Thursday, August 17, 2006

I sent a letter For those who can't get enough of the Museum of Science and Industry saga and have nothing better to do -- here's a nice long letter (pdf) I wrote to the legal counsel of the Chicago Park District (which owns and regulates the museum) on Tuesday. I'm taking bets in comments on how soon they respond and the essence of their response. 10:21:32 PM |  drug policy | Links | permalink | comment []

And now for something completely different -- a nice cup of tea I've never gone the advertising route on this site, so my first impulse was to discard the email I got today. But then I thought about it and realized I kind of liked the idea. Product placement on Drug WarRant! You see, Kasora (a seller of special reserve teas) contacted me and said if I mentioned them on my blog, they'd send me a gift. Now if it was one of those spam products, I wouldn't even consider it, but as I started looking at the Darjeeling Makaibari Silver Tips, Yin Hao Silver Tips Reserve, and the Stone Blossom Bi Luo Chun on Kasora's site, I got really interested. Even though I'm primarily a coffee drinker, I've always loved good tea, and this stuff looks like the sinsemilla of tea. And Kasora did say they'd send me a gift (but they didn't say what -- I hope it's tea.) Now if I could get some of the companies that sell soft hemp seeds and hemp bars to do the same thing... 9:40:22 PM |  drug policy | Links | permalink | comment []

It just keeps getting more embarrassing every day... Afghan opium cultivation hits a record Opium cultivation in Afghanistan has hit record levels -- up by more than 40 percent from 2005 -- despite hundreds of millions in counternarcotics money, Western officials told The Associated Press. [...] Gen. Khodaidad, a top official at the ministry, said virtually all cultivated land in Helmand -- including government-owned land -- has been planted with opium poppies. Wait, isn't the drug-war-fighting-leader-of-the-world United States supposed to be in charge over there? I'm sure of it. I remember -- At least, I think I remember... I'm pretty sure we dropped bombs and stuff and we sent troops and we nailed Osama and al Qaeda and eliminated the Taliban, or something, and we were greeted as liberators and the grateful people planted coffee and bananas. Or did I dream that? In actuality, the United States met an enemy it can't defeat. No amount of might wielded by the Pentagon can destroy it. No bombs, no planes, no troops can win against this enemy. No, I'm not talking about Al Qaeda. I'm talking about the economic law of supply and demand. The drug warriors keep acting like they can defy economic laws -- that their pathetic little attempts to eradicate, prohibit, seize and imprison the world will somehow create an alternate universe, where people don't do drugs and farmers don't care about growing crops that will actually feed their family, and criminals turn down the opportunity to become fabulously rich. And they can't understand why it doesn't work. Rumsfeld is trying to deny responsibility for Afghanistan, and Walters is just plain stupid: But Mr Walters today said that eradicating the opium crop was the only way for Afghanistan to achieve lasting peace. Prohibition is a delusion implemented by morons. [Thanks, Daksya] 8:10:26 PM |  drug policy | Links | permalink | comment []