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Pastimes : Let's Talk About Our Feelings!!! -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Michael M who wrote (56455)	9/29/1999 7:26:00 PM
From: Father Terrence	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 108807

The cultural malaise is the federalist suppression of individual liberties. Even you are brainwashed when you "think" that "drug offenders" should be in jail. If individual liberty were a reality in this backwards country, there would be no such thing as "criminal acts" that do not violate the inalienable rights of others. That you support the oppressive federal government in such actions shows you have a poor concept of the vision that this country was originally based on. The greatest flaw in early America was not applying the Constitution and Bill of Rights to all who lived in the States and the territories -- that would include ALL people of color. We are still dealing with the shockwaves from that very bad non-decision... Father Terrence

To: Michael M who wrote (56455)	9/29/1999 8:19:00 PM
From: epicure	Read Replies (4) \| Respond to of 108807

Oh I see- there ARE simple answers? #1- non-violent drug offenders should not be imprisoned. Drugs should be decriminalized. I would like to see them sold legally- tax them, and plow the profits into rehab. (with provisions against use by minors like alcohol and tobacco have) #2decriminalize prostitution. I hate the criminalization of victimless crimes. #3Spend WAY more on head start type programs- going even more strongly after the pre-natal health of at risk girls. We need to make sure their babies grow up with MUCH more help than their mothers had so the cycle of poverty and senseless procreation is broken. Just say "no" is a joke, when your neighborhood is crawling with homies and crack ho's- of course #'s 1 & 2 will help a lot to improve #3. #4 A cohesive foreign policy based on a confluence of "morality" and self interest. The US should stand behind the integrity of sovereign nations- as they stand now (not dredging up the past)- we should not interfere in internecine internal conflicts no matter what- unless our actual security is threatened by the conflict. We should tailor our aid to meet more than crises management. Shooting money to crisis after crisis is wasteful- we need to do more long range global planning for our foreign aid. Right now our foreign aid programs are (imo) a joke. #5 Lots more money for education. Programs for kids, lots of programs with lots of choices, that are run in good facilities, help channel the energy of kids (especially adolescents). #6 Something like a job corp- again, aimed at teenagers. #7 big incentives for corporations and individuals providing outreach services to teh community- be it health care, jobs training, social services type programs - whatever. #8 Big tax credits for corporations which kept goodpaying (lets say jobs paying 20k above poverty limit/yr) jobs, requiring minimal skills, in this country. And coupled with penalties for US companies moving jobs off shore. I might even couple that with protective tariffs to protect our basic industries from nations where workers are paid 25 cents an hour. I realize there could be brutal trade war consequences to this- but still, unless we want to slowly erode all the power of the blue collar workers- something must be done. #9Much bigger penalties for polluters- they need to pay more of the actual cost of the damage- AND be responsible for long term damage. Big credits for industries that do R&D in this area and cleanup their act on their own. #10More and better continuing education for adults. #11 More and better health care for individuals not covered by health care plans. Better tax incentives to companies for covering part time workers. Penalties for not covering part time workers. #12 Tort reform. #13 Campaign finance reform. #14 Credits for alternative energy R&D i've got lots more ideas- but I've got kids to feed and some wash to run.