You cannot have a reasonable discussion of drug decriminalization without a discussion of who benefits from the criminalization. The list would include the private prisons, and the governments and police who claim the forfeiture of assets of drug defendants. The whole legal set-up in the drug laws is aimed at property confiscation; these laws are in part the product of VP biden. It is common for the courts to assume that since an individual is charged with drug sales, then ALL of their assets are drug-related, and thus subject to confiscation. That often leads to people being financially unable to mount a legal defense, ensuring a high rate of conviction in drug sales crimes.

I read an example where some college students were on spring break and were caught speeding, then their vehicle searched. The $800 in the glove compartment was taken because they also had a joint. They could have gotten the $800 if they appeared in court, on the drug charges. The drug laws are a legal excuse for the police, particularly on the interstates, to act as out and out highwaymen.

Additionally is the issue of increasing police militarization: we need to have fully automatic weapons because the drug dealers have them. News flash: all unregistered fully automatic weapons come from the military. Conspiratorial as it may seem, the sale of 'assault weapons' to the 'drug dealers' is part of the increasing militarism of the civilian police; people know from where these weapons originate, yet nothing is done about it. From what I've heard, for years the FBI has had a 'problem' with 'stolen weapons'.

And they own the press, too. That's why all of the jorgon is out there. Toxic assets, for example. Citi was buying oil futures at $140/bbl on a 3% margin. I'll say that was toxic. Ever hear of any explanation? Too complicated. And Citi is 10% owned by the UAE, who proibably sold that oil. Surely UAE has board representation in Citi. We own 80% of AIG; as Ralph Nader points out, we have NO board representation. As Prof. Richard Wolff, UMass, makes clear, without board representation, all the regulations which are ever put in place will be undone. So with a certain board or directors and a strong representation, one group of stockowners can totally raid a corporation, as was done to Citi. AIG was raided by the AIG-FP division, which was all set up with the full consent of its board of directors. And now that the company has been eviscerated, the board and their hirees (the executives) want to beg from the government, expecting and in fact knowing that their payola has guaranteed that the US government will not get board representation, killing any hopes that the public will ever get anything but fucked.

The bonus issue is one so tailor-made for the congress; it;s truly an "issue to believe in". These jackasses will spend months wagging their fingers, in front of cameras of course, and even venting foaming-at-the-mouth fury, only to chew up time, spend $170million in work time, and do nothing about the robbery that has been set up since the last primary season.

Remember the infamous 'Operation Mockingbird'? Well, it's supposed to be defunct. You think tommy friedman pays for those expensive junkets with first class air fare and 5-star hotels? The NYT is constantly cutting back on staff and budget. Maybe, just maybe, someone else pays for friedman's posturing, a trite line which just coincidentally happens to always agree with a certain interested party.

The history goes back quite a while: George McGoven, a true war hero, was painted as a pansy because he didn't like the company war in S.E. Asia. Jimmy Carter wanted to get rid of the agency, and hired Admiral Stansfield Turner to do so. Carter was routinely portrayed as insane, even being portrayed as running from a bunny rabbit on a golf course. And then the hostages were kept an extrra 100+days...And don't forget JFK. Not trying to sound more conspiratorial than usual, but the conscious, paid-for insertion of government propaganda into the major news outlets is truly one of the reasons those outlets are going broke; nobody wants to be lied to.

the Buildings and Grounds people should have checked the furniture, door-knobs, silverware. He's a piece of work, indeed. larry summers: good for the Soviets, good for harvard, good for the U.S.

The very fact that geithner was approved by the Senate after obviously participating in a fraud shows how willing the congress is to accept corruption, regardless of which party is in control. The collective will of the people, as expressed in $$, must be insignificant in comparison to what is paid by the financiers.

Last week, after reading comments on this blog, I phoned the offices of Sens. Whitehouse and Leahy, asking the answering staff to discuss with their Senators the possibility of reading the memoes into the Senate Record, as Mike Gravel did with the Pentagon Papers. This afternoon I phoned both offices. Senator Leahy's staffer said he had no knowledge of Leahy's exerting pressure on the President (in the form of "if you don't release them I will read them into the Record"). Senator Whitehouse's staffer said "it is a distinct possiblility, I can't say either way". For what all that is worth.

As to the actual identity of the torturers, which was redacted from the memoes, let me ask the reading community out there: do YOU want to live next door to a sociopath, a person who has tortured humans? We are told, for the protecxtion of our children, that sex offenders must register with the police when they relocate. Why not torturers?

Knowing what agency ross's source came from goes a long way to establishing a high level of disbelief. These guys have never lied before, right?

I like that KSM divulged his whole Roladex under torture. Nice trick, that.