Whew! Problem solved!

Got a call from P today wanting to know if the fam and I would like to hang out over there on New Year's eve. Play some games, drink some drinks, do some fireworks. My answer, of course, was not just YEAH! but HELL YEAH! and a huge TYVM for the invite!

I haven't heard anything from STFBN since Christmas anyway so if they plan to just show up .... ooops! That won't work this time cause we won't be home.

Thank you, P - you're a true and wonderful friend. :)

*UPDATE*

I was feeling guilty about STFBN so I actually waited until 5:30 pm yesterday to give her a chance to let me know if they were coming or not. Nothing. As much as I wanted to let them just show up; I couldn't, in all good conscience, let that happen.

Instead, I sent them an email @ 5:30 letting them know that since we hadn't heard anything from them, we figure they had other plans and/or work early the next morning. So, for the first time ever, hubby and I had decided to go out.

I didn't go into detail. I wished them a Happy New Year and told them that we would toast them at midnight. Which we did. Of course, the toast was 'Thank goodness we're not dealing with your pitiful self-serving drunk ass sob session prior to going home!'

We had a GREAT time! No drama. No one drunk off their ass. No one crying or hanging all over everyone. It was just what you would want when friends and their children get together - everyone was in a good mood and we all had fun.

We've got a date to do it again on the 4th of July. Hopefully, I won't be injured on THIS 4th!

Death of a tyrant

"Saddam is paying the price for murdering tens of thousands of Iraqis. This is an unprecedented feeling of happiness. ... Nothing matches it, no festival or marriage or birth." - Abu Sinan, a resident of Sadr City, Baghdad's impoverished Shiite slum.

Video of shrouded Saddam

The only thing that disappoints me is the fact that they hanged him by himself. Why give him a footnote of his own? They should not have elevated his death by making it into something special.

Two other co-defendants -- Barzan Hassan, Hussein's half-brother, and Awad Bandar, the former chief judge of the Revolutionary Court -- were also found guilty and had been expected to face execution with Hussein, but al-Rubaie said their executions were postponed "because we wanted to have this day to have an historic distinction."

CNN.com

In summary, Mohammed at Iraq The Model has this to say -

On this day as we celebrate justice we shall not forget to pray for blessings for the souls of the dictator's victims and we shall not forget to thank our brothers in America and the rest of the coalition nations who helped us and are still helping us in our struggle to build the new free and democratic Iraq.

Christmas part deux

Sometime around 6:30 Christmas evening, I hear car doors closing in the driveway. My first thought was that #2's friends were making a surprise visit. They do that a lot.

Well, it wasn't them.

I looked out the front door and it was STFBN and her husband. Carrying a large gift bag. No phone call. No email. No warning or announcement that they'd be coming by and expecting to exchange gifts. I find that not only rude but trashy in the extreme.

Yes, we've been spending Christmas together for about 6 years now but always with a mutual plan. Coordinating times and who's in charge of what snacks. Given that I haven't spoken to her, much less seen her face to face at any time during the past 6 months (except the accidental meeting in the mall parking lot which lasted an entire 5 minutes), I was totally taken aback by her lack of thoughtfulness and consideration.

Not to mention putting me on the spot by being unprepared causing me to stand there grasping for a way to express myself.

I thanked them for the gifts. The girls thanked them for the gifts. I said that I was sorry that I had nothing for them as I had no idea that we would be exchanging gifts this year. To this they said, "We weren't expecting anything. We just love ya'll."

I'm sorry if I'm making too much of this but is this supposed to mean (in her eyes) that SHE's the better person? Despite the fact that she's had nothing to do with me these past 6 months, all is forgiven and the slate wiped clean? Wouldn't that be for ME to decide since I'm the victim all round in this scenario? Was I to have expected things to be as they were in the past and to give no credence whatsoever to her ignorance and narcissism these past few months?

I'm just not able to play that game! You shit on me and I'm not supposed to mind the smell? I can't do it.

Are they now expecting New Year's to go as it has in the past as well? I really don't think that I'm able to host them here for hours of game-play, snacks, drinks, watching the ball drop, the associated toast with bubbly, and then a fireworks display. If they ARE expecting this, then can we possibly enjoy our evening, guilt free, while doing all these things without them knowing they'll be watching our festivities from their front porch?

I don't know.

I want to enjoy the New Year but I don't want to be mean and guilt-ridden because of it!

Just what the hell is wrong with these people? Or is the question - what the hell is wrong with ME????

There be dragons in my future!

Out of the blue, around 8:30 last night, #3 comes to me and asks if I'd like to go see a movie tomorrow. She says that we haven't spent much time together lately and thought it would be nice if just the two of us make a day of it. She's paying.

I said 'Yes.'.

We're going to see Eragon at 2:30pm. I was interested in this movie from the trailer when it first came out. I'd never heard of the book nor the author prior to the movie's release. When shopping with the girls the week #1 was in town to close on her house, I noticed the sequel book at borders. My interest was sparked again.

I was flipping channels last week and came across Glenn Beck interviewing the author. Wow! Now, I'm totally intrigued!

*UPDATE*
Hmmm ... enjoyable movie but very formulaic, predictable, and average. It was very obvious that there was a LOT left out of the movie that reading the book before hand would have explained! Had I paid money to see it, I would have been pissed. Spending time with my daughter, though, overcame the movie's short-comings. I had a totally wonderful day!

Here's a much more comprehensive, and better written, review of Eragon.

The new Christmas. Same as the old Christmas?

Our Christmas this year was an experiment in streamlining; an attempt to make it easier and more gratifying for all involved. Mainly, getting all involved. It was pretty sweet for some but as is always the case, others prefer sour to sweet.

Here's the premise - we draw names and allot $50 per person. Yes, even though #2 & #3 are working and have their own money, we gave them their $50 Christmas gift money. Figured that was one fight we didn't want to have to fight so that's the way we worked it out.

Everyone put their list of wants onto a master list which was posted on the door for all to see. Now, remember, the limit is $50!

The lists were as follows -

#3 - wireless router, Dragonball Z PSP game; PSP starter kit; (added too late to the list) Megabomber Man PSP (#3 had bought herself a PSP with her earnings a few weeks before Christmas thus ensuring that she wouldn't be asked to spend her own money on the family)

#2 - shirts with the notation 'Not $50 worth!'; memory card for her digital camera

Husband - 1 gig flash drive; 1 gig MP-3 player

Me - house shoes (size M - dark color); spatulas from B, B, & B (silicone with comfortable, cushy handle)

I (unfortunately) drew #3. I got her the DBZ game which left me with $7 left to spend. I went over-budget in order to get her a few other things like a shirt, pajama pants, a 2007 calendar, and candy. That was not enough. She fully expected to get EVERYTHING on her list - not just $50 worth of stuff. She was not happy. She complained endlessly. She posted on her My Space that she was robbed!

#3 drew #2 and got her a very nice tripod for the digital camera she got for her birthday back in November. Not on her list but it was well received by #2. ( I knew that #3 had blown her wad on a single gift so I supplemented with a pair of pajama pants and a 2007 calendar and candy)

Husband received from #2 a 1 gig flash drive and a new leather belt - which he badly needed. I got him a bottle of Yukon Jack for his stocking.

I received from husband (who had drawn my name like I thought) a pair of black Isotoner boots and 2 spatulas. I also received 2 items that were not only not on my list but I had no idea that I even wanted/needed them! One was a 3-pack of small LED lights that could be placed inside cabinets. The other was a USB hub to which up to 7 devices could be connected. So, out of the allotted $50, he spent - maybe - $20 on me. The rest (as I had feared) would be spent on something HE wanted. #2 spent some of her own money to get me a pair of VERY soft booties and a pair of 'organic' booties. She bought the 'organic' booties because she thought it was funny that they were 'organic'. We did get a good laugh out of that but I must admit that they are comfy. :)

#3 spent none of her own money on anyone in the family. I didn't expect her to so, therefore, I wasn't surprised when she didn't. Disappointed, yes, but not surprised.

I don't know what we'll do next year. In the mean time, I'll be reviewing this year's experiment to decide whether or not it was a success or a failure.

There's more but I'm running out of alone time to post so I'll follow-up later with a part 2 - of sorts.

Contracts, conflicts, and confussion

Husband just left to take #1 to the airport for her 3pm flight. He volunteered for the task and I didn't try to talk him out of it. I picked her up on Tuesday so it's only fair that he drop her off today.

I'm not even going to pretend that I understand much of anything that happened this week. I'm just going to document the events as best as I can remember them.

#1 came in on Tuesday the 12th at 7am - we go to Waffle House for breakfast and get home @ 9am. We pretty much fart around the rest of the day doing nothing much of anything b/c she's jet-lagged but refuses to take a nap. Consequently, she's tired the next day.

On Wednesday we wait to get the key to the house so we can get started with ripping and stripping wallpaper. The realtor was supposed to be here at 12:30 - she finally gets here at 3:45. A wasted day since it gets too dark to work in a house w/o electricity by 5:30 pm. We make plans to do some major work on Thursday.

Thursday the realtor calls and says there's a problem with the wording of the loan and she needs to p/u #1 at 11am to go downtown. She gets here at 11:45. They don't return until after 3pm with #1 in a VERY nasty mood b/c the trip was unnecessary bullshit and caused another day to be wasted. We are getting stuff done at the house b/c I'd spent most of the day working on the wallpaper situation. Husband was supposed to come over and change out all the locks but he opted for the couch instead. The locks got done by Coleman lantern sometime around 6 or 7pm accompanied by a nasty attitude for expecting him to do something on his day off.

Friday was closing day. #1 left @ 11am and didn't get home until after 3pm again. Another wasted day for her - according to her, anyway. I see closing on the house as a major accomplishment since she bought the house completely on her own but she sees it as a waste because she was elsewhere instead of working on paint, etc.

P and her daughter come over on Saturday to walk through and congratulate #1. They ask if she's excited to which she replies, "No. Not really." It seems that she can't get excited until it's done and she's able to move in which won't be for another 9 months or so. I don't understand her thinking and judging from the look on P's face, she's having a hard time with it as well.

Saturday - #3 was to have enlisted the help of friends to paint - out of the 6 to 8 promised; 2 show up. #3 has to work so her contribution to the effort ended at 4pm so she could get ready and then start work at 5pm. #1 thinks that #3 is slacking off and unenthusiastic. She doesn't seem to get that Saturday was the only day #3 was home - having been in school the rest of the week, getting home at 4pm, and then having to be at work at 5:30 both Thursday and Friday. She had tried to switch schedules with other co-workers so she could be off as planned but it just wasn't in the cards. #1 is extremely pissed at #3 and is having 2nd thoughts as to whether or not she's going to allow her to move in as planned. I'm only touching the surface of what happened on this day because I really can't get into all the attitude, fussing, fighting, screaming, etc. Let's just say that things went downhill fast!

Sunday - #1 doesn't want anyone to come over to help on the house because SHE doesn't even want to go to the house! She's over it and can't deal with #3 or anything else right now. Considering that she's only actually worked for 1 full day on the house, I'm pretty much experiencing shock and awe at her lack of stamina. Not just physical stamina to do the work but also the stamina to deal with her issues with #3 and her lack of enthusiasm for the job at hand.

#1's dad comes at 10:30 to see the house and to take her to lunch. She gets home at 12:30 and we all go to the mall. I spend $14 on 4 cups of coffee at Starbucks and they spend money on themselves at Pac Sun because #2 (who works there) gets 40% off this weekend. We all do manage to buy some gifts, though. We run into a few people we know including STFBN and her husband. It was a good day for the most part. Later in the evening I'm trying to mend fences with #1 and #3 but both are far too hard-headed to let anything I'm saying sink in.

I'll be scratching my head over this week's events for a while. In the mean time, I'm going to do what work I can on the house across the street and if nothing else, it'll be in a much better condition and ready to sell in about 9 months.

Clueless

We had an *interesting* moment last night. Sad more than interesting really.

#3 was headed out with friends. They had come to pick her up and they were all gathered at the door ready to leave.

#2, husband, and I were watching a show on TLC called Crazy Christmas Lights about people who go totally insane with their lighting and decorations.

#3 said, "Ok, I'm going now. I love you!"

I said, "Love you, too. Have fun!"

#2 said, "Um....yeah."

Husband said...

....*crickets chirping*....

At this point, #3 shuts the door and refuses to leave until he says something. Her friends have uncomfortable looks on their faces.

I look at husband. You know the look - the wide-eyed, WTF, give me a fuckin' break kind of look.

....*crickets chirping*....

#3 says, "I'm not leaving until I hear it!!!"

Stupid shit husband just sits there looking at her so I pipe up and ask "Can you not tell your own daughter that you love her?"

Her friends are fidgeting by now and I'm getting pissed! What an incredible ass!!!

He did eventually mumble a very low "Um, love you, too." and she and her friends left.

I feel so sorry for us all. Especially husband. He just doesn't realize how pathetic he really is.

Stupidity's Eternal Flame

I was just checking out the blogs before bed and came across something I hadn't yet heard about our state's resident Jew-hating, militant, African (whatever)-(unfortunately) American, conspiracy theory dupe, bitch, ho, Cynthia McKinney

WASHINGTON (AP) -- In what was likely her final legislative act in Congress, outgoing Georgia Rep. Cynthia McKinney announced a bill Friday to impeach President Bush.

Just makes me sick! Like this makes me sick every time I have to pass the reminders along the roadside.

'Tis the season to be jolly...oh, blow it out your arse!

Let me see if I can even remember what's been going on this week....

Hmmm....oh, I've got it!

#1 called yesterday. She's gotten another parking ticket, her car towed again, a speeding ticket for going 30 miles over the speed limit, and best of all - she got to take a breathalyzer after being pulled over for speeding because drunk driving makes you speed? Well, she didn't pass. She and a friend only had 2 beers! Yeah, right. Luckily for her, though, her suggestion to the officer of leaving her car where it was and calling a cab got her out of a DUI charge.

Honestly, folks, things are going from bad to worse with her and I'm worrying my ass off that instead of her coming home next week to close on her house, I'll be getting a phone call telling me her mojo has done its final death rattle and she's been cuffed and stuffed and being held until trial.

God, I wish she'd just come home and stop this stupid shit!!!!

Better news - there's a gift under the tree. I put it there. It's for #3 - a PSP game she wanted. All I have to buy now is a Chia Pet for #1 and I'm done.

Done??? How can that be???

Well, with the girls being older and working and the general suckiness of the holiday season, we had a discussion and decided on drawing names and spending only $50 each on gifts. The Chia Pat for #1 isn't part of that. She's been upset with me for years for never having bought her one so I thought this year would be a good time to fulfill her Chia dreams and buy her one for the kitchen window of her new home. I'm going with the elephant even thought I swore I'd never buy her another elephant. Long story. Not going there.

I don't know who has my name but I'm thinking it's probably husband which means I'll get whatever he comes to first in the store. The only thing on my list is a pair of house slippers so I'm wondering which store will have a pair priced at $50? That's the way he thinks - 'I've got $50 and the only thing on her list is ....' You get the picture. He might surprise me, though, and buy me an air freshener for the car with what ever's left over. He really does put a lot of thought into his gift buying you know. Yeah. Right.

I've been giving my holiday baking a lot of thought. I'm tired of the same old crap I make to give as gifts. You know - pumpkin bread, chocolate covered pretzels, peanut brittle, and chex mix. Plus maybe some pound cake or some sort of cookies. I'm sick of it all. Sick of making it, eating it, and giving it. I'm open to suggestions if you happen by here to read and have a thought on the subject. We did the brownie mix in the Mason jar thing a few years ago but never heard back from anyone as to whether or not they made/liked it. Plus, those were a true PITA so that's off the list. We also usually make some hand-painted tree ornaments but I'm not sure I'm feeling that this year either. I'll keep it in mind, though - in case I get a sudden, unexpected rush of holiday spirit.

The best thing about this Christmas is that I don't have to worry about buying/making shit for STFBN and her husband. Oh, actually, the best thing is knowing that I won't be getting some bullshit Sponge Bob crap from HER! Yeah me! Hell, just thinking about THAT might put me in the mood. ROFL

Tree Update # 3

As hard as it may be to believe, the tree is now inside; plugged in and ready to decorate. Some of the lights don't work - actually, they do work when the proper limb is moved in the proper way. Unfortunately, it seems to be a different limb and a different way every time. With any luck, though, by the time it's fully decked, all the lights will be working and then I'll whack anyone who dares to touch it!

Getting it into the house was pretty easy. The hardest part was getting out all of the hundreds of fallen leaves that had nestled themselves in between the needles. We thought we'd gotten them all before bringing the tree inside but after tweaking and fluffing the limbs and branches into a more asthetic shape, there was a ring of leaf bits on the carpet under the tree. Since there's likely to be more after the decorating, I'll wait to vacuum then.

Porker of the Month - November

Washington, D.C. Citizens Against Government Waste (CAGW) today named Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.) Porker of the Month for helping to secure a record $2.3 billion federal loan for a railroad company.


The loan guarantee from the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) would allow the Dakota, Minnesota, and Eastern Railroad (DM&E) to expand and improve a rail line that is used primarily to transport coal from Wyoming to Minnesota. In apparent anticipation of the loan, Sen. Thune was instrumental in increasing the FRA’s loan guarantee authority from $3.5 billion to $35 billion in the 2005 Safe, Accountable, Flexible, and Efficient Transportation Equity Act. DM&E paid Thune $220,000 in 2003 and 2004 to lobby for the loan before his election to the Senate.


According to BearingPoint (a strategic consulting firm), the loan would require an annual payment of $246 million on top of the $15 million from another loan. Even if the rail upgrade increases DM&E’s current annual revenue of $200 million, the deal presents a poor credit risk to taxpayers, who will be forced to foot the bill if the company defaults. A senior manager at BearingPoint stated, “This loan finances a project with many financial uncertainties, ultimately calling into question whether or not DM&E can repay the loan.”

Citizens Against Government Waste

My ass hurts from sitting on it all day!

Yet another interesting day - yesterday, that is.

Things were fine for the most part until the girls got home from school. #3 gets home before #2, with a friend (I wouldn't call him that but she does). Within minutes of her getting home, she gets into the fridge for food. I have no problem with that! But what I do have a problem with is that the food she gets belongs to #2!

We had ordered Chinese food the night before. Everyone chooses their own entree and we do the egg drop soup and spring roll thing as a family. #2, being a vegetarian, can't nibble out of everyone elses container so, as a courtesy, we don't nibble out of hers. It's always been this way and it's not expected to change any time soon.

#3 evidently experienced a moment of brain-deadness coupled with a huge helping of I-just-don't-give-a-shitness. She eats ALL, not some but ALL of #2's vegetable lo mien which in turn totally gripes #2's ass. And rightfully so, IMHO. However, #3, being the ass that she's recently become, offers only this in response - "Nothing I can do about it now, is there?"

We move on.

#2 has to be at work at 5pm. I'm ready to take her but before leaving, I ask husband to please speak with #3 to see if he can ascertain what exactly has crawled up her butt during the past few months. You know, just have a nice convo and inquire about how things are, what she's been up to, why she's become a rude, arrogant, thoughtless, selfish bitch. The usual. I would have done it myself but our conversations of late pretty much go along the lines of "Why are you acting this way, #3?" to which #3 replies, "Whatever!" only moments before she stomps off to her room.

Husband says he will (my fingers are crossed that he doesn't fuck it up and cause more problems in the process). I leave with #2.

Upon my return, I have to ask if he'd done as he'd promised. He had. Well? I ask. What did you find out???? I just love it when he makes me play 20 questions!

It seems that, according to #3, I have too much time on my hands and because of that I focus too much on stuff that doesn't matter and then I get onto her for stupid shit. I, also according to #3, do nothing but sit on my fat ass all day and do nothing. THAT'S the problem.

Well, hell - what's new about that? I'm always the problem unless I'm needed to ....

pay the bills
buy the groceries
cook the food
repair their clothes
take their pets to the vet
pick them up from school
listen to their problems
take them to work
pick them up from work
take them to their friend's
pick them up from their friend's
buy birthday presents
buy Christmas presents
take them to the doctor
give them money for lunches
buy their yearbooks
pay for their haircuts
buy their makeup

Wonder how she's going to feel when the next time she needs or wants me to do something for her and I tell her NO because I'm too busy sitting on my fat ass? Wonder how she's going to feel when I tell her today when she gets home from school that she's going to have to start giving me money for gas to take her back and forth to work? Or how she's going to feel when I tell her that I'm no longer going to have my entire weekends taken up by her ridiculous split-shift coffee mug job for which I've never even been offered a damn cup of coffee for my selfless efforts?

I don't know and don't really care how she's going to feel but I'll bet that she learns a valuable lesson. Don't piss off the one person who makes your life possible by bad-mouthing her and saying that she does nothing but sit around coming up with new and special ways to make your life miserable! You don't yet know the meaning of the word miserable, you ungrateful little shit!

I'm sorry that you're gone, Kathryn Johnston.

The Fourth Amendment protection against unreasonable search and seizure is based on a fundamental precept of common law that goes all the way back to the Middle Ages, to wit: A person should be given an opportunity to comply with the law before there is a forcible entry. To do otherwise is to create a deadly situation that is dangerous for all concerned, including the police.

The sad case of Kathryn Johnston has taken up my thoughts this week. I cannot believe this case happened in my country. The county of constitutionally protected rights. The country where it's the right of every citizen to defend themselves and their homes with deadly force.

Can't we all see ourselves in Ms. Johnston's place? We're old. We live alone. Our neighborhood has changed for the worse during the 17 years lived there. We feel vulnerable. We arm ourselves against any violence that might befall us.

Where in this scenario did we EVER believe that our government would be the agent of our demise? Don't we look to our government to protect us and not burst into our homes and shoot us down because we're exercising our constitutional rights?

All I can think is that things have gone to shit and some thing's horribly wrong.

I've had an ongoing debate - if you can call it that - with one of our local talk show hosts. Unfortunately, he doesn't seem to be able to read past the 1st sentence or he's just being deliberately dense.

Here's the converstion:

From: me
Sent: Tuesday, November 28, 2006 12:05 AM
To: KrokTalk
Subject: No-knock warrants

This really is an epidemic that should cease to exist. As American citizens, we have a constitutional protection against unreasonable search and seizure, the right to keep and bear arms, and due process. The practice of ramming in the door of and entering a person's home pretty much negates all of that! Not to mention the fact that it's dangerous as hell for everyone involved.

This summer the Cato Institute released a disturbing report entitled Overkill: The Rise of Paramilitary Police Raids in America. The report found that, "These increasingly frequent raids, 40,000 per year by one estimate, are needlessly subjecting nonviolent drug offenders, bystanders, and wrongfully targeted civilians to the terror of having their homes invaded while they're sleeping, usually by teams of heavily armed paramilitary unites dressed not as police officers, but as solders. These raids bring unnecessary violence and provocation to nonviolent drug offenders, many of who were guilty of only misdemeanors. The raids terrorize innocents when police mistakenly target the wrong residence. And they have resulted in dozens of needless deaths and injuries, not only of drug offenders, but also of police officers, children, bystanders, and innocent suspects.

From: KrokTalk

Date: 11/28/06 02:33:27 AM

To: me

Subject: RE: No-knock warrants

Thanks, (me)..but what do we do about them having time to flush the drugs? Let it go?


KROK

From: me
Sent: Wednesday, November 29, 2006 11:19 AM
To: KrokTalk
Subject: RE: No-knock warrants

Chris, I'm finding it very difficult to take you seriously on this issue. Do you honestly think that there is ANY justification in killing an elderly woman to keep a $25 dollar rock of crack cocaine from being flushed? How the heck is that doing anything to benefit our society?

It would be a different matter if the house had been under surveillance, the parties known, their actions known, and it was verified that major drug activity was taking place. This, however, was not the case and is not the case in many of these legalized home invasions.

Ms. Johnston lived alone. This could have been easily verified by speaking with the neighbors. Taking a gander at the property deed would have at least told the police that an elderly woman was in residence and that she had lived there for 17 years. Due diligence was never observed in this case. There was only suspicion.

The issue here isn't whether or not that bag gets flushed but why our law enforcement follows a policy that allows it to act in a military capacity and to forcibly enter a citizen's home in a manner that puts everyone at risk for the sake of 'saving society' from $50 worth of crack cocaine. The policy being implemented by police in cities across the United States in its 'war on drugs' effectively says that no matter how much it costs, no matter how much damage it causes, no matter how many are hurt, killed, and/or ruined in the process, these tactics are justified.

There is something terribly wrong with our society if it's become ok to kill innocents and/or non-violent offenders with impunity in order to protect us from ourselves - i.e.: getting drugs off the streets of America.

Sure, let's get drugs off the streets but let's do it in a manner that doesn't violate our civil rights or puts us in the grave when all we're doing is enjoying a quiet night at home watching Deal or No Deal.

The 'war on drugs' is No Deal to the American people. Its harm far outweighs its benefits. This fact has been documented and discussed by people far more knowledgeable than you or I but the politics of it sounds good and it keeps getting people elected. It also keeps putting non-violent offenders into over-flowing prisons, breaking apart families and communities, and putting bystanders in the grave.

I'm with Boortz on this; "We legalize the drugs. We eliminate most of the law enforcement problem. We don't have to listen to "drug deal gone wrong" stories on the radio in the morning. We then use just a fraction of the money we're using to enforce our drug laws on treatment programs. The result? Fewer murders and more people off drugs."

Here's some perspective on the subject -

http://www.yesmagazine.org/article.asp?ID=363

http://www.nationalreview.com/12feb96/drug.html


From: KrokTalk
Date: 11/30/06 02:49:50 AM
To: me
Subject: RE: No-knock warrants

Justification? So, should the police have taken the rounds and not fired back?

THAT’s why they fired, not for crack.


Thanks!
KROK

This is my reply to him today. He doesn't check his email until after his show so I'll have to update this tomorrow if he answers.

Chris, either you didn't read past the 1st sentence or you have a mind like a steel trap. Ms. Johnston was put in the position of having to defend herself and her home because her door was knocked down.

To put it another way -

"We are using Gestapo tactics to make midnight, surprise raids, kitted out in full military regalia, to serve warrants on suspects of non-violent offenses. In the course of doing so, they are killing citizens whose only offense is, when woken up suddenly at night by men breaking into their homes, having the temerity to defend themselves. This is simply outrageous, and if it doesn't shock your conscience, then you are a moral cripple."

The no-knock method of serving a search warrant is contadictory to our rights under the Constitution.

I have two 17 year-olds who have a better understanding than you do of the fact that the Constitution is meant to protect our rights; not grant them when the government sees fit.

Ok, I'm done with this subject. Brick wall and all that.....