.
Every day the government is chipping away at personal freedom, and we're letting them get away with it. We need to WakeUp!
So why is it illegal? That is a long and sordid tale. I encourage some reading. Linked is a very good article, and a quick Google search will turn up many more. But basically it started in the 10's, because the Mormon church didn't like their parishoners smoking it, and probably because they had consorted with Mexicans to get it. Since Utah automatically enshrined church doctrine into law, the first state marijuana prohibition was established in 1915. (Gee, that's scary...) Since that time, other states jumped on the bandwagon, mainly because the race card was an easy way to get votes; If you're fearful of an outside influence, get the mob behind you with racism. At that time Mexicans were in the spotlight, and naturally since Mexicans had brought the plant with them into the US, get rid of the plant, and you get rid of the Mexicans. In 1927 a Texas senator was quotes as saying:
"All Mexicans are crazy, and this stuff [marijuana] is what makes them crazy."
In the eastern states, it was a fear of the influence of latin americans and black jazz musicians. 1934 nespaper editorials quoted:
"Marihuana influences Negroes to look at white people in the eye, step on white men's shadows and look at a white woman twice."
Nice to see that we've become more enlightened since then. Oh wait, We haven't. I'd suggest reading the entire Salon.Com article referenced earlier to see how lies, deception, radicalism, and fear made this invaluable resource illegal. It remains illegal to this day because there is big money involved. What if there was a way to stop buying gasoline from Big Oil? What if there was a way to create paper, textiles, and building materials from a crop that outgrows cotton 3:1? What if there was a way to have a food supplement that is regarded as one of the world's healthiest, that grows in diverse and harsh climates, and again, grows 3 times faster than cotton? What if there was a non-toxic, plant based medicine, that can ease nausea, stimulate appetite, help glaucoma, releive the pain of MS, relax the mind, entertain the spirit, and can help the brain stay healthy? There is. But you are not allowed to have it. Because you could grow it in your own backyard and it would take away the profits of many, many large Business and Governmental agencies. Drug companies use the television to keep us stupified. Police departments supplement their budgets with sales from drug bust siezures. Follow the $$$...
I could go on and on about this, but the bottom line is, whether or not you view marijuana as beneficial or detrimental, there has to come a time when able bodied and moderately intelligent adults have to be allowed to take the responsibility to decide for themselves how they want to treat their bodies. I'm an adult, and I can decide for my self if I want to drink myself into a coma or not. I can decide to jump out of an airplane or not. I can decide to eat cheetos and watch tv 24/7 until I die from coronary disease or not. We deserve the chance to decide whether to eat/drink/smoke/wear/build/burn marijuana. Or not. It should be left up to us, not to government and big business.
You can read about the original case that sparked this rant Here. The Alert on that site is recommended as well.
**Update: Apparently, the El Paso Act of 1914 predates the Utah act, and there was legislation as early as 1910-11. Click here for another timeline.
Also, install Bitlord, and download this Documentary. It's called "The History of Marijuana", and it's narrated by Woody Harrelson. The film clips it shows are priceless.
I've jumped on the Podcast bandwagon. For those who may not know, a Podcast is simply a sound file, produced by someone (or someones) in the format of a radio show. They are usually non-commercial, and what makes them great, to me, is that the people creating them are genuinely interested in the subject matter they are creating, and can therefore be more detailed and/or passionate about the subject matter. Another cool thing is that you can listen to them whenever you want, on your PC or portable MP3 Player. Get a device like this and you can take your podcasts into the car, as an alternative to burning them to CD. (I found out that my truck hates cd-rw's :-<...)
What do you need? Well, not much really. All you really need is to download the mp3 files, and a way to play them. The sound files can be obtained from the show's website, and you can play them with windows media player. If you want to get fancy, you can get an Aggregator to combine your podcast feeds and download new podcasts automatically, based on subscriptions you set. I use ipodder, and it's fairly straightforward. The only hard part about using it has been getting the proper address for a couple of feeds. But that all got ironed out.
What am I listening to? Here's some links for the shows websites and syndication feeds:
I really like my Gmail, and I really like Firefox, and all its extensions, particularly Gmail notifier, which tells you that you have a new email in your Gmailbox without having to open a new tab or window to check. but lately it hasn't been working. Logging in wouldn't authenticate. But, thanks to Stuart's weblog, here's the fix!
Tom Cruise is as mad as a hatter. Of that, there is no question. By now, millions of bloggers are commenting on the recent 
But you know what, hey, believe what you want. But at least, if someone claims that All of your problems are due to your body being inhabited by the 75 million year old ghosts of aliens killed by thermonuclear detonations set by a galactic big cheese named 
Wow, over at 
Is this your idea of a criminal? It's our governments.
Even our own president had said that this was an issue to be decided by each state. 6 out of 9 justices felt otherwise. So much for leader of the 
I've jumped on the 
