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POPSUganda Anti-Gay Seminar
Just in case you didn't get it, this is known as confirming your sources, so that you can speak with some authority. There is very definitely a conservative christian movement within the U.S. that supports punishment, imprisonment and other means of disenfranchisement for LBGT people on an international level as well as domestic. More from the article below: But Dr. Warren Throckmorton, associate professor of Psychology at Grove City College in Pennsylvania, finds it troubling that the American Christian leaders spoke at a conference that supports the criminalization of homosexuality and that none of them had reportedly publicly opposed the law. He noted that the people in charge of the conference called for stricter enforcement of laws against homosexuality. “It is illegal to be homosexual in Uganda. There’s also a category of homosexuality (act) that has a potential for life imprisonment,” said Throckmorton to The Christian Post on Wednesday. “How often it is enforced is not cle
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POPSWhy is Marijuana Illegal? Those who voted on the legal fate of this plant never had the facts, but were dependent on information supplied by those who had a specific agenda to deceive lawmakers. You’ll see below that the very first federal vote to prohibit marijuana was based entirely on a documented lie on the floor of the Senate.
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POPSLatin Americans Ditch US ‘War on Drugs’ Reform campaigners have long argued that criminalization enriched drug cartels, fuelled savage turf wars, corrupted state institutions and filled prisons with addicts who presented no real threat to society. The US used its considerable influence to keep Latin America and the UN wedded to hardline policies which kept the focus on interdictions and jail sentences for consumers as well as dealers. The "war" was first declared by the Nixon administration. It’s about time more countries began viewing drug abuse as the medical problem it is. For some encouragement in support of this new direction look to Portugal who in 2001 decriminalized drug use and possession. Dealers are still jailed and subject to fines but users are sent to rehab and many don’t even use anymore. Drugs in Portugal: Did Decriminalize work? http://www.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,1893946,00.html
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POPSIs It Now a Crime to Be Poor? The City Council in Grand Junction, Colo., has been considering a ban on begging, and at the end of June, Tempe, Ariz., carried out a four-day crackdown on the indigent. How do you know when someone is indigent? As a Las Vegas statute puts it, “An indigent person is a person whom a reasonable ordinary person would believe to be entitled to apply for or receive” public assistance. By far the most reliable way to be criminalized by poverty is to have the wrong-color skin. There’s no minimum age for being sucked into what the Children’s Defense Fund calls “the cradle-to-prison pipeline.” Leonardo Vilchis of the Union de Vecinos, a community organization in Los Angeles, suspects that “poor people have become a source of revenue” for recession-starved cities, and that the police can always find a violation leading to a fine. The safety net, or what’s left of it, has been transformed into a dragnet.
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POPSBarbara Ehrenreich on the criminalization of poverty There are a lot of Kafkaesque stories in this piece, like that of wheelchair-bound 62-year-old homeless veteran Al Szekely, who was imprisoned after a nighttime raid on a homeless shelter. His crime? He had an outstanding court summons for criminal trespassing -- he'd gotten a ticket for sleeping on a sidewalk. In other words, " hey arrested a homeless man in a shelter for being homeless." The truancy discussion strikes me as the most vicious part, though.
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POPSAppeals Court Backs Prison for E-Mail Obscenity Whorley was convicted in 2006 and sentenced to 20 years in prison, in part for possessing genuine child pornography. But the Justice Department — perhaps sensing a chance to smuggle bad law onto the back of an unsympathetic defendant — also charged Whorley for having unsavory manga under the recently-enacted Protect Act, which outlaws obscene cartoons depicting minors engaging in sexually explicit conduct. While this is admittedly an unusually despicable character, the courts should not be able to use censorship as the basis for imprisonment. This is clearly the criminalization of thought, and it sets a dangerous precedence. Another aspect of this is that this legal system slaps the wrist of drunk drivers who have killed someone and then sends another person to prison for 20 years for photos and words. Unbelievable.
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POPSDrugs, elephants and American prisons
Attitudes towards drug use, particularly marijuana, are changing. The main reasons for the shift -- baby boomers, a generation familiar with drug use, are in charge of the country’s institutions; the dismal economy makes people question public expenditures that do not seem essential; and the drug violence in Mexico that has begun spilling across the border. The argument for legalizing marijuana, and eventually other drugs, is straightforward: it would transform a law-and-order problem into a problem of public health. Where it belongs. At the annual “smoke-out” held April 20 in Boulder, Colorado, an estimated crowd of more than 10,000 lit up marijuana joints on the campus of the University of Colorado. The smoke hung over the scene like a grey blanket. Overhead, an aircraft dragged a banner with the words “Hmmm, smells good up here.” Police watched but made no arrests and issued no fines. The author correctly states that the war on drugs is political. It should be ended.
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POPSDrug Decriminalization in Portugal
The political consensus in favor of decriminalization is unsurprising in light of the relevant empirical data. Those data indicate that decriminalization has had no adverse effect on drug usage rates in Portugal, which, in numerous categories, are now among the lowest in the EU, particularly when compared with states with stringent criminalization regimes. Although postdecriminalization usage rates have remained roughly the same or even decreased slightly when compared with other EU states, drug-related pathologies — such as sexually transmitted diseases and deaths due to drug usage — have decreased dramatically. Drug policy experts attribute those positive trends to the enhanced ability of the Portuguese government to offer treatment programs to its citizens — enhancements made possible, for numerous reasons, by decriminalization... The data show that, judged by virtually every metric, the Portuguese decriminalization framework has been a resounding success. Within this succ
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POPSLegislation to Establish Internment Camps on Military Bases A bill entitled the National Emergency Centers Establishment Act (HR 645) was introduced in the US Congress in January. It calls for the establishment of six national emergency centers in major regions in the US to be located on existing military installations. http://www.govtrack.us/congress/billtext.xpd?bill=h111-645
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POPSMonsanto's Dream Bill -- HR 875 Whole article very interesting if you care about NATURAL food and what Monsanto plans for our future. And how much damage they have caused in the past!!!
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POPSLegalizing Marijuana the political obstacle, and the resulting funding of terrorist, narco-terrorits, drug cartels, gangs, police corruption, etc.
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POPSA solemn walk through HR 875 The Pennsylvania Sustainable Agriculture Association, PASA, sent out information about HR 875 which lists 'facts' to counter 'myths' and 'rumors' on the internet. It gives no specifics to back up its 'facts,' so the following close up view of the bill and accompanying commentary offers readers a chance to decide for themselves what is myth and what is fact. Neither of us are lawyers, but are both farm activists. Sue Diederich heads the Illinois Independent Consumers and Farmers Association, an organization formed to protect the rights of farmers and consumers to deal directly with each other without government interference.
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POPSMonsanto To Criminalize Organic Farming ? To begin reversing GM contamination will require ending the power biotech companies such as Monsanto exert over our government and through that, over our food. HR 875, was introduced by Rosa DeLauro whose husband Stanley Greenburg works for Monsanto. The bill is monstrous on level after level - the power it would give to Monsanto, the criminalization of seed banking, the prison terms and confiscatory fines for farmers, the 24 hours GPS tracking of their animals, the easements on their property to allow for warrantless government entry, the stripping away of their property rights, the imposition by the filthy, greedy industrial side of anti-farming international “industrial” standards to independent farms - the only part of our food system that still works, the planned elimination of farmers through all these means.
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POPS Preparing For CAIR Protest In 3, 2, 1… Mr. Wilders will discuss his efforts to show Fitna and to rally support for free speech and the right to criticize Islam. Frank Gaffney, President of the Center for Security Policy, will discuss the dangers to America’s national security and civil liberties imposed by global oppression of free speech. (Hat tip: Diana West)
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POPSPhelps and Obama Leading The Way To Legalizing Marijuana Well folks, I've tired it and I didn't like it, so that probably makes me unpopular among the pot smoking crowd. For many years I didn't drink any alcohol either, so this clip isn't personal at all. I guess I realize the need for many to tune out with something whether it be sex, television, food, alcohol or weed. I think we are losing the war on drugs although I don't think that particular war has been mentioned for the past 8 years.
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POPSChurch/State Mythology From the article: Christians in America are often told that they are being persecuted, so claims like this fall on already very fertile ground. Despite having their hands on nearly every lever of power throughout American society, many Christians sincerely believe that they and their religion are under siege and suffering from persecution. They certainly don't want to experience even more hardship, so they are responsive to whatever suggestions their leaders offer to stave off the criminalization of their religion. Unfortunately, these Christians are simply being deceived. There is no logical, necessary, or legal connection between preventing the government from promoting certain religious beliefs and preventing individual citizens from expressing those same religious beliefs on their own.
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POPSJust Say Know to Drugs... This is a great blog from a great alt-news source (Drug War Rant). By detailing the history of US prohibition of marijuana, this rant gives valuable perspective to how we ended up where we are. Whether you have a positive, negative, or moderate view of recreational drug use, follow this link and learn something! If you don't believe the "facts" from this blog I encourage you to do some independent research and prove it wrong. Please POST ALL FINDINGS TO THIS CLIP so that we may finally open a healthy dialogue about the pro's and con's of America's cannabis prohibition.
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POPSEnd the Sleeping Ban - open letter to council We are moving to bring a lawsuit against the City of Santa Cruz to end the Sleeping Ban. The Human Rights Organization along with HUFF(Homeless United for Friendship and Freedom) and volunteers have been collecting data on tickets and destruction of property and gathering plaintiffs.
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POPSBathrobesPierre's Broadsides live Interview with Canadian Homeless Activist
This Sunday 9:00am to 1:30 am Dec 9th. Listen at www.freakradio.org The indomitable and irascible Robert Norse hosts in studio guests, on-the-street interviews with the houseless, and listener call in's at (831) 427-FRSC or 427-3772. Broadcast Schedule Thursdays from 6-8 p.m. and Sundays from 9:30 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. at freakradio.org. Free Radio Santa Cruz is also reportedly picked up by pirate broadcasters and relayed at 101.1 FM. Listen to previous Bathrobespierre's Broadsides, now archived online! Visit http://sleepinghumanrights.blogspot.com/ to learn about the trials and tribulations going on in Canada now. Ancient Clown - "It's not about me...As the Fight for Humanity continues with abuse, lies and cover-ups, while people look the other way...giving their power to the abuser's...I shall STAND against it." A video on a homeless encampment with police interaction in Canada can be watched here - http://www.loveandfearlessness.com/tc_vid_7.html
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POPSEnd the Santa Cruz Sleeping Ban - open letter to council laws the criminalize poverty go against the very ideas this nation was founded upon. Remember, Poverty was illegal from the Country we fled. Remember debtors prison from 4th grade history? Please help us and call our City Council or e-mail them. If you call ask for the voice mail box for the entire City council. Visit Indybay.org or humanityforhomeless.blogspot.com to watch the first public debate regarding this issue. 831-420-5020
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