Don Quixokie

In the 2012 election, two states voted to legalize recreational marijuana. Some things are so damn awesome and wonderful, they merit examination. What this means now and in the future is nothing short of incredible. It's the only area of the states rights' argument that I agree with. Though now legal in Colorado and Washington, pot remains illegal under federal law. Whether the Feds will violate the will of the people or allow all states to write their own marijuana laws is the question we wait to see answered. However, in those two states at least, enforcement of the drug war on pot is scaling back. They will test whether or not taxation of pot will indeed be an effective source of state revenue. I can only imagine it will be a better source than state lotteries as you won't need to face odds equivalent to be struck by lightening or eaten by a shark to get some joy. One thing NOT discussed, yet, is the implications for their respective Depts of Corrections. Those s...

[During the Obama administration] There are some things that are just so stupid and ugly that they demand examination. The escalation of the killing and threat of ground war between the Israelis and and the Palestinians in Gaza are a prime example.. Let me make this clear. I'm not a Muslim. But I really don't think that Christ would be copacetic with the actions of the Israelis either. What I am is enough of a historian to be absolutely disgusted. It was the asymmetrical and l-sided nature of the Middle East Conflict that fostered the  use of suicide bombs and terrorist attacks in the first place...a suicide car bomb being one of the few things that could be made on the cheap and nasty that could destroy a tank. Asymmetrical and lop-sided. We can talk all we want about how barbaric and fanatical the Palestinians are. But this is only one side in this conflict armed with tanks, helicopter gunships, and jets. As of this writing (11-19-12 9PM CT), the body count is ab...

Within the catastrophe of Hurricane Sandy there is a golden opportunity, if we choose to make a virtue out of necessity. The utter destruction of century old infrastructure means it must be rebuilt...and CAN be rebuilt with state of the art technology and with the eye toward survivng another Sandy. Sandy has necessitated infrastructure investment far beyond what would have been possible even with a cooperative House and Senate. History is a marvelous teacher. It was the reconstruction of the infrastructures of Japan and Germany after WW 2 which modernized them. Natural disasters destroy infrastructure as thoroughly as war. In the case of the devastation left by Sandy, armies of construction workers and engineers will be at work for years if not decades rebuilding and refitting in New York and New Jersey. What do you call that? God's own stimulus plan. We are also looking a a crash course clinic in getting and delivering aid to populous disaster ravaged areas. The lessons w...