| June 30, 2000 #155 | ||||||||||||||||||||
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Table of Contents
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FEATURE ARTICLE (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||
Just a little food for thought as the 4th approaches.... | ||||||||||||||||||||
Have you ever wondered what happened to the 56 men who signed the
Declaration of Independence? | ||||||||||||||||||||
Five signers were captured by the British as traitors, and tortured
before they died. | ||||||||||||||||||||
Twelve had their homes ransacked and burned. | ||||||||||||||||||||
Two lost their sons serving in the Revolutionary Army; another had two
sons captured. | ||||||||||||||||||||
Nine of the 56 fought and died from wounds or hardships of the
Revolutionary War. | ||||||||||||||||||||
They signed and they pledged their lives, their fortunes, and their
sacred honor. | ||||||||||||||||||||
What kind of men were they? Twenty-four were lawyers and jurists.
Eleven were merchants, nine were farmers and large plantation owners;
men of means, well educated. But they signed the Declaration of
Independence knowing full well that the penalty would be death if they
were captured. | ||||||||||||||||||||
Carter Braxton of Virginia, a wealthy planter and trader, saw his ships
swept from the seas by the British Navy. He sold his home and
properties to pay his debts, and died in rags. | ||||||||||||||||||||
Thomas McKeam was so hounded by the British that he was forced to move
his family almost constantly. He served in the Congress without pay,
and his family was kept in hiding. His possessions were taken from him,
and poverty was his reward. | ||||||||||||||||||||
Vandals or soldiers looted the properties of Dillery, Hall, Clymer,
Walton, Gwinnett, Heyward, Ruttledge, and Middleton. | ||||||||||||||||||||
At the battle of Yorktown, Thomas Nelson Jr, noted that the British
General Cornwallis had taken over the Nelson home for his headquarters.
He quietly urged General George Washington to open fire. The home was
destroyed, and Nelson died bankrupt. | ||||||||||||||||||||
Francis Lewis had his home and properties destroyed. The enemy jailed
his wife, and she died within a few months. | ||||||||||||||||||||
John Hart was driven from his wife's bedside as she was dying. Their 13
children fled for their lives. His fields and his gristmill were laid
to waste. For more than a year he lived in forests and caves, returning
home to find his wife dead and his children vanished. A few weeks later
he died from exhaustion and a broken heart. | ||||||||||||||||||||
Norris and Livingston suffered similar fates. | ||||||||||||||||||||
Such were the stories and sacrifices of the American Revolution. These were not wild-eyed, rabble-rousing ruffians. They were soft-spoken men of means and education. They had security, but they valued liberty more. Standing tall, straight, and unwavering, they pledged: | ||||||||||||||||||||
"For the support of this declaration, with firm reliance on the
protection of the divine providence, we mutually pledge to each other,
our lives, our fortunes, and our sacred honor." | ||||||||||||||||||||
They gave you and me a free and independent America. The history books
never told you a lot about what happened in the Revolutionary War. We
didn't fight just the British. We were British subjects at that time
and we fought our own government! | ||||||||||||||||||||
Some of us take these liberties so much for granted, but we shouldn't.
So, take a few minutes while enjoying your 4th of July holiday and
silently thank these patriots. It's not much to ask for the price they
paid. | ||||||||||||||||||||
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WEEKLY NEWS IN REVIEW (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||
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Domestic News- Policy | ||||||||||||||||||||
COMMENT: (1-2) (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||
A widely circulated Scripps Howard report- that ONDCP was secretly spying on computer users who typed certain "drug-related" words into search engines. As usual, the warriors claimed all should be fair in the drug war, but a sensitized administration disagreed. | ||||||||||||||||||||
Salon didn't get the scoop, but two days later, it had the best
explanation. | ||||||||||||||||||||
(1) WHITE HOUSE DRUG OFFICE TRACKS WEB VISITORS (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||
WASHINGTON - The White House Office of National Drug Control Policy has
taken its anti-drug message to the Internet, and it is secretly
tracking those who find it in the process. | ||||||||||||||||||||
Search for drug terms like "grow pot" on some Internet sites, and an ad
banner that pops up from the drug office may drop a "cookie" program in
your computer that tracks your online activities. | ||||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||||
Maple rejected concerns of civil liberties lawyers. | ||||||||||||||||||||
"I can't see anything wrong with it at all,'' he said, adding that the
Internet is an ideal technology to reach young people with anti-drug
messages. | ||||||||||||||||||||
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(2) WEB: DRUG COOKIES (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||
Why Was The White House Drug Office Monitoring Your Computer Behavior? | ||||||||||||||||||||
The White House drug office can't seem to keep itself out of trouble
these days. In the latest scandal to befall the beleaguered Office of
National Drug Control Policy, whose dubious ties with television
screenwriters have been documented on this site's Web pages, the agency
was forced to admit earlier this week that it allowed an Internet data
mining operation to collect information from visitors to its
youth-oriented anti-drug site FreeVibe. | ||||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||||
The gaffe is embarrassing for the White House for two reasons. First,
two years ago and with great fanfare, President Clinton supported
efforts to pass a law in April 1998 that would protect children from
data mining by commercial Internet companies. The Children's Online
Privacy Protection Act does not apply to government sites, but some
of the very people who helped pass that legislation think it's
hypocritical for the government to use software technology that is
often associated with surreptitious collection of personal data from
Internet users, even if it is only tracking users anonymously.
Maple said the ONDCP was under orders to comply with COPPA, and that
he believes the technology partnership with DoubleClick was not a
violation. | ||||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||||
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COMMENT: (3-4) (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||
Adding to last week's news from Boston and DC, two more regional
articles reported on the epidemic of cheaper, more potent heroin
plaguing American cities. | ||||||||||||||||||||
(3) VIRGINIA BEACH SEES SPIKE IN HEROIN OVERDOSE DEATHS (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||
VIRGINIA BEACH -- An unusual spike in heroin overdose deaths has
police concerned that there may be a powerful supply of the drug on
the streets being ingested by inexperienced users. | ||||||||||||||||||||
Five people have died from heroin overdoses in the past month, a sixth died in March and two others overdosed this year but survived. | ||||||||||||||||||||
Officials are not calling it an epidemic, but investigations have been
stepped up to try to learn why this is happening. | ||||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||||
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(4) HEROIN DEADLIEST DRUG IN CITIES (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||
Report says drug is purer and cheaper today, and it kills more than
cocaine | ||||||||||||||||||||
Heroin -- now cheaper and purer -- has pushed aside cocaine as the
deadliest drug in the Twin Cities, according to a Hazelden Foundation
report released Tuesday. | ||||||||||||||||||||
For the first time, overdoses from heroin and other opiates are
outnumbering cocaine-related deaths in Hennepin County, with a sharp
rise in such deaths visible last year in Ramsey County, as well. The
Hazelden report, compiled twice a year by nationally known research
analyst Carol Falkowski, shows 17 opiate-related deaths in Hennepin
County for the first three months of this year, compared with 27 deaths
in all of 1999. Ramsey County reported 20 opiate-related deaths in
1999, up from 12 the year before. | ||||||||||||||||||||
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COMMENT: (5) (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||
Drug warriors, like reformers, squabble about key issues; Michael
Massing writes lucidly on their differing interpretations of
addiction. What he doesn't provide is an explanation of how either
theory justifies the policy both advocates support. | ||||||||||||||||||||
(5) DEBATE OVER DRUG ADDICTION FOCUSING ON VOLUNTARY BEHAVIOR (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||
Dr. Alan Leshner, the director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse,
a division of the National Institutes of Health, is known for his slide
shows. Two or three times a week he gives a speech -- to treatment
counselors and prevention specialists, physicians and policy-makers --
and almost all feature slides culled from the work of the 1,200
researchers supported by his institute. | ||||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||||
Addiction, Leshner declares, should be approached more like other
chronic illnesses such as diabetes and hypertension. Going further, he
says that drugs so alter the brain that addiction can be compared to
mental disorders such as Alzheimer's disease and schizophrenia. It is,
he says, a ``brain disease.'' | ||||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||||
Others are not convinced. ``I reject the notion that addicts fall under
the spell of drugs and become a zombie and so are not responsible for
anything they do,'' said Dr. Sally L. Satel, a senior associate at the
Ethics and Public Policy Center in Washington and a practicing
psychiatrist at a methadone clinic. | ||||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||||
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COMMENT: (6) (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||
An LAT piece described the "shadow conventions" planned to capitalize
on the predictable blandness of both major parties' dog-and-pony shows
later this summer; drug policy will be one of three major issues
considered. | ||||||||||||||||||||
(6) CONCOCTING SATIRIC COUNTERPOINT TO CONVENTIONS (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||
POLITICS - 'SHADOW' EVENTS CONCURRENT WITH PARTY GATHERINGS WILL MIX | ||||||||||||||||||||
It is becoming a mantra of political punditry: The presidential race is
too dull, the presumptive nominees are too scripted and ordinary
Americans are about as electrified by the upcoming conventions as they
would be by an Elks Club reunion. | ||||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||||
Counter-convention ringleaders say they will goose the American body
politic with a tough agenda--campaign finance reform, the growing gap
between rich and poor, and the unequal prosecution of blacks and
Latinos in the "drug war"--that they believe many Americans care about
but neither party dares to touch. | ||||||||||||||||||||
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COMMENT: (7) (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||
Undeterred by recent criticism on a number of fronts, McCzar ran true to form in demanding a role in the already controversial Olympic arena. | ||||||||||||||||||||
(7) DRUG CZAR WANTS TESTING OF AMERICANS HANDED OVER TO U.S. (Top)ANTI-DOPING AGENCY | ||||||||||||||||||||
ARLINGTON, Va. -- In the wake of allegations that the USOC has been
coddling dopers, the White House's drug policy boss wants the fledgling
U.S. Anti-Doping Agency to immediately take over drug testing of
American athletes bound for the Sydney Games. | ||||||||||||||||||||
But U.S. Olympic Committee officials doubt there is enough time before the flame is lit in September to transfer administration of the program from the Drug Control Administration, a branch of the USOC. | ||||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||||
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Law Enforcement & Prisons | ||||||||||||||||||||
COMMENT: (8-10) (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||
The shocking arrest and incarceration discrepancies among blacks,
Hispanics, and whites revealed by Human Rights Watch were further
explored; the systematic procedural abuses producing them were
outlined in the Humanist; just how a West Texas town used them to
indict ten percent of its tiny black community was described in the
Texas Observer. | ||||||||||||||||||||
The situation in Texas is causing a number of journalists like this prominent Houston columnist, to speak up with increasing vigor. | ||||||||||||||||||||
(8) THE U.S. CRIMINAL INJUSTICE SYSTEM (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||
I'm sure I wasn't alone in losing sleep over Frontline's ``The Case for
Innocence,'' which aired nationwide on PBS during February and March
2000. Although excellent, this documentary barely scratched the | ||||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||||
...we must not forget that the authority of the government lawyer does | ||||||||||||||||||||
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(9) COLOR OF JUSTICE (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||
"Where the drug addicts at? Where the big houses at? Where the gold
teeth?" - Donnie Smith | ||||||||||||||||||||
"I got debts no honest man can pay." - Bruce Springsteen | ||||||||||||||||||||
When you think about crack cocaine, you think of burglaries, pawned televisions, and gang violence You don't ordinarily think of shoveling shit But that's what the drug life meant to Donnie Smith, who was, until an extraordinary and controversial drug sting last summer, part of the crack problem in the tiny Panhandle town of Tulia. | ||||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||||
Swisher County attacked its crack problem with the sort of campaign that has become commonplace since Ronald Reagan declared war on drugs almost two decades ago. Using funds from a regional drug task force, the local sheriff hired an undercover agent,...Early on the morning of July 23, the arrests finally came. By the end of the week, it was evident that the forty-one suspects targeted by the sting had something in common. Thirty-five of the arrestees came from Tulia's tiny black community, which numbers no more than 350. Ten percent of the town's black population had been taken down by one undercover agent. | ||||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||||
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(10) COLUMN: JUSTICE FOR ALL STILL DRIVES SOME (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||
A defense lawyer who is a former Harris County assistant district
attorney said he changed sides because of a quip he heard one day at
work. | ||||||||||||||||||||
One of the other prosecutors commented that convicting the guilty
people is easy; the real challenge is in convicting someone who is
innocent. | ||||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||||
The lawyer claims to have known "many, many" wealthy people --
including some fellow attorneys -- who use cocaine in their homes. But
such folks rarely become drug war prisoners. | ||||||||||||||||||||
Money buys a different set of circumstances in the system. People who
have it can make bond and be free while waiting for a trial. They can
hire topnotch lawyers and make it so difficult to win convictions that
prosecutors are reluctant to pursue them. | ||||||||||||||||||||
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COMMENT: (11-12) (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||
Other motives- beyond mere prosecutorial zeal- stoking our incarceration bonanza were described in articles originating far afield from Texas; the situation in New York is exacerbated by Rockefeller Laws which all agree are too harsh, but the Assembly refuses to modify. In California, it's the infamous Three Strikes. | ||||||||||||||||||||
(11) PRO-PRISON, ANTI-REHAB IF YOUR JOB DEPENDS ON IT, (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||
Throwing Non-violent Drug Users In Jail Makes Sense | ||||||||||||||||||||
THROUGHOUT the past 20 years, the California Correctional Peace
Officers Association -- the state's prison guard union -- has achieved
an unparalleled ability to dictate policy in its self-interest: the
continued expansion of California's prison system. | ||||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||||
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(12) A VILLAGE KEPT AFLOAT BY CONVICTS (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||
COMULUS, N.Y. -- From his front porch, Ray Zajac can hear the inmates' voices rising through the double set of glistening razor-wire fences across Main Street. The late afternoon chanting of men exercising in the drug treatment center is money to his ears. "The city is subsidizing us by producing these criminals," said Mr. Zajac, meaning New York City. "It's not a nice thing to say, but it's true." | ||||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||||
But if the world changes again and there is a move to reduce the
nation's world-beating incarceration rate, it will cause economic
upheaval for places like Romulus. Not that anyone is expecting, as Mr.
Zajac said, "all the criminals to find the Lord" or for all the
politicians to go soft. | ||||||||||||||||||||
"I think it's less likely that will happen," Mr. Zajac said, "than the
Berlin Wall coming down." | ||||||||||||||||||||
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COMMENT: (13-14) (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||
Two Missouri items remained in the news: In Kansas City, the cops finally caved in on forfeiture after the second KC Star series; in St. Louis, slow official response to calls for information on the June 12 killing of two unarmed black men continued to draw criticism. | ||||||||||||||||||||
(13) FINALLY, POLICE HERE DECIDE TO FOLLOW DRUG-MONEY LAW (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||
It took far too long, but the Kansas City Board of Police Commissioners
finally has come down on the right side in the issue over drug-seizure
money. The board has ordered the Police Department to obey the Missouri
law that directs law-enforcement agencies to turn over most money and
property seized in drug cases to education. | ||||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||||
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(14) PROSECUTOR WANTS TO FIND WITNESSES IN SHOOTING BY POLICE (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||
At least four private vehicles were moving on the parking lot of a fast-food restaurant in Berkeley when police killed two unarmed men there June 12, surveillance tapes show. Investigators hope to find the occupants to learn more about the controversial shooting. | ||||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||||
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Cannabis | ||||||||||||||||||||
COMMENT: (15) (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||
Peter McWilliams' avoidable death was properly seen as martyrdom at
the hands of the federal government by nearly all commentators; this
view by William Buckley was typical: | ||||||||||||||||||||
(15) THE DEATH OF PETER McWILLIAMS (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||
Peter McWilliams is dead Age? Fifty. Profession? Author, poet,
publisher. | ||||||||||||||||||||
Particular focus of interest? The federal judge in California (George
King) would decide in a few weeks how long a sentence to hand down, and
whether to send McWilliams to prison or let him serve his sentence at
home. | ||||||||||||||||||||
What was his offense? He collaborated in growing marijuana
plants. | ||||||||||||||||||||
What was his defense? Well, the judge wouldn't allow him to plead his defense to the jury. If given a chance, the defense would have argued that under Proposition 215, passed into California constitutional law in 1996, infirm Californians who got medical relief from marijuana were permitted to use it. The judge also forbade any mention that McWilliams suffered from AIDS and cancer and got relief from the marijuana. | ||||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||||
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COMMENT: (16-17) (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||
A long article in Penthouse took a hopeful look at the many forces
arrayed against the federal position on marijuana; however, an article
from New Zealand demonstrates conclusively that the same political
cowardice enabling prohibition here is to be found throughout the
English-speaking world. | ||||||||||||||||||||
The only difference is that American cops have become far more dependent on cannabis arrests for obvious- but unacknowledged- reasons. | ||||||||||||||||||||
(16) REEFER MINDLESS (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||
[On the cover: Special Report: Reefer Mindless - It's time to end the
vicious, stupid, losing war on pot] | ||||||||||||||||||||
As we enter a new century, the decades-long war against marijuana
continues, with pot busts doubling in the past decade, and tens of
thousands of Americans behind bars for possessing, growing, or selling
the nation's third favorite recreational drug. When will this official
Reefer Madness end? Possibly sooner than anyone thinks. | ||||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||||
So what does the coming decade hold for marijuana and marijuana smokers? | ||||||||||||||||||||
Despite General McCaffrey and his ilk's steadfast opposition to reform,
the nine initiatives that have passed supporting medical marijuana (and
a defeated one in Oregon that would have recriminalized pot) show
support for, at the very least, compassion and common sense. And while
no polls have yet indicated majority support for legalization as such,
the numbers appear to be rising. | ||||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||||
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(17) THE DOPE ON DUCK SHOVING IN THE BEEHIVE (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||
In the final of the cannabis debate series, The Press attempts to smoke out the views of politicians, but finds them strangely coy. | ||||||||||||||||||||
Politicians snuffling at the wind of cannabis debate dive for cover at
the first whiff of controversy. | ||||||||||||||||||||
Of 120 MPs, only 30 replied to a Press questionnaire canvassing views
on cannabis law reform, and just 25 were prepared to put their views
on the record. | ||||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||||
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International News | ||||||||||||||||||||
COMMENT: (18-21) (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||
Observance of the UN's annual anti-drug day provided an opportunity to
see just how the drug war is faring globally: not a pretty picture, as
these reports indicate. | ||||||||||||||||||||
(18) PAKISTAN: EDITORIAL: BATTLE AGAINST DRUGS (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||
On the first International Day against Drug Abuse and Illicit
Trafficking of the new century, Pakistan is eliciting a mixed response
to its fight against narcotics. | ||||||||||||||||||||
There is good reason for this. While Pakistan has won international plaudits for curtailing opium production at home, the number of drug abusers in the country is rising by an alarming seven per cent a year. There are approximately five million drug abusers - 1.5 million of whom are heroin addicts - in the country and between 25 to 30 million people whose lives are adversely affected by the addiction of their relatives. | ||||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||||
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(19) TIME TO FACE THE FACT THAT WE ARE STILL LOSING THE DRUGS WAR (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||
NEXT Monday will mark the fourth anniversary of the murder of Veronica
Guerin. She was honoured in Boston last week by the Vienna based
International Press Institute, and this prompted an extensive profile
in the Boston Globe on Sunday. | ||||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||||
There have certainly been plenty of hyped drug busts which might lead
one to believe that the gardai are getting to grips with the problem.
In his Boston Globe article on Sunday, however, Kevin Cullen concluded
that things have actually got worse since Veronica's murder. "The
number of heroin addicts in Dublin has nearly doubled to about 13,000,
health officials say," Cullen wrote. "Drug pushers have slashed the
price of heroin and junkies can get a fix for about $5, the cheapest in
Europe." | ||||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||||
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(20) NEW GUINEA: DRUG ABUSE KILLING OUR YOUTH, SAYS KARANI (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||
THE WIDESPREAD use of drugs by youths in the country makes them an "endangered species", Police Minister Mathias Karani said yesterday. | ||||||||||||||||||||
He said many ports in PNG are becoming transit points for drug
trafficking and export. | ||||||||||||||||||||
The minister was speaking at the Sir John Guise Stadium to mark this
year's "International Day Against Drug Abuse And Illicit Drug
Trafficking" yesterday. | ||||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||||
Mr Karani said a recent survey conducted by the National Narcotics
Bureau found that 90 per cent of youths aged between 13 and 21 years in
the National Capital District are involved in drug abuse on a regular
basis. | ||||||||||||||||||||
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(21) CHINA: TEN KILLED FOR DRUG CRIMES AS USE SOARS (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||
The Government (of China) executed 10 drug criminals yesterday, backing up its
International Anti-Drug Day vow of "no mercy" for drug crimes, state media
said. | ||||||||||||||||||||
But the State Council acknowledged in a White Paper that "the situation is
grim for the anti-drug struggle" and called for a repeat of Beijing's
success in eradicating opium in the 1950s. | ||||||||||||||||||||
The Government's first White Paper on narcotics carried a slew of statistics showing that drug abuse was on the rise. The amount of drugs confiscated last year increased by 33.6 per cent over 1998, while the number of addicts reached 681,000, up from 520,000 in 1995 and 148,000 in 1991. | ||||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||||
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COMMENT: (22-23) (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||
The most intense U.S. focus shifts to Colombia following Senate
approval of a military aid package which is sure to escalate the
already high rate of killing and terrorism. | ||||||||||||||||||||
Beyond the bland Reuters' report, a chilling NYT Op-Ed describes how
desperate conditions are already; one wonders how the huge arms
package can possibly change things for the better. | ||||||||||||||||||||
(22) U.S. AID HELPS COLOMBIA BOOST WAR ON DRUGS, REBELS (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||
BOGOTA - A record aid package for Colombia under construction in the
U.S. Congress is still open to changes in crucial areas that will
dictate the shape of the war against drugs and Marxist rebels, military
and independent analysts said Friday. | ||||||||||||||||||||
President Andres Pastrana Thursday welcomed passage of the aid bill,
which would ratchet up aid to a record $1 billion, at least two-thirds
of which is military aid. | ||||||||||||||||||||
But key details about the type and number of U.S.-supplied helicopters
to be used for an airborne offensive into southern Colombia were still
to be completed. ... | ||||||||||||||||||||
"This (package) clearly marks a major shift in U.S. policy, ratcheting up anti-narcotics aid and the commitment of the U.S. military," said Winifred Tate, a Bogota-based specialist ... "But we still do not know what the contours of the U.S. assistance are going to be." | ||||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||||
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(23) TRUTH AND DEATH IN COLOMBIA (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||
WASHINGTON -- On the morning of May 25, my colleague Jineth Bedoya, a 26-year-old reporter for the Colombian newspaper El Espectador, went off to do an interview at the Modelo National Prison in Bogota.... both to find out what's going on and to keep ourselves alive. Ms. Bedoya, another colleague and I, by our reporting, had angered a group of Modelo inmates from Colombia's right-wing paramilitary forces. | ||||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||||
Ms. Bedoya was abducted from the prison lobby in full view of the
guards. She was then drugged, bound and gagged, and driven to a city
about three hours away. | ||||||||||||||||||||
There she was beaten, tortured and raped by four men who accused her of
being a guerrilla sympathizer. Before kicking her out of their car that
night at a local garbage dump, the men told her they had plans to kill
me and two other journalists... | ||||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||||
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HOT OFF THE 'NET (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||
Impressive! County Level Arrest Data 1995-1997 Study | ||||||||||||||||||||
The purpose of this report is to provide detailed data on marijuana
arrests that can expedite further study and analysis of local
differences in arrest rates, trends, costs and criminal justice
policies. | ||||||||||||||||||||
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Peter McWilliams Memorial Site Announced | ||||||||||||||||||||
DrugSense is one of the Co-sponsors of a new web site memorializing
Peter McWilliams. Activists are encouraged to visit this web site and
sign on and/or offer a brief thought on his life of and untimely (and
unjustifiable) death. | ||||||||||||||||||||
You are encouraged to visit | ||||||||||||||||||||
Here is a page of icons and banners for linking to the ForAHero site:
http://www.forahero.com/linking.html | ||||||||||||||||||||
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Medical Marijuana Activist Steve Kubby Enters Race For Party's Vp
Nomination A new contender has jumped into the race for the Libertarian
Party's vice presidential nomination: Steve Kubby, the LP's 1998
candidate for governor in California. | ||||||||||||||||||||
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Grass the Movie Web Site | ||||||||||||||||||||
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WRITING OPPORTUNITY OF THE WEEK (Top)------ | ||||||||||||||||||||
Judge George King's Address | ||||||||||||||||||||
For those who would like to express their opinions directly to Judge
George King regarding his hand in the death of Peter McWilliams, here's
where to write: | ||||||||||||||||||||
The Honorable George H. King | ||||||||||||||||||||
Submitted by Diane Fallon - Irvine | ||||||||||||||||||||
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