Silicon Investor (SI) -- The First Internet Community

STOCKTALK

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor. We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community. If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.

Politics : PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: DMaA who wrote (345805)	1/22/2003 11:50:07 AM
From: MSI	Respond to of 769667

Good point -- but those interested in (scientific) studies eventually give up trying to get research projects approved in the face of an absolute ban. You or I would likely do the same. International studies are the only ones available, and report findings different than US gov't, as do policies. One only has to read the morning papers in any town in the US to see how much law-enforcement is happily going towards criminalizing various drug usage, creating huge legal and illegal profits and violence. The tendency of US gov't and officials is to "make a war" out of everything, pay for extensive PR to coerce politicians into voting for it, due to the round-robin of cash and industry support that is created. In the case of the "war on drugs" it gets money and has benefits for law-enforcement, prison construction, pharmaceutical industry, and top-down political control of the population as another route into homes, automobiles and personal information. It's interesting to look at the initial laws against drugs like marijuana, coming out of the need to employ law-enforcement apparatus after prohibition of alcohol was ended. Just like the military, if such laws aren't watched carefully and pruned back, and integrated into citizen life, it'll grow like a cancer, instead of being a source of safety and civil order. The "war on poverty" was ill-conceived but with the same popular support and PR campaign, and the same build-up of massive bureaucracy that we're going to see with the Homeland Defense dept... Huge amounts of American taxpayer money going toward central gov't used counter-productively, taking money out of citizen pockets, and using it against them, in the name of a "war on (fill in the blank)". The "War On Terrorism", like drugs, will become a tool for citizen political control, rather than any sort of safety on our streets. The test will be how often we see more threats of terrorism -- likely we will, as often as necessary for domestic political purposes. JMO