Landing on Revis

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Wilderness is not a luxury but a necessity of the human spirit.

~ Edward Abbey

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This is just a drive-by posting...

... and I will return with more about my current situation but wanted folks to know that yes, I'm still kicking.

I'm back in Califas after spending 97% of the last 30 years living in Oregon. I had no idea when I left CA in 1990 what a trip that would be. And then some!

I am currently situated 300' below the 2080' summit of Revis Mtn in the Sierra Nevada foothills. I hike the mountain nearly daily and have fallen deeply in love with this little island of wild California. No cows. No off-road vehicles.

I must say that hiking California's foothills without cows is a rare experience but the thrill of no cow pies and the attendant hordes of flies makes this spot a true delight. And, as I've declared more than once while watching the day's light play across the trees and rocks, this place is crazy beautiful.

Well, here, have a look for yourself:

 

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And please, have a visit to my photo art for sale over at Fine Art America and maybe you'll be inspired to spend a few bucks and help support this old phart in his dotage.

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Look deep into nature, and then you will understand everything better.

~ Albert Einstein

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saying goodbye...

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Good judgment comes from experience, and a lot of that comes from bad judgment.

- Will Rogers

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Well, my run here at the old farmhouse has come to an end.

I've live here for 13 years, longer than anywhere I've ever lived. Unfortunately I ran into some medical issues last summer, both to me and one of the dogs.

Then my roommate lost her ability to pay her share of rent last fall after she lost her job. She stayed on thru to the spring of this year with her newborn son. Because she had no work I was left with keeping the utilities paid, plus all my other bills (including the medical bills) and I was lucky I was even able to afford food.

As a single dad I raised my 2 kids here. There was no way I was putting a new mom and her newborn baby out on the street. Plus she was a great roommate, a friend and I loved her and her baby like family.

When I was raising my children here my daughter was always on me about getting food stamps. Call me stubborn, call me a masochist, heck! call me a hard-headed Swede. But I was an able bodied male and damned if I was going to let Uncle Sugar get into my life any more than it already was.

So it is that at 67teen I find myself once again with major life decisions to make and new changes - in whatever form they take - to deal with.

If you be of a mind to help I've started a self-fundraiser to help pay off my medical bills and to maybe help my transition into the next phase of my life.

Ideally... I will find someone, an organization or an individual, somewhere, that will find me the perfect fit for their need of a resident caretaker.

It's my perfect job. I do carpentry, plumbing, household electric, painting, gardening and I'm a photographer and writer. I've been a medical amateur professional for 2 decades as an events medicine volunteer. I did wildlife rehab in the early '80s. I am a published writer. I am a  published photographer.

And I love the land.

Living in nature is where I need to be. I've lived off the grid. I love isolation and quiet.

I've spent 60 years being squished and squeezed by the forces of conformance. But I DON'T fit. Sure I've muddled through, going where the universal winds of whim carry me, but "civilization" is all just too much.

I am not a consumer. I am a warrior for my people (friends, family and community) and for the earth's living beings without a voice. I am a teacher, perhaps even a bit of a healer. I am an artist.

I am an elder and there is still strength in my wings. I know I shall fly but where will I land?

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“It’s clearly a crisis of two things: of consciousness and conditioning. We have the technological power, the engineering skills to save our planet, to cure disease, to feed the hungry, to end war; But we lack the intellectual vision, the ability to change our minds. We must decondition ourselves from 10,000 years of bad behavior. And, it’s not easy.”

- Terence McKenna

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Bundy, Malheur - and reality

It does not require a doctorate in economics to guess that the feds would 

have come out well ahead in 1969 if they had simply paid ranchers the 

full market value of the animals supposedly killed by coyotes and let it 

go at that. This conclusion becomes still more attractive if one accepts 

Cole's calculation that the hundreds of coyotes bagged in 1969 by traps, 

snares, baited cyanide canisters, hunting dogs and bullets would have 

dispatched approximately 55,000 jack rabbits, had they been permitted 

to live to perform this service for the ranchers of Arizona. Because 150 

jack rabbits consume enough forage to support one cow or five sheep, 

the coyote carnage in 1969 cost more than $50,000 in lost cattle 

production.

- John Alcock, Sonoran Desert Summer

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I have been closely following the "standoff" at the Malheur Wildlife
Refuge, near Burns, Oregon. I have not been one to apply the label of
terrorist, activist, or any descriptor really to these people following
the Bundys and their "friends."

For surely it is (or was, it is near it's end)  at best, a protest. At
worst - politically - it is sedition, acting with arms against the
government.

But that is not my fight. Stop telling me I am "misinformed" and refrain
from calling me a stooge of the government because I think Harney Co.
Sheriff Dave Ward has done fine work under difficult circumstances.

I've thought long on this (which is why I'm a day behind on putting this
blog together). In fact yesterday morning I took a long walk thinking
about all the strings I need to tie together to make my point.

Ok... sigh... grab your coffee, sorry there are no more doughnuts (my 

cop friends ate the last ones) but hopefully I'll give you something 

(or a few things) of substance to chew on. Oh, and no photos today.

What I'm NOT going to do? I'm not going to talk about the Constitution, 
or guns.

No... I'm going to start this with some words I posted on Facebook the
other day:

Whether you are right or wrong on your issues is a moot point because 
your tactics MAKE YOU WRONG!

You came into my state and took over a resource that is open to us ALL 
and shut it down so NO ONE could use it.

When we approach righteous grievances for redress, we cannot go 

armed and paranoid, prepared to commit violence. Rather - as MLK 

and many, many others have taught and done - only thru non-violent 

civil disobedience can we be effective. We can blockade. We can hunger 

strike We can speak, using our big people words.

As a long time activist on many issues I've always shunned any advocates
for violence in my circles. Advocates for violence are (imho) one of 2
types - 1) they are agent provocateurs, undercover plants from the
police/govt intending to create a situation that involves criminal
activity, or 2) they are crazy and dangerous.

And if you want to be warriors, "defending your people"... ?

... be like the 200 or so warriors that fought off damn near the whole 

US Army when Chief Joseph attempted to take his people to Canada. 

THAT is how WE roll here in Oregon.

The world needs smart. The world needs cooperators, not conspirators.

The age of conquering and conquerors is over. It's dead. Swords into
plowshares. It's time for the One Straw Revolution

That last part - the age of conquering and conquerors is over - is 

veryimportant. Weaponry has come to a point that makes violence, 

especially warfare, obsolete. There is no longer any end served from 

war other than a maintenance of chaos and tyranny.

What drives the engine now is not territorial expansion. With 

economicsnow a global enterprise and consumerism the be-all and

 end-all of modern civilization...

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sorry! Had a coffee snort on that one...

... now it is a drive for extraction of resource. Yes, natural resources have always been extracted and yes that's how the world was built. Great. But the house that was built is on fire, the foundation is crumbling and the cupboards are near bare.

All resource extraction to this point has pretty much relied on the myth that we can do this forever. We can't. And we've been so sloppy in our going about all this consumption that we've once again soiled the nest. So not only can we not going about doing things the way we have been but we must also begin undoing our calamitous system and rebuilding a system that fits with some basic natural laws.

Like... 

... resources are finite

... we don't shit in our own well.

... nor do we shit in our neighbor's well.

And that is what the Bundy cabal did. They came into Oregon and shit in our well. We certainly don't have everything right but damned if we don't try. Sometimes we get it right (saving our entire coastline for all of us). Sometimes we need to be creative. 

Like that time when Richard Nixon was supposed to be coming to Portland but fears of tens of thousands of hippies and yippees coming to town to protest prompted Gov Tom McCall into action! Yes, something needed to be done. So what did this Republican governor do? Why, what any common sense individual would do, he threw a free rock festival.

The Vortex

Yep. A republican governor threw a free party, kept the cops away and let the hippies play. There were no hippie riots and I don't believe Tricky Dick made it at all.

The "hippies" have earned their spot in Oregon. They came, they worked, they spent money, bought land and homes and raised families. Read about the Hoedads.

Planting trees is the sort of mind-numbing stoop labor that most people go to college in order to avoid. Loggers shudder when they contemplate the rigors of tree planting. It is winter work, cold and wet and mud-spattered grubbing on steep mountain sides. It has always been done by those at the very lowest levels of the Northwest social order, hillbillies, drifters, derelicts, migrant farm workers and illegal aliens. And yet, a survey of the Hoedads Inc. membership in the late 1970’s found that planters with post-graduate degrees were more common among them than high school drop-outs.

In it's beginnings Oregon was also pretty damn racist. White was right. And the Malheur was treated no differently. Why? Because it was Paiute land. And what ruined it for the Paiutes?

[from the DailyKos] For most of the 1800s and earlier, Eastern Oregon was largely the territory of the Northern Paiute. The Malheur Indian Reservation was created in 1872 to set aside a small part of their former territory exclusively for Native Americans. The reservation was established by executive order of President Ulysses Grant. This was necessary since Congress refused to ratify the 1868 treaty negotiated with the Paiute (there’s rarely been any political benefit to treating Indians fairly).

Ok, sounds good right? Give the indigenous folks a spot of their own? 

[from that bedrock of liberalism, The Oregon History Project] By 1875 more than 700 Paiute and Bannock Indians were spending their winters on the reservation, an agricultural school had been established, and several dozen Indian men were learning how to farm. The administration of the reservation, however, was severely hampered by a steady reduction in federal appropriations. Agent W.V. Rinehart complained to his superiors that “it is the avowed policy of the Government to make the Indians self-supporting, and yet I am left without the means to make the initiatory steps for the furtherance of that policy….I ask if it is fair or reasonable to circumscribe the already limited energies of a people whom God made as free as the deer on their mountains; to curtail their natural means of subsistence by herding them upon reservations, that the dominant race may enjoy their territory, and then expect them to support themselves without assistance?”

Rinehart’s complaints fell on deaf ears. Appropriations were reduced again the following year, medical supplies arrived nearly a year late, and to make matters worse, local stockmen had begun encroaching upon reservation lands. Some were so bold, Rinehart wrote his 1878 report, “that they have even taken up their residence within the limits of the reservation, and make no secret of their intention to occupy and use the land.” [emphasis mine - ae]

Ahhh... there is Ammon Bundy's historical context. Except instead of the gubmint, the Bundy's gang occupied the Paiute's land. Right, it's all coming clear... we were assholes then and we're still assholes.

But, I don't equate the Bundys with the folks on the east side of the state. I've met them. I lived with them down in Adel. And for me and my family it was a journey into "hostile" territory. I was a long-haired hippie working for a locally despised environmental organization, The Nature Conservancy.

But you know what? I worked hard and the ranchers and other locals saw the changes to the ranch I'd been tasked with renovating. They became our friends, especially John Lane, Earl and Jean Rogers and Bill Hickey and his son. 

And THAT dear friends and readers, is my point. The local folks in Lake County treated us with respect and let us prove ourselves. 

Coming into a community and holding a part of it hostage shows no respect and deserves no respect.

And it wasn't like these Bundyites just suddenly showed up. Oh no... they had been in the area in the fall:

[from the Oregonian] On Nov. 5, a Thursday, Ward met the men who would cause him so much grief. They gathered on the second-floor law library at the courthouse, more often used for researching legal precedent than setting the stage for rebellion. Among those there were Ammon Bundy and a self-styled militiaman from Montana, Ryan Payne, and two self-described patriots who head organizations in Bend and in Idaho.

There once was a time early in the 20th century when the Sandhill Crane (over 200 pairs breed at the Malheur WR) was in trouble. Through actions to save habitat and protect the birds Sandhill Cranes have a strong population.  And in many places cranes are revered and/or celebrated.

Heck, Nebraska has their own party to celebrate the Sandhills, Audubon's Nebraska Crane Festival

Japan almost lost their crane population, Red-crowned Crane: Sarurun Kamuy (God of the Marshes), but took strong measures to protect their surviving populations.

And in Africa... Largest Protected Environment in South Africa Declared

All of that leading me to this... what would have happened had the Bundy's been creative instead of creepy? What say, oh.... they came to Sheriff Dave Ward, the BLM, the ranchers and townspeople of Burns and said, "we need a forum where we can present our case and hear from others with interest in how we as a community deal with the feds and this bloated bureaucracy that has grown around use of public lands."

Suppose they had said, "we want to create an event, maybe say... a Crane Festival! With artists, politics, forums, education, music. Something that can draw a crowd of friendly people to Burns and the area that will come, spend some time and money, mybe get a little education and then leave."

But no, Allan's fantasies remain Allan's fantasies. A world where cooperation, compassion and some good-neighborness have higher priority than armed thugs screeching about their version of the Constitution (which, like the Malheur, belongs to all of us) remains a pipe dream.

These were no heroes. Men on a mission? perhaps, but an errant one. One that wasn't inclusive of basic human dignity and respect for others had no chance of success.

The world of man is at a crossroads. We can become true planetary stewards (save the rhinos, save the elephants, save the whales, the orangs, etc, etc) or we can continue our slide into a hole we ourselves dug. A hole that only cooperative (not coerced) action can bring us out of.

Cooperation, what a concept. Asshattery unwelcome. Solutions, not more problems. Let's use our big people words and put the guns down.

I'll give the last word to Jim Caswell (served as director of the Bureau of Land Management under Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne), writing in the Jan 27,2016 opinion pages of the Idaho Statesman:

Frustration around public lands is real. But that doesn’t make violence the right response or land transfers a realistic solution. The best answer to our problems is to join hands to fix the management, and to keep the truly greedy hands driving this debate off our public lands.

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Read more here: http://www.idahostatesman.com/opinion/readers-opinion/article56933223.html#storylink=cpy

more reading:

Sustainable Cowboys or Welfare Ranchers of the American West?

Who Wants A Burns Standoff? Not The Sheriff, The Ranchers, Or Even Cliven Bundy

Ammon Bundy, Montana militia leader planned land takeover for months

Oregon standoff: Bundy occupation leaves scars behind

Tribe to protesters occupying Oregon wildlife refuge: ‘We were here first … get the hell out’

one of the few times I agree with the Oregonian: Sheriff Dave Ward, the true patriot in Harney County's spectacle: Editorial

about Malheur:

Malheur Standoff Puts Science in the Crosshairs

The Bannock War

Occupation, Resistance, and History in Malheur

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A Man only learns by two things, one is reading, and the other is association with smarter people.

- Will Rogers

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crikey mates... who left the gate open?

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Patriot: the person who can holler the loudest without knowing what he is hollering about.

- Mark Twain

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Well, Oregon, you let me down. Somebody left the gate open (musta been one of them city folks, don't know the rules of common sense) and now Cliven Bundy's spawn and his pack of armed whack-a-doodles have snuck in.

Yeah. The internet is abuzz.

Me? I think they're a bunch of yahoos with guns.

The "men" (term used loosely here) that have occupied Malheur Wildlife Refuge near Burns, Oregon are no more than a bunch of fakes and flakes. And Cliven Bundy?

Cliven Bundy is a racist and a real welfare queen.

Ignorance at that level does not bode well for his cognition skills in other areas. I'm just sayin'...

As for his son and the clowns at Malheur (#VanillaIsis) I really don't know what (other than "not") they're thinking. They are not patriots and are far from "heroes." In fact there is a case of some stolen valor within the ranks of these faux militiamen.

The young men and women that "occupied" Wounded Knee ("occupying" their own land, go figure) are patriots. Mary and Carrie Dann  are patriots.

In the early 1980s a movement that had built momentum from the '60s and '70s began protests across the country against the insane levels of nuclear weapons stockpiled (mostly) by the United States and the old Soviet Union. Over 30 thousand nuclear devices were ready for use by us and the Soviet Union had 20 thousand plus nuclear weapons in their arsenal. And people protested.

We occupied federal facilities. People like the Berrigan brothers, Wavy Gravy, Starhawk, Daniel Ellsberg - and me and hundreds of others - stood up face-to-face with federal authority. And we did it unarmed. Nationwide there were probably no more than a few thousand of us at several facilities (me at Vandenberg AFB in Central California).

Key phrase: unarmed and willing to be arrested. Which of course we were.

We claimed the higher moral ground. We faced the criticism, the name calling and insults. We were arrested and we served our sentences. And we did bring some sense to the issue.

In 1986 there were over 60,000 nuclear weapons world wide. By 1992 the nuclear stockpile was reduced by a third. By 2002 levels had been reduced by more than 2/3 from the 1986 peak of 65,000.

"Unarmed and willing to be arrested." That's how human beings being human do it. That's patriotism.

Go home fellas. Leave and close the gate behind you. You simply are not wanted, nor needed.

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The trouble ain't that there is too many fools, but that the lightning ain't distributed right.

- Mark Twain

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So...

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The strength and power of despotism consists wholly in the fear of resistance

~ Thomas Paine
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... it's been awhile. Hard to say really why the long absence. Stress and distress probably. Maybe the fact that I spend a lot of time studying up on my topics and putting a good blogpost together takes more time... and I don't get a cent back for my labors...

I know - waaah...

Another possible reason for me not posting in so long is that lordy lordy the whole world has really gone kinda whack and where do I start?

Problematic, of course. I could just start at the beginning. Duh...

... but which beginning? What start? Did the whistle blow? Did someone do a countdown? I don't like to start in a fog of confusion, I much prefer a cloud. Fog is however the perfect descriptor... when we're standing in the middle of it, it doesn't have a beginning, or an end. It's just kind of all around. Kinda like I've felt with the question to myself of where to start.

Of course there is also the point to be made that where I start is irrelevant. There is just sooo much to talk about that I could, literally, start anywhere I please. Which sounds pretty reasonable.

Well let's start off on a good note... photos! Yes... I still am shooting

These are from a quick overnight trip last year up to Davis Lake on the east side of the Cascades, pretty much due east of my place here.

(And remember, most of these images I post on the blog are all for sale over at my RedBubble gallery, as greeting cards, post cards, and matted or framed prints. The quality is outstanding and I'll vouch for it, I'm my own best customer.

How's that for a start? Easy on the eyes and the brain.

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And I'll be back... I mean it's an election year!

2011 Calendar sale... is over... but the calendars are still for sale!

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“The Gods cannot help those who do not seize opportunities”

- Chinese Proverb
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The sale ended Nov. 14, but I'll sure post it here when they have another one! But the way RedBubble has the calendars formatted you can have it start at whatever month you want and it will still be a 12 month calendar... so if you purchase one in April, you can have the calendar start in May. Pretty cool...

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Seeing how I have 4 to choose from (counting last year's, which is updated to 2011 dates) and naturally, I'm gonna tell you they're all beautiful and loaded with my best Oregon nature images:



‘Allan Erickson's Oregon ’




‘Oregon - clouds, sky and light - Allan Erickson’




‘Oregon waters...’

and my newest (my fave by the way...)




‘Cannabis Beauty - Allan Erickson’

and while I'm pitching... remember that there are a lot of folks like me who are artists and every time someone buys one of their/our works it is an acknowledgement we all savor...

(note that sale ends on November 14th)

Thanks folks, for stopping by and visiting my humble corner of the wwweb... anything else is old pie and melted ice cream!

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“Opportunities to find deeper powers within ourselves come when life seems most challenging.”

- Joseph Campbell

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Holidays, holy days and everyday days...

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“For everything that lives is holy, life delights in life”

- William Blake
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For those of us in poverty, Christmas is not an easy time. Expectations and pressures to produce gifts can and do depress many.

This season has many faces. One of those faces was found dead on the street here in Eugene last December: Major Egan... why'd you do it? There are around 250,000 homeless veterans in the U.S. Many suffer from PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder). Deaths like that of Egan's touch me, they infuriate me and they help to feed my skepticism that humanity is salvageable as a specie.

On the other hand there are those who do act humanely, who give and share and make these winter holidays special. There are those who go about their lives and share Christmas with friends and family, give gifts to the kids and make the holidays special for those around them.

Whatever your perception and level of participation during this season's activities, remember that every day around our solitary blue water planet 10s of thousands of our fellow humans - our family of man - starve to death. We neglect those with the least and too often celebrate those whose riches are beyond boorish. We need a serious reprioritization of where our efforts and resources are aimed. We need to care and this time of year especially is the season to show that care. If you can, give. If you are needy, accept help. If you are just folk, celebrate and love your family and friends. Enjoy life. But always keep those with lives of tragedy in mind and maybe this year... leave an open seat and setting at your Christmas table as a reminder that there are far too many Major Egans falling asleep on our streets and back alleys, cold and often drunk, never waking again.

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My daughter Robin's choirs have been performing a lot this fall/winter. It's enjoyable doing my photographic thing for them. I know the choir director, Mike McCornack, appreciates it. One of my pleasures is watching the interactions between the teachers and the kids. Truly the best teachers love their students and in turn are loved in return. Teachers are a big part of our children's lives and should be a positive influence on them. Which is what I see watching Mike and Willamette HS' band director Bart Ellis direct their students. The kids smile, they enjoy (although you know what? there are young curmudgeons! I was shocked...) producing their music and they become better people for the doing. They work hard and it shows.

These images are from their performance last week of the WHS Winter Festival, a combined effort of the schools bands and choirs.




(this image is all bands, all choirs - and a few alumni who came on stage and joined the group for a great and wonderful performance of Handel's The Hallelujah Chorus, directed by Bart Ellis)

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Many years ago when I lived in California near the coast I used to spend a lot of time at the Guadalupe Dunes and Perfix Beach (I've blogged about that special place here. Why I mention it now is because during one of my camping trips to the Dunes and Perfix Beach (full moon, great weather) as I was walking at night along the beach I wanted some music other than (or to go with) the rythmic roar of the ocean's waves. At certain times of year the Bull Kelp "whips" that wash up on the beach dry out with the air bladder drying round and gourd-like. There are plenty of driftwood sticks and lots of small pebbles - the basic ingredients for a handmade rattle.

So that night, under the full moon and alone on a beach miles from anyone I created music with only the natural items in my local environment. Later on, after the trip, I was telling Grampa Semu about the rattle making experience. He told me the kelp rattles are indeed old style, once used by California's coastal tribes.

Under the coaxing of a dear friend I am going to begin making rattles again. I really am an artist. It's what floats my boat... I'd rather be creating than almost any other activity. So, I will be offering for sale these handmade rattles, roughly a foot long or so, made with supplies gathered on the coast in Central California, each one a distinct creation, unlike any other. The handles are leather wrapped and small shells are used as decoration. These are true Chumash style creations, based on my experience that full moon eve so many years ago.

They will be priced in the $50 - $75 range. If you want one made for you, contact me at allan_e@efn.org Here is one made for my friend Patricia way back in the '80s:





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While I'm dealing with art and being creative and offering you my artwork I want to show what the photo products from RedBubble (where some of my galleries are) look like. The galleries are here: welcome to the world I see...

I've set the prices so I have a decent margin. If you want tomething different than what is offered there, contact me and let's figure out how to meet your wants. I was real pleased with my RedBubble calendar and so were those I heard from who had purchased one. The prices for these prints framed is about $110. Print size is approximately 8" x 12".





Cards can be made from any of the photos in the galleries and run about $5







And of course I do portraiture:









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And just because there is already so much photography on here today... why not a few more. Enjoy (and thanks for stopping by)!














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And this year... remember that extra setting at your Christmas dinner table. For the Major Egans among us. They may go unseen, but they are here.

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“There may be times when we are powerless to prevent injustice, but there must never be a time when we fail to protest.”

- Elie Wiesel

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... a baker's dozen... more or less...

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"I am free, no matter what rules surround me. If I find them tolerable, I tolerate them; if I find them too obnoxious, I break them. I am free because I know that I alone am morally responsible for everything I do."

~ Robert A. Heinlein, The Moon is a Harsh Mistress
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What a beautiful fall... November so far is a mix of wet and dry, nice and not-so-nice but with snow falling in the Cascades this weekend its all pretty normal. When Halloween comes up at Jawbone Flats, odds are in favor of at least a modest dusting of snow. Some years tho'... the first snow may be a few days late, but generally... within 2 - 3 days of Halloween.




I love my Oregon...

Here at the farm the rain has turned the browned pastures back to green... trees in the copses and yards and streets have been ablaze in color for the last few weeks, the autumn sun is lowering to the south and the light and clean air make for beautiful days and give some great sunsets. Sunrises can be pretty cool too, especially when the fog lies low at dawn:



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And in about 2 months and 2 weeks the US will have a new President. I'll have much more to say about Mr Obama as we get closer to coronation day. ... rrrr... I mean the inauguration. One of the strongest sets of images from the hours and days after Obama's win has been those of our nation's black citizens. There is such a visible shine of pride, of relief... at last, at last...



And while I remain a doubter, I sincerely hope that President-elect Obama is at least part that which so many hope him to be... because it was not just the blacks that celebrated what is truly, truly an historic moment in our nation's history. Obama created a voting coalition that covered the spectrum. Looking at the voter percentages it is interesting to note that all the independent candidates combined garnered only about 2% of the vote. Ross Perot, when he ran as an independent garnered what, about 15% of the popular vote? There is quite a mandate on our next President's plate. Not to mention a major quagmire (and no, not Family Guy's Glenn Quagmire) or two. A couple of wars (I can count a handful without any effort) and an economy that oughta wake everybody up... if he shows himself to be some of what many hope him to be we may find a way to solve many problems. If he conducts business like just another Party shill... I see not much good ahead in these next four years.

But for our nation to actually elect a black man as Prez... wow. I'm proud of my country. To think that it has been but a mere 2 generations since our nation's black citizens were treated like this:



And all in a struggle waged over and over and over throughout human history. But these days are different. No longer are we a world of distant and relatively isolated societies. We are truly at a critical pivoting point in mankind's time here on earth.
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Because I am out of the closet -- so to speak -- about my cannabis use I thought I'd share this picture of the truck I used to drive when I worked for Bill Conde at his Redwood Lumberyard outside of Harrisburg, OR.



I put tens of thousands of miles on this truck, delivering redwood lumber throughout the western half of Oregon. And even tho' the truck is quite obviously covered in cannabis leaves I never was pulled over. In fact in all those miles I received one negative response. Driving north on I-5 one day I actually got flipped off... but that was the only time. Usually it was honks and waves, peace signs and lots of gaping. And the occasional offer to stop for a smoke (which I politely always declined). Even had folks asking to take a picture of the truck.

For such a benign and multi-faceted plant cannabis sure receives its share of grief. And of course I must note that President-elect Obama admits that when he was a young man he actually inhaled. A black man and a cannabis consumer... but ya know... he never would have gotten here if he had been arrested for possession of pot, back in da day... so, while smoking pot doesn't disqualify him for our nation's highest office it is important to make that connection that a conviction would have. And these days? We arrest almost 100 people every hour for pot here in the US. Isn't it time to drop that charade? Is it any of our business what our neighbors smoke? Pot has never killed anybody on its own while tobacco deaths (just in the US) number about 400,000 a year. Isn't that a bit incongruous? How many hours of police time do that many arrests take? How much court time? And the occasional jail time? Aren't there better allocations of our police and criminal justice system's resources?

Prohibition II will become an issue that garners this nation's attention as we look at ways and places where we can start not-spending money. The White House Office of National Drug Control Policy directs most drug policy moves and comes up for reauthorization in 2010. I say axe it completely. How does a free nation -- a democratic republic -- even think that naming a bureaucrat a czar (as in Drug Czar) is acceptable? Especially when he directs and advocates policies that are repressive and grow ever more intrusive of Constitutional protections. We cannot protect our precious liberties by allowing the government to declare a "drugs exception" to the Constitution...

Law Enforcement Against Prohibition (LEAP) head guy Jack Cole estimates that we now spend roughly $70 billion a year on Prohibition II. Well... in 10 years we would get back the initial $700 billion we (our government) just threw at this "bailout" of our financial institutions. And that $70 billion a year is just the basics of enforcing Prohibition...

A point my friend Kirk often makes -- quite concisely -- is that it was not the efforts of G-Man Elliot Ness and his Untouchables that took away Al Capone's power in the booze trade. It was the ending of Prohibition, the re-legalizing of alcohol that in one fell swoop put booze back in the hands of legitimate tax-paying companies and their tax-paying employees... and eliminated the very rampant corruption and public violence of the syndicates who ran the booze trade.
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“Of liberty I would say that, in the whole plenitude of its extent, it is unobstructed action according to our will. But rightful liberty is unobstructed action according to our will within limits drawn around us by the equal rights of others. I do not add 'within the limits of the law,' because law is often but the tyrant's will, and always so when it violates the right of an individual.”

~ Thomas Jefferson

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