Nicholas Kristoff's NY Times opinion

Nicholas Kristoff's Sunday opinion column in the N. Y. Times on the legalization of drugs is a pertinent theme and one that I have worked and written on fairly extensively. The Cato Institute recently published a paper written by Glenn Greenwald on the 10 years since decriminalization for all drugs became law in Portugal. I disagree with a few conclusions but as someone who at the time lived in Portugal , was an active participant in the town hall like discussions that went on in the country as well as someone who helped draft some of the new ways to go about implementing the new policies I find these discussions very pertinent. Here is my comment on his article:

Mr.Glenn Greenwald of the CATO Institute recently published a paper on the decriminalization of all drugs in Portugal and the effects and consequences it has had since its implementation at the beginning of this decade. having been a part of that “social experiment” as a social worker I read the report and found it generally accurate with a few misleading conclusions. Decriminalization was indeed implemented after the recommendations of a panel set up by the government at the time. To its lasting credit, the government actually followed through on its commitment to implement the suggestions put forth. It has been 10 years and Portugal has not become a drug paradise nor have the rates of consumption changed. There is much more money available for prevention and treatment and that has had a measurable effect on the reduction of HIV and Hepatitis C transmission. This country’s drug laws are racist, affect predominantly the poor and have contributed to the fact that in the shadow of this nation’s capital the transmission rate of HIV is on par with some countries in West Africa. 4% of young African American males are infected with HIV. The effect that massive incarceration has and will continue to have on this nation’s poorer classes is devastating. The results of the War on Drugs are there for all to see. It has become our Gulag and will go down in history as a period of collective madness. When will it stop?

yet again

blogging again. Hudson Valley still
news?
no job
graduate school
lots of ideas
new blog on addiction to carbs
promise to reset this and update it on whatever suits my fancy
new fetishes:
old fetish about loosing weight
greening the ghetto
religion
new things:
new art works from Sal
lots of great ideas
lots of writing
lack of work
same old
house
city
good old
husband
daughter family
need new
friends
job

2008

My new streets of gold!!


Tokio Hotel in Denver

The Rockies

a tally for the year

Gone the soaring heights of the Rockies!
Hudson Valley is now my home!

Obama rocked!!
But how many people bothered to read "Dreams of my father" I wonder. It is an honest well written self serving autobiography where one clearly gets the picture that Obama is for himself... And as the Talmud says "If I'm not for me , then who will?" Truth of the matter, it seems to me, is that he never really did accomplish much besides advance his career. Ah! A true politician!
Maybe he will become the first Master of the Universe!!

But Obama was not the sole star in the political horizon! Remember Sarah Palin? Will she have the nerve to come down from the eternal frozen tundra and get to have everywoman's drream come true again? Go on a free shopping spree?
What does it take and who do I sell my soul to?

What else?
Mr. Madoff who as has been said did something that the white supremicist nuts in their wildest fantasies could never dream of! I think that excommunication is too outdated for XXIst Century America! Spinoza was enough! Not that they could ever be compared. One is in heaven and the other will go to the 9th circle of hell. If there is an Olam HaEmet

Chef Zorba's I miss you!! You were my family, my friends and I will always cherish the opportunity that you gave me. Shelley, an angel, Jimmy, Dino even Pete to name the owners. My co-workers, I paint in golden shades of memory. Denver to me was Zorba's and all the wonderful people I met there. And my spanakopita, a Chef Zorba's recipe, is considered the best around these parts. I will visit again, will eat great food surrounded by great friends and, beautiful scenery and knowing in my heart that I am a little bit family.

And my beautiful friend who on that memorable trip introduced me to the incomparable Eva Cassidy, a spirit with a voice of an angel.

My visit to Portugal and the healing of old wounds, where my friend aid, I hear your voice in my house and life is a little more complete.

Above is a picture my daughter took of Tokio Hotel when I we saw them in Denver! Four hours in a line!!

A freewheeling time and other books

I intend to read three books which I hope to comment on while I'm reading them. They are:
Barak Obama's The Audacity of Hope
Suzie Rotolo's A Freewheeling Time
and David Levering Lewis' God's Crucible Islam and the Making of Europe 570-1215;

our bodies our brains

Dara Torres at 41 going for more gold at the Beijing Olympics!

On another note, of course I had fun at the Sex and the City movie! Better than the blood and guts crap pushed on 14 year old boys. So what if the shoes are ridiculously uncomfortable and expensive and the clothes are totally irrealistic and carrie is the silliest of them all. All in all, it was fun and I plan to watch it again.

Is Google Making Us Stupid? asks the monthly magazine The Atlantic. I have been saying for a very long time that nothing good will come out of Google. And yes, I fit the profile described in the article perfectly.

RIP

Geoge Carlin at his best:

Well, if crime fighters fight crime and fire fighters fight fire, what do freedom fighters fight? They never mention that part to us, do they?

hell is other people

"Hell is other people" So said Mr. Sartre and with age comes the comprehension. I have overloaded on what was supposed to be the alpine valleys of this state but turned into the mean streets of this town.
I have exhausted my patience with the work, the stress, the racism, sexism and anti-antisemitism by which I am surrounded. I am accused of having killed Christ, of being a traitor, slow witted and weird. I am sexually harassed every single day, stabbed in the back and yet I try to hold on to two more months. It will be over one of these days!!!

e-mail bankrupcy

I confess that I have had times of "e-mail bankruptcy". I also confess that they occur more and more often. I have grown rather tired of the same jokes, messages of hope, cutsy power point presentations and a plethora of other cargo that people send my way.