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For the Global Thinker

Thursday, July 30, 2009

Awesome Documentary on Marijuana


Great Documentary about Marijuana and the nonsensical War on Drugs...Enjoy!
Review by Pete Guither...
I just finished watching the new documentary The Union: The Business of Getting high and it was outstanding!

It is the most comprehensive documentary review of cannabis policy, politics, history, myths, science, and.. humanity that I've seen. It's compelling (and yes, a little overwhelming -- you almost need to take a break during it to absorb everything).

It takes you briefly through the history of criminalization, debunks every bit of reefer madness nonsense from the suffocated monkeys' lost brain cells to Walters' marijuana treatment stats, explores the Chong and Emery cases, takes you into grow-ops and the business of black market cannabis, talks with the scientists and economists and doctors and patients and hemp activists and members of LEAP. It also vividly demonstrates the absolute lack of integrity of so many who promote continued criminalization, including Presidents of the United States.

There are tons of great quotes in it. I started writing some down, but then couldn't choose, so I'm not going to bother. I really recommend getting it and showing it to your friends.

Watch the documentary for free here....
http://www.sprword.com/videos/union/

Tuesday, July 28, 2009

What should I do with my Life?


Po Bronson calls it "the most obvious and universal question on our plates as human beings: What should I do with my life?"

Novelist and business writer Bronson spent two years interviewing more than 900 people who had weighed or were weighing that question. From his research came the book, What Should I Do With My Life? The True Story of People Who Answered the Ultimate Question.

For Morning Edition, Bronson describes what he learned from the people he interviewed, and focuses on four: Debbie Brient, once a sales executive; Rick Olson, a onetime lawyer; Don Linn, a former investment banker; and Leela de Souza, whose resume includes stints as a ballerina, Stanford MBA and White House fellow. Each approached their desire for a life change a little differently, he says. But like most of the people he interviewed, ultimately these four were searching for "a place where they can be content, grow roots a little, and make an impact."

In an interview with npr.org, Bronson tells more about the lessons behind people's life-changing quests -- including his own....Read this interesting interview here...

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=896041

Sunday, July 26, 2009

Mexican drug war deadlier than Afghanistan


A very well-made and informative documentary about the Mexican Drug War. It starts in the state of Chihuahua (where I'm living) and then moves on to Tijuana, and finally Culiacan Sinaloa. In addition, this documentary is made by Laura Ling-the journalist who is currently being held prisoner in North Korea for another doc that she was making there. Seeing the risks that she takes in Mexico, there is no doubt in my mind that Laura did cross the border into North Korea. Nonetheless, she has definitely gained my respect and admiration. Hopefully, NK will set the two journalists free soon. Anyway, with that enjoy this great documentary entitled "Narco War Next Door."
http://worldfocus.org/blog/2009/03/02/us-mexican-drug-violence-is-deadlier-than-afghanistan-war/4253/

Saturday, July 25, 2009

HOW ROBOT DRONES REVOLUTIONIZED THE FACE OF WARFARE


War most certainly will never be the same. In the future, wars will primarily be fought without soldiers on the battlefield. This absolutely fascinating yet, scary documentary about the future of robots in war is a window into our future. Check it out...
http://edition.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/americas/07/23/wus.warfare.remote.uav/index.html#cnnSTCVideo
PS: It's in three parts. Enjoy!

Thursday, July 23, 2009

CIA Terrorist DEATH SQUADS ---Doctrine-Kill them All--


"Kill them all" has long been ideologically institutionalized and hidden in Massive Retaliation, First Strike Doctrine, Mutual Assured Destruction, Shock and Awe, and Troop Surges.

Most disturbing too is how the "kill them all" mentality trickles downward and outward, and how it has been a part of America's narrative. The belief in "the only good Indian is a dead Indian," which resulted in the genocide of the Amerindian; the tens of thousands of children and women slaughtered in the U.S.-Filipino Uprising, the atomic bombs dropped on civilian centers in Japan; the My Lai's of Vietnam and the U.S. backed death squads in Latin America; and the Abu Ghraibs, Fallujahs, Hadithas, and Bagrams, of Iraq and Afghanistan, all point to a deep malady in America's perception and war strategies.

Osama bin Laden and al Qaeda were also mistaken when they assumed America was a democracy and therefore, held the American people liable for the gross injustices around the world being carried out by U.S. leaders, global corporations, and the Pentagon's war machine. They had no justification in "killing them all" on Sept. 11. The bombings of two U.S. embassies in Tanzania and Kenya, along with suicide bombings in public places that kill civilians, reveals not only a dangerous "kill them all" attitude, but a self-destructive "kill us all" mentality....read more at...http://article.wn.com/view/2009/07/21/Kill_Them_All/


Wednesday, July 22, 2009

Half a trillion dollars...gone..to who? Fed Chairman..."I don't know."


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n0NYBTkE1yQ#watch-main-area

Great video, enjoy.

Hezbollah uses Mexican drug routes into U.S.


Can't believe I missed this story but here it is....

Hezbollah is using the same southern narcotics routes that Mexican drug kingpins do to smuggle drugs and people into the United States, reaping money to finance its operations and threatening U.S. national security, current and former U.S. law enforcement, defense and counterterrorism officials say.

The Iran-backed Lebanese group has long been involved in narcotics and human trafficking in South America's tri-border region of ...Read more about that at...

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2009/mar/27/hezbollah-uses-mexican-drug-routes-into-us/

Saturday, July 18, 2009

The way it used to be


CBS Legend Walter Cronkite Dies

"Most Trusted Man in America" Passes Away in New York at 92.

We were putting the kids to bed when word came that Walter Cronkite died. Immediately I went from being a father—shushing and threatening—to being a kid again. We watched Cronkite before dinner, in the library. I sat cross-legged on the rug. Mom sat on the sofa, and across the room sat Dad in the chair in which he'd fall asleep later that night. I had patches on my jeans and grass stains. I was wearing a Washington Redskins jersey. Everyone was in place, and no one was divorced.....
Cronkite wasn't a robot. His most memorable moments reading the news were personal—his verge-of-tears reading of the bulletin announcing Kennedy's death, and his childlike wonder covering the Apollo 11 launch.....read more at....
http://www.slate.com/id/2223186/


Here's a great slide show of Cronkite's life....pics of him with Truman, Eisenhower, and Anwar Sadat and a pic of the day when President Kennedy was shot and Cronkite briefly lost his composure, taking off his glasses to wipe away a tear...
http://www.nytimes.com/slideshow/2009/05/29/business/media/0529-CRONKITE_index.html

Also another obit at...
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2009/07/17/eveningnews/main5170556.shtml?tag=breakingnews

Friday, July 17, 2009

Gaza---the largest open air prison in the world.


For the past three weeks, I have been visiting my family in the northern Gaza Strip. I was shocked and devastated by the de-development of the Gaza Strip. It was even worse than I imagined. Destruction and destitution are rampant. Combine that with sky high unemployment rates and limited or no freedom of movement, and you have the perfect combination for a failed state and a society in disarray. And to make matters worse, I am stuck here.
Read more here...http://www.huffingtonpost.com/hani-almadhoun/no-way-out-im-trapped-in_b_235874.html

Saturday, July 11, 2009

Investigative reporter Seymour Hersh describes 'executive assassination ring'


http://www.democracynow.org/2009/3/31/seymour_hersh_secret_us_forces_carried

Seymour Hersh: Secret US Forces Carried Out Assassinations in a Dozen Countries, Including in Latin America

Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative journalist Seymour Hersh created a stir earlier this month when he said the Bush administration ran an “executive assassination ring” that reported directly to Vice President Dick Cheney. “Under President Bush’s authority, they’ve been going into countries, not talking to the ambassador or to the CIA station chief, and finding people on a list and executing them and leaving,” Hersh said.

Tuesday, July 7, 2009

BLAME IT ON THE US



They say it's tough being on top but "Holy Crap!"
Here is a selection of headlines I found that were surprisingly only published between January to July 2009. In total, I found 16 stories pegging the US as the "Bad guy." Leave your comments below...
(Click the headline to access the story)

1.China Says U.S. Dissident Sparked Xinjiang Unrest JULY 7, 2009

2. Vietnam Architect Robert McNarama Labled as... WAR CRIMINAL
6 Jul 2009
3. Iran blames U.S. for bitter post-election dispute 17 Jun 2009
4. Chavez blames US for Honduras military coup
7 Jul 2009

5. Karzai blames US for killings 30 Jun 2009

6. Russia blames US for flood of Afghan heroin into country 29 Jun 2009

7. Chinese Official Blames US for Initiating Global Financial Crisis
16 Jun 2009

8. Iran Blames U.S. For Deadly Mosque Bombing
29 May 2009

9. Pentagon official blames U.S. for al-Qaida attacks 20 Apr 2009


10.
Sadr Blames U.S. for Recent Iraq Violence Thu, 25 Jun 2009

11. Mahathir blames US for Gaza war 5 Jan 2009

12. Mexico Blames Drug Cartels On US 'Corruption'
6 Mar 2009

13. Russia blames US as EU gas supplies halt again 14 January 2009

14. Iraq blames Al Qaida revival on U.S. release of 4,000 insurgents
May 7, 2009
15. Defiant North Korea fires rockets, blames U.S.
May 26, 2009

16. Clinton admits US blame on drugs
26 March 2009

O'Reilly, Hannity, Olbermann and the rise of white rage on cable television





Why black commentators would never get away with the antics of Hannity, O'Reilly, and Olbermann. Great Article....a must read! Enjoy

http://www.theroot.com/views/tvs-golden-age-rage

The era of the angry white man is officially here.

There’s Bill O'Reilly, commanding "bad Americans" to "shut up" or shoving his index finger into people's faces and yelling, "Bull!" There was Sean Hannity, accusing guests of saying they would "stand by" while women around the world were raped. And over there was Glenn Beck, dousing a staffer in pretend gasoline before hovering a match over the pleading young man's head—conveniently, Beck's horror show was passed off as a metaphor for the way Barack Obama was going to incinerate America, instead of what it actually was: a gruesome theater spectacle that belonged not on a news network, but in an old-timey street revival...

To read more click the link above.

Thursday, July 2, 2009

UN Backs Drug Decriminalization In World Drug Report

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/06/24/un-backs-drug-decriminali_n_220013.html

In an about face, the United Nations on Wednesday lavishly praised drug decriminalization in its annual report on the state of global drug policy. In previous years, the UN drug czar had expressed skepticism about Portugal's decriminalization, which removed criminal penalties in 2001 for personal drug possession and emphasized treatment over incarceration. The UN had suggested the policy was in violation of international drug treaties and would encourage "drug tourism."

But in its 2009 World Drug Report, the UN had little but kind words for Portugal's radical (by U.S. standards) approach. "These conditions keep drugs out of the hands of those who would avoid them under a system of full prohibition, while encouraging treatment, rather than incarceration, for users...(Click link above to read more)