half a century

Here's $15 Billion A Year That Can Be Cut From The Budget

Every year this country dumps $15 billion into the war on drugs. This number has continued to grow every year, yet the drug "problem" in the United States continues to grow.

So while we are talking about trimming the fat from the budget, how about we start with this huge waste? It seems a lot of world leaders are thinking the same thing:

It isn't working. It never has worked. And so long as it continues to be fought in its current form, the "war on drugs" will do little to curb the spread of illegal narcotics or prevent hundreds of thousands of people from continuing to lose their lives each year as a result of the international drug trade.

So says a panel of world leaders who called yesterday for the biggest shake-up of drug laws in half a century. "The global war on drugs has failed, with devastating consequences for individuals and societies around the world," declared the Global Commission on Drug Policy. "Fundamental reforms... are urgently needed."

Now that makes sense, but not as much as what they are recommending as an alternative:

The Commission, which counts the former UN Secretary General Kofi Annan along with former presidents of Brazil, Mexico and Colombia as members, believes governments must now experiment with "legal regulation of drugs." "This recommendation applies especially to cannabis," reads a major report it published in New York yesterday. "But we would also encourage other experiments in decriminalisation."

Cuban Missile Crisis Part Deux?

I guess now is the time for Dana Perino to learn history and find out exactly what the Cuban missile crisis was:

Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin on Monday said it was time for Russia to rebuild links with former Cold War ally Cuba, news agencies reported.

The Kremlin is angry at U.S. plans for a missile defence system in Eastern Europe, and last month a news report suggested Russia might use Cuba, a thorn in America's side for half a century, as a refueling stop for nuclear-capable bombers.

The Russian Defence Ministry denied the report and said it had no plans to open any military bases abroad, but a top U.S. general was drawn to say such a move would cross a "red line".

What would be a great way to prevent this? How about diplomatic relations with Cuba? We have shunned that tiny island for over 45 years now and why? Cuba has continued to survive and survive fine. Now we are getting to a point where talking to them could be very beneficial, but we won't. Instead it could lead us down a road of more turmoil with Russia, which would also include China now.

Greatest Thaw In 50 Years

Mor e trouble for our planet:

limate change has caused the greatest thaw of Greenland's ice in half a century, perhaps heralding a wider meltdown that would quicken a rise in world sea levels, scientists said on Tuesday.

"We attribute significantly increased Greenland summer warmth and ice melt since 1990 to global warming," a group of researchers wrote in the Journal of Climate, adding to recent evidence of faster Antarctic and Arctic thaws.

Of course the deniers will spin this because of the 50 year mark. They look for any loop hole, without thought of consequence for their ill thinking.

Novak Attack!

Robert Novak has gone after someone else this time, and it might not be who you would expect. This week, he takes none other than George Bush to the mat. Here are some great parts from it.

"Gonzales never has developed a base of support for himself up here," a House Republican leader told me. But this is less a Gonzales problem than a Bush problem. With nearly two years remaining in his presidency, George W. Bush is alone. In half a century, I have not seen a president so isolated from his own party in Congress -- not Jimmy Carter, not even Richard Nixon as he faced impeachment.

Republicans in Congress do not trust their president to protect them. That alone is sufficient reason to withhold statements of support for Gonzales, because such a gesture could be quickly followed by his resignation under pressure. Rep. Adam Putnam (Fla.), the highly regarded young chairman of the House Republican Conference, praised Donald Rumsfeld in November only to see him sacked shortly thereafter.

[SNIP]

The I-word (incompetence) is also used by Republicans in describing the Bush administration generally. Several of them I talked to cited a trifecta of incompetence: the Walter Reed hospital scandal, the FBI's misuse of the USA Patriot Act and the U.S. attorneys firing fiasco. "We always have claimed that we were the party of better management," one House leader told me. "How can we claim that anymore?"

[SNIP]

Here's $15 Billion A Year That Can Be Cut From The Budget

Cuban Missile Crisis Part Deux?

Greatest Thaw In 50 Years

Novak Attack!

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