Why do American elections run for so long?
The Weekly Radio Address
The Official Parody of President Bush’s Weekly Radio Address: It’s a Wonderful Presidency
The next Inauguration Day will occur on January 20, 2009 – Wikipedia
Category: government
War on Pot: $42 Billion Annual USA Boondoggle
This is likely somewhat hyperbolic.
Still, the USA is nuttier than any other civilized country when it comes to soft drugs.
What would you buy if you had an extra $42 billion to spend every year? What might our government buy if it suddenly had that much money dropped onto its lap every year?
For one thing, it might pay for the entire $7 billion annual increase in the State Children’s Health Insurance Program that President Bush is threatening to veto because of its cost — and there’d still be $35 billion left over.
Or perhaps you’d hire 880,000 schoolteachers at the average U.S. teacher salary of $47,602 per year.
Or give every one of our current teachers a 30 percent raise (at a cost of $15 billion, according to the American Federation of Teachers) and use what’s left to take a $27 billion whack out of the federal deficit.
Or use all $42 billion for a massive tax cut that would put an extra $140 in the pockets of every person in the country — $560 for a family of four.
The mind reels at the ways such a massive sum of money could be put to use.
Why $42 billion? Because that’s what our current marijuana laws cost American taxpayers each year, according to a new study by researcher Jon Gettman, Ph.D. — $10.7 billion in direct law enforcement costs, and $31.1 billion in lost tax revenues. And that may be an underestimate, at least on the law enforcement side, since Gettman made his calculations before the FBI released its latest arrest statistics in late September. The new FBI stats show an all-time record 829,627 marijuana arrests in 2006, 43,000 more than in 2005.
AlterNet: DrugReporter: The War on Pot: America’s $42 Billion Annual Boondoggle
If spending money fighting a “War on Drugs” is a good idea, why is it not working?
Reefer Madness – the movie
John McCain to win Republican nomination
With absolutely no research, I called Obama to win the Presidency months ago. I only knew he was popular with bloggers.
The Republicans now must chose who to lose to Obama. Why not a loveable loser? John McCain.
I know very little about McCain. Best check Wikipedia …
Ah, “attacking the corrupting influence of big money on American politics his signature issue.” Right on.
Romney strikes me as dishonest. This blogger is throwing his clout behind McCain. To lose the Presidency.
Copyright reform bill critics eye victory
A controversial bill that seeks to reform Canadian copyright laws, expected to be introduced early this week, may be quashed after a groundswell of opposition erupted over the past week.
The government last week filed a notice indicating the bill would be introduced this week, leading industry experts to expect it to happen on Tuesday. But a spokesperson for Industry Minister Jim Prentice, who was to introduce the bill, said it would not happen on Tuesday and could not say if it would happen this week.
Minister of Industry Jim Prentice has said his proposed copyright reform bill will bring Canada in line with its international obligations.
The House of Commons will take a break until January after Friday’s session.Cory Doctorow, co-editor of influential technology blog Boing Boing and a former director of the Electronic Freedom Foundation advocacy, on Monday wrote that the government’s plan is now in disarray. …
====
I dashed off an email to Jim Prentice from Calgary:
I pretty much agree with Cory Doctorow.
Intellectual digital property protection is important, but the American model of trying to “police” digital rights does not work. There is unanimous agreement on that. Microsoft is selling Office in the developing world for $3 because they understand the old model is over.
Creators of intellectual property that is digitized (I am one of them) need find a new model to generate revenue. The same amount of money will be spent worldwide on content, but distribution is changing. In future there will be few middle men.
And there will be winners and losers in the shift. The sooner Canada adapts, the more Canadians will be winners in the next economy. We have a chance to get ahead of the Americans here.
Do not follow the most backward set of regulations anywhere in the Western world. The USA is a laughing stock.
This issue is a deal breaker for me. If the Harper government goes ahead with it I will not only vote Liberal, but I will lobby for the Liberals in future.
Rick McCharles, Calgary
O Canada! The Canadian DMCA version
Cory Doctorow is angry.
… a new version of the Canadian national anthem, in honour of the terrible proposal for a Canadian version of the US DMCA, a copyright law that has led to 20,000 lawsuits against music fans, terrible damage to innovation and free speech, all without paying artists or preventing infringement.
O Canada! The Canadian DMCA version of the national anthem – Boing Boing
Oprahbama vs Billary
Things are ramping up.
Bill Clinton or Oprah? Who has more star power draw for voters?
Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton is sending Bill Clinton here to South Carolina on Saturday, the day before Oprah Winfrey arrives. The former president has spoken here often on behalf of his wife and has proved enormously popular with South Carolina voters.
Not Feeling the Oprah Love – The Caucus – Politics – New York Times Blog
I’ve always had mixed feelings about Oprah. She’s a superb business person, but how much more to her is there?
In this case I admire Oprah. She has no much to gain and a lot to lose by jumping on Obama’s bandwagon. She must believe in the guy.
U.S. Comptroller General projects Fall of the American Empire
David M. Walker speaks truth to power.
How can he do that in the USA?
He has a 15-year appointment as Comptroller General of the USA and cannot be brought down by the President nor anyone else.
Walker has compared the present-day United States with the Roman Empire in its decline, saying the U.S. government is “on a ‘burning platform’ of unsustainable policies and practices with fiscal deficits, chronic healthcare underfunding, immigration and overseas military commitments threatening a crisis if action is not taken soon.
The Government Accountability Office (GAO) is a legislative branch agency founded in 1921, whose mission is to help improve the performance and assure the accountability of the federal government for the benefit of the American people. Over the years, GAO has earned a reputation for professional objective, fact-based, and nonpartisan reviews of government issues and operations. …
David M. Walker (U.S. Comptroller General) – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The USA is a great nation. But with no political accountability beyond the next election. Walker’s budget projections are “the dirty little secret that everyone in Washington knows, but no one will talk about”.
Watch an excerpt from the TV show 60 Minutes on YouTube, or click PLAY.
I don’t expect things to change.
Not until full out disaster forces the issue.
Thanks Barbara Anne for circulating this video.
60 Minutes – interview with 7yr-old Afghani
Yes, the Russians were worse. The Taliban were worse. It will likely be worse when Coalition forces, including Canada, finally leave.
But ask the 7-year-old survivor of an American bomb strike in Afghanistan (not Iraq) what he thinks of the USA after his entire family was killed. Not by accident. They targeted his family home because intelligence said two bad guys were being sheltered there.
This makes me angry. What would I do when I grew up if I was this young boy?
The TV show 60 Minutes is one of the best of American media. I rarely see the show, but can subscribe to the podcast.
A recent episode blew me away. The President of Afghanistan, an ally, asked George Bush privately to reduce the number of air strikes on his country. When that had no effect, he went public on 60 Minutes.
Turns out the American military has a formula for how many civilian casualties are acceptable when trying to blow up one bad guy with a computer guided 2000lb bomb.
This is not new. My hero Gandhi spent many years weighing how many hundreds of thousands would die when the British left India.
Problem for the US military, however, is that they rarely blow up the bad guy. Air strikes are easy. They only cost money, not American soldier’s lives.
Needless to say, there were no bad guys in the 7-year-old’s house. American troops had searched it just the day before.
You should listen to to the audiocast of that show.
President Hamid Karzai tells Scott Pelley that too many civilians are being killed in U.S. bombing raids on Afghanistan.
You can see some of the (slow streaming) video here.
Jon Stewart through 2010
Good news:
Comedy Central’s most valuable gem, “The Daily Show with Jon Stewart,” has the most uncanny knack for satire on everything today’s news can dish out, but before Jon Stewart, the show was barely a blip on the radar. (I dare you to recall any significant, memorable episodes when Craig Kilborn hosted; many of you are probably wondering who that even is, if you’re not asking when he ever hosted “The Daily Show.”) …
But if you’re wondering who will mock the next President Elect of the United States after he is elected, never fear! Jon Stewart will still be here! Comedy Central has extended his contract to 2010, according to a report by ComingSoon.net, which quoted Stewart on the good news.
“I love doing this show,” Stewart stated. “I feel like I work with and for the best in the business. I look forward to using this extension to having great fun at President (Stephen) Colbert’s expense.”
Jon Stewart Will Dish It Out Daily Through 2010 – MoviesOnline
I much prefer Colbert, myself. Here’s a thoughtful article from the LA Times:
Colbert vs. Stewart – Has the student surpassed the master?
You can watch clips from both shows whenever you want on-line, commercial free, on a number of legal sites. I use NewsCloud.
Bush and the Dalai Lama
George Bush did something right. I think I have to post it.
It is a rarity these days for United States President George W Bush to receive praise for his foreign policy, but that is what he deserves for his public embrace of the Dalai Lama, The Dominion Post says.
His actions are in marked contrast to those of (New Zealand) Prime Minister Helen Clark, who decided earlier this year that a 10-minute meeting in a Brisbane airport lounge meant there was no need to meet him in the Beehive, and National Party leader John Key, who dropped in on a meeting the exiled Tibetan leader was having with National foreign affairs spokesman Murray McCully, rather than meet him separately. For them, discretion – and a desire for a free trade deal with China – overcame valour. …
Principles that fit the policies – Dominion Post, New Zealand
And this is not the first time:
President George W. Bush welcomes the Dalai Lama to the White House Wednesday, September 10, 2003. White House photo by Paul Morse.
Rick McCharles 