June 2002

Necessary Measures for Curbing the Corporate Crime Wave (June 30, 2002)
In light of the recent repeated news stories exposing massive corporate criminality, Drugwar.com happily republishes this tongue-in-cheek list of solutions to the problem, first published in 1999 by Robert Waldrop.

Jungle Fever (June 29, 2002)
"The mercenaries are attached to regular army units, so they are not, officially, 'paramilitaries.' But the many human rights charges they've spawned -- murders, beatings, rapes, torture, illegal detentions -- sound like that old sweet song of yesteryear, when Reagan-Bush proxy armies prowled the Latin American night, killing tens of thousands of innocent people to keep Yankee investments and American-backed elites safe from riff-raff," writes Chris Floyd, reporting on the on-going direct US support of the paramilitary Expeditionary Task Force in Bolivia in the name of the War on Some Drugs and Users, and the poor foreign farmers producing coca there.

The Week Online with DRCNet issue # 243 (June 29, 2002)
The UN says drug use is up world wide despite the billions upon billions of dollars spent, and millions of lives ruined, by the War on Some Drugs and Users, Arizona rules that Knock and Talk visits by police violate privacy rights, fatal drug overdoses are up in Florida, and the Universalist Unitarian Church passes an anti-War on Some Drugs and Users resolution. These stories and many more are covered in this week's issue of the Week Online.

The Strange Origin of the Pledge of Allegiance (June 29, 2002)
"In 1892, a socialist named Francis Bellamy created the Pledge of Allegiance for *Youth's* *Companion*, a national family magazine for youth published in Boston. The magazine had the largest national circulation of its day with a circulation around 500 thousand. Two liberal businessmen, Daniel Ford and James Upham, his nephew, owned *Youth's* *Companion*," reports John W. Baer, a professor of economics. How many of the Americans outraged over the "under god" issue realize that the Pledge was written by a liberal socialist?

Arafat Calls For New US Elections (June 29, 2002)
Rahul Mahajan, the Green Party candidate for Governor of Texas, writes a scathing satirical look at the US election system, comparing it to various governments around the world. Who exactly is it truly promoting democracy?

DOD RELEASES PROJECT SHAD FACT SHEETS (June 29, 2002)
Back in May, 2002, the US Department of Defense finally released information on biological and chemical testing conducting on unsuspecting US servicemen. Read the DOD press release and fact sheets here.

Gov. Dean Quietly Signs Compromise Medical Marijuana Bill (June 28, 2002)
"Without comment or fanfare, on June 21 Gov. Howard Dean (D) signed legislation setting up a state task force to study how Vermont should go about protecting medical marijuana patients from arrest," reports the Marijuana Policy Project.

U.S. COMPLICITY IN 9-11 ATTACKS WIDELY ACCEPTED AT G6B SUMMIT IN CANADA (June 28, 2002)
Michael C. Rupppert joined University of Ottawa Professor Michael Chossudovsky to present their information on the September 11 terrorist attacks, and the seeming involvement of US officials.

New Revelations on Sept. 11 (June 28, 2002)
Prof. Michael Chossudovsky details some disturbing facts and many as yet unanswered questions surrounding the September 11 terrorist attacks.

Australia: Corruption claims stop drug case (June 28, 2002)
Yet another major drug case facing difficulties because of corrupt anti-drug warriors.

Supreme Court Approves Drug Tests in Schools (June 27, 2002)
The Supreme Court in its infinite wisdom has ok'd random drug testing for any and all US public school students who want to participate in any extracurricular activities.

We Have the Right to Be Heard! (June 27, 2002)
"In our present climate, it is a decision that begs the question: if we recognize the right of a people outside of our country to protest their government by occupation and rebellion - a government which we recognize as duly elected -- how can we fail to recognize the rights of our own citizens to protest our government?" Jennifer Van Bergen raises some very pertinent points in this well argued editorial for Truthout.com.

Dollar Slides to Brink of Free Fall (June 27, 2002)
Amid never ending torrents of proof of the endemic corruption at the very top of the US system, it is no wonder the dollar is not doing so well on the world market. This is not particularly good new for anyone.

FBI Begins Visiting Libraries (June 26, 2002)
"The FBI effort, authorized by the antiterrorism law enacted after the Sept. 11 attacks, is the first broad government check of library records since the 1970s when prosecutors reined in the practice for fear of abuses," reports Christopher Newton for the Associated Press.

Prohibition: The So-Called War on Drugs (June 26, 2002)
"The 'War on Drugs' is not something that cannot be made to go away. It exists because during the last few decades a comparatively small group of unscrupulous people, addicted to money and power, have lied to and deceived the American people on a massive scale. This evil can be destroyed if enough Americans resolve to understand why it exists and why it continues to exist. There is a political solution; it may take some time to implement, but the first step is to 'Just Say Know'." Read what else Serendipity has to say about this stupid, destructive, never-ending War.

The CIA- America's Premier International Terrorist Organization (June 26, 2002)
"The U.S. Central Intelligence Agency, as is by now well-known by anyone who has cared to be informed, has long been deeply involved in the international trafficking of the addictive drugs heroin and (since the early 1980s, if not earlier) cocaine, the enormous profits from which have financed, and continue to finance, both U.S. covert operations and the U.S. military (via payments to Pentagon contractors)." Serendipity is at it again, with this page on the CIA that they say "Yahoo refuses to list."

Uncle Sam Bankrolls Terrorism (June 26, 2002)
Joel Miller of WorldNetDaily puts the War on Some Drugs and Users into clear perspective, as usual.

Drug War Strategy Fatally Flawed (June 25, 2002)
"America's drug war is such a spectacular failure that a visitor from another planet might conclude that it's intentionally that way," writes Tom Thompson for the Seattle Post Intelligencer. Contrast this with DEA head Asa Hutchinson's speech in London last week, where he insisted that the US War on Some Drugs and Users is a success, one that only needs lots more US taxdollars and law enforcement to bring to a close at some undefined point way off in the future sometime. Gone are the days of US government officials predicting total eradication by some such date. Rather, now they are crowing about plans to reduce illegal drug use in the US by 10 percent, or 25 percent, etc. This is what we're throwing so much of our tax dollars towards, instead of health care for all Americans?

Spying eyes (June 25, 2002)
The editor of drugwar.com could have sworn that George Orwell's "1984" was a warning against just such an all encompassing society of snitches, spies, and propaganda shoveling by the government during endless war. It appears instead that the Bush administration is using "1984" as its guidebook on how to best rule its citizenry.

Nevada Initiative Has a Chance (June 25, 2002)
Jimmy Boegle of the Las Vegas CityLife, reports on the successful gathering of signatures in Nevada to get the legalized use, and possession of up to 3 ounces of marijuana onto the ballot for this year's election. They aren't talking about just for the sick as that's already legal in Nevada, but by any adult over 21.

Bangkok's Big to Reduce Student Addicts by Half (June 25, 2002)
"Gen Thammarak claimed the government was making progress in its war on drugs. 'Lately, we have not seen addicts climbing up power poles or holding anyone hostage. Besides, the number of traffickers with millions of speed pills is dropping,' he said." Read more of this short report from the Bangkok Post.

Farmers Losing Colombia's Drugs War- Flashback (June 24, 2002)
For a shocking reminder of what exported US anti-drug policies are doing to mainly peasants, not drug lords, in other countries like Colombia, please read this BBC report by Sue Branford from back in January, 2002. These actions continue unabated in Colombia, and elsewhere to this day.

Asa Hutchinson Speech in London, England, June 18, 2002 (June 24, 2002)
"Since coming to the DEA, I've debated a number of critics of our anti-drug policies. As a former prosecutor, I enjoy engaging in that kind of lively debate. As an attorney, I enjoy looking at the evidence—looking at the facts about our drug policies—to find the truth. And I've found that many misunderstandings of the U.S. war on drugs persist. If we want to truly examine U.S. drug policy, we have to embrace the facts and dispel the myths." Sounds good, but then read his so-called dispelling of what he calls four "myths" about the War on Drugs. This guy even quotes unnamed drug addicts in his rational for continuing the War, saying that drug addicts have told him it's a good idea. Most druggies aren't out to lock up their neighbors for their drugs of choice, wouldn't be robbing their neighbors if the drugs weren't so artifically inflated in cost, and wouldn't be dying to the extent they are if the drugs weren't cut by unsrupulous dealers trying to make a buck in spite of insane and malicious prohibitionist actions. This guy is a former prosecutor, not a doctor. Who the hell is he to tell others what they can and can't put in their bodies? If he doesn't want to use tax money to pay for health costs that may result from drug abuse, why is he so willing to use tax dollars to lock up druggies for years upon years?

Smoke-In and Summer Dance Fundraiser in Washington DC (June 24, 2002)
Get out and support an end to the War, and have fun at the same time.

Major Crimes In U.S. Increase 2001 Rise Follows 9 Years of Decline (June 24, 2002)
Guess we need to build some more prisons and pass more repressive laws, since there's such an abundance of lawbreakers still running around, even with more of our own citizens locked up in institutions or under correctional surpervision than anywhere in the whole wide world already. Why spend taxmoney on such beneficial things, such as fixing our educational system, or insuring we all have health care? That'd be socialism, so let's pay billions of dollars a year to lock up the dirty lawbreaking ingrates instead!

US role in Coca War Draws Fire (June 24, 2002)
The US government is giving away $200,000 a month in salaries, and expenses to a Bolivian paramilitary outfit called the Expeditionary Task Force to combat poor farmers left starving and destitute by the oppressive, destructive War on Coca. Are we here in the US going to see a future US President standing in Bolivia 30 or 40 years hence, apologizing to the Bolivian people for US complicity in human rights abuses, murder, and more, and the lying and covering up thereof for decades afterwards, as happened when Clinton visited Guatemala?

Head of September 11 Probe Allegedly Obstructed Waco Inquiry (June 23, 2002)
"The official in charge of ferreting out information about the FBI for a joint congressional intelligence panel allegedly obstructed a Justice Department probe of the bureau two years ago. As the FBI's deputy general counsel, Thomas A. Kelley was the bureau's point of contact for special counsel John C. Danforth's inquiry into the 1993 Waco debacle in which 75 Branch Davidians died in a fire after a 51-day standoff," report Richard Leiby and Dana Priest for the Washington Post. For a detailed examination of this large scale federal killing spree, and Danforth's subsequent whitewash, see Danforth's Warren Report- Covering Up at Waco.

Sex, Drugs, and the CIA (June 23, 2002)
Douglas Valentine exposes some horrific experimentation and outright criminality on the part of the US government and the CIA.

'All of Us Are in Danger' The Sons and Daughters of Liberty (June 23, 2002)
"In the spirit of the Sons of Liberty, on February 4 of this year, some 300 citizens of Northampton, Massachusetts, held a town meeting to organize ways to—as they put it—protect the residents of the town from the Bush-Ashcroft USA Patriot Act." Read what else Nat Hentoff of the Village Voice had to say about this and other similar meetings around the US. Also access the Northampton Bill of Rights Defense Committee's website.

Security bill bars blowing whistle (June 23, 2002)
"A provision in the bill seeking to create a Homeland Security Department will exempt its employees from whistleblower protection, the very law that helped expose intelligence-gathering missteps before September 11," reports Audrey Hudson for the Washington Times.

Scientist Mix Spiders with Goats (June 23, 2002)
Spidergoat?

Sacrifice Is for Losers (June 23, 2002)
"Last weekend marked the media's self-congratulatory 30th anniversary of the Watergate break-in, and it would have spoiled the mood to suggest that all the energy expended on searching for ol' Deep Throat might be better spent trying to crack the Watergate under way right now." Discover which current "Watergate" Frank Rich of the New York Times means here.

31st Annual Rainbow Gathering of the Tribes (June 22, 2002)
Dates and directions are now available for the 2002 Rainbow Gathering.

All Along the Watchtower (June 22, 2002)
"Stanley Hilton, a San Francisco attorney and former aide to Senator Bob Dole, filed a $7 billion lawsuit in U.S. District Court on June 3rd. The class-action suit names ten defendants, among whom are George W. Bush, Dick Cheney, Condoleezza Rice, Donald Rumsfeld and Norman Mineta. Hilton's suit charges Bush and his administration with allowing the September 11th attacks to take place so as to reap political benefits from the catastrophe." William Rivers Pitt once again puts things into clear perspective in his inimitable style.

Dick Cheney Complains About Leaks (June 22, 2002)
"Concern about possible leaks has been a key reason the White House has opposed setting up an independent commission to investigate the attacks. The commission has been sought by some lawmakers and relatives of the victims," reports John Lumpkin for the Associated Press. There's no surprise that a completely out of control government wouldn't want information as to just how, at best utterly useless, at worst completely criminal, the Bush administration actually is. So the administration is falling back on that old standby "national security." Be sure to see the link immediately below this one as well, (Dick Cheney Sees Gathering Danger in Iraq) about Dick Cheney's illegal business dealings with Saddam Hussein and Iraq from 1995 to 2000.

Cheney Sees Gathering Danger in Iraq (June 22, 2002)
"This page contains two stories. The first, yesterday's Reuters news wire report of Dick Cheney's call for the overthrow of Saddam Hussein. The second is an account his business dealings with the Iraqi government. Cheney originally denied that Halliburton under his tenure as CEO had in fact circumvented US law to do business with Hussein's Iraqi government. He was later forced to retract his denials when presented with evidence of Halliburton's dealings," reports the editor of Truthout.org. Read about the US Vice-President's big business dealings with "madman" Saddam Hussein. Cheney's hypocrisy is more than blatant, yet the administration would rather track down whistleblowers who lead embarrassing information about the government than do the honest thing, and prosecute this dirtbag.

Barr Meets with Colombian President-Elect on Drugs (June 22, 2002)
“There is a clear and undeniable link between the drug trade in Colombia and the terrorist organizations threatening the freedom and security of our nations. Now, more than ever, we must not shy away from the drug war effort - we must combat it both here at home and in needed aid to nations like Colombia," said Rep. Bob Barr, completely ignoring the fact that every year the US has flushed taxpayer's dollars down the Drug War toilet in Colombia, the production of heroin and cocaine there has only exploded in size, not to mention that apparently the FBI was more interested in stopping people from using their drugs of choice rather than stopping terrorist attacks within the US.

Higher Immorality? (June 21, 2002)
"'People often justify the war on drugs by saying drug use is inherently immoral,' he said. 'That's not what Jesus said. He said, it's not what goes into a person, it's what comes out. If we meet people with love and respect, we can help them more.'" Read more of the ABC News article.

The Week Online with DRCNet, Issue #242 (June 21, 2002)
Read about voters in South Dakota who will soon vote whether to legalize hemp or not, Nevada voters mulling decriminalization, Britian experimenting with programable heroin dispensers, and the Baltimore City Council deciding it would rather spend money on treatment rather than big billboards, which are useless for anything other than advertising the government's anti-drug hysteria, and possibly even leading kids into experimenting with drugs. Plus, there's the ever useful reformers' calendar.

Tri-State Drug Policy Forum Newsletter (June 21, 2002)
News on Oxycontin prosecution, increased anti-drug aid sought, and upcoming events calendar for reformers in Pennsylvania.

Drug Czar John P. Walters Testifies to a Skeptical Senate Committee (June 20, 2002)
Read a preort by Doug McVay of Common Sense for Drug Policy, about ONDCP Chief Walters' testilying before the a Senate appropriations committee on June 19, 2002.

Human Rights Watch Report- Children Are Collateral Casualties of N.Y. Drug Laws (June 20, 2002)
"Disproportionately harsh drug sentences have not only led to the unnecessary incarceration of tens of thousands of low-level drug offenders, but also deprived thousands of children of their parents," said Jamie Fellner Director of the U.S. Program for Human Rights. Since 1980, 124,000 children in New York have lost a parent to prison because of the War on Some Drugs. Access the entire report, and related material here.

Two FBI Whistle Blowers Allege Lax Security, Possible Espionage (June 20, 2002)
"In separate cases, two new FBI whistle-blowers are alleging mismanagement and lax security -- and in one case possible espionage -- among those who translate and oversee some of the FBI's most sensitive, top-secret wiretaps in counterintelligence and counterterrorist investigations," writes James V. Grimaldi for the Washington Post.

Troops, Meth, and Off Roading in Thailand- Akha Weekly Journal (June 20, 2002)
Matthew McDaniel gives us a detailed update on many ongoing positive and constructive projects of his and the Akha people, as well as the destructive projects of Christian missionaries dead set on killing off the Akha culture. There's also links to Amnesty International's latest report on extra-judicial killings and torture, and more.

"Pathologizing" protest: An exploration of "conspiracy phobia" (June 20, 2002)
"...I was and continue to be viscerally astounded with the inordinate terror of "conspiracy theory" within mainstream, and yes, even progressive, media." Read this well-argued editorial by Carolyn Baker for Online Journal.

Sandbox Event- Confronting the Prison Industrial Complex (June 18, 2002)
If you live in NYC or the surrounding areas, please consider attending this event, "A benefit evening of documentary film, live theater and theater on film to celebrate the release of Sandbox Magazine #10: Incarceration."

Tri-State Drug Policy Forum News (June 18, 2002)
Check out the very useful and informative DPFTS newsletter. This week's issue takes a look at Judge Breyer's injunction against medical marijuana clubs in California, and the DARE program. Also see the upcoming events and protests listings.

Breaking Out of the 12 Step Lockstep (June 18, 2002)
"But today, the recovery movement -- with its emphasis on childhood victimization, lifetime attendance at 12-step groups and complete abstinence from all psychoactive substances -- has fallen from pop culture favor. 'There was a time when it was almost the 'in thing' to say you were in recovery,' says William White, author of "Slaying the Dragon," a history of addiction treatment. Thankfully, that is no longer the case." So writes Maia Szalavitz, the NY writer of "Recovery Options: The Complete Guide", and 12-step program veteran.

Police State USA (June 18, 2002)
"We're in the beginnings of a police state." If the War on Some Drugs hadn't convinced you of this already, check out this site.

The Heroin Kings (June 18, 2002)
This is a blast from the past on heroin, what it is, where it comes from, who produces and transports it, and lots more.

Unanswered Questions- June 11 Conference at the National Press Club (June 17, 2002)
Listen to these serious researchers, lawyers, professors, former government employees, surviving relatives of the hijacking victims, and many more people too, asking many of the unanswered and for the most part unaddressed questions about the September 11 terrorist attacks, questions the Bush administration would rather the common people don't ask or even ponder. Some of this stuff is truly chilling.

The Real Deal on 9-11: Rewarding Failure (June 17, 2002) "On September 11, America experienced a national security failure. Despite America's annual investment of approximately $350 billion in what is supposed to be the world's finest military and intelligence capacity, some 3,000 people died as the world watched helplessly. An hour after the first act of war, the Department of Defense could not protect its own headquarters." So reports Catherine Austin Fitts for Global Outlook magazine and Scoop Media.

In Search of Moral Clarity (June 17, 2002)
"Bush's appearance in a place where intolerance and hatred are preached by Christian spiritual leaders underscores the central crisis facing America today. America is a great nation. The attacks of September 11th did not only take life and destroy property, however. The attacks have brought us to a place where we are unsure of the validity and sustainability of our most basic freedoms," writes William Rivers Pitt in his usual clear and concise style for Truthout.org.

"My Friend, Langley" in Brazil, Perú and Colombia Changes Unnoticed in the United States (June 17, 2002) Peter Gorman takes a long hard look at ongoing covert and relatively overt moves by the US government and other US parties in a variety of South American countries.

Bush Promotes Culture of Service in Ohio State University Address (June 15, 2002)
"President Bush in a commencement address June 14 at Ohio State University announced the creation of the USA Freedom Corps Network -- a partnership between the federal government and volunteer organizations across the nation that will make it easier for Americans to identify opportunities to volunteer to serve the nation and the world," reports the Washington File. But at this link you can also find a report from one attendee on the outright political oppression that occured both before and during the speech by Bush. You can also read the entire Bush speech itself.

Congress Can No Longer Afford to Ignore Corporate Control of the Media (June 15, 2002)
"One of our best-kept secrets is the degree to which a handful of huge corporations control the flow of information in the United States. Whether it is television, radio, newspapers, magazines, books or the Internet, a few giant conglomerates are determining what we see, hear and read. And the situation is likely to become much worse as a result of radical deregulation efforts by the Bush administration and some horrendous court decisions," writes US Representative Bernie Sander, (Independent- VT). Find out what else he had to say about this issue.

Zone Defense (June 15, 2002)
"Drug-free school zones were supposed to keep dealers away from kids. But what happens when the zones engulf whole cities?" This is a very interesting look at a facet of the War on Some Drugs that usually receives little attention, by John Gould for the Washington Monthly.

The Week Online with DRCNet, issue #241 (June 15, 2002)
Check out the reports on NY's competing drug reform bills, the GOP candidate for governor in Maryland calls for drug treatment not jailing, more admitted ties betwen the cocaine trade the Colombian paramilitaries, the drug trade allowing poverty ground Mexicans to survive without a throwing a revolution, the Philipines guarantee they are going to kill drug traffickers long before any pot or drug use does, and lots more, as well as DRCNet's ever useful reformers' calendar.

US Drug Czar Warns Canada on Plan (June 14, 2002)
John P. Walters told the Canadians there's better ways to treat sick people than with marijuana, and that Canda should be getting tougher rather than more humane, seemingly implyling that arresting sick people for using marijuana is better for them than their actual using in the first place.

New 'Scooby-Doo' Drops Drug Subtext (June 14, 2002)
Not even recent US counter-culture icons are safe from prohibition-induced historical reworking and outright paranoia. Worst thing it seems to the editor of drugwar.com about this news is that the makers of the film did include all the original Cartoon's subtle references to sex and drugs in the story, but excised most of them from the final piece of work at the insistence of the ratings moralists.

Police Officer Fired After Drug Arrest Appeals (June 14, 2002)
"Don Morgan, a K9 officer fired from the Meridian Police Department after a drug raid at his Clarke County home, has appealed his termination to the Civil Service Commission," reports Suzanne Monk of the Meridian Star.

Summer of Resistance- Peter McWilliams Vigil, and Fundraiser Dinner (June 13, 2002)
Come join in this statewide rally to remember US government persecuted medical marijuana pioneer Peter McWilliams in San Diego, Los Angeles and San Francisco, and if you are so inclined, attend the fund raising dinner afterwards in Los Angeles. Find contacts and information here.

"No More Media Manipulation" (June 13, 2002)
Historic Statement by Venezuela Media Workers. Be sure to read parts 2 and 3 posted at the homepage, linked at the bottom of this page.

Unruly Trample National Parks (June 13, 2002)
Drug runners and migrants are crushing US national parks along the U.S.-Mexico border, according to this report from the Associated Press.

Unocal Faces Trial for Human Rights Abuses (June 13, 2002)
This is the same major oil corporation that just received the go-ahead for a pipeline through Afghanistan.

Can Inmate Smoke Pot in Jail for Medical Reasons? (July 12, 2002)
This guy was arrested for marijuana offenses, but is apparently going to be allowed to use medical marijuana while serving his sentence in jail. What aren't these officials smoking?

Earth First! Wins Civil Rights Lawsuit Against the FBI (June 12, 2002)
"The FBI has no business calling anybody a terrorist," Cherney said. "They have turned their backs on murders and bombings and acts of terror in order to protect their own informants, and as far as I'm concerned, the FBI is closer to a terrorist organization than the activist groups they're pointing fingers at," reports the Enviornment News Service.

FBI Campaign Against Einstein Revealed (June 12, 2002)
"The Einstein File begins with a request by J Edgar Hoover in 1950: 'Please furnish a report as to the nature of any derogatory information contained in any file your bureau may have on the following person.'" But don't worry folks, the FBI doesn't act like this anymore, this is ancient history. Right?

Threat of 'dirty bomb' softened- Ashcroft's remarks annoy White House (June 12, 2002)
"Attorney General John Ashcroft on Monday overstated the potential threat posed by ''dirty bomb'' suspect Abdullah Al Muhajir, Bush administration and law enforcement officials said Tuesday," leads in this article by Kevin Johnson and Toni Locy in the USA TODAY. This is not the first time the US government has overstated a threat, with the War on Some Drugs leaping to mind.

STATEMENT BY THE PRESIDENT ON FUTURE HOMELAND SECURITIZING AND THE REORGANIZATIONING OF THE INTELLIGENCIARY (June 12, 2002)
"Tom and the Department of Homeland Security will be charged with four primary tasks. They will control our borders and prevent Mexicans, Canadiacs, Peruvian blue flake and thermonukular thingamajigs from entering our country. They will anger state and other territorial local authorities by assuming patronizing control over any and all investigations which are interesting." No, really.

Marin County Changes Medical Marijuana Policy (June 11, 2002)
This is a press release from the Marin Alliance for Medical Marijuana. Seems that local officials and officers overseeing certain law enforcement obligations, like Drugs and Terrorism, are smarter than the feds in Washington DC trying to micromanage everyone's lives. Of course this is by no means includes all local officials, but this notice is a small bit of good news.

Congress And Enron: Why The Bang Turned Into A Whimper (June 11, 2002)
"To the list of recent Next Big Things that fell far short of expectations -- an ignominious inventory that includes the Y2K bug, killer bees, New Coke and the Segway scooter -- we can now add the Enron scandal," begins Arianna Huffington, shining a glaring spotlight on the sleazy underside of Washington politics and its association with Wall Street greedheads.

'In the middle of a nightmare' (June 11, 2002)
"Straight officials persistently denied that any abuse happened...Still, there were six-figure settlements. Enrollment in Straight dropped. One by one, its treatment facilities closed. By mid 1993 Straight was out of business." So writes Jeanne Malmgren of the St. Petersburg Times in Florida.

Most Americans Would Concede Freedoms for Security, Poll Says (June 11, 2002)
Might this explain the War on Some Drugs and Users?

Shock at Brazil journalist's killing (June 10, 2002)
"Mr Lopes disappeared last week while investigating drug trafficking and the sexual abuse of young girls in one of Rio's slums," reports the BBC, which notes one suspect under arrest by authorities has pinned the blame for Lopes' murder on an alleged fugitive drug lord, Elias Maluco.

U.S. Lawmakers See More Intelligence Failures (June 10, 2002)
"The chairman of the U.S. Senate intelligence committee said on Sunday 'significant numbers of people' from inside the government were coming forward with new information on U.S. intelligence failures related to the Sept. 11 attacks on America."

New Mexico Governor Commutes Sentence of Raped Prisoner New Mexico (June 10, 2002)
"Republican Gov. Gary Johnson, the highest US elected official to advocate for radical drug law reform, commuted the six-year theft sentence of Belinda Dillon after three jail guards convicted of sexually assaulting her received lesser prison sentences than the one she was serving, the Santa Fe New Mexican reported."

Afghan Opium Harvest Estimated at 3,000 Tons (June 10, 2002)
"The United Nations drug control office estimates that the Afghan opium harvest will yield up to 3,000 tons of opium this spring. That's what UN spokeswoman Antonella Deledda told a press conference in Dushanbe, Tajikistan, the Frontier Post (Pakistan) reported Monday. While well below the record Afghan crop of 1999, when the yield hit 4,600 tons, the huge harvest is a remarkable reversal from last year."

Homer Simpson Suppressed (June 9, 2002)
Fox doesn't want to let Homer Simpson have his say on Paul Krassner's new album. No worries though, Homer's getting to express himself anyway, despite Fox's suppressive act. You can read what Homer had to say in this letter from Paul Krassner himself, and discover as well why Krassner thinks it's a positive thing what Fox has done. You can also access a link here Homer's actual suppressed introduction.

The Color Wheel of Fascism (June 9, 2002)
"Each day, The Fallout Shelter will post a color-coded Fascist Alert. Unlike the ones issued by our competitors, ours will actually change from time to time. Additionally, we have thrown in - at no extra cost - a handy Actions Guide, so that you will actually know what to do with your alert. What a deal!"

CITIZEN ALERT: C-SPAN denies public TV access to 9-11 victims' families and 9-11 panel seeking answers and accountability (June 9, 2002)
Call, email, and/or fax C-Span and ask them to please cover this June 10 panel discussion on the September 11 terrorist attacks, what US government foreknowledge existed, and what we the people can do about it.

Reagan, FBI, CIA tried to quash campus unrest (June 9, 2002)
"For years the FBI denied engaging in such activities at the university [of California]. But a 17-year legal challenge brought by a Chronicle reporter under the Freedom of Information Act forced the agency to release more than 200,000 pages of confidential records covering the 1940s to the 1970s, the newspaper reported in a special section for its Sunday editions." To read more on the topic of the US federal government's intelligence agencies targeting US citizens for using their constitutional rights, and therefore understand why giving these agencies more powers to investigate anyone they see fit to is a really bad idea, (but certainly not a new one), visit this brilliant website about COINTELPRO.

Slow Progress on Rockefeller Drug Law Repeal (June 9, 2002)
"Although the current proposals represent a potential step forward, they are defective in substantial ways." Click link to find out what those many substantial defects are.

An Open Letter to John Ashcroft- There's Still One Very Big Boob in the Picture (June 9, 2002)
"It's not the money it cost. It's the message you send. We've got the right to live in freedom. We've got the right to cheat Americans out of millions of dollars and then just not want to tell congress about it. We've got the right to drop bombs night and day on a small country that has no army, no navy, no military at all, because we've got the right to bear arms, but we just better not even think about the right to bare breasts." So noted author Claire Braz-Valentine in her blistering yet very funny letter to Ashcroft.

Could Terrorism Result in a Constitutional Dictator? (June 9, 2002)
" Congress has the power to determine whether it wants the American equivalent of a constitutional dictator in the White House. The only way to be certain that we don't make that decision during a crisis, is to revise and codify our emergency laws now - before fear and anger in the aftermath of a possible attack might cause us to make bad decisions, and too easily trade liberty for security in numerous areas," writes John Dean, former Counsel to US President Nixon.

The Pollster Who Answered a Higher Calling (June 8, 2002)
"At issue was MPP's efforts to recruit on-line survey respondents among its members and allies for Zogby; in exchange, Zogby is providing free national polling for MPP. After learning of the partnership, an extreme, ineffectual, prohibitionist organization by the name of Drug Watch International (DWI) released a statement saying, 'The insidious inroads that the small but heavily financed drug culture continues to make into the fabric of society is truly frightening. It is time for the media to expose these lobbyists, just as they would expose pedophiles who try to influence child abuse laws and enforcement,'" notes a press replease from the Marijuana Policy Project. Read the surprise Washington Post story from June 3 about the MPP.

Flashback- Staff cry poetic injustice as singing Ashcroft introduces patriot games (June 8, 2002)
Julian Borger in Washington The Guardian
Monday, March 4, 2002- "This is not the first time Mr Ashcroft's subordinates have realised that this attorney general is unlike ordinary politicians. Each time he has been sworn in to political office, he is anointed with cooking oil (in the manner of King David, as he points out in his memoirs Lessons from a Father to His Son). When Mr Ashcroft was in the Senate, the duty was performed by his father, a senior minister in a church specialising in speaking in tongues, the Pentecostal Assemblies of God. When he became attorney general, Clarence Thomas, a supreme court justice, did the honours." Having had much personal experience with religious intolerance, this article about Ashcroft, his 'inspirational' musical endeavors, and ultra-fundamentalist background explains a lot about the US Attorney General and his outlook on how we all should live our lives, not to mention his substituting Crisco cooking crud in place of the original sacred anointing oil, alledged by some to contain copious amounts of cannabis.

Propaganda and Plan Colombia Perception management of the US's terror war (June 8, 2002)
"The PR specialists' job was to transform the perceptions of the Colombian state as a corrupt and brutal abuser of human rights, to a staunch ally of the US in its so-called 'war on drugs'. The director of Sawyer/Miller's Colombia account explained that, 'the main mission is to educate the American media about Colombia, get good coverage, and nurture contacts with journalists, columnists, and think tanks. The message is that there are 'bad' and 'good' people in Colombia and that the government is the good guy.'" So reports Doug Stokes, pulling no punches in this nauseating expose on US policies and the propaganda garnering these policies support amongst the US populace, who never seem to tire of swallowing lie after stinking lie from their own 'elected' officials.

UK- It's All In the Price (June 8, 2002)
"The street price of illegal drugs in Britain has never been lower. The message should be clear—prohibition has failed." It couldn't be stated more bluntly than this, from one of the UK's leading newspapers.

DC - DEA Burning States Rights to Medical Marijuana (June 7, 2002)
"In a show of effective non-violent civil disobedience, 10 people got arrested today to fight for states rights and for people who are sick to access the medical marijuana." Be sure to check all the updates here at the left of the page on protests from cities around the US.

Has the Establishment Left become a handmaiden of the Republican Right? (June 7, 2002)
"Noam Chomsky, to some the father of the Establishment Left, who has been persona non grata on corporate-controlled US airwaves recently turned up on CNN with the 'virtuous' Heritage Foundation fellow and Washington retread William Bennett, who on a previous CNN appearance with Paula Zahn dismissed Chomsky's bestseller '911' as appealing to 'the kooks in our midst.' That insult apparently didn't bother Chomsky one iota as he essentially agreed with Bennett that the September 11 attacks were carried out by 'terrorists' because 'they hate us.'" So writes Bev Conover for Online Journal.

BuzzFlash Interviews Greg Palast (June 7, 2002)
"It seems to the rich of Venezuela, and to the rich in the United States, civil society means the oil companies, the banking association, and the U.S. Embassy, are the ones who should choose a president."

Fatigue dogged U.S. pilots- Crews urged to use amphetamines days before Canadian troops killed (June 7, 2002)
Speed kills, especially if used by people flying warplanes and firing live ammunition around allied troops.

Did The Drug War Claim Another 3,056 Casualties On 9-11? (June 7, 2002)
Arianna Huffington points out that it was the FBI's "crippling addiction to America's war on drugs" that was behind its not stopping the terrorist attackers of Sept. 11. "Let's face it, canvassing flight schools in search of suspicious students is nowhere near as sexy as one of those big drug busts with the bags of coke or bales of pot piled high for the cameras."

ATTORNEY: FBI 'MANUFACTURED' CRIME (June 6, 2002)
by Brett Barrouquere- The Advocate, LA
"The federal government "manufactured" a crack cocaine trafficking crime involving three former West Baton Rouge Jail guards, a defense attorney for one of the men said Tuesday. The first time any of the three men possessed crack cocaine was when an FBI agent handed it to Gerald Robertson Jr. on May 28, said Frank Saia, the attorney for former guard Warren Terrell Chapman."

BONG HIT (June 6, 2002)
by Brook Adam- The Stranger
Police Operations Lieutenant Mike Nolan "says every shop in the area that continues to sell paraphernalia will get its turn."

Air Force Officer Suspended for Criticizing Bush (June 6, 2002)
By Reuters | New York Times
"A U.S. Air Force officer has been suspended from duty after he wrote a letter to a California newspaper accusing President Bush of allowing the Sept. 11 attacks to happen 'because he needed this war on terrorism,' a military official said on Tuesday."

Unleashing the FBI 'There Would Be No Place to Hide' (June 6, 2002)
by Nat Hentoff Village Voice
"But the poisonous core of this reorganization is its return to the time of J. Edgar Hoover and COINTELPRO, the counter-intelligence operation--pervasively active from 1956 to 1971--that so disgraced the Bureau that it was forced to adopt new guidelines to prevent such wholesale subversion of the Bill of Rights ever again."

Hill Again Poised to Limit Constitution (June 6, 2002)
On the anniversary of D-Day, the allied invasion of France to begin the process towards "freedom" from Nazism in Europe 58 years ago, our own government is attempting to give yet more powers to our own secret police forces, shredding our Constitution.

Analysis Proves- Politicians Don't Get Medical Marijuana (June 5, 2002)
"This report outlines the findings of sixty-six separate public opinion polls on the subject, reviews many of the questions asked in them, describes respondents' demographics and party affiliation, defines the political implications, and illustrates why the medical marijuana issue is so important in the public mind."

9-11 and the Public Safety : Seeking Answers and Accountability
Press Release- UnansweredQuestions.org (June 5, 2002)
There will be a press conference asking many of the questions the mainstream press is refusing to address concerning events and knowledge before, during and after the September 11 terrorist attacks.

Akha to English Word Book Finished, Thieving Troops, and Macadamia Expert Sought- Akha Weekly Journal (June 5, 2002)

Bush Admits Global Warming Does Exist, Recommends No Action Be Taken (June 5, 2002)
Companies should take it upon themselves to clean up their act because they are creating global warming for real, says Bush. What makes Bush think these companies are going to change their ways voluntarily?

DEA raids Santa Rosa pot club, arrests 2 (June 5, 2002)
There is something drastically wrong with the feds. They've raided yet another medical marijuana outlet in California, where the State's residents legalized medical use of marijuana way back in 1996. When are the feds going to get their priorities straight?

Ashcroft, FBI running scared (June 4, 2002)
Even conservative pundits and politicians are outraged at moves by Attorney General Ashcroft and the FBI to give themselves increased police state powers. Whatever happened to the United States and its dedication to freedom I was trained to think existed during my school years?

Hundreds Nationwide to Disrupt DEA Business-as-Usual to Protest Expected Raids on Medical Marijuana Dispensaries in 9 States (June 4, 2002)
Get out on Thursday, June 6, to tell the DEA to leave medical marijuana users alone. While you are at it, tell them to leave all of us pot smokers and users alone. Join hundreds to thousands of other fed up pot using Americans and make your voices heard in the offices of this evil and blatantly un-American organization, the DEA.

The Leash is Off (June 4, 2002)
"America's KGB, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, has had its already sweeping powers augmented yet again, under a set of new "guidelines," issued by Attorney General John Ashcroft."

Security for Activists: Overcoming Repression (June 4, 2002)
"Political dissidents have always been the target of government repression and corporate surveillance. It is important to take these attacks seriously and object to them. At the same time it is important not to allow fear-mongers to scare you away from political participation. Stories about vast conspiracies and elaborate surveillance technologies can create an atmosphere that discourages activism. This is what the opposition wants. On this page you will find sensible and reliable information about safety and security for political activists."

For 110 inmates freed by DNA tests, true freedom remains elusive (June 4, 2002)
"Their time in prison surpassed 1,000 years, and all were wrongly convicted. Then they returned to lives that had passed them by," reports the Associated Press

Crime falls in cannabis trial area (June 3, 2002)
Street crime levels in South London, where there is currently a loosened policy on marijuana, have plummeted, showing an apparent correlation between peaceful non-criminality, and marijuana use. Quitting the arresting of pot smokers leads to less crime. Imagine that. After all these years of prohibitionist lies, the truth is beginning to assert itself.

Committee Chair Questions FBI Powers (June 3, 2002)
Rep. James Sensenbrenner, R-Wis., The House Judiciary Committee chairman, "said Saturday the Justice Department has gone too far in giving the FBI new authority to monitor Americans and risks a return to the 'bad old days' of abuses in domestic surveillance," reports the Associated Press.

Global Eye - The Foggy Dew: Shadow Warriors (June 3, 2002)
"In this atmosphere of leader-spawned national panic, imagine what would happen if a heavily armed, black-clad prowler were found planting a bomb at a civilian power plant. Surely the story would be 24-7 in the national media, right? Tabloids, networks, talking heads would be screaming the news to high heaven: "America Under Attack! Terrorists in Our Midst!" Unless, of course, the heavily armed prowler happened to be -- wait for it -- a member of the U.S. military. And unless the incident occurred in Jeb Bush's satrapy of Florida. Then all you would see is small story in a provincial paper, the Savannah Morning News, which last week told the curious tale of Specialist Derek Lawrence Peterson, 64th Armor Division, who was nabbed for planting a bomb in a power station in Jacksonville, Florida."
Chris Floyd reports on an extremely disturbing story that is as yet way underplayed in the US press story. He also discusses US military spraying of US servicemen, comparing this to Bush Administration "outrage" over Saddam Hussein's spraying his own people with poisons.

Smokey and the Bandit (June 3, 2002)
"Ed Forchion is no saint. If his arrest record were of the musical variety, it would be a double album or a boxed set. And yet in these warped through-the-looking-glass times we live in, where official truth more often than not turns out to be a lie, Ed Forchion, 38, is something of a role model. Forced by circumstance and his own lapse of judgement, this formerly apolitical Rastafarian trucker has become a radicalized constitutional warrior. He has dared to ask out loud, in a court of law no less, the question the estimated 80 million Americans who have tried marijuana have asked themselves in private: Why is it illegal? " So writes Jonathan Valania for the Philadelphia Weekly.

--------------

The Editor of Drugwar.com has decided to use this amazingly beautiful Saturday dawn, June 1, 2002, in the Lower East Side of Manhattan to link to some sites and articles promoting good news, and more postive vibes than our typical fare in this column, (other than for the one link to the FBI and CIA having new powers to roam at will investigating us all regardless of whether we're actually suspected of any crime, found below.) Remember there is a light side to this War on Drugs, it's not all the Blue Meanies, and it behoves us all to remember this sometimes. The counter culture thrives, despite Big Brother's efforts to convince us otherwise.

Other Dimensions
Besides a neat photo and a short essay, there are a link here to books in the drugwar.com store that allow the enquiring types glimpses into those other dimensions.

A Simple Experiment Goes Well- Butthole Surfers are a better Shroom Band than Jane's Addiction
By Preston Peet (Originally published in the New York Waste, Nov. 2001)

The Use of Music in Psychedelic (LSD) Psychotherapy
Helen L. Bonny and Walter N. Pahnke
Journal of Music Therapy, Vol. IX (1972) : 64-87 Copyright (c) 1972 by The National Association for Music Therapy, Inc.

Dreaming Heart Artworks
Quite an assortment of wigged out, beautiful, and oh so trippy art work on display here.

Psychedelic Experience and Spiritual Practice: A Buddhist Perspective
An Interview with Jack Kornfield by Robert Forte, dealing with a facinating subject.

Shamanism and the Drug Propaganda: Gnosis
This is a chapter excerpt from our own Dan Russell first book, Shamanism and the Drug Propaganda, as should be obvious from the above title. Great book on the historical cultural influences psychedelics of all kinds played, and how those root lead to our current Western fears of drug use and intoxification in general, except in certain officially sanctioned cases.

Psychedelic Sites
What more needs to be said with a title like that?

Medical Possibilities for Psychedelic Drugs
by Paula Kurtzweil FDA Consumer magazine (September 1995)
"Scientists at the Orenda Institute in Baltimore are taking a novel approach to treating drug addiction: They plan to give patients LSD." And that's not all these find medical pracititioners were considering. Would that this were the norm, rather than so-called controversial medicine.

Treatment of Alcoholism with Psychedelic Therapy Abram Hoffer
From: PSYCHEDELICS, The Uses and Implications of Psychedelic Drugs edited by Bernard Aaronson and Humphry Osmond Doubleday & Company, 1970. ©Aaronson & Osmond.

Non-Therapeutic Uses of LSD
Stanislav Grof, M.D. Chapter 8, LSD Psychotherapy, ©1980, 1994
There's a heck of a lot of reasons people may want to try this chemical, highly illegal due to prohibitionist hysteria and Establishment counter-counter culture warfare.

FBI and CIA coming on-line with new powers (June 1, 2002)
"The FBI has assumed new powers to investigate people and organizations not even suspected of crime, with blessings from the US Department of Justice and its terror-terrified Lord Protector John Ashcroft. " This is a hilarious way of putting things, much lacking and here in the US, land of that Free Press and all those other freedoms.