Feeding the trolls

Posted on October 29, 2005 by Pete Guither

It’s pretty exciting to have reached a level of visibility and power in the blogosphere that I can attract trolls. It’s been, in some ways, a novel treat, and for our commenters, it’s been an opportunity to do a little practice.
However, there’s a limit to the value of responding to trolls, because they aren’t really interested in learning anything. They just spout the same refuted points over and over. The value for other commenters soon fades, as they are not given the opportunity to take an argument to the next level — something that a discussion with a reasoned debater would allow.
At this point, I’m going to limit Taylor to 5 posts a day. That’s a huge amount. Anything over that will be deleted. Instead of writing 25 posts without saying anything, Taylor, take the time to think through 5 better posts.
Part of this is selfish. I have limited time and yet I want to read all comments posted to my blog. This repetitive argumentation is cutting down on my time to post blog entries.
If abuse continues, I may look into options for banning trolls, but I prefer not to do that.
Reactions?

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The real Red Ribbon

Posted on October 28, 2005 by Pete Guither

I haven’t commented on Red Ribbon Week – the DEA promoted event to encourage a drug-free life. I have no problem with people deciding to pursue a drug-free life. That’s their absolute choice and I support it. And I have no objection to commemorating the life of Special Agent Enrique “Kiki” Camarena. However, the DEA and the drug war is the problem, not the solution.
The best response I’ve seen to Red Ribbon Week so far comes from Michael Fitzgerald in today’s Stockton Record: Bleak news from the drug war

To me, Red Ribbon Week is a time not only to make the good arguments against drugs to kids, but time to salvage what shreds of national sanity remain after decades of America’s war on drugs.

Next to solving every foreign policy problem militarily, the war on drugs is America’s No. 1 bad idea.

The illogic, the staggering cost, the ruinous toll in human lives — all for a campaign that arguably is a boon to drug cartels and which hasn’t banished drugs. […]

Ironically, President Nixon created a commission to get to the bottom of the marijuana problem and, against all odds, it did. Naturally, its conclusions were rejected. […]

“Many see the drug as fostering a counterculture, which conflicts with basic moral precepts as well as with the operating functions of our society,” the report said, nailing it.

In other words, pot isn’t pot; It’s the ’60s. It’s dropping out, loafing around the bong, promiscuous free love, dissent against conformity, militarism, capitalism — the whole far-left hippie-flippie-dippy rejection of the established value system. […]

“Our youth cannot understand why society chooses to criminalize a behavior with so little visible ill effect or adverse social impact,” Nixon’s commission said about pot.

“And the disrespect for the possession laws fosters a disrespect for law and the system in general.” […]

If you want Red Ribbon Week to work, tell kids the truth: Some drugs kill you, some addict you, and a lifestyle that revolves around drugs is one of higher risk and lower achievement.

But some drugs don’t kill you, some don’t addict you, and some people have the capacity to do some drugs in moderation and lead productive, happy lives. Millions, evidently.

Admittedly the ability to tell good choices from bad takes critical thinking skills. Some kids lack these. But critical thinking — not the party line — is what schools are supposed to teach. …

Good article (other than failing to note the complicity of liberal politicians), and it’s worth thinking about Nixon’s Shaffer commission report again.

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Action Alert: Elimination of Barriers for Katrina Victims Act

Posted on October 27, 2005 by Pete Guither

This is an alert that has been endorsed by just about every drug policy reform group

Nearly three million people have been displaced from their homes because of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. Many have lost everything. Yet federal laws prohibit these victims from receiving welfare, food stamps, public housing, student loans and other benefits if they have a drug law conviction. People who have lost everything should not be denied public assistance just because they were convicted of a drug offense sometime in their past.

The [Drug Policy] Alliance held a press conference today with Congressman Bobby Scott (D-VA), ranking member of the House Crime Subcommittee, and Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee (D-TX), ranking member of the House Immigration Subcommittee, to announce the introduction of the “Elimination of Barriers for Katrina Victims Act,” which would temporarily suspend federal laws that deny public assistance to hurricane victims who have drug offenses in their past. If the bill is enacted, thousands of destitute families that would otherwise be denied food stamps, public housing and other aid because of prior drug offenses would be able to obtain benefits to help put their lives back together.

Introduced by Congressman Bobby Scott (D-VA), the “Elimination of Barriers for Katrina Victims Act” is co-sponsored by Rep. John Conyers (D-MI), Rep. Barney Frank (D-MA), Rep. William Jefferson (D-LA), Rep. Eddie Bernice Johnson (D-TX), Rep. Barbara Lee (D-CA), Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee (D-TX), Rep. Ron Paul (R-TX), Rep. Charles Rangel (D-NY), and Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-MS). Since the bill was just introduced, it does not have a bill number yet.

Send a Fax to Congress
Interesting… Only one Republican co-sponsor and it’s the libertarian. Normally a libertarian would not be a strong supporter of government run public assistance, but Paul is independent-minded and smart enough to realize that it’s not just about welfare. It’s also about the unfairness of singling out and punishing a group of people simply because they’ve had drug convictions in their past. I wonder how the rest of the Republican House will vote — as compassionate conservatives, or sado-moralists?

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Marijuana night at Daily Kos

Posted on October 27, 2005 by Pete Guither

Thanks to Ben Masel for this… It’s often hard to get the Kos community to pay attention to the war on drugs, but they’ve got some interesting diary action up right now.

  1. The Gnostic talks about marijuana’s anti-cancer properties and has a poll about legalization.
  2. Jared86 says that pot is harmful and a gateway drug and should be kept illegal.
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Exploiting the Drug War

Posted on October 27, 2005 by Pete Guither

Via EFSDP, I heard about this link to LEAD. The main page notes that this is the site of both:

  • Law Enforcement Against Drugs, and
  • Local Educators Against Drugs

(The name appears to be a take-off on Law Enforcment Against Prohibition and Educators For Sensible Drug Policy)
Then it tells you to “click on the corresponding logo to visit that particular program’s page.” Sounds like a couple of non-profit organizations that have banded together, right? Or maybe some community groups made up of teachers and policement who created LEAD?
This impression is emphasized when you enter the site with such statements as:

“Through L.E.A.D., your school empowers parents by providing a simple way to detect a potential problem with anonymity before it becomes a police matter.”

And the website offers sponsorship opportunities:

Attention: fraternal organizations, health care networks, corporations, parent/teacher associations and community coalitions.

You can supply the initial “seed” money to start the L.E.A.D. Program in your community. After the start-up costs, the program is self-sustaining.

So what is LEAD? A police group? A group of educators?
Nope. Lead is a website owned and run by David Pritchard, president of Total Diagnostic Sales (TDS), a company based in Livonia, Michigan, that sells drug testing kits.
So they get a community organization to sponsor by buying a couple hundred dollars worth of kits and starting up a program of selling them to parents, and they even give the groups media packets and posters to help them get a lot of publicity (of course, the publicity will have the name of the school or the police department on it, not TDS).
Now I don’t object to parents choosing on their own to purchase drug testing kits (I personally think it’s stupid, and bad parenting, but I would not object to their choice to do so.) However, the notion of police and educator groups acting as shills for for-profit drug testing sales is irresponsible.

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Go read

Posted on October 26, 2005 by Pete Guither

I’m wiped out from rehearsals and work right now, so go read some great stuff.
“bullet” Nice to see Radley’s work getting some coverage. Go read his excellent article on pain/prohibition victim Richard Paey, picked up by CBS.
“bullet” At The Agitator, read Militarizing Mayberry. Another suspicious shooting from a drug raid. This time, the press is looking into it.
“bullet” Good stuff to read at Last One Speaks.
“bullet” Via Scott, this editorial in the Denver Post (sort of a “we’ve got to change the laws, but a local initiative’s not the way to go, and it’s been run poorly” editorial). I disagree with most of their conclusions, but there are some interesting questions raised. What do you think? (I hope to have a discussion soon about the creative and controversial billboards and advertisements being used in that campaign.)

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Moreon FBI’s change of hiring policy

Posted on October 24, 2005 by Pete Guither

This USA Today editorial agreed with the recent FBI decision to re-think whether they could accept job applicants who had used drugs at some time in the past…

almost 100 million Americans — nearly half of all adults — have used marijuana at least once, according to the latest National Institute on Drug Abuse survey. Only a tiny percentage became stoners and slackers. The vast majority became responsible adults. Some even became members of Congress, Supreme Court justices and president of the United States (albeit without inhaling).[…]

FBI managers are frustrated that they’re unable to hire otherwise qualified intelligence analysts, linguists and other professionals because of the bureau’s policy about past drug use. (Candidates to become special agents would still be subject to the existing rules, FBI spokesman Stephen Kodak says.)

Minor recreational drug use by the young is simply a fact of life and shouldn’t be a barrier to employment or appointment to government jobs.

It’s an obviously logical policy change that anyone with half a brain could see immediately makes perfect sense. The FBI is an important agency, and you don’t want to limit your talent pool unnecessarily.
I mean, you’d really have to find an outright moron to oppose this…
Enter Mark Souter with his rebuttal.

Among the thousands of applicants, are there so few who have not broken the law? One wonders what it is about repeat drug abusers that the FBI thinks it needs. […]

It is incredible that the FBI seems dedicated to lowering its own standards. We need our best and brightest, now more than ever.

Only a moron would believe that giving the FBI a wider pool of applicants would result in a lowering of standards. And that’s what we have Mark around for.
Of course, this also fits Mark’s profile as a sado-moralist. He hates the notion of someone using drugs responsibly and not getting punished for it.

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Technology bites cop

Posted on October 23, 2005 by Pete Guither

Police who are in the business of going for drug seizures on the highways need some justification for pulling over a car they want to check out. Officer Joe Brown apparently thought he’d come up with a new one, now that many areas outlaw driving while talking on a cell phone. But…

Investigator Joseph W. Brown of the Massena village Police Department testified that he stopped the car the driver was using a cell phone. The judge rejected the testimony because account records for the men’s phones showed neither of their phones had been used between the time they received the marijuana and the time they were stopped. As a result, he ruled neither the marijuana or any other evidence gathered as a result of the traffic stop can be used against the men.

Guess Joe Brown has to find some other way to lie about pulling people over.
Link

[Thanks to jackl]
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Asa Hutchinson gets it half right

Posted on October 22, 2005 by Pete Guither

Former director of the DEA Asa Hutchinson is running for Governor of Arkansas. In this article, he starts off on the right track:

“Past drug offenses should not automatically disqualify someone for student aid,” Hutchinson, a candidate for governor, told the Arkansas Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators. The group met in a fall conference at the Radisson Hotel in downtown Fayetteville.

Applicants for student loans are asked if they have used drugs in the past and, if so, are ineligible for loans, Hutchinson said. That’s a mistake, he said. […]

“It’s a mistake to put people right on the same track that lead to drug use in the first place by considering them unredeemable,” he said. “If you deny people access to jobs by denying them the education they need, they will have little recourse in their mind other than going back to drugs.”

Good for him. But I didn’t really expect him to get it, and sure enough…

“However, if someone commits a drug offense while receiving a student loan, he should lose it,” Hutchinson continued. “Chances are that if he has a drug problem while going to school, he will drop out and not repay the loan.”

Notice the conflation of “drug offense” with “drug problem.” And the statement completely ignores the reality of how financial aid works. If a student’s grades fall, he or she will lose their financial aid — no need for this provision. The whole point of denying financial aid for a drug conviction is to punish the good student. That’s right. They’re after the low income students who get good grades despite using pot, but had the bad luck to get caught.
I have worked with thousands of students. Each one is different. Some can’t handle the stress, or the alcohol, or the freedom to watch soap operas all day. Some succeed despite the problems of the world being thrown at them. I have seen straight-A students who were leaders in student organizations and graduated with stacks of awards and honors despite smoking pot every single day they were in college.
Asa gets the big picture wrong. The HEA financial provision should be repealed in its entirety.

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Supreme Court?

Posted on October 22, 2005 by Pete Guither

Truth Laid Bear is putting out a call to bloggers to take a stand on Miers, so here’s mine:

I am neutral on the Miers nomination.

Not much of a stand, I realize, but here are my reasons:

  1. I’d like to see what actually happens in the confirmation process, on the off-chance that we might learn something about her.
  2. I have to look at this specifically from the perspective of drug policy, and it’s really hard to anticipate how a future justice will rule in these areas (take a look at the schizophrenic if not psychotic behavior of the justices in Raich). TalkLeft has said some encouraging things about her regarding criminal justice on one side — her apparent loyalty to the executive branch is a potential downside. Everybody else wants to see how she’ll vote on abortion — I want to know what she thinks of the fourth amendment.
  3. So far, the Miers nomination has been quite entertaining, and I’d hate to see it end.
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