tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21239193641224334322024-03-05T19:43:11.580-07:00The Decorum ForumBob Newlandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05388226473052858297noreply@blogger.comBlogger1557125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2123919364122433432.post-78064795531265130992015-07-22T19:08:00.001-06:002015-07-22T19:24:33.054-06:00Speeding on that road paved with good intentionsWhat is worse than speeding on that road paved with good intentions? Before you answer, read the following <span style="color: purple;"><a href="http://rapidcityjournal.com/news/opinion/columnists/sasso-medical-marijuana-wouild-be-a-downer/article_9a62539e-f989-5164-b281-b93594d6217f.html">opinion piece by Ron Sasso in today's Rapid City Journal</a></span>.<br />
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Starting with the limp, wanna-be-hip title, "<br />
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"Medical marijuana would be a downer,"</h1>
Rapid City Journal columnist and erstwhile city council candidate, Ron Sasso manages to make about several assertions about cannabis, some of which are false, some bearing a so-what truthfulness, some too funny not to share; the remaining are indecipherable.<br />
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1. <span style="color: blue;">Sasso sez: "Medical marijuana may be on the ballot next year. Keep in mind that is the gateway to legalization of marijuana."</span><br />
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Decorum Forum says (under the "too funny not to share" category): <b>Thanks for the plug, Ron.</b><br />
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2. <span style="color: blue;">Sasso sez: "The potency of marijuana has radically changed over the past 30 years.
Growers have worked the genetics to make it far more potent."</span><br />
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Decorum Forum says (under the "so f*****g what?" category): <b>Thanks for the plug, Ron. That makes it so people don't need as much cannabis to achieve the goal of using cannabis.</b><br />
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3. <span style="color: blue;">Sasso sez: "</span><span style="color: blue;">The argument for legalization is basically hinged on the idea that marijuana is relatively safe."</span><br />
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Decorum Forum says (under the "so f*****g what?" category): <b>Thanks for the plug, Ron. That's exactly what we say. And we're right. There are no known deaths in medical history from ingestion of cannabis. </b><br />
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<span style="background-color: white;">4. <span style="color: blue;">Sasso sez: "Marijuana has more tar than cigarettes and is unfiltered. It will cause cancer."</span></span><br />
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Decorum Forum says (under the "false" category): <b>There is no evidence that cannabis smoke ingestion (or any other form of cannabis ingestion) causes cancer. There is evidence that cannabis might be a cancer controvertive. <a href="http://rapidcityjournal.com/news/opinion/columnists/sasso-medical-marijuana-wouild-be-a-downer/article_9a62539e-f989-5164-b281-b93594d6217f.html">Click here</a> to see Washington Post story supporting that assertion. </b><br />
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<span style="background-color: white;">5. <span style="color: blue;">Sasso sez: "</span></span><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: blue;">Studies have shown that marijuana use causes long-term damage that leads
to a reduction in IQ — on average, an eight-point reduction. That is a
huge change in cognitive functioning. Is this what we want for our
country? This could truly be the dumbing down of America."</span></span><br />
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Decorum Forum says (under the "false" category): <b>We get all laughing-out-loud reading that paragraph from the same guy who wrote the rest of the editorial.</b><br />
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We mentioned good intentions up top. We don't have much patience for people who refuse to look at the evidence before they condemn others to persecution by prosecution. Ron Sasso's intentions are not at issue; I believe he believes something that is obviously not true. That makes him, at the very least, uninformed (for which there is no excuse when the subject is cannabis). There are other possibilities. He might be crazy. Or malicious. Maybe he's just plain stupid. But he has to fit one of those four characterizations. There are no other choices.<br />
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Ron Sasso's errant opinion--with no credible support--on cannabis typifies the reasoning used to have ruined the lives of tens of millions of people around the world, and to have left a swath of bodies killed by law enforcement and by the criminals created by the price-support program called "prohibition." The benefit? Cannabis is cheaper, better, and more-readily-available than at any time in the last 45 years.<br />
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There are no benefits to criminalization of the attempt to feel better. The evil consequences are plain to see. Bob Newlandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05388226473052858297noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2123919364122433432.post-58270670401023303102014-08-11T21:40:00.001-06:002014-08-11T21:42:33.750-06:00The South Dakota Libertarian Party had a party last SaturdayIt has been about four months since I wrote anything and published it through this particular venue, but it seemed like the best place to put this stuff.<br />
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The South Dakota Libertarian Party, with which I have been involved since 1992, held its 11th Biennial convention on August 9. Emmett Reistroffer and I kinda co-moderated it. In my moments of audience enrapturement I let it be known that I was cynical about politics, along with everyone who was there, including me.<br />
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That said, I would say that most people there thought the experience was entertaining, suspenseful, and worth the $30 they paid for the privilege of having a louder-than-normal voice in placing a nominee on a ballot for a statewide elective office.<br />
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First we held intra-party elections. Emmett Reistroffer, Sioux Falls, was elected SDLP chairman, and will be the face of the SDLP for a while.<br />
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After that, we discussed a number of options to better present ourselves
to South Dakotans than simply adopting the national LP platform as our
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Then we had some speakers. Former US Senator Larry Pressler led off. Pressler is on the ballot in November as an Independent candidate for US Senator. My analyses on the speakers' messages will be for more based on my observation of their general impression rather than the content of their speeches, which I was not able to concentrate on while I was photographing them and trying to keep to a timetable.</div>
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Pressler directed his speech at the crowd in attendance, speaking about the importance of oppositional groups in a dynamic society. I heard him refer to his experience several times on several different aspects of policy. He presented a rather more thoughtful image of himself than I saw in him 30 years ago, but then, I've changed, too. His wardrobe, consisting of a rumpled blue-stripe seersucker suit, along with his general carriage, suggested to me a slightly thickened Hal Holbrook, and that ain't bad. I saw little, if any, hubris. I saw a man who thinks, probably correctly, that he has better ideas than the folks whose peerage he seeks again. I may vote for Pressler this fall. </div>
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After Pressler, Independent candidate for governor, Mike Myers, spoke. Myers has a wonderful speaking voice, which he seems not quite sure of how to use. He seems sincere and trustworthy, but his message, largely about the control of medical services by a few providers, already difficult to convey to us the consumers, kinda gets lost in the mix of playfulness, seriousness, and populism.</div>
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Myers was followed by Eric Leggett, an Independent candidate for SoDak House of Reps from Dist 15, mostly downtown Sioux Falls. Leggett sure looks and acts like a young legislator. His delivery is sincere, just impassioned enough to let you know he has the passion, but also has a handle on it. He's not bashful about saying he wants to end the drug war, and I doubt he's ever seen a drug except from across the street. I also had a few moments of interaction with his wife (no dummy) and son, who entertained the crowd until he got tired of it. </div>
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After the outside speakers, each of whom was involved in a race not contested by a Libertarian, of course, we turned to nomination of folks to the "constitutional offices," Secretary of State, Attorney General, Auditor, Treasurer, Commissioner of School and Public Lands, and Public Utilities Commissioner.</div>
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Emmett Reistroffer was nominated for and will be on the ballot in November for the office of Secretary of State.</div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">Kurt Evans and Chad Haber each presented a character wanting to achieve transparency in an office characterized by thuggery and and whimsical exercise of power. Haber won the nomination by virtue of having invited, and gained, more people in attendance having met the requirements to vote at the convention, than did Evans.</span> If you're reading this, you're aware of the current prosecution of Haber's wife, Annette Bosworth, and of the allegations against Haber himself. What I saw at the convention was two young (to me) men whom each conducted himself well, and one won in a political move I can't fault. He inspired more people to show up and vote for him than did his opponent.</div>
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The next six pictures are of, first, Kurt Evans, then of Chad Haber, during the course of their debate.</div>
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The SDLP convention was covered by some media representatives, including David Montgomery from the Sioux Falls Argus Leader,</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIKhP356Fc_owrenSsV-91ZHpcEKcWBqxOpnfULko_66ST1hpCpfdtbqlQ9EnIR7raSFM_Z3gyZiYbL_Vqh1FrzFjyNu5lglf2mE8bRU9E6BQE4pRPTOtVkUzu-mkb8JP2AJ5ofwbFxiY/s1600/MediaMtgmry.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIKhP356Fc_owrenSsV-91ZHpcEKcWBqxOpnfULko_66ST1hpCpfdtbqlQ9EnIR7raSFM_Z3gyZiYbL_Vqh1FrzFjyNu5lglf2mE8bRU9E6BQE4pRPTOtVkUzu-mkb8JP2AJ5ofwbFxiY/s1600/MediaMtgmry.jpg" height="267" width="400" /> </a></div>
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Leo Kallis, far right (but whose face is still visible), publisher of a blog whose name I hope someone will supply since I can't remember. And Lee Stanahan, far left, who publishes the <a href="http://dakotareporter.com/">Dakota Reporter</a>.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1s6x-DQY7qS_xbeniy5WlpkzUug3X7g32w3J8Th5D6YCC7o8wYM5sdxaH_rMXQVgGyrC6gM8z6dzZ2o7Em4yrbPq-RK9vsFy3CpqqE8mpqZDW9MaqbsQUGXQWxS-3aAcOdE02ok2u3mY/s1600/MediaKallis.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1s6x-DQY7qS_xbeniy5WlpkzUug3X7g32w3J8Th5D6YCC7o8wYM5sdxaH_rMXQVgGyrC6gM8z6dzZ2o7Em4yrbPq-RK9vsFy3CpqqE8mpqZDW9MaqbsQUGXQWxS-3aAcOdE02ok2u3mY/s1600/MediaKallis.jpg" height="428" width="640" /> </a></div>
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And Todd Epp, <a href="http://ksoo.com/south-dakota-libertarian-party-selects-candidates/">Northern Plains News/KSOO</a>. The couple in the background are Doug and Candice Boes, whom have undergone huge heartache in having foster children taken by tribal court and awarded to relatives who indisputably abuse the children.</div>
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Ken Santema, a businessman from Aberdeen, was nominated for Treasurer. Ryan Gaddy, Sioux Falls musician, promoter and videographer, got the Public Utilities Commissioner nod. John English, a Sioux Falls landscape designer is on the ballot as the Libertarian nominee for Commissioner of School and Public lands.</div>
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I have a picture of Santema, directly below. I didn't get an individual shot of Gaddy or English.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjensfPa90MPbM5oUypDklXxmq6NpRasXJcFBI-SsqV5KT5gCyKHyHaWrISsCMFndEo33QbqgWz_gUNbRtYgDXtknWZysenHYwZ7PbIL_1m0OkMq9EtofI3HATJXYOKF3eSzfnKxpJq8j0/s1600/Santema.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjensfPa90MPbM5oUypDklXxmq6NpRasXJcFBI-SsqV5KT5gCyKHyHaWrISsCMFndEo33QbqgWz_gUNbRtYgDXtknWZysenHYwZ7PbIL_1m0OkMq9EtofI3HATJXYOKF3eSzfnKxpJq8j0/s1600/Santema.jpg" height="400" width="311" /> </a></div>
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However, I got one of the six Libertarian nominees for the constitutional offices. L-R, Emmett Reistroffer, Kurt Evans, Ryan Gaddy, John English, Chad Haber, and Ken Santema.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_nvdmIunVTS0P3v8_4iPdBg5jS-VswLnXlzIh3VTn_4kMlQjOsuodTZiwKf2vr-x9FHGSBsx2FW4TFVadHt20EhwpeQcd-_8gyg9PsZydKfpwPgzCjgszWSSQl9FfP0556W0Qu2yC89g/s1600/ConstCands.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_nvdmIunVTS0P3v8_4iPdBg5jS-VswLnXlzIh3VTn_4kMlQjOsuodTZiwKf2vr-x9FHGSBsx2FW4TFVadHt20EhwpeQcd-_8gyg9PsZydKfpwPgzCjgszWSSQl9FfP0556W0Qu2yC89g/s1600/ConstCands.jpg" height="188" width="640" /> </a></div>
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I'll close with a photo that may encapsulate much about the day.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkpI36gXVdGrjzVOp-KBr07MYxHUXrhJNZOH4bN7JeqhPKFs5sQqKUf1aJUSMj9dqn9VWCC4JWcHHbPBkYH4jny8PxLAL67e22GsNuEv3QiwPS23iNgJm3GdfO_O_1BL_7Dih8lsyWBI0/s1600/wolf-lamb.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkpI36gXVdGrjzVOp-KBr07MYxHUXrhJNZOH4bN7JeqhPKFs5sQqKUf1aJUSMj9dqn9VWCC4JWcHHbPBkYH4jny8PxLAL67e22GsNuEv3QiwPS23iNgJm3GdfO_O_1BL_7Dih8lsyWBI0/s1600/wolf-lamb.jpg" height="428" width="640" /></a></div>
Bob Newlandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05388226473052858297noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2123919364122433432.post-58355643981481986212014-04-07T17:08:00.002-06:002014-04-07T17:08:14.141-06:00Now that Madville Times is a hot item...On April 9, 2011, <a href="http://madvilletimes.com/2011/04/hottest-madison-forum-question-ever-goeman-warns-of-heidelbergers-temper/">the blog, Madville Times, posted a video of its moderator</a> in a candidate forum as he replies to a less-than-friendly query from one of the six-or-so concerned citizens who appeared to be in attendance.<br />
<br />
The query had something to do with temper. <br />
<br />Madville Times and its moderator, Cory Heidelberger, have achieved recent notoriety because Heidelberger has filed a formal accusation of perjury against Annette Bosworth, of whom you may not have heard prior to this scandal.<br />
<br />
Heidelberger sent a letter to the Secretary of.... Oh, just go browse through the past ten days posts at Madville Times. <br />
<br />
I assume Cory made a reasonable assessment of the evidence, and, after browsing Annette Bosworth for Senate on Facebook, I can easily believe his charges. <br />
<br />Bob Newlandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05388226473052858297noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2123919364122433432.post-43790394141666237292014-04-04T19:15:00.005-06:002014-04-04T20:08:42.896-06:00Perfect job for a sociopathRadley Balko wrote a <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-watch/wp/2014/04/03/a-dogs-breakfast-of-an-argument/">blog entry for the Washington Post</a> yesterday that you should read.<br />
<br />
The Head Doorkicker of the DEA has always had to be either criminally stupid or criminally inclined to enforce the craziest and most counterproductive US Gummint policies that have ever existed in this country. This is maybe the best gummint job for a sociopath, amidst several choices.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michele_Leonhart">Michelle Leonhart is Head Doorkicker </a>now, having spent 33 years in a law enforcement agency that has utterly failed to control the arbitrarily-illegal industries over which it supposedly has jurisdiction. The DEA presents us body counts: "We have put more people in prison than anyone in history." The illegal industries present us with ever-cheaper psychotropic substances.<br />
<br />
Only someone either criminally stupid or criminally sociopathic could oppose allowing sick, disabled and dying people the relief undeniably given them by cannabis, while warning that cannabis might kill your dog, basing her opinion on a newspaper piece that did not say that at all.<br />
<br />
This from a woman whose agency, and nearly all "drug task forces," are notorious for killing dogs for no reason during executions of raids on suspected "drug" dealers or users. Balko's story ends with a list of incidents in which various SWAT teams egregiously shot pets, sometimes of people in whose house they found nothing incriminating.<br />
<br />
And there's this <a href="http://www.keepcolumbiafree.com/blog/cpd-swat-killed-two-retreating-dogs-in-2008-video/">video of a SWAT team executing dogs</a>.Bob Newlandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05388226473052858297noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2123919364122433432.post-54753395160363119772014-03-10T18:06:00.001-06:002014-03-10T18:06:18.646-06:00Legal cannabis or Inquisition? There's no middle ground.<div class="mbs _5pbx userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}">
<div class="text_exposed_root text_exposed" id="id_531e5274b45047b44295086">
Colorado
has 5,268,367 people, South Dakota has 844,877 (2013 Census estimates).
That's a 6:1 ratio; SoDak has 16% as many people as CO. I maintain that, in South Dakota,
there is at least 10% of Colorado's cannabis sales potential for South Dakota coffers.
That would be about $200 grand a month into the South Dakota tax
handout system. It could be a significant addition.<br /> <br /> How many
dollars are extracted in the Inquisition that has SoDak Highway
Patrolmen lying in wait on the borders for cars with Colorado or<span class="text_exposed_show"> Washington plates, or any car that might be coming from Washington or Colorado?<br /> <br />
The weight of the fines ("getting-caught taxes") opposed to the weight
of the tax revenue potential; that's the observation South Dakota
legislators will increasingly have to face. One by one, South Dakota
legislators will announce, "I've always been in favor of industrial
hemp." Or, "I've never thought people should have a criminal record just
for using cannabis." <br /> <br /> <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/03/10/colorado-marijuana-tax-revenue_n_4936223.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/03/10/colorado-marijuana-tax-revenue_n_4936223.html</a><div style="cursor: pointer; display: inline-block; height: 16px; width: 16px;">
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<img alt="" class="_5pcd img" src="https://fbexternal-a.akamaihd.net/safe_image.php?d=AQBxJufvmj2UO-g8&w=398&h=208&url=http%3A%2F%2Fi.huffpost.com%2Fgen%2F1670045%2Fthumbs%2Fo-MARIJUANA-DISPENSARY-facebook.jpg&cfs=1&sx=43&sy=0&sw=1913&sh=1000" /></div>
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<a class="_5rwn" href="http://www.facebook.com/l.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.huffingtonpost.com%2F2014%2F03%2F10%2Fcolorado-marijuana-tax-revenue_n_4936223.html&h=rAQHXxqDB&enc=AZPQZaZocGRdGxWK36S7HCVpGAfCltbrBWEVXrcJczLJ0yJUQ-cgllVOoMXj-Jg4Trdzxiv0F7CVmql36p3A4P4qmaFjXaY4QBv6qGOpCoKfnaOeSItHa57C5uVWBIgS5T3OEOcsnE5nWn1Zvc9GWdew&s=1" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><div class="_5pb1">
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Colorado Recreational Weed Sales Top $14 Million In First Month</div>
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huffingtonpost.com</div>
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During
the first month of recreational marijuana sales, Colorado's licensed
dispensaries generated a total of more than $14 million, putting about
$2 million of tax revenue into state coffers in the...</div>
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Bob Newlandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05388226473052858297noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2123919364122433432.post-18409968112075917972014-03-03T09:04:00.000-07:002014-03-04T19:55:26.258-07:00Is it sinful to break a law?It was not all that long ago that the Supreme Court held that runaway slaves had to be returned to their owners, even if the runaway had made it to a free state. People in free states who harbored runaway slaves were breaking the law.<br />
<br />
Rep. Hickey and others maintain that it is sinful to break the law. Are the souls of those who illegally harbored slaves still in Hell? Are Catholics who ate meat on Friday back when it was illegal still in Purgatory? Is Thomas Jefferson still trying to justify his defiance of tyranny?Bob Newlandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05388226473052858297noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2123919364122433432.post-68773589810223217132014-03-03T08:55:00.000-07:002014-03-03T09:38:25.973-07:00Annoyed...<div class="_1x1">
<div class="userContentWrapper">
<div class="_wk">
<span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}">When they said, "We want you to remove your shoes so we can see if you have bombs in them, we said, "Okay, but we're annoyed."<br /> <br /> When they said, "We are gonna take scans of you that show your dick and cunt," we said, "Okay, but we're annoyed."<br /> <br />
When they said, "We are gonna handle your dick and stick our fingers in
your cunt and asshole," we said, "Okay, but we're annoyed."<br /> <br /> Then they said, "We are gonna lie about everything we have done and will do." <br /> <br />
We said, "Okay, but we are annoyed. Make no mistake. But we are still
gonna vote into office those who promote this bureaucratic
finger-fucking."</span></div>
</div>
</div>
<span class="UFIBlingBoxTimeline"><span data-reactid=".bj"><a class=" UFIBlingBoxTimelineItem" data-ft="{"tn":"O"}" data-hover="tooltip" data-reactid=".bj.0" data-tooltip-alignh="right" href="https://www.facebook.com/shares/view?id=10151918420191230" rel="async"><span data-reactid=".bj.0.0"><span class="UFIBlingBoxText" data-reactid=".bj.0.0.1"></span></span></a></span></span><span class="UIActionLinks UIActionLinks_bottom" data-ft="{"tn":"=","type":20}"></span>Bob Newlandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05388226473052858297noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2123919364122433432.post-37240849535979777102014-03-02T18:41:00.001-07:002014-03-02T18:41:47.889-07:00You've seen the brick wall...On March 1, I posed the question to Rep. Hickey (R-Sioux Falls): "What is the downside
of letting sick, disabled and dying people use an herb, the use of which
has caused no death in known history, to palliate their suffering?"<br /> <br /> Here are his responses:<br /> <br />
"Bob - what question haven't I answered yet? That pot is an answer to
prayer? I'm pretty sure God won't answer a prayer by telling us to break
the law."<br /> <br /> "Bob I've answered the question about the downside.
Pot docs moving into SD and prescribing it for 18 year olds who fall off
their skate board, law enforcement dealing with the drug lords and
runners who are violent and could care less about sick people in pain,
the pot of today is stronger and dosages aren't scientific or stable and
safe. You've heard all this from me and others before and I know you
have counter points. If it was only a matter of people in chronic pain
getting it I'd think it would be legal. But it opens the door to so
more. That's the downside and why it keeps getting voted down. Take
heart though, the nation is moving toward lawlessness and everything
will be legal soon everywhere. Obama probably still smokes pots. Why do
you smoke it everyday? Pain? What are the stats on traffic fatalities in
states where pot is legal? Do we know yet?"<br /> <br /> "I'm trying to talk sense and gave you my best answer."<br /> <br /> "I'd be happy if we let many of the people in jail for pot use and other nonviolent crimes out of jail. We need prison reform."<br /> <br />
"Bob, you've seen the brick wall I hit when I bring big changes to
Pierre to help struggling people out. Love Roger's comment on it being
self serving. It dawned on me in 4 years now I've lived away from home
and my wife a total of one year in Pierre. If this somehow helps me I've
yet to see how."<br /> <br /> My follow-up includes this observation: Rep.
Hickey has placed his opinions and reasoning in the public swimming
pool. I'd like to see the reasoning behind the opinions of all those
legislators who have not joined the discussion who think pot smokers
should be put in jail.Bob Newlandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05388226473052858297noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2123919364122433432.post-47011731416252721022014-02-28T18:50:00.002-07:002014-03-01T16:22:54.538-07:00Some say cannabis is the answer to their prayers.On Feb. 24, <a href="https://www.facebook.com/steve.hickey.501?fref=ts&ref=br_tf">So. Dak. Rep. Steve Hickey</a> (R-Sioux Falls) posted on Facebook: "My daughter's comment on the far right's opposition to my death penalty repeal: 'They want government to be weak but strong enough to kill people.'"<br />
<br />
Based on a couple of years of sporadic exchanges with Rep. Hickey, I find that remark ironic. Assuming that Rep. Hickey agrees with his daughter (why else would he post it?), and given his public statements on a number of issues, I find it so ironic that I spent some time today beating my forehead against the angle of a doorframe.<br />
<br />
Prior to the 2013 legislative session, SoDakNORML supplied every So. Dak. legislator--once a week for 17 weeks-- with 17 arguments to quit giving people criminal records for simply attempting to feel better. Three legislators promised me they they would look at the evidence. One, Sen. Tieszen (R-Rapid City), did so after I asked him if he would. Rep. Hickey emailed me, saying he was looking at the evidence. So did Rep. Kaiser (R-Aberdeen).<br />
<br />
Of 105 legislators in So. Dak., only three responded to even one of <a href="http://sodaknorml.org/2012leglttrs.html">17 letters</a>, each letter proposing an argument to make pot laws saner. Kaiser and Tieszen co-sponsored a bill to allow medical cannabis use in So. Dak. On the committee that first heard the bill, Rep. Hickey's was the deciding vote that killed the proposal..<br />
<br />
Today, in another Facebook post, speaking of a friend, a medical cannabis user who lobbied him on behalf of the bill, Hickey said, "I didn't leave my friend Scott. In fact I looked at both sides of this twice as long because of him. At the end of the day the downside outweighed the upside in my estimation. I've come to believe that there are people who exploit compassion for the hurting because they just want legalized weed. I'm not convinced it's their only medical hope nor do I believe it's dose strength is consistent. I do know healing prayer works."<br />
<br />
As a result of that statement, I have one question for Rep. Hickey. "What is the downside of letting sick, disabled and dying people use an herb, to the use of which no death has been credited in history, to palliate their suffering?" Some say cannabis is the answer to their prayers.<br />
<br />
[UPDATE 3/1) You can see the course of this discussion at <a href="https://www.facebook.com/bob.newland">https://www.facebook.com/bob.newland</a> .<br />
[UPDATE 3/1.1) Really, you should take a look at the course of that discussion. Bob Newlandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05388226473052858297noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2123919364122433432.post-60697310398895853262014-02-27T20:27:00.003-07:002014-02-27T20:27:55.755-07:00Eisenhower became convinced that adding "under God" would be the "right thing to do...."<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><b>The following is not satire, although it could be, if truth weren't stranger than satire.<br /><br />So. Dak. Representative Stacey Nelson (candidate for US Senator from So. Dak.) was the prime (first-named) sponsor of the following legislation: House Concurrent Resolution 1006, during the current legislative session. it was passed with one dissenting vote, that of Angie Buhl O'Donnell (D-Sioux Falls).</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><b></b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><b>The bill was passed on 1/30/2014.<br /><br />The rest of this post is direct copy from the So. Dak. LRC website:</b></span><br />Introduced by: Representatives Nelson, Bolin, Campbell, Kaiser, Magstadt, May, Russell, Steele, and Verchio and Senators Van Gerpen, Begalka, and Jensen<br /><br />A CONCURRENT RESOLUTION, Recognizing the anniversary of the addition of the words "under God" to the United States Pledge of Allegiance.<br /><br />WHEREAS, on February 10, 1954, Senator Homer Ferguson of Michigan introduced a bill in the United States Congress to amend the Pledge of Allegiance by adding the words "under God" to the text of the pledge; and<br /><br />WHEREAS, February 10, 1954, was chosen as the date to introduce the bill by Senator Ferguson to recognize the five-year anniversary of the imprisonment of Cardinal Joseph Mindszenty of Hungary, who was imprisoned and tortured by Communists for his sermons exposing the goal of Communism to eradicate all religion; and<br /><br />WHEREAS, speeches were delivered in Congress, by members of both political parties, honoring Cardinal Mindszenty and emphasizing the threat posed to America by Communism; and<br /><br />WHEREAS, upon introduction of the bill, Senator Ferguson commented, "I believe this modification of the pledge is important because it highlights one of the real fundamental differences between the free world and the Communist world, namely, belief in God....Our nation is founded on a fundamental belief in God, and the first and most important reason for the existence of our government is to protect the God-given rights of our citizens. Spiritual values are every bit as important to the defense and safety of our nation as are military and economic values."; and<br /><br />WHEREAS, the vote to add "under God" to the United States Pledge of Allegiance was a unanimous vote; and<br /><br />WHEREAS, on February 7, 1954, President Dwight D. Eisenhower became convinced that adding the words "under God" to the United States Pledge of Allegiance would be the right thing to do after hearing Reverend George Docherty preach that the phrase "nation under God" was first used in the Gettysburg Address. It would be appropriate to add the phrase to the United States Pledge of Allegiance because freedom "is defined by a fundamental belief in God"; and<br /><br />WHEREAS, the first time the revised United States Pledge of Allegiance was recited was on Flag Day, June 14, 1954; and<br /><br />WHEREAS, it is the policy of this Legislature to recognize and honor such an important date which strengthens the ties of history that bind us to our belief in God:<br /><br />NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, by the House of Representatives of the Eighty-Ninth Legislature of the State of South Dakota, the Senate concurring therein, that the South Dakota Legislature hereby recognizes February 10, 1954, as the anniversary of the addition of the words "under God" to the United States Pledge of Allegiance.Bob Newlandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05388226473052858297noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2123919364122433432.post-9730178642452689612014-02-25T08:10:00.002-07:002014-02-25T08:10:43.317-07:00I'd have to have been pretty hungry to think this looked good, even in '62<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /><span style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: start;">LOOK, Nov. 1962</span><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjW1poWn1cPV05BTUgoAe7Xi5VGiblzoT7LI-d2RUSwrWLHJOhvoiZzwqtCcdRaYkBW8kshjhyphenhyphenuFNIDLKEvyfZ0y7DyV7Rzz4FwrbJ1Drk8KABFsnoGXpFfwuz-LtnLnf9Kpi8UyIFWMw8/s1600/pizza.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><br /><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjW1poWn1cPV05BTUgoAe7Xi5VGiblzoT7LI-d2RUSwrWLHJOhvoiZzwqtCcdRaYkBW8kshjhyphenhyphenuFNIDLKEvyfZ0y7DyV7Rzz4FwrbJ1Drk8KABFsnoGXpFfwuz-LtnLnf9Kpi8UyIFWMw8/s1600/pizza.jpg" height="640" width="497" /></a></div>
<br />Bob Newlandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05388226473052858297noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2123919364122433432.post-25251790885181799982014-02-23T17:25:00.000-07:002014-02-23T20:54:14.400-07:00I knew Bill Janklow. Bill Janklow was an enemy of mine. And you, sir, seem to be trying to emulate Bill Jankllow.The following editorial appeared in several So. Dak. periodicals and
newspapers in the spring of 1999, including the editorial page of the Rapid City Journal, on
13 March, 1999. No one replied to the Journal with a dispute over the facts.<br />
<br />
All events depicted in this account
occurred. Attributed quotations are accurate. I saw and heard all the events narrated below. As we review the events of the 2014 So. Dak. legislative session, we can reflect on the hammer-handed regime of the craziest sumbich ever to have settled his mean, fat, ass in the So. Dak. governor's chair.<br />
<br />
<br />
by Bob Newland<br />
<br />
It
stormed into town, angry and red-faced. It stomped around the capitol,
terrorizing children and the faint of conviction, and coughing up
kuchen. A month later, it slunk out, humiliated and red-faced. It was...
Senate Bill 210.<br />
<br />
Governor Janklow asked the Senate
State Affairs Committee to introduce SB210: "Any person who has been
convicted of possession, use, or distribution of a controlled substance
or marijuana or who has received a suspended imposition of sentence for
such possession, use, or distribution, shall, in addition to any other
penalties, serve thirty days in the state penitentiary, no part of which
may be waived or suspended."<br />
<br />
Thirty days in the Pen for a hempseed in your trunk, presuming the court or jury decided you knew it was there.<br />
<br />
Senate
State Affairs heard testimony from judges and prosecutors that 210
would clog the system. So Senate State Affairs drafted a kinder,
gentler, 210 -- reducing the mandatory minimum from 30 to ten days in
the custody of the Department of Corrections (instead of specifically
the state penitentiary), and allowing judges to depart from the
mandatory ten-day sentence if they filed a written explanation.
Apparently for balance, though, it set a $1000 bounty on the heads of
misdemeanor drug offenders and an open-ended price on felony offenders,
appropriating a million dollars for the snitch fund.<br />
<br />
Having undergone group therapy, equipped with an attitude adjustment, 210 went to the Senate floor. The
whole Senate debated SB210, amended it to make the ten days mandatory
for a second offense, removed the $1000 bounty, and sent 210 Lite to the
House State Affairs Committee with a disclaimer written under the
title; "This bill has been extensively amended (hoghoused) and may no
longer be consistent with the original intention of the sponsors."<br />
<br />
About
this time, some citizens of German extraction from Eureka came to
Pierre serving kuchen, in expectation that the legislature would
resurrect Eureka from ignominy by declaring kuchen the official State
Dessert. Governor Janklow happened by the kuchen table in the capitol
rotunda, and sampled. "This is wonderful!" he said. "Let's make Eureka
South Dakota's first entirely drug-free town. When the legislature sets
up my $1000 bounty, let's make sure the first snitch payment goes to a
citizen of Eureka."<br />
<br />
The Eurekans looked at each other,
then at the floor, and shuffled their feet. The mayor of Eureka offered
Janklow another helping of kuchen, having noticed the governor sometimes
stopped speaking when his mouth was full.<br />
<br />
In
anticipation of 210's appearance in House State Affairs, the governor
took the House Republicans to the woodshed, threatening dire
consequences if they didn't restore the first-offense provision and the
bounty. He threatened not to sign the bill in its Senate-amended form.
He also threatened to take an active role in defeating Republican
defectors in the next election.<br />
<br />
The only proponents of
210 to testify were Governor Janklow and his chief-of-staff, Dave
Knudson. Janklow said, "I don't have many moral principles, but I get a
visceral anger when I think about people giving drugs to young girls and
then USING these young girls. That's why we need this bill.<br />
<br />
"Now,
when I drive over the speed limit, which I do a lot, I take a
calculated risk. I know it's gonna cost me $167 if I get caught. I don't
mind that. But if I knew I'd go to jail for two days, I wouldn't speed.
That's why we need this bill. Everybody knows they've got one free time
getting caught with drugs. We've gotta change that."<br />
<br />
Knudson
said, "We're losing the war on drugs. That's why we need this bill."
When asked the goal of the war on drugs, Knudson said, "To eliminate
wrecking of lives due to drugs."<br />
<br />
First to testify in
opposition to 210, I pointed out that no prohibition law has ever
worked, and, in fact, has always resulted in an effect exactly opposite
the stated goals. Curt Mortenson, the eloquent Stanley County State's
Attorney, said, "This bill is the biggest pile of crap I've ever seen."
Mike Buenger, speaking for the Unified Judicial System, said, "Enactment
of this bill will create a backlog of jury trials which will gridlock
the courts."<br />
<br />
Tom Barnett, brother of South Dakota
Attorney-General Mark Barnett, and lobbyist for the South Dakota State
Bar, opposed the bill. Barnett told me, "Alcohol accounts for the vast
majority of prematurely-lost virginity in this state, not drugs."<br />
<br />
Nick
Braune, lobbyist for the South Dakota Peace and Justice Center, opposed
the bill, too, as did state senator Frank Kloucek, who, in a moment of
weirdness hardly noticed in the context, accused Governor Janklow of
making an offensive phone call to Kloucek's daughter last year. Janklow
denied the charge.<br />
<br />
Janklow then figuratively sank to
his knees, "Just give me the bill," he said. "What we're doing isn't
working. Just give me the bill. Heck, it won't even go into effect until
July 1. You people are all going to be back here in January. You can
repeal it then, if you don't like it. Heck, you can even put a sunset on
it. Just give me the bill. You can't let these monsters be giving
14-year-old girls drugs and then violating them." He blinked back a
tear, staggering a little under the weight of his convictions as he
rose.<br />
<br />
Representative Dick Brown, member of the State
Affairs committee, questioned the governor. "This bill gives judges the
option to depart from the minimum sentence as long as they send a note
to the clerk, right?" "Yes," said Janklow. "So it really doesn't change
anything, right?" continued Brown. "That's right," replied Janklow.<br />
<br />
"Look,"
Janklow said, "it just says we're gonna remand 'em to the custody of
the Department of Corrections. They don't have to go to Sioux Falls.
They might go to Redfield, or Springfield. They might just clean up the
grounds at the State Fair.<br />
<br />
"Heck, it won't even cost us
much. They're not a threat to escape, so we won't need many more
guards. We'll feed 'em a few meals, that's about it. Then we'll send 'em
back home with a new, drug-avoiding, outlook."<br />
<br />
So what
had begun as a get-tough, take no prisoners..., uh..., no, a get-tough,
take EVERYBODY prisoner, shock'em straight, no-nonsense thirty days in
the Pen was now being touted as a "not really changing anything" bill.
And the governor was begging for it.<br />
<br />
House State
Affairs, swayed by the governor's impeccable logic, and apparently
invigorated with new knowledge of their moral righteousness, reinstated
the $1000 bounty and the first-offense provision and sent the bill to
the House floor.<br />
<br />
On Day 37 of the 74th South Dakota
Legislature, the House as a whole agreed with Rapid City Senator Mike
Wilson that SB210 was ugly, regardless of Dave Knudson's articulate
explication of the goal of the war on drugs, and tabled it 40-29, thus
killing it. One might extrapolate that dinner in the governor's mansion
the evening of March 4, 1999, was punctuated by the sound of plates
breaking against the walls.<br />
<br />
Oh, the kuchen bill failed
also. South Dakota is still without a State Dessert, and Eureka still
stands the same chance as it did two months ago of being South Dakota's
first drug-free, but snitch-replete, community.<br />
<br />
Author's note. I ran into Dick Brown a few months later. He was still picking Janklow's pubic hair out of his teeth.<br />
<br />
There
were several newspaper reporters in the committee room. None reported
Janklow's statements. That's passive fellatio, I guess.Bob Newlandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05388226473052858297noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2123919364122433432.post-46601443112373846212014-02-23T16:34:00.001-07:002014-02-23T16:35:37.910-07:00SoDak Dist. 30 has no representationThe following is not satire. Sadly.<br /><br />I live in Legislative District 30 in South Dakota. National Forest, State Parks, National Parks, National Monuments, lots of ranchers and ex-Californians, and an apparently populous and politically active group of tree-ring deniers infected with snake-handler meanness.<br /><br />That latter group is well-represented by District 30's state legislative cadre, Representatives Mike Verchio and Lance Russell and Senator Bruce Rampelberg. The rest of us are unrepresented, except, on occasion, by accident. <br /><br />All of these legislators support the Second Amendment, which is okay by me. All of them are okay with denying Second Amendment rights to me, which is not okay by me. All of them say that women do not have the right to determine the course of events inside their own bodies (to the extent that is possible), which is not okay by me.<br /><br />None of them would deny the right of a man to remove any group of cells within his body, even if it resulted in the man's death. <br /><br />All would deny the obvious, that a government powerful enough to deny a woman the right to terminate a pregnancy is powerful enough to force her to terminate a pregnancy. In other words, they trip over their individual sovereignty arguments, which are at the base of Republican "philosophy."<br /><br />All have also denied the obvious, that cannabis has therapeutic value.<br /><br />My entire purpose in posting this is to state that democracy often fails, especially when lies are promoted as truth by governmental action.Bob Newlandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05388226473052858297noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2123919364122433432.post-82068162451296817782014-02-23T10:38:00.002-07:002014-02-23T10:38:32.766-07:00Spicing up breakfastLIFE mag., 1956<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhX-VHnjpqal9oqWH0JMseSsv6yeWdJfSQpVwjhdsJA77u00D3TTVVNn4D38FT6I_pHKQT_oxUqXBmJ5gILs3fW_Kx6Xn07x5ba3GdXgza8kgjlMF-xoLkR4ZP83uUA5xy2qa_8QPxpV7I/s1600/Spam.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhX-VHnjpqal9oqWH0JMseSsv6yeWdJfSQpVwjhdsJA77u00D3TTVVNn4D38FT6I_pHKQT_oxUqXBmJ5gILs3fW_Kx6Xn07x5ba3GdXgza8kgjlMF-xoLkR4ZP83uUA5xy2qa_8QPxpV7I/s1600/Spam.jpg" height="640" width="264" /></a></div>
<br />Bob Newlandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05388226473052858297noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2123919364122433432.post-56139292301154723822014-02-18T21:14:00.000-07:002014-02-18T21:14:58.590-07:00Satan is very seductive.Hermosa SD 2/19/2014 Battle Creek Press International: <br />
<br />
Today So. Dak. Sen. Cecil Hardwhack (R-Deers Ears) introduced SB 2334, which would prevent state agencies from using tree rings to tell the age of trees.<br />
<br />
Hardwhack said, "I used to think that you could tell the age of trees by counting the rings in a cross-section of the trunk, but I changed my mind when I heard Bill Nye-The Heathen Science Guy say that there were trees whose rings numbered to 8000. Well, that's simply impossible since everyone knows that God started the world 6250 years ago. So, I don't want my daughters and grand-daughters, some of whom are together in the first grade, being taught something that is Biblically impossible. I mean, Jesus, if they hear that, they might also hear that being homosexual is beyond their control. I don't want my daughters and grand-daughters being rug munchers and if they count tree rings they might be. Satan is very seductive."<br />
<br />
SB 2334 mandates, if passed, that: "All So. Dak. employees must stop using tree rings as a measure of the age of trees. If necessary in the course of their jobs, state employees will calculate the age of trees by using the Jensen/Hickey formula, which states that the 'point of origin of any item can not, by definition, be more than 6250 years ago.'"<br />
<br />
Asked, "Do you think this flies in the face of logic?", Hardwhack said, "I can't deal with your stupid questions about logic and remain true to my conviction that the Bible was written by God who had his hand on the pen of all those who wrote on the holy paper."<br />
<br />
Asked, "Do you think there are people writing laws in South Dakota whose pens are being steered by God?", Hardwhack said, "I think it's fairly obvious whose pens are being steered by God and whose by Satan."<br />
<br />
Rep. Louvely Bestworth (D-Isabella) said, "I believe in God and all that, but these, these details…, I get so confused."<br />
<br />
Rep. Lance Russell, (R-Hot Springs) said, "I know what she means."Bob Newlandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05388226473052858297noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2123919364122433432.post-24512736541078862732014-02-18T16:10:00.005-07:002014-02-18T16:10:44.844-07:00Even God can't play both ends in South Dakota...Hermosa SD 2/18/2014 Battle Creek Press International: <br /><br />Today So. Dak. Rep. Louvely Bestworst (D-Isabella) introduced legislation that would require more transparency from God, at least in South Dakota.<br /><br />HB 2121, if passed into law, requires God "to disclose His or Her reasons for any actions taken in South Dakota."<br /><br />Rep. Bestworst said, "It's just not right for God to hide behind 'works in mysterious ways his wonders to perform.' We're elected by the people of this state to do everything from funding education to putting people in jail for trying to feel better. We have to have open debate on every little thing we do. Why should God be able to slap us with blizzards and floods without even so much as a 'How do you do?'"<br /><br />Sen. Cecil Hardwhack (R-Deers Ears), who is pastor of a small church in rural Butte County, said, "If this bill passes, I don't want to be anywhere near this building. If HB 2121 passes, I will quit at that moment."<br /><br />Bestworst said, "There's another reason to pass it."<br /><br />Several Republican legislators and a couple of Democrats as well were seen heading for the Capitol basement carrying rattlesnakes.<br /><br />Asked if her bill was satirical, Bestworst said, "I'm just sick of God telling some of us one thing and some of us the complete opposite. If God wants to lobby the legislature, let him pony up the 50 bucks for a lobbyist's badge."Bob Newlandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05388226473052858297noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2123919364122433432.post-82443561467253174622014-02-17T17:55:00.003-07:002014-02-18T16:09:33.513-07:00That Brian Gosch. He's a card, eh?Hermosa SD 2/17/2014 Battle Creek Press International: <br />
<br />
On St. Valentine's Day, House Concurrent Resolution 1017 was introduced by: Representatives May, Campbell, Gibson, Hawks, Hawley, Heinert, Hunhoff (Bernie), Killer, Nelson, Olson (Betty), Peterson, Schoenfish, Schrempp, Solum, and Tyler and Senators Frerichs, Bradford, and Lucas.<br />
<br />
HCR 1017 asks the federal government to observe the obvious--that hemp is a viable, green, useful agricultural product. It came out of nowhere, except that the recently passed federal "Farm Bill" contains a provision that will allow farmers and gardeners in Colorado and Washington to grow hemp and attempt to sell it for purposes excluding ingestion, except for the seeds and seed oil, which are okay to eat. <br />
<br />
15 years ago, a group calling itself the South Dakota Industrial Hemp Council asked So. Dak. Rep. Bob Weber, a Republican farmer to introduce legislation that would remove criminality for So. Dak. farmers who wanted to grow hemp. It had no practical value, since if anybody grew hemp, the feds would have taken their farm for "manufacture of a controlled substance." It was the opening shot in a guerrilla campaign that has lasted 15 years. <br />
<br />
Several law enforcement agencies and the attorney-general's office testified that hemp fields would make So. Dak. mothers stop producing breast milk. Rep. Weber remarked that no one was too concerned about 200-proof alcohol being stored in swimming pool-sized tanks at ethanol plants without much security.<br />
<br />
Since then, SoDakNORML.org and the So. Dak. Industrial Hemp Council (Hemphasis.net) have lobbied several legislative acts and petition drives to codify the obvious, the obvious being necessity of committing criminal acts in order to live a somewhat normal life. <br />
<br />
The arguments of those who opposed us are summed up by the hapless Charlie McGuigan, butt-boy "legislative liaison" for whomever has been Attorney General of South Dakota for the last 20 years. McGuigan said, "There are over 400 carciginians in marijuana smoke." McGuigan may have gotten mixed up over the historical 300 Spartans (Carthage and Carthaginians were nearby) who defended the Pass at Thermopylae. Or it may be that McGuigan simply had no fucking idea of what the fuck he was taking about.<br />
<br />
In any case, last Friday a piece of legislative meaninglessness came to the floor of the So. Dak. House, asking the federal government and law enforcement agencies to recogfuckingnize that hemp has value. <br />
<br />
There are a few curious things about HCR 1017. First, House Speaker Brian Gosch waived the requirement for a committee hearing, where the resolution would have faced opponents and proponents other than members of the House. Second, it was proposed by a Republican, Elizabeth May, from Kyle. Third, it passed on a floor vote in the House by 61-6. Fourth, there was no news coverage, period.<br />
<br />
During the floor discussion, Speaker Gosch recognized "Representatives 'Cheech and Chong'," which drew raucous laughter, apparently so funny to a couple of people that they were immobilized. Rep. Don Haggar asked the sponsor if hemp made good cover for game birds. Rep. May replied that it did. Rep.Haggar subsequently voted against the resolution, as did Speaker Gosch, along with Reps. Lance Russell, Brock Greenfield, Leslie Heinemann, Jenna Haggar and Ann Hajek. <br />
<br />
State Senator Cecil Hardwhack (R-Deers Ears) said, "Hemp will provide cover for pheasants? Jesus! What the fuck was Haggar thinking?"<br />
<br />
Rep. Louvely Bestworst (D-Isabella) said, "I didn't understand the joke about, who was it? Cheech and Chung? Why did everybody laugh? I don't think there are Representatives Cheech and Chung here."<br />
<br />
You can listen to the floor discussion in the SoDak House at the following link. The discussion on HCR 1017 runs from about minute 7 to about minute 20.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://sdpb.sd.gov/SDPBPodcast/2014/hou20.mp3">http://sdpb.sd.gov/SDPBPodcast/2014/hou20.mp3</a><a href="http://sdpb.sd.gov/SDPBPodcast/2014/hou20.mp3">http://sdpb.sd.gov/SDPBPodcast/2014/hou20.mp3</a>Bob Newlandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05388226473052858297noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2123919364122433432.post-37049257182403416842014-02-10T10:51:00.001-07:002014-02-10T12:28:00.663-07:00So. Dak. Legislature replies, "La, la, la, la"Josh Luitjens carries a 4.0 at Southeast Tech in Sioux Falls. He also suffers from Colitis/Crohn's Disease, which manifests itself in the <span class="a0x192FFC" placeholder="form">form</span> of diarrhea, cramping, abdominal pain, loss of appetite, weight loss, and nausea.<br />
<br />
"Conventional" medicine has results varying from pretty good control of symptoms to almost no effect. Josh's <span class="a0x192FFC" placeholder="treatment">treatment</span> has had little effect on <span class="a0x192FFC" placeholder="what">what</span> he describes as "this very annoying disease." His <span class="a0x192FFC" placeholder="doctor">doctor</span> is searching for new medicines. Meanwhile, Josh achieves effective relief by using cannabis.<br />
<br />
He had medicated before bed on January 20, 2014, in his <span class="a0x192FFC" placeholder="room"><span class="a0x192FFC" placeholder="room">room</span></span> at student housing. Someone smelled the smoke and the staff (which has the right to <span class="a0x192FFC" placeholder="search">search</span> his <span class="a0x192FFC" placeholder="room"><span class="" placeholder="room">room</span></span> any time) confronted him. He owned up and showed them his stash, amounting to a gram of cannabis. The cops came and arrested and charged him with misdemeanor possession of "marijuana" and possession of paraphernalia (if you have weed, you have paraphernalia; the container is "paraphernalia").<br />
<br />
Southeast Tech could have kicked him out of the housing, but chose not to because of his explanation for his use. That argument will not be available to him in court. South Dakota (and federal) <span class="" placeholder="law">law</span> says there is "no <span class="" placeholder="medical">medical</span> use" for cannabis. Regardless of the obvious legal defense of "prevention of a greater harm," that defense is not allowed in South Dakota courts even though the accused is simply defending his own <span class="" placeholder="life">life</span> against the predations of a disease.<br />
<br />
This is just one more example of the unspeakable cruelty of South Dakota <span class="" placeholder="law">law</span>, promoted by nearly every South Dakota legislator in the face of irrefutable evidence that cannabis is, in many cases, <span class="" placeholder="life">life</span>-saving and <span class="" placeholder="life">life</span>-sustaining therapy.<br />
<br />
Here is just one of thousands and thousands of <span class="" placeholder="medical">medical</span> abstracts that testify to the efficacy of cannabis in relief of various adverse <span class="" placeholder="medical">medical</span> conditions.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.karger.com/Article/Pdf/356512">http://www.karger.com/Article/Pdf/356512</a><br />
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Bob Newlandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05388226473052858297noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2123919364122433432.post-12252613522921282302014-01-25T17:14:00.002-07:002014-01-25T17:14:36.607-07:00This isn't going to stop anytime soon, is it?<div class="_1x1">
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<span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}">Today,
So. Dak. Representative Louvely Bestworst (D.--Isabella) introduced
legislation that would make it illegal "to withhold service from anyone
who has the money to pay you for your services, no matter what you may
think of their personal attributes."<br /> <br /> Bestworst said, "This bill
will put a stop to the inhuman, and worse, insensitive, practice of
turning people down who want to cut a deal with you, just because you
don't like them or how they look or how you imagine they think."<br /> <br />
State Senator Cecil Hardwhack (R. -- Deers Ears) said, "Jesus Christ!
If that passes then I'll have to put up a sign at my hardware store that
says 'No fuckin' shirt, no fuckin' shoes, no fuckin' problem'"</span></div>
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<span class="UFIBlingBoxTimeline"><span data-reactid=".in"></span></span><span class="UIActionLinks UIActionLinks_bottom" data-ft="{"tn":"=","type":20}"><span></span></span>Bob Newlandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05388226473052858297noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2123919364122433432.post-41678336183820201882014-01-07T16:54:00.001-07:002014-01-07T19:31:43.184-07:00Why I bother...Ann Coulter, Laura Ingraham, Michelle Bachman, Glenn Beck, Billy Graham, Jerry Falwell, Paul Ryan, Jimmy Bakker (can you look at him and believe it!), Richard Nixon, John Ehrlichman, John Thune, Phil Robertson (I can't believe that one!), ....<br />
<br />
These and thousands more are the reasons I bother to express my opinion about the existence of "God." I am forced by countless assaults on my freedom to live my life the way I want to, free of legal constraints designed to assure my moral purity, my ticket to heaven. <br />
<br />
I am required to endure a prayer prior to the inception of the business of virtually every public meeting I attend. These meetings are held to decide who gets to do what to whom, with public funds collected and expended for the winners.<br />
<br />
Since I don't care whether or not you "believe" in "God," I only occasionally chime in on a Facebook thread that proposes some nonsensical argument to support the poster's rejection of evolution. But the steady incursion of selective Biblical philosophy into the decisions of who gets to do what to whom with tax money is worth fighting. <br />
<br />
Abortion: A woman has the right to decide whether she wants to allow a growth to exist in her body. Period. If there's a soul involved, God has the option of placing it elsewhere. In any case, I haven't heard a religious argument that says an aborted soul goes to Hell.<br />
<br />
Enforced prayer before public meetings: What purpose does it serve except to help identify troublemakers (synonymous with Godless voters)?<br />
<br />
Use of non-governmentally-approved methods to feel better: This is an argument that would not exist were it not for the prominent "theologians'" and political "spiritual advisors'" endorsement of an absurd set of public policies that result in the imprisonment of millions of people no sane person can call a criminal, while funnelling trillions of dollars to the most vicious people on earth (tobacco companies, pharmaceutical companies and their illegal counterparts).<br />
<br />
The apparent recent endorsement of Everything Phil Robertson Says by an apparently sizeable portion of the electorate, including a Facebook comparison of the bearded duck-calling Robertsons to the bearded "fisher men" of Biblical lore makes my efforts to counter it necessary, if I do say so myself.<br />
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Bob Newlandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05388226473052858297noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2123919364122433432.post-5081656912908569372014-01-02T17:38:00.000-07:002014-01-02T17:38:46.831-07:00Why does anyone else care if I believe...At all times and in every area of our lives we are subject to immense pressure from religion. I'm not opposed to most of that. I am opposed to the disproportionate influence exercised by power mad zealots using some quirky religious belief or another to justify inhuman behavior toward someone else.<br /><br />While Christopher Hitchens was not a factor in my arriving at pretty close to conclusive lack of belief in a "God, maker of the universe and personally concerned with my welfare," or in any Supreme Design, I do enjoy reading Hitchens' arguments for a similar point of view. <br /><br />Hitchens said: "Many religions now come before us with ingratiating smirks and outspread hands, like an unctuous merchant in a bazaar. They offer consolation and solidarity and uplift, competing as they do in a marketplace. But we have a right to remember how barbarically they behaved when they were strong and were making an offer that people could not refuse."<br /><br />Here's the problem. It probably makes little difference to God whether or not I believe in God. Whether or not I exist in a Supreme Design is, by definition, irrelevant to the success or failure of the Design. But people who believe in some combination of "God" and the "Supreme Design" naturally seek out others to convert them or to share their faith. These groups too often then seek, and way too often attain, the power to control an aspect of the lives of others over which they properly should have no control. Throughout history, zealots have used religion to inspire their disciples to put hot irons in the eyes of people whose religion didn't supply them with enough firepower to win whichever war was being fought.<br /><br />The ritual and social life of the Mormon, Russian Orthodox, Roman Catholic, and various European Protestant factions that I have observed with varying degrees of familiarity provide models of desirable lifestyles, although the level of undesirability that often lurks below the social waterline probably is no lower among believers than among non-believers. I believe I can exist peacefully with people who practice these religions, or any other religion, without trying to force me to practice their religion. Wait, if I knew that somebody down the street was going to excise his three-year-old daughter's clitoris and labia majora and minora, I would do what I could to put a stop to it. That's a little too gruesome for me to accept even in someone else's religion.<br /><br />A disproportionate influence of exactly the sort I despise is being exercised in Rapid City Council meetings, where a local person of the cloth opens meetings with prayers. There can only be one logical reason for this practice to be imposed on all of us; the Believers want to identify the NonBelievers. Since they can't (as of today, anyway) tie people's hands behind them and hoist them by their wrists until they profess faith, they're left with observing the crowd of citizens, come looking for redress of grievances or some such, to see who's showing less than appropriate reverence.<br /><br />If the Council People want to pray to God, why, in God's name, do they need to make us part of it? It's people like that who give God a bad name.Bob Newlandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05388226473052858297noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2123919364122433432.post-77117137416240324912013-11-18T13:06:00.002-07:002013-11-18T19:09:16.597-07:00This is the endI was in the area when I heard on the radio that the Janklow paintings had been unveiled at the Capitol. I drove to the intersection of Moody Co. roads 13 & 14, and shot these photos. I think any one is a better portrait of the late political animal than are either of the <span style="color: #cc0000;"><a href="http://rapidcityjournal.com/news/portraits-of-former-gov-janklow-unveiled-in-pierre/article_127ee6b7-3bcd-5da5-bf84-406a40d6873c.html">paintings now hanging</a></span> in the Capitol.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPUGGDPxwQipnZTXmEWzVDeGqFK6GcicMMqZmlIKnwpBnaP5LKS1tMWYFqNCaHe73UVUhdKEBYX9OVGFkqUPMDyRVrrUVYAQJ9MviBNM0YaPEh0n46OsOf-ijm4THewzSdBh5X7Cr_fBU/s1600/view2south.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="427" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPUGGDPxwQipnZTXmEWzVDeGqFK6GcicMMqZmlIKnwpBnaP5LKS1tMWYFqNCaHe73UVUhdKEBYX9OVGFkqUPMDyRVrrUVYAQJ9MviBNM0YaPEh0n46OsOf-ijm4THewzSdBh5X7Cr_fBU/s640/view2south.jpg" width="640" /> </a><br />
(above) Southerly view at the intersection. Randy Scott was approaching on the road from the left. This was Janklow's last second in politics, his last view before he ran the stopsign just out of the picture to the right (you can see the back of the stopsign across the intersection). Less than a second later, Bill Janklow's political future was as bleak as the road to the horizon, but without as much promise.<br />
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<br />
<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj38Uq3QQU9S3-bHPDxu430V5nkZ0p91fhxTcId4AgN1taDv9eNP_ojy65o_boX9I2PfXpQegGteOL6StdNa1cCjxkkLNphParH4Dxqxs_EVKjKpZCQEggpljoZJ64sQy-vqJjt_h6y4Hs/s1600/randy.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="427" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj38Uq3QQU9S3-bHPDxu430V5nkZ0p91fhxTcId4AgN1taDv9eNP_ojy65o_boX9I2PfXpQegGteOL6StdNa1cCjxkkLNphParH4Dxqxs_EVKjKpZCQEggpljoZJ64sQy-vqJjt_h6y4Hs/s640/randy.jpg" width="640" /> </a><br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgubTmvwfDAsjKCwzDXmIBJtgDCOioJoeldf6Z1i5qivJGlLPpJVUtoqXqdfAfOlnaz5G4eyZZUD937DzznIjph6umzSKrxzcZl5JEnJh5oTQCeyuP1LOzesAunfcpKWtzcGe18vHFrw_w/s1600/think.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="427" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgubTmvwfDAsjKCwzDXmIBJtgDCOioJoeldf6Z1i5qivJGlLPpJVUtoqXqdfAfOlnaz5G4eyZZUD937DzznIjph6umzSKrxzcZl5JEnJh5oTQCeyuP1LOzesAunfcpKWtzcGe18vHFrw_w/s640/think.jpg" width="640" /> </a>Monuments at the site. <br />
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Bob Newlandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05388226473052858297noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2123919364122433432.post-70838311429554464162013-11-03T09:55:00.002-07:002013-11-03T09:56:27.373-07:00This explains a bit about the creature who sometimes calls him(her?)self Grudznick.<iframe width="560" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/z9pD_UK6vGU" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>Bob Newlandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05388226473052858297noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2123919364122433432.post-6729244009772845612013-09-25T10:31:00.003-06:002013-09-25T10:31:46.658-06:00Nice story on my granddaughter<div class="entry-content">
<a href="http://rapidcityjournal.com/sports/local/year-old-belle-fourche-junior-carries-on-family-s-winning/article_b3c21b1f-a49b-5414-b82c-32e3f5c85837.html">RC Journal today.</a><br />
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<br />
There aren’t many sporting events in which an entire family can participate — often competing in the very same events.<br />
<br />
Rodeo families can. Brooke Howell is a happy member of just such a rodeo family.<br />
The
Belle Fourche High School all-around athlete is coming off a summer
rodeo season in which she spent lots of weekend time on the road riding
and roping with parents, Guy and Shanna Howell, and sisters Bridget, 18;
Shayla, 14; and Shyanne, 10.<br />
<br />
“In the springtime it’s high school
rodeo, and then come summer it’s a lot of jackpots and some youth rodeos
we’ve gone to since we were little,” said Howell, a junior who, in
addition to a very active rodeo schedule, also competes in basketball
and track.<br />
<br />
“And then this summer I competed in my first Northwest
Rodeo Cowboys Association (NRCA) rodeo in July," she said. "And since
then we’ve gone to rodeos just about every weekend.”<br />
<br />
And very
successful weekends at that as the 16-year-old Howell currently sits
atop the ladies rookie standings. That's no small feat as the NRCA
circuit features many of the top college and high school rodeo
performers from South and North Dakota, Nebraska, Wyoming and Montana.<br />
<br />
“We
had a little pony I first learned to ride on," Howell said. "I was put
on a horse so young I can’t even remember, and then at two or three, I
began to ride by myself in a round corral.<br />
<br />
“I learned to rope when
I was about eight. My dad is my number one coach and he and mom are the
people I look up to in rodeo since they are both accomplished rodeo
athletes," she said.<br />
<br />
The summer successes topped off a year of
notable accomplishments as Howell began the summer in winning style
sharing a South Dakota High School Rodeo team championship with her
Belle Fourche High School teammates — placing fourth in breakaway roping
and fifth in pole bending — and earning her second trip to the National
High School Finals Rodeo in Rock Springs, Wyo., in July where she
placed 46th in breakaway roping.<br />
<br />
“We knew pretty sure we were up
there when the winners were being announced, but when we heard we had
won we were pretty stoked,” Howell said. “And to be able to share an
experience like that as a team was really special.”<br />
<br />
Not
surprisingly, Howell comes from a distinguished rodeo family. her
father, Guy, is a former PRCA Badlands and Mountain States Circuit team
roping champion. Her mother, Shanna, is a two-time South Dakota high
school goat tying champion (1984, 1986) while at Belle Fourche and was
on the University of Wyoming 1990 national championship team.<br />
<br />
Nor
is Brooke the only athletic standout in the Brooke household. Bridget, a
Belle Fourche senior, is also an accomplished rodeo athlete. She won
the pole bending event at Nisland County Fair rodeo in August while
Brooke was copping top honors in barrels and goat tying.<br />
<br />
Shayla
qualified for the South Dakota State Track finals in sprints as a
seventh-grader, and 10-year-old Shyanne is most likely simply waiting in
the wings.<br />
<br />
“Rodeo is a way of life for us and something we all to
look forward to,” Shanna Howell said from the family ranch near Colony,
Wyo., where, in addition to ranching, the family runs an outfitting
operation and Guy conducts roping schools.<br />
<br />
“We’ve learned to kind
of blend our vacation time, our travel time, and our hobby time together
and we know it’s not always a sure thing and won’t last forever," she
said, "And so, when it comes to rodeo, we’ve been very blessed.”<br />
<br />
The
family also raises and trains horses. Guy Howell singled out Brooke’s
special knack for developing a special horse/rider relationship as a key
to her rodeo success.<br />
<br />
“She is able to get performances out of a
horse that maybe somebody else couldn’t get out of them,” Howell said.
“That, and the determination it takes to be willing to spend time and
get to know and have a feel for the animal as well and from that,
knowing when you can push them and get more work out of them and when
you can’t, and to some extent those are God-given talents.”<br />
<br />
Being
busy in the rodeo arena is nothing new to Brooke Howell, who competes in
barrel racing, breakaway roping, pole bending and goat tying and
wouldn’t mind finding a good cutting horse as well.<br />
<br />
“It makes for a
busy day, but it’s fun, too. I really like all the roping events," she
said. "Those are a lot of fun, but I have really good barrel and pole
horses, so that makes them fun, too. I guess it comes down to me liking
whatever event I’m competing in at the time."<br />
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Bob Newlandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05388226473052858297noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2123919364122433432.post-60217168641535556102013-09-09T21:55:00.000-06:002013-09-09T21:56:50.850-06:00Everything is connected to everything else.Today I shopped (evaluated the customer experience at) a convenience store. I need a receipt for a purchase in order to get paid. I neglected to get one for the grapefruit juice I bought. I asked for a receipt about 10 minutes after my purchase, letting the cashier know that all I needed was any cash receipt within the last few minutes. I was given the one in the picture.<br />
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<span id="goog_468939588">Since I only buy grapefruit or orange juice at these evaluations, I am morally positioned to ask: Do you think there is a connection?</span>Bob Newlandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05388226473052858297noreply@blogger.com2