Website adjustments

The site had a bit of a meltdown for awhile today as several plug-ins suddenly stopped working correctly. Plug-ins are third-party additions to WordPress that allow additional functionality in the blog, and we use a number of them. Sometimes you find a good one and start using it, but the developer of it doesn’t keep updating it, and it becomes incompatible when there is a routine upgrade of the core WordPress software.

I’m pretty sure that’s what happened today. I’ve had to deactivate comment ratings (as that one had gone completely haywire), along with a couple of others that affect how I write posts (but shouldn’t affect user experience).

Please let me know if anything else stops working correctly. In the meantime, I’ll look for a replacement for the comment rating system, but it may be awhile. I’m getting ready to take students to New York for a week.

Consider this an open thread.

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32 Responses to Website adjustments

  1. Servetus says:

    Maybe if it’s cheap enough in a paperback edition ($11.49) someone will buy Bill Bennett’s new book of lies (as of February 9) called “Going to Pot: Why the Rush to Legalize Marijuana Is Harming America”:

    According to Bennett’s research, more Americans are admitted to treatment facilities for marijuana use than for any other illegal drug. Studies have shown a link between marijuana use and abnormal brain structure and development. From William Bennett comes a call-to-action for the 46 states that know better than to support full legalization, and a voice of reason for millions who have jumped on the legalization bandwagon because they haven’t had access to the facts.

    Bill Bennett claiming he can do real research is laughable. Yes, according to Billy Boy’s book title, it’s not pot harming America, but the rush to legalize it.

    Bennett’s contribution to the image of the drug consumer led him to coin the term “super-predator”, referring to a fatherless, young, black or brown, crack or drug-induced fanatical criminal, a remorseless killer, destined to overwhelm existing crime-fighting forces. The fictional threat of the super-predator inspired a building boom in US prisons. Hillary Clinton is now in trouble for saying the word ‘super-predator’ while referring to black kids, as such, in a 1996 speech at Keene State College in NH.

    Times are indeed dangerous for the forces of evil engaged in drug-based tyranny in the US, and the world. Clinton’s and Bennett’s awful legacies on drug enforcement, those of their fellow prohibitionists, are under daily attack. Repressive government agencies devoted to prohibition are struggling for their continuing acceptance. Somehow, I don’t think Bennett’s latest little book, coming as it does before UNGASS, has much of a chance of changing anything.

    • Duncan20903 says:

      .
      .

      There really are some people who I’d rather not sit on the same side of the table as myself. Mr. Bennett is a dictionary picture worthy example of such a person.

      From a glance it looks to me like he’s espousing the same tactical strategy which has been such a total loser for the prohibitionist cohort. Aside from the personal animus is the pragmatic assertion that he is one of the most significant assets for cannabis law reform.

  2. Frank W. says:

    How about don’t bother with the thumbs button. We’re not Roman emperors and I personally don’t need any of Youtube’s “OMG 461 haterz hated this post they should rot in HELL!”

  3. tensity1 says:

    http://www.wlbz2.com/news/politics/legalization-of-pot-will-not-be-on-november-ballot-because-of-47000-invalid-signatures/64716552

    It looks like a good majority of those invalidated sigs are because of a technicality, because a notary’s sig doesn’t exactly match what is on file with the state. Well, FFS, why not go ask him/her if it’s their sig? Okay, probably a bit more complicated that that, but I doubt by much. Sounds like LePage cronies doing what they do.

    What a bunch of bulljive.

    • Crut says:

      Well, not set in stone yet. They have the next 10 days to challenge the absurd ruling.

      I agree, LePage and his types are behind this for sure…

  4. darkcycle says:

    Page appears to be functioning fine now, Pete. Have fun in New York, and as for the thumbs button, it’s an option we can easilly live with or without. It really doesn’t add much, this site is about ideas, not kitten pictures. For what it’s worth, I do use it, but I can just as easilly comment with a “huzzah!”, and it’s more authentic since it’s personal.

    • Spirit Wave says:

      I want to ironically thumbs up your comment, but whatever flavor of “huzzah!” that comes to light here will hopefully suffice.

      For comments making honest (albeit cognitive dissonance generating) points regarding the war on [some] drugs, it would be beneficial for folks cheaply pushing thumbs down to instead support their condemning (disagreeing, etc.) position with a valid counterpoint.

      That might even form a public dialog where we all learn something about how to better end the mass atrocity industry that is Certain Drug Prohibition (the bigger and badder sequel to the basically equally failed Alcohol Prohibition) to save millions of innocent and legitimate freedom embracing lives.

      Drug abuse (like all forms of abuse) is all about unhealthy stress compensation, so is most certainly fundamentally a health (not criminal) issue by any sane measure.

      ‘Signing the peace treaty’ to end the drug war is not equal to encouraging stupidity in the form of reckless drug intake, but opens the door to perpetual educational (necessarily including, to match the oceanic set of lifestyles for learning interest, all varieties of honestly accurately entertaining) care.

      The dramatically more dangerous abuse in terms of overwhelmingly dominant societal destruction comes ironically from drug prohibition addiction.

      Like the stereotypical heroin (etc.) addict, drug prohibition addicts completely deceive (e.g. use equals abuse) and effectively steal (e.g. billions annually from taxpayers) to get their hideous fix.

      They are the quintessential hypocritical thugs and reason abusers typically unchallenged by the public at large, because the mainstream media journalistically unethically refuses to properly challenge prohibition legitimacy (effectiveness, destructiveness, constitutionality, scientific merit, etc.) in this publicly serious case.

      In a reality that only shows (at least scientific) signs of requiring balance for stability, any embrace of failing ethics by anyone within reality comes with an inevitable balancing (painful, if not agonizing) cost.

      We should all spend dominance wisely, because there is no sound reason to ever believe there can be a ‘free lunch’ when it comes to exercising dominance (despite the sadly stupid belief excessively exercised to the pitiful contrary) — reality’s balance/stability is demonstrably supreme.

      Thumbs down? Back that up, so we can all dominate more wisely for maximum public safety.

  5. DdC says:

    These don’t seem to be working now, but I’m on an older laptop that needs plug ins that won’t work with the puter system so it shows up as a square checkerboard not thumbs up/down. Maybe they work for others???

    Useful Unicode Characters
    http://mcdlr.com/8/
    Thumbs down sign
    Thumbs up sign

  6. Spirit Wave says:

    “US Supreme Court Ruling Could End Legal Marijuana Sales”: http://www.hightimes.com/read/us-supreme-court-ruling-could-end-legal-marijuana-sales

    “The plaintiffs are asking the Supreme Court to hit the kill switch on Colorado’s cannabis industry because Amendment 64 conflicts with the Controlled Substances Act while violating the Supremacy Clause of the U.S. Constitution.”

    The Controlled Substances Act (ruled constitutional solely and outrageously ridiculously by way of the Commerce Clause) obviously violates amendment nine, so the Supremacy Clause actually negates state/local anti-drug laws.

    That assumes that you (like yours truly) prefer our judicial system remains rational (fair, so just) to negate corruption.

    There’s no doubt our Supreme Court illegally redefined the Commerce Clause from “regulate commerce” to ‘regulate any activity having a substantial effect on commerce’, as irrefutably confirmed by the English language combined with the public record.

    There’s no doubt that leveraging the Commerce Clause to ban the mere possession of something (e.g. a plant) is an egregious mass infringement upon the self-evident and unalienable right to liberty.

    If Congress can regulate (mysteriously including ban) any activity having a substantial effect on commerce, then Congress can only sanely have the authority to regulate your thought activity — which literally determines all of your buying and selling decisions.

    Critically note science and technology are well on the road to reading and manipulating your thoughts, so this extremely serious point should no longer be ignored.

    The unacceptable vagueness of the Commerce Clause battering ram against constitutional legitimacy must finally come to light in the court of public opinion (the true highest court of the land), because our Supreme Court has only repeatedly reinforced that blatant illegality (destroying millions of lives for several decades and strongly counting in the process) within “legal” precedence.

    Amendment nine is clear (but illegally judicially disarmed): “The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people.”

    Since the only rights formally declared outside of our Constitution exist in our nation’s fundamental declaration, that amendment can only logically serve to judicially recognize our fundamental rights certainly justly defined therein.

    For public safety, the public needs a basic understanding (including appreciation) of law, because otherwise the abuse of law (which ignited the American revolution) reigns oligarchically supreme at (sometimes inter)nationally everyone’s terrible expense.

    As law abuse (from pre-American conservatism across the political spectrum to ignore our fundamental rights to instead sustain discrimination in too many forms) continues to hypocritically wear down our nation by growing into a complex (highly unethically politicized) judicial mess putting all innocent civilians at (sometimes serious) risk, instead of relying upon increasingly radicalized presidents (etc. — the demonstrably insufficient leverage from just relying upon the voting lever) to fix that mess, we need to powerfully return to (and rationally solidify) our basics.

    Complexity without adhering to basics is chaos, and within this case has irrefutably become aligned against civility.

    Vagueness is not an actual base.

    Truly making America great and whole starts not with the oligarchy demonstrating mass abuse well above constitutionally rational law, but with the power of the masses (the strongest force within humanity upon sufficient organization, which starts with minimal but growing community traction).

    There’s enough of a national foundation (bloodily established by revolutionaries) to fix our nation without needing another violent revolution.

    However, to avoid oppressively reaching critical mass igniting another violent revolution, there must be the firm willingness and corresponding exercise of “We the people” to maturely press hard against severe oligarchical overreach to prevent actual (not weakly scientifically suggested, etc.) harm in both the private and public sectors.

    That requires continuously maturely communicating with the public in a way undermining oligarchical corruption in the form of too many areas of the mainstream media (an unfortunately excessively influential group clearly dominantly distracting the masses to unethically negate the critical nature of liberty and inextricably law).

    • Tony Aroma says:

      I’m not sure a win for OK and NE would be a completely bad thing, assuming SCOTUS decides to hear the case, which they won’t. As the plaintiff’s acknowledge, they only want to invalidate CO’s regulation of mj, not its legalization per se. So a win would mean legal, unregulated mj. Not just in CO, but in the majority of states (over 30) that currently have some form of legalization. While some locations might decide to recriminalize, citizens’ initiatives would not be so easy to overturn. It might just force the fed’s hand on rescheduling, as such a decision would clearly make the situation for the plaintiff’s states worse. Which is the main reason this case will never be heard. I think the legal term is, “be careful what you wish for.”

  7. Will says:

    NEVER underestimate the draconian zeal of prohibitionists. If you do, you’ll only be disappointed;

    Some Say Kratom Is A Solution To Opioid Addiction. Not If Drug Warriors Ban It First.

    http://tinyurl.com/zd7x9uw

    Despite the crackdown, there isn’t a scientific consensus on kratom’s full range of potential benefits and dangers. People in Southeast Asia have been using kratom for centuries, if not longer, and thousands of Americans now tout it as a promising therapy for opiate withdrawal and an alternative to certain prescription drugs, including narcotic painkillers. But if the drug warriors get their way, none of that will matter — and kratom will be illegal.

  8. Tony Aroma says:

    I just caught the first episode of this new show, Weediquette. It was an hour-long episode devoted to the use of cannabis to treat cancer. It provided a nice overview of what’s known on the subject, pretty thorough, though the host sometimes goes a bit too far playing devil’s advocate. (I didn’t need to hear his wife’s concerns that these kids are going to suffer brain damage.) It’s definitely worth taking a look.

  9. Servetus says:

    As with government, there’s no trusting the commercial sector when it comes to drug enforcement. “The Last Chance K9 Services” of Louisville, Kentucky, for just $99, is the last chance to bust people’s kids for marijuana whether they’re guilty or innocent of said high crimes and treason.

    Detection rates of 90-percent have been guaranteed with the 50 families’ lives ruined so far, using dog searches in the home, even though the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals determined no such success was possible with Lex the dog, who clocked in with a 93% detection rate, and a 57% success rate.

    • Duncan20903 says:

      .
      .

      In the here and now there are a heckuva lot of unemployed sniffer dogs because of the success of cannabis law reform advocates and it’s just going to get worse and worse. It’s probable that there’s going to be a sniffer dog depression. At least for me this is an unintended consequence of those reformed laws. I think it’s a crying shame because those dogs aren’t inexpensive. The result appears to be that they will re-deploy at least some of those dogs for use against the underaged. The last that I heard Oregon had decided to give their dogs to the school police because cannabis is still illegal for the underaged. I did notice that it’s a private company in Kentuckiana which was examined it the article you linked. People buy government surplus items every day of the year so why not surplus sniffer dogs?

      Hmm, I’ve got little to no respect for parents who do stuff like that. So what if I went out and bought a dog that looks like a sniffer dog but train him to find something like Maple Syrup? Then sell the dog’s services to parents who want their kids to become/remain “drug free” but are too lazy to give them at home Urinary Loyalty Oaths and/or to periodically do a comprehensive search of their rooms and their stuff. It’s a win/win/win/win proposition. Unless a children has a maple syrup fetish the dog gives him a “clean” bill of health, Junior gets to breath a sigh of relief because the dog didn’t find his head stash, the parents get to puff out their chest, all proud of themselves for making sure that Junior is “drug free” and I get to pocket a few hundred bucks. About the only thing I’d have to decide is whether or not my handlers should wear some kind of proto-Nazi uniform to enhance the clients’ respect for my authoritay. What a great idea! Thanks Servetus!

  10. Caesumfrombehind says:

    This is the America many warned about years ago when they protested the militarization of police but were met with responses citing “officer safety” and “growing crime rates.” It is the America they warned about when they opposed the drug war but were met with programmed responses of a “drug-addicted youth” and “drug-related crimes.” It is the America many could see coming a mile away when the State-sponsored threat of terrorism was used to justify any and all means of “keeping us safe” and providing “security” to the frightened citizens of the world empire.

    Those warnings were ignored and now we have the result.

    It is now time to call the United States what it is – a police state.

    http://tinyurl.com/upagainstthe-wall

    • Servetus says:

      Merriam Webster’s definition of Police State: “a political unit characterized by repressive governmental control of political, economic, and social life usually by an arbitrary exercise of power by police and especially secret police in place of regular operation of administrative and judicial organs of the government according to publicly known legal procedures.

      Fichte’s Passport, or “Your Papers Please”:

      The chief principle of a well-regulated police state is this: That each citizen shall be at all times and places … recognized as this or that particular person. No one must remain unknown to the police. This can be attained with certainty only in the following manner: Each one must always carry a pass with him, signed by his immediate government official, in which his person is accurately described. There must be no exception to this rule.

      Johann G. Fichte, THE SCIENCE OF RIGHTS.

  11. DdC says:

    Effects on Dogs That Ate Pot
    After about an hour,
    Rasko was stoned and stumbling around.

    Probably shouldn’t get your dog stoned.
    More fear mongering headlines…

    See Marijuana’s Devastating Effects
    on Dogs That Ate Pot

    Devastating Effects on Dogs From Many Things

    ☛ Devastating Effects on Dogs That Drink Alcohol
    ☛ Human medicines Devastating Effects on Dogs
    ☛ Insecticides Devastating Effects on Dogs
    ☛ Chocolate, Garlic, Coffee, Onions, Grapes, Macadamia nuts
    Devastating Effects on Dogs
    ☛ Rodenticides Devastating Effects on Dogs
    ☛ Chemicals (e.g., antifreeze, pool/spa chemicals)
    Devastating Effects on Dogs
    ☛ Household cleaners (e.g., bleach, detergent)
    Devastating Effects on Dogs
    ☛ Heavy metals (e.g., lead paint chips, linoleum)
    Devastating Effects on Dogs
    ☛ Fertilizer Devastating Effects on Dogs
    ☛ Hunting Devastating Effects on Dogs
    ☛ Greyhound Racing Devastating Effects on Dogs
    ☛ Dog fighting Devastating Effects on Dogs

    ☛ See Devastating Effects on Dogs by SWAT
    Ganjawar Puppycide

    Veterinary Cannabis
    Sitting outside a West Hollywood, Calif., café with Miles at her feet, Denise recalls how a friend suggested she try a glycerin tincture of marijuana that is sold as a pet medicine in dozens of licensed medical marijuana dispensaries throughout Los Angeles. Within an hour after she gave Miles the tincture, the dog’s appetite returned, and he was no longer vomiting. “It couldn’t have been a coincidence,” Denise said.

    Mary Jane For Dogs And Cats

  12. Servetus says:

    Presidential candidate Hillary Clinton is being pilloried for her role in the Merida Initiative in Mexico:

    “Mexico”, John M. Ackerman wrote recently for Foreign Policy, “is not a functional democracy.” Instead, it’s a “repressive and corrupt” oligarchy propped up by a “blank check” from Washington.

    Since 2008, that blank check has come to over $2.5 billion appropriated in security aid through the Mérida Initiative, a drug war security assistance program funded by Washington. Negotiated behind closed doors in the last years of the Bush administration, the plan was originally proposed as a three-year program. Yet Hillary Clinton’s State Department pushed aggressively to extend it, overseeing a drastic increase of the initiative that continues today.

    Much of this aid goes to U.S.-based security, information, and technology contracting firms, who make millions peddling everything from helicopter training to communications equipment to night-vision goggles, surveillance aircrafts, and satellites.

    If there’s too much money in it, Hillary Clinton will be there. Expect the US government to claim the Merida Initiative is a huge success, just like Plan Colombia.

    • darkcycle says:

      Yup, her actions speak for themselves. She’s the worst sort of drug warrior. She has been one since Bill’s White House days, and her drug war is the militaristic sort. As long as she’s not called out on it too loudly, she’ll do everything in her power to continue it. As soon as she’s called out she’ll be against it and claim it was a “mistake”. That “mistake” has cost tens of thousands of lives and billions of dollars. Don’t buy her soon to be issued disavowal.

    • DdC says:

      QUESTION: In Mexico, there are those who propose not keeping going with this battle and legalize drug trafficking and consumption. What is your opinion?

      SECRETARY CLINTON: I don’t think that will work. I mean, I hear the same debate. I hear it in my country. It is not likely to work. There is just too much money in it,

    • Servetus says:

      Update: Bill Clinton apologized to Mexico for a backfired US drug war in a speech that occurred on or about February 15, 2015. Does it constitute a flip-flop when Bill flips and Hillary flops? A Clinton presidency is destined to be a complicated thing.

      Story and video here: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/02/13/bill-clinton-apology-drug-war-mexico_n_6680412.html

  13. Uniparty Republicrat/Demopublican says:

    “Governments don’t want a population capable of critical thinking. They want obedient workers, people just smart enough to run the machines and just dumb enough to passively accept their situation.”

    George Carlin

  14. Finesse Debris says:

    Men will never be free until the last king is strangled with the entrails of the last priest.
    ~ Denis Diderot

  15. Zephyr Window says:

    Donald Trump will be a great American hero after he destroys the republicant party forever.
    The republicant billionaire’s club is livid over the serfs in flyover country having a say in who they want to be the candidate.
    I’m looking forward to voting for Hillary after the brokered convention where they try to bring back Mittens and his magic Mormon underwear and Paulie “the Beard” Ryan.
    Shhh…don’t tell the super duper conservative true believers that Mitten’s buddy Gruber is the architect of Romneycare which was the prototype for Obamacare.

  16. Buddy Lumbo says:

    Bill Maher inspired cannabis smoking protest in the district of cesspool to begin promptly at 4:20 Eastern April 2:

    http://sputniknews.com/us/20160303/1035694715/marijuana-protest-white-house.html

  17. Jibba Jabba Corncob Pipe says:

    @Delbert are you the same Philbert who writes those poems in Denver CL from Mount Elbert?
    Some of them are pretty good and some are just rambling.
    Also most of it is way over the head of the CL audience.

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