Bill Hicks on the The 'War' on Drugs

God I love me some Bill Hicks.

"I got nothing against drugs. I got NOTHING against drugs, I think it's a personal choice, just like alcohol, just like cigarettes. As long as that personal choice doesn't infringe upon the freedoms of another person's personal choice. Really, that's the end of the story. That's called logic, it'll help you. George Bush says "We are losing the war against drugs." You know what that implies? There's a war being fought, and the people on drugs are winning it. Well what does that tell you about drugs? Some smart, creative motherfuckers on that side...

...the war on drugs is fucking hypocrisy, it's a lie, that's why it's not going to work. Alcohol and cigarettes kills more people than crack, coke and heroin COMBINED. So the war on drugs is kind of a cocksuck, isn't it?

...you never see a positive drug story on the news... I've had some killer times on drugs. I'm not promoting it, but I'm not denying it either. Always that same LSD story, you’ve all seen it. ‘Young man on acid, thought he could fly, jumped out of a building. What a tragedy.’ What a dick! Fuck him, he’s an idiot. If he thought he could fly, why didn’t he take off on the ground first? Check it out. You don’t see ducks lined up to catch elevators to fly south—they fly from the ground, ya moron, quit ruining it for everybody. He’s a moron, he’s dead—good, we lost a moron, fuckin’ celebrate. Wow, I just felt the world get lighter. We lost a moron! I don’t mean to sound cold, or cruel, or vicious, but I am, so that’s the way it comes out. Professional help is being sought. How about a positive LSD story? Wouldn’t that be news-worthy, just the once? To base your decision on information rather than scare tactics and superstition and lies? I think it would be news-worthy. ‘Today, a young man on acid realized that all matter is merely energy condensed to a slow vibration. That we are all one consciousness experiencing itself subjectively. There is no such thing as death, life is only a dream and we’re the imagination of ourselves’ . . . ‘Here’s Tom with the weather."

Seen before - heck I own the DVD, but today's reminder brought to you by Dosenation - Video: Bill Hicks - The 'War' on Drugs

True, essentially.

Overheard Everywhere | But, Like, Why Do They Always Salivate When I Ring This Bell?:

"Professor: How do you feel about presenting?
Student: Nervous. I don't like talking in front of people.
Professor: These aren't people, these are students!
Students: (silence)
Professor: That's not a nice thing to say. You can't believe I just said that, can you?

UMass
Amherst, Massachusetts

Overheard by: CR"

A lesser of two incompetencies.

Hit & Run > To Dream the Impossible Dream - Reason Magazine:

"...it seems instead I'll be forced to choose between Republicans who act as though military spending isn't real, Democrats who act as though social services spending isn't real, and George W. Bush, who managed on this issue to be a uniter, not a divider, by pretending that all spending wasn't real."

It's only the ones you were really hoping would make a difference that can profoundly let you down.

Obama Reverses Promise to Release Detainee Torture Photos - Boing Boing:

"President Obama announced today that he will move to block the release of photos documenting American military personnel torturing detainees in Iraq and Afghanistan, saying the images could 'further inflame anti-American opinion.'

What BS. You know what will help dampen those flames? An end to war crimes impunity, and the dawn of that true transparency he promised America during his presidential campaign. Instead, we're dealt yet another civil liberties disappointment.

...Obama isn't just "Bush Lite" with regard to these issues, he's continuing the exact same policies of the Bush administration and in some matters, expanding those powers further. Nothing "lite" about that. "

You'd think, at the very least.

Hit & Run > Fifth Circuit: No SWAT Teams for Regulatory Searches - Reason Magazine:

"It's a 'Well gee, you'd hope so' sort of victory, but the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit has ruled that using a SWAT team to conduct an administrative or regulatory search is a violation of the Fourth Amendment.

The case stems from what was clearly a drug raid conducted on a bar in Louisiana by the Rapides Parrish Sheriff's Department. But the raid was conducted under the auspices of an alcohol inspection, which allowed the department to get around the need for a criminal search warrant.

...The Fifth Circuit ruled such a raid violates the Fourth Amendment, and is allowing a civil rights suit against the officers involved to go forward."

"Just Because You're Paranoid Doesn't Mean They're Not Out to Get You."*

* Don't know where that quote comes from. That and "If you're not paranoid, you aren't paying attention." Not true, as far as it goes, but funny. Because it feels true, sometimes. Plus, you know, Bruce Campbell rocks.

I don't think that's right...

Overheard in New York | Wednesday Will Go Nazarene on Your One-Liners:

"Guy on cell: In my class, we were talking about how Jesus was a Viking warrior.

--Queens College"

Indeed.

The Agitator » Blog Archive » Morning Links:

"The answer to the GOP’s woes is . . . Gary Sinise? Look gang, your problem is that you’ve defined yourselves as the party of war, torture, hating gay people, opposing stem cell research, and little else, and you’ve done nothing to distinguish yourselves from the Democrats on spending and the growth of government. Personality isn’t going to get you out of this one. You’ll need some actual ideas. And those are going to be hard to come by if you keep shunning people who actually enjoy learning."

Your tax dollars at work.

Via Warren Ellis » From Matt Jones’ Phone

Harsh.

Overheard in New York | Did You Get Here on the SocioPATH Train?:

"Teen girl: Anna told me you liked me?
Teen guy: Yeah.
Teen girl: Why didn't you tell me or ask me out?
Teen guy: Well, I was afraid you would say no.
Teen girl: Why don't you ask me now and see what I say?
Teen guy: Do you want to go out sometime?
Teen girl: Sorry, no.

--Starbucks

Overheard by: Hugh"

Why "The Wire" was brilliant - "Only one choice, however, offers the slightest chance for dignity. And dignity matters." - David Simon.

David Simon - "Camus rightly argues that to commit to a just cause against overwhelming odds is absurd. He further argues that not to commit is equally absurd. Only one choice, however, offers the slightest chance for dignity. And dignity matters."

Salon.com Arts & Entertainment | David Simon on cutting "The Wire":

"I'm not effecting change in the slightest. On the other hand, I feel as if I've been able to, in my journalism, in storytelling, in television, and in the way I conduct my life, I've been able to speak openly and aggressively about anything that mattered to me.

...No one really gets out unscathed this season... Do you think it's possible to work within any of these institutions and remain honorable?

Bunk, Prez, are OK, maybe. Bubbles, of course, though he is an outsider, struggling only with his own addictions. Sydnor will be fine for a minute or two more, maybe. But no, that's the point of this postindustrial American tragedy. Whatever institution you as an individual commit to will somehow find a way to betray you on "The Wire." Unless of course you're willing to play the game without regard to the effect on others or society as a whole, in which case you might be a judge or the state police superintendent or governor one day. Or, for your loyalty, you still might be cannon fodder -- like Bodie. No guarantees. But only one choice, as Camus pointed out, offers any hope of dignity."

The Wire - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia:

"Simon has said that despite its presentation as a crime drama, the show is 'really about the American city, and about how we live together. It's about how institutions have an effect on individuals, and how 'whether you're a cop, a longshoreman, a drug dealer, a politician, a judge [or] lawyer, you are ultimately compromised and must contend with whatever institution you've committed to.'

...Institutional dysfunction

Simon has identified the organizations featured in the show—the Baltimore Police Department, City Hall, the Baltimore Public School System, the Barksdale drug trafficking operation, The Baltimore Sun and the stevedores' union—as comparable institutions. All are dysfunctional in some way, and the characters are typically betrayed by the institutions that they accept in their lives. ...A central theme developed throughout the show is the struggle between individual desires and subordination to the group's goals.

...Social commentary

Simon described the second season as a meditation on the death of work and the betrayal of the American working class.…[I]t is a deliberate argument that unencumbered capitalism is not a substitute for social policy; that on its own, without a social compact , raw capitalism is destined to serve the few at the expense of the many."

He added that season 3 "reflects on the nature of reform and reformers, and whether there is any possibility that political processes, long calcified, can mitigate against the forces currently arrayed against individuals." The third season is also an allegory that draws explicit parallels between the War in Iraq and the national drug prohibition, which in Simon's view has failed in its aims and become a war against America's underclass. This is portrayed by Major Colvin, imparting to Carver his view that policing has been allowed to become a war and thus will never succeed in its aims."

Board of Education Start of the Year Enkai...

The more things change, more things stay the same...

Fancy labels...

From 2009-05-09

From 2009-05-09

Shark fin soup is actually pretty delicious. This one was anyways.

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Last year my supervisor was responsible for enkai planning/setup, but this year he's free to indulge.

From 2009-05-09

Old BOE boss retiring this year.

From 2009-05-09

Aotani-san also changing departments.

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Which means this is probably the last enkai I have to fend off this...

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Good spread. Should have ate more.

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Mmmm... drinking.

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From 2009-05-09

From 2009-05-09

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Farewell speeches...

From 2009-05-09

...and the new boss.

From 2009-05-09

The night gets a big thumbs up...

From 2009-05-09

[Screwing with the camera on the way home... I'm all artistic-like.]

From 2009-05-09

Watched 4/27-5/10.

Real Time w/Bill Maher - I go back and forth on Maher, I think he's spot-on at times, but the last episode I caught he was making glib jokes about torture to a guest that had actually suffered torture and later went off on a pointless gun control rant. Didn't dig it at all. Gonna be off my watchlist for a while I think.

GI Joe Resolute - updated cartoon w writing by Warren Ellis. A PG-13 version of the childhood classic. Pretty good.

Sit Down Shut Up - with such a great voice cast, there's a lot of suck here. Bounced.

House - a couple standard House eps... but the writing and the characters kick all sorts of ass - "If I get drunk enough there's a chance I might make out with one of the strippers. Or become one." - "Have you seen Caligula?" - "I need you to kidnap me."

Robot Chicken Season 3 DVDs. Brilliant.

Parks and Recreation - showing more potential. I almost wrote off this ep till the end and Ron's quote - "I did it because I hate bureaucracy. My idea of a perfect government is one guy who sits in a small room, at a desk, and the only thing he's allowed to decide is who to nuke. The man is chosen based on some kind of IQ test. And maybe some kind some kind of physical tournament. Like a decathlon. And women are brought to him. Maybe. When he desires them." Hilarious.

Office - It's funny, this is a few weeks late... but I kinda hated Idris Elba on the Office, but now, having watched The Wire, the juxtaposition is pretty fucking brilliant.

Dollhouse - holy jesus, Alan Tudyk was insanely good guesting in this episode. Part one of two...

The Wire, seasons 1-5 - holy fuck is this good TV. Some of the best I've watched in a long time. Favorite season was probably season 3. Least, probably the last season, even though it was still pretty genius. Best character - Omar... and maybe Brother Mouzone, though the latter was only there a real little bit. Most annoying - McNulty. Heart of the series - Bunk... maybe Lester. Naw, had to be Bubbles.

"How can ya'll do what ya'll do every day and not wanna get high?" - "I don't wanna go to no dance unless I can rub some tit." - "You know why I respect you so much Bunk? ... it's not cause you're good police. ..it's because when it came time for you to fuck me, you were so damn gentle - Damn right. I knew it was your first time. I wanted to make that shit special."

Also 30 Rock, Krod Mandoon and the Flaming Sword of Fire, The Ultimate Fighter, Lie to Me, Reaper, Breaking Bad, The Daily Show, The Colbert Report and The Mentalist.