Candy? Not Quite.

If you were ever disgusted with this world, you will be even more so once you read this. This is for information and to serve as a warning.

The war against drugs has taken a new twist. The current high-profile drug of choice these days is crystal meth. It is cheap to make and is actually available in high quantities throughout the US. Utah seems to be a hotspot for crystal meth labs becuase it is made from various household chemicals, none of which are illegal to obtain.

In a new post from Snopes.com, apparently this drug of choice has taken on a new flavor, literally. Meth is now evolving to be more desirable by kids because it looks, smells, and tastes just like candy. They have even concocted a couple of variations. Not only as a candy, but as a powder to add to make an “energy” drink. It comes in strawberry, chocolate, peanut butter, and a couple of others. Click here for more info.

How aweful our society is becoming. Drugs used for medicinal purposes in limited quantities and limited time frames (basically as prescribed by a doctor) make a lot of sense. They are beneficial. Drug use outside of normal parameters or for recreational use is not beneficial to anyone.

This is such a emotionally charged arguement. It is sad that people would use a toxic, chemical substance to “escape” the daily pressures of the world around them. You never really escape these pressures, all you do is avoid them. They become bigger and now, you have less money because you used them on drugs and you are in poorer health because you used the drugs.

For those of you that claim “it is an illness”, its not. Justify it anyway you want. You are responsible for you. Common cold, that’s an illness. Cancer, that’s an illness. Addiction to pain killers, recreational drugs, alcohol or any other intoxicating substance. That’s an addiction that you created. Get over it. Don’t blame someone else. You have free will. You can make a choice to use or to not use. Even in pain, you have a choice.

When you get to a point where you are addicted, getting off the substance may be difficult but its not impossible. It will be painful as your body adjusts and goes through withdrawls, but you still have a choice. You have to learn to live with the pain. It is, however, temporary. That’s the good part.

Anyway, its sad that people would attack kids with these things. Its all for the love of money. Drug dealers don’t care about the well-being of their customers because if one dies, another 4 will take their place. Its all about money and they don’t care how they get it.

VA Tech

As of late, it seems that a lot of people are taking their frustrations out by turning their school or work into a shooting gallery. Yesterday, one of the bloodiest killings happened at Virginia Tech. The gunman, 23 year old South Korean male living in the US since 1992, shot up one dormotory and than moved to another one 1/2 mile away.

None of this really is news to anyone that has been paying attention. It is sad that this has happened. This post is not necessarily about the tragedy at the campus but about the aftermath. Once the killing is over and the dead are calculated, the fingers begin to point. How did this happen? Who’s responsible? Why very little warning?

One of the first claims made by anyone is “We need stricter gun control laws.” This is totally crap. We have gun control laws, we just don’t enforce them. Even if you add new gun laws and new restrictions, how is that going to help? You will make it harder for law abiding citizens to have guns. Criminals aren’t going to say “Hey, now that they have made Uzi’s illegal, we should go turn ours in.” Every time you make stricter laws or make it harder for law-abiding citizens to get guns to protect themselves, they cheer and pat each other on the back. They know that they are less likely to be shot while stealing, raping, and all the other fun stuff they do.

The next thing that you will hear is “We had no warning”, “Why weren’t we told what was going on?” and all that other fun stuff. Here’s the thing. First of all, this is the first time I’ve ever heard of a shooter shooting up an area, moving 1/2 mile away and shooting more. Usually, they confine themselves to one area. Who would have thought that the shooter would move? So the 2nd location, what warning could they have given? There’s been a shooting on the other side of campus, keep your heads down?

People were told to stay in their rooms, lock their door, and stay away from windows. I’m guessing that the people stating this had to warn a lot of people so to give a lot of details would have taken too much time. I can see the story, “7 additional people killed because the person warning them stopped to chat about what was going on with the 1st resident.” If someone comes around and says, “Keep your head down”, guess what? Keep your head down and get details later.

In some areas, warnings would be easier. A building with an intercom system would definately be easier. A college campus?

I knew shortly after the 1st shooting. Someone knew because it was on the internet. Not a lot of details other than “There’s been a shooting at VA Tech. Details to follow.” and I’m almost on the other side of the country.

Anyway, just my two cents. Its not like the shooter is going to send out a broadcast e-mail so everyone has a warning. Its not like this happens on a daily basis. It is unfortunate what has happened but let’s blame who’s responsible. Not the police. Not the campus security. Not the federal, state, or local governments. The shooter. The shooter is responsible for the killings. Not even the gun, but the shooter.

Iraq vs. history

This is a reproduction of an e-mail I sent to a friend. It is in response to an article forwarded to me from a “conservative” who disagrees with the pull-out date given by Congress. While there are other responses to some of the claims made by the writer, I did not address those. This piece stands on its own and, hopefully, will put things in perspective with regard to history:
This Iraq War has definitely caused some consternation between Americans. What thid report doesn’t address is the fact that the war in Iraq isn’t against “terrorists” but is against politically different parties. This isn’t a war against terrorists anymore. This is a war against opposing factions in Iraq, each of which wants power to run the country. We have that same type of battle but the deviding lines aren’t as violent but they could be. Imagine if China came to America to kick the Republicans out of office and put in a more “China-friendly” Democratic government. Wouldn’t the Republicans be fighting just as ferrociously as the factions in Iraq are? What would China call the Republicans? Probably terrorists because they are fighting against them (the Chinese) and they are not “China-friendly”.

This is exactly what is happening in Iraq. The problem with both parties is that each is adept at lying. Republicans tell us one thing, Democrats tell us another and in each, there is a bit of truth. Its like trying to find out between your two kids who broke the lamp. When you piece both sides of the story together, you are able to determine who did what and you find out that both are somewhat in the wrong because they both lied.

Having a pull-out date is not a bad thing. We shouldn’t leave “before the job is done” but what is the true job? Originally, it was to find weapons of mass destruction and to depose Saddam Heussein and his regime. Saddam is dead and the entire country has been searched and we have found no weapons of mass destruction. Go figure.

The job (the original job) is done. Iraq needs to rebuild and they can’t do that while we are there. The “terrorists” that we are fighting were not terrorists before, although their tactics may have been considered terroristic (not sure if that is a word.) Not much difference in opinion from their tactic versus the tactic of the Colonists to gain independence from England. I’m sure that England called us their version of terrorists in the late 1700’s. They are receiving help from countries and organizations that we consider enemies or terrorists. That is their only source of help so they will get what they can.

Going back into history, we (or I should say the American Colonists) received help from France against England. At that time, France was England’s enemy and is the same as these subservient factions receiving help from Iran. In the 40’s and 50’s, VietNam was under French rule and asked the US for help. We denied them help because “France is our friend.” They turned to communist China. France started to take a beating and asked for our help because we “can’t let communism grow.” We all know what happened there.

Looking at the history, it is entirely possible that VietNam would have been democractic. We made the wrong choice. Instead of “buying” VietNam from France, (which would have been cheaper than what we actually did), we fought a terrible war. Were the Viet Cong the enemy? They were treated brutally by the French but you don’t hear that because “France is our friend.” They wanted to be free. They turned to the only help they could find.

The same thing is going on in Iraq. Tactics may have changed but the message is still the same. All people want to be free. They want to govern themselves. Some groups do want to have a different type of government. Some can be democratic while others cannot and they know it. They don’t want to be told to live a certain way and they are willing to die for their way of life just as we are willing to die for our way of life.

This was longer than I originally intended but we conveniently forget history. It is true when they say that those who don’t study history are doomed to repeat it. Ask any normal American about the history behind any of the above items and they will be totally clueless. They will know the events but not anything more than that.

I, myself, believe that we have to allow them (the Iraqi people) to make their own decisions. We can’t force our beliefs on them. We should pull out, wait and watch. We are not in any danger for the time being if we do that. They will fight and when all is said and done, we help pick up the pieces after it is all over. That is my suggestion. They are going to fight and as long as we are there it only will delay the inevitable and cause more problems for the US from the rest of the world.