Harper’s Magazine, Where ‘Legalize It All’ Means More Taxes and State Control of Drugs
March 21st, 2016In the piece below, there’s no mention of the fact that the CIA has been in the narcotics trafficking business for decades, which is an interesting tidbit to leave out of an article about disastrous drug policies.
With that elephant in the room, let’s all gasp in shock with the author about the Nixon administration screwing over hippies and black people. In 2016, that’s a startling revelation. Right?
Disclosure: Before the Internet, I used to subscribe to Harper’s, but I soon came to realize that the content was intended for a certain mental demographic to which I didn’t belong.
Do you own a recumbent bicycle?
Do you have tenure?
Despite bleeding from your ass after decades of thinking that the Democrats have your best interests in mind, are you voting for Hillary in 2016? *Not a Trump endorsement*
If you answered yes to any or all of the above questions, you might like Harper’s.
With that out of the way and knowing what we know about government involvement in narcotics trafficking, I found it hilarious that the author of this piece goes on to call for, “A government monopoly on distribution,” to drug consumers.
*chortle*
You’re in luck, Mr. Baum, because the government is already operating a global wholesale narcotics distribution network…which is pretty reliable, except when it isn’t.
Via: Harper’s:
I started to ask Ehrlichman a series of earnest, wonky questions that he impatiently waved away. “You want to know what this was really all about?” he asked with the bluntness of a man who, after public disgrace and a stretch in federal prison, had little left to protect. “The Nixon campaign in 1968, and the Nixon White House after that, had two enemies: the antiwar left and black people. You understand what I’m saying? We knew we couldn’t make it illegal to be either against the war or black, but by getting the public to associate the hippies with marijuana and blacks with heroin, and then criminalizing both heavily, we could disrupt those communities. We could arrest their leaders, raid their homes, break up their meetings, and vilify them night after night on the evening news. Did we know we were lying about the drugs? Of course we did.”
I must have looked shocked.
The Veneer of Justice in a Kingdom of Crime
March 20th, 2016Via: BestEvidence:
The criminal global banking cartel has effected a coup d’etat in the U.S. This is why the same criminal financial elite that saw 1000 of its members go to prison 20 years ago (after the S&L crisis) is now above the law.
To date, the question of why the U.S. Department of Justice has failed to prosecute even one too-big-to-fail bank for the pervasive criminal frauds that drove the multi-trillion-dollar economic meltdown of 2008 has been answered pretty much with shrugs.
By far the most insightful answer was provided by Martin Smith’s breathtaking Untouchables episode, which PBS Frontline aired in January 2013. See http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/frontline/fil…
But even Smith’s answer—that the DOJ never truly investigated Wall Street crime due largely to the so-called collateral consequences doctrine—really explains how rather than why prosecutions have been scuttled.
In an effort to pick up where the Untouchables left off in early 2013, BestEvidence presents “The Veneer of Justice in a Kingdom of Crime.” In addition to analyzing events that have occurred since the Untouchables aired (including events caused by the Untouchables), and in an attempt to answer some of the deeply troubling issues raised by Martin Smith, “Veneer” examines certain implications the DOJ’s pronouncements, since late 2012, that the rule of law is effectively dead (having been supplanted by the management of oversized global banks).
“Who Can Stop Trump? Republicans May Have Little Choice But To Vote Clinton”
March 20th, 2016Imagine my shock.
Via: Guardian:
Just a few steps from the White House, the latest secret gathering of Republicans seeking an answer to the question of who can still stop Donald Trump reached a demoralising answer for their party on Thursday night: Hillary Clinton.
A bleak mood has swept over the Grand Old Party in the past 24 hours as the multiple implications of Trump’s latest victory in primary elections on Tuesday have slowly sunk in.
…
Many establishment figures have reluctantly begun to concede that it is a non-starter to entertain the idea of bringing in an entirely new alternative candidate at a contested party convention in July.
…
How one of the world’s largest exercises in democracy can leave Americans facing two of the least popular candidates in a generation may seem strange, but the realistic alternatives for Republicans look less attractive still.
…
Instead the many mainstream Republicans who are appalled at Trump’s antics are now realising they could have little alternative but to vote for Hillary Clinton or not vote at all.
Gerald Bull’s Supergun
March 19th, 2016Via: BBC:
But Big Babylon was never built, and no-one has got close since. So what happened? The answer is a tale of hubris, thwarted ambitions and military secrets. At a time when Bull’s expertise should have been in high demand by all of the world’s superpowers, he chose to make his supergun for Saddam Hussein instead, a decision that would end in murder.
Corporate Lucre for Doctors Results in More Prescriptions for Name Brand Drugs
March 19th, 2016Via: ProPublica:
The more money doctors receive from drug and medical device companies, the more brand-name drugs they tend to prescribe, a new ProPublica analysis shows. Even a meal can make a difference.
Face2Face: Real-Time Face Capture and Reenactment of RGB Videos
March 19th, 2016Woh.
Via: Stanford:
Chinese Buying Starwood Hotels (Sheraton and Westin)
March 18th, 2016Via: Reuters:
Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide Inc on Friday said a $13 billion cash offer from China’s Anbang Insurance Group Co was superior to one from Marriott International Inc , setting the stage for the largest ever deal by a Chinese company in the United States.
The operator of Sheraton and Westin hotels said the Chinese insurer’s offer beat Marriott’s previously agreed cash and stock offer by nearly 15 percent, and that it planned to scrap the proposed deal with the rival hotel chain.
Anbang has been on a U.S. hotel buying spree as Chinese insurers rush to acquire high-yielding assets as they struggle to keep up with the policy liabilities of the country’s aging population. U.S. assets are also seen as a good hedge against weakness in the Chinese yuan.
U.S. General Lori Robinson to Become First Woman to Lead Combatant Command
March 18th, 2016For big false flags in the U.S…
Via: Reuters:
President Barack Obama will name the first woman to head a U.S. combatant command, selecting Air Force General Lori Robinson as the next head of the military’s Northern Command, Defense Secretary Ash Carter said on Friday.
The position, which is subject to Senate confirmation, is one of the most senior in the U.S. military and would make Robinson – who now leads U.S. air forces in the Pacific – the top general overseeing activities in North America.
“General Robinson, it just so happens, would also be the first ever female combatant commander,” Carter said, disclosing Obama’s plans to nominate her.
Carl’s Jr. CEO Wants to Try Automated Restaurant
March 18th, 2016Seattle Hikes Minimum Wage to $15 Per Hour:
Enjoy any higher minimum wages while you can because the Rise of the Machines grinds steadily onward, and the goal is to eliminate as many human workers from corporate payrolls as possible.
Via: KFOR:
A CEO of a fast-food company is causing a stir on social media after claiming that he wants to create a fully automated restaurant.
“We could have a restaurant that’s focused on all-natural products and is much like an Eatsa, where you order on a kiosk, you pay with a credit or debit card, your order pops up, and you never see a person,” Carl’s Jr. CEO Andy Puzder told Business Insider.
Puzder says the automated restaurant would be cheaper since he wouldn’t have to worry about rising minimum wage.
“If you’re making labor more expensive, and automation less expensive- this is not rocket science,” Puzder said.
“They’re always polite, they always upsell, they never take a vacation, they never show up late, there’s never a slip-and-fall, or an age, sex, or race discrimination case,” says Puzder of swapping employees for machines.
Domino’s to Trial Pizza Delivery by Robot in NZ
March 17th, 2016Via: New Zealand Herald:
Domino’s says it’s working with the Government on a plan to permit robot pizza delivery to hungry New Zealanders.
The government and Domino’s Pizza are working to explore and test driverless pizza delivery options with a four-wheeled unit named DRU (Domino’s Robotic Unit).
Minister of Transport Simon Bridges said the use of the robot is an exciting opportunity for New Zealand, which is one of the first countries in the world being considered for testing autonomous pizza delivery.
Related: Ground Delivery Drones Ready to Roll in England
