Letters Letters letters

John,
First off, you've got a great site, and I'd love to see you doing a talk show. I was reading through the mailbag when I came across WM's letter. To refresh your memory, he stated " It was my experimentation with weed that led to my experimentation with Cocaine, which led to my experimentation with crack cocaine, which led to a 12 year active addiction." Can we finally shoot down this ridiculous reason for calling marijuana a gateway drug. If marijuana was legal, people wouldn't have to go to the local crack house to pick up a sack of dope. They wouldn't have to buy pot off some guy trying to sell twelve other kinds of drugs. I've used marijuana for nine years now and attempted cocaine once. I didn't like it, so I didn't do it again. It's unfortunate that weak minded people have bad experiences with marijuana, and for that reason, they shouldn't use it. But don't take from those who love it.

Talk show hmm, as a guest or a host?
Being a guest is in my plans as things develop in my quest for freedom for all. As far as Wm's letter I remember it well, as the discourse that follows, that series of letters was what inspired me to start a letters section, so that others could be heard as well.. John Galt jr.

John,
Thank you for the kind mention in your report. there are advantages to being a nameless sign holder. I get to maintain my anonymity considerably more than the rest of you.
I do not regret having taken part in these protests....it is my freedom we're all fighting for too. All through the weekend it was apparent that everyone was encouraged to hold signs and take literature, It is a difficult enough task to get people to participate actively in these protests. The movement needs as many willing hands as it can gather. Keep everyone who expresses an interest fully informed, notice what others are doing to contribute as well and distribute the work among everyone who is willing. People need to feel included and useful. That is why AA groups often assign tasks such as greeting people, making coffee, setting out literature, etc. to newcomers. It gets them involved right from the start. Keep up the good work. The movement will go on no matter what. The revolution has begun!

John
I agree that most cops do not follow the letter of the law (Quite an understatement) but I have to say you are wholly uninformed on the domestic violence issue. I am a medic who used to ride in the bowels of Kansas City, and I want you to know that the law is clear: Any sign of domestic abuse and the perpetrator goes to jail. That law is meant to protect women and children from their abusers. There are specifics to these cases, one sticks in my mind. I was called to a white couple's home, located in "hell's triangle". A woman had fingermarks, along with a straight mark, on her neck. She had trouble breathing. We treated her and the police attempted to arrest her husband- whom she claimed didn't harm her. To make a long story short, The woman is alive, and has the strength to leave him. Most cops are clean with domestic violence - BUT THEY ARE EGREGIOUS IN OTHER MATTERS. Most cops treat black kids like they needn't exist. I think the domestic violence part of your statement on Cops needs to be removed. In MO, it's the law, someone has to go to jail if any sign of physical violence has occurred and a ton of other states has the same law. JS

JS,
I have to say I am certainly not in favor of domestic violence, I have seen my share. However I have to disagree with any police interventions which have not been invited. You said in your story "the police attempted to arrest her husband- whom she claimed didn't harm her." What if she was telling the truth? If not by not asking for help from the police, a person is accepting what has happened, even if it is after the act. Anyone who is in such a situation and stays is responsible for their own actions. Personally I believe that if two people agree to beat the hell out of each other they should be able to agree to do it. After all isn't that what Boxing, football, wrestling and other contact sports are about? You need a paying audience for it to be legal?

John,
It's time the government wakes up and realizes that they can not stop the information age from coming, but wait until you get the bill for attempts to control the greatest knowledge of all the untamed world wide web of connected computers. Every government in the world is quaking in their boots. It takes the censorship out of the presses and television, because whether they say it's censored or not it always is every person has their own individual point of view and will slant every thing to their own personal position, the beauty of this mode of communication is that everyone can say something if they want to speak . It still is quite possible that you could be drowned out in cyberspace as you would in a crowded room . But at least here you can say what you want and if someone wants to know your position they can. Instant communication for kindred spirits of every rank and file. Ron

John,
Government is about the control of resources through the acquisition, maintenance and manipulation of power. There is very little the government is involved in, that does not fulfill this agenda. All we have to do is get past the propaganda to see it.

I am glad to see hemp activists beginning to take a real stand against the drug war economy. If industrial hemp was not a threat to the economic interests of our ruling class, the fields in Nicaragua would not have been burned, The growers would not be feeding from a plate of injustice either. The Function of the DEA in this operation was to crush a legitimate source of domestic prosperity in the region. The drug war is fulfilling it's intended role. That role, the police state the drug war creates, will enforce an emerging third world economy.

This incident in Nicaragua is a message of repression to all of us. This incident demonstrates that our cooperation is mandatory in this corrupt little war and this government doesn't give a shit about the law. This is business as usual in our capitalist democracy. Competition, much like monopolies, are enforcement mechanisms that are controlled by the top of our food chain. The DEA did have the right to destroy that field. That right is the right of might. The longer we allow this drug war to continue, the greater the threat to our lives and the future of our descendants. Our enemies cannot defend this drug war with accurate information and their foot soldiers are not paid enough to sell out their country for a buck. If we lose this war, it will be because we did not have the courage to stop it. Sincerely,Jay Lindberg

John,
I have visited your site a few times, and find it to be entertaining and informative. But I have to ask who is this Darkside person? His essay on "how marijuana feels" is very dangerous, because it glorifies getting high and makes dangerous comparisons to the "natural" highs of life. I have tried marijuana in the past and all I got a headache from it. His poetry and his art are very disturbing as well. Please tell me that he is locked up in a mental institution somewhere, so I can go out in public with out having to worry about running into him . Ss in Texas

John.
I finally got to get back to your webpage. I had missed alot of it. It didn't take me long to look through it the first time I tried. But then I wasn't very thorough. I have known you for almost twenty years... Farmer John, always sewing seeds. Plants, thoughts, ideas. seeds of discontent, rebellion, revolution, change. It will be interesting to see what your crop ends up being.
Guess You Know Who

John,
I have a couple of points to comment upon:
What should be done about our current ballooning welfare state?
Downsize government programs, privatize expendable agencies like the Postal
Service, alter tax system to create an environment with incentives to increase
personal savings as well as strengthening the economy (i.e., Flat Tax
Proposal)
Would you favor a flat tax rate of 10% for individuals earning
less than $50,000 per year? God bless you, man.

Are term limits a good idea? The concept is nice,
but I cannot be philosophically consistent when I want to see liberty
increase and while seeing new restrictions to liberty coming to a halt. This
even includes the freedom of the electorate to vote in an old crusty butt
career politician if it is their will. Although term limits, pragmatically,
do us a service. I am a happy man to see Dictator Brown out of the California
Legislature, and a term limit for federal offices would throw out shit like
Rottonkowski and Ted Kennedy. But, hey, I like eating Front Loops, but if I
only eat Froot Loops I'll die of malnutrition, if you see my analogy. D.K.

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