Obama!!!

Did someone say communist? Oh, that guy again.

What votes? That bill cost him. It cost us the elections. He did it, because he felt it was the right thing to do. I know I will never be able to convince you of that, but that is what some people think.

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"Loves them? They need them, like they need the air."

Immigration is something that I do not think any party has a clue what to do about. There has to be some type of policy we can adopt AND enforce to at least move in the right direction. Many illegals have established a family and a lifestyle here and to just uproot that would be wrong I think. On the other hand other countries would boot your ass out or worse. The border is a money pit and nothing really changes. It is even getting more important with the increased violence in the last few years with the cartels and drugs. I can admit I am not sure what the answer is, but if we do not come up with one soon the compounded problems will be hard to ignore like many do now.

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“The gladdest moment in human life, methinks, is a departure into unknown lands.” – Sir Richard Burton

I used to be on the anti-immigration side but some of the side talk from it bothered me like they are destroying American culture and it is an invasion. They are trying to take the country back because of the Alamo. If that's how my side thinks I'm on the sidelines. I think it is funny how it is always the anti immigration Republican who gets into trouble for the undocumented housekeeper or guy mowing the lawn.

i dont want my family or any other fellow american family having to grow up with illegal immigrants and THE POSSIBILITY of viloence brought from the border cartels and the such. its our duty to protect our citizens and thats something the government needs to highly consider. if there are illegals over here with a good, family morals then i say ok we can look over that, but its the ones that are causing the crimes and murders, this is why we need a federal policy.. In MY opinion

/end rant

/\ no argument here.

OK... but not all illegal immigrants = violence and ignorance. so, what other reason is there for you to not want your family around them?

What are you saying, Ash? All illegal immigrants are violent and depraved people who don't know right from wrong and will rape and murder and annihilate everything pure and innocent around them at the first chance you give them.

All.

To the first point we (both Canada and the USA) broadcast to the world that we are civilized nations that have opportunities for those willing to contribute to the greater good and seek a better life for their families.

Legalize pot and end the Cartels power. Border Towns were rife with violence and corruption in the days of Prohobition of alcohol as well.

The bankers figured out a way to legalise loan-sharking by opening up cheque cashing joints with payday loans, pre-loaded secured creditcards and such with user fees and interest that rivaled what the neighborhood shylock charged.

Why not do the same for Pot?

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"The greatest danger for most of us is not that our aim is too high and we miss it, but that it is too low and we reach it." - Michelangelo.

Pot? really? this is about way more than pot.

What else do the Cartels control? and wasn't homeland security created specifically to secure the borders?

they've been funded in the billions, how on earth are the metric tonnes of narcotics slippen through the steel trap net they have cast for the evil-doers?

Cocaine, heroin, meth, guns... and cute little 16 year old "Jenny" who went missing...

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Thats what I am talking about when I say enforcing. We can have all the laws we want, if we do not enforce them they are useless.


Oh btw - Good morning Caity

Really? What's the return on investment to the cartel from pot vs. heroin, cocaine, and other hard drugs? I'm no expert, but I'd be surprised if marijuana were their Big Dollar item.

The thing that gets me about the legalize pot or any other drug argument is do we legalize for everyone? Or do we set a minimum age to keep it out of the hands of minors? Every state already has a minimum drinking age, and me and my buddies certainly abused the Texas limit when we were 15. So if you legalize marijuana for people 21 or older or even bring it down to age 18, that still leaves a pretty large market for illegal sales to younger users. Plus pot is generally viewed as an entry-level drug in that many people start with it and then "graduate" to harder drugs. Not that marijuana is habit-forming; it's easier to give up than tobacco. But its been my observation that many--perhaps most--of those who try marijuana have a propensity to experiment with other drugs. Someone illegally selling marijuana is likely also to have illegal supplies of harder drugs and likely to encourage a customer to expand his experience, especially if he can sell the other drug at a higher price or can hook the user into becoming a steady customer at whatever price the market may bear.

I realize the war on drugs hasn't been a major success but I doubt just throwing up our hands and declaring drugs legal for one segment of the population would solve the problem. I suspect it would only shift the market to younger buyers.

Perhaps our mistake is that so far the drug war has been conducted on the same basis as the war on prohibition. During prohibition, it wasn't illegal to have booze in your home for private use. It wasn't even illegal to buy it, drink it, or be drunk. The prohibition was against selling it. So like prohibition, the war on drugs has been aimed primarily at the suppliers. And like prohibition, if one supplier is put out of business another takes his place.

On the other hand, prostitution took a big hit when the police started arresting the johns along with the whores. Setting up sting operations where johns hit on police women dressed like whores put a lot of men in embarassing situations and discouraged others who might have followed in their tracks, so to speak. Maybe the police should concentrate on drug sting operations that sack up a bunch of users, give them hard jail time, confiscate mama's car that the kids were driving when they tried to make a buy, they might dry up demand easier than reducing supply.

I miss all the whores on Sunset Boulevard. I never picked any up, but it was entertaining to see the variety, all shapes, races, and sizes. Age wise I never saw any old ones, but there were a few that looked like they hadn't started high school yet.

Well we can't pass judgement on Heroin anymore. not since the Marines are actively providing security of the production of opium in Afghanistan.

Prior to 2003, the Country accounted for less than 10 % of the worlds supply. Today the number is 70%.


guns? Are you suggesting America has to import fire-arms from mexico?

meth is homemade.

why bother having minimum drinking age then?

do some abuse that, sure they do, but some regulation is better than absolutely none at all isnt it?

The booze that is for sale on shelves goes through an approval stage as well in terms of its proof as well as the contents used in its manufacture.

Illegal commodities have none of that whatsoever.


as far as prostitution goes, Sex isnt illegal, paying for sex isnt illegal, (see yellow pages for escort ads) soliciting to pay for sex however is.

So legalize it, allow commen bawdy houses, have them regulated in the same manner as strip joints so they arent in a school or residential zone.

Never saw the Ladies of the Night along Sunset, but I've had some strange ecounters...no, I mean run-ins...make that experiences...doh! Just let me tell you about it.

I was attending my first annual convention of the American Petroleum Institute in San Fransico and had arranged by phone to meet for dinner a former editor of mine who was staying at another hotel. I had a room in the hotel where the convention was held to make it easier to run back to my room and file stories after the sessions. My friend's hotel was within walking distance so I decided to ankle on over to meet him. It was my first time in San Francisco, but the minute I stepped out of my hotel I was instantly reminded of my cop-shop days back in Houston because there were hookers just swarming the sidewalks. There were so many they apparently were working the whole area. I stopped for a redlight a block or two from my hotel, and I swear to God, two hookers stepped up, one on each side and propositioned me! I said, "Damn, are we the only straight guys in town???" It really was a case of overkill. Got across the street and was hurrying to make it to my friend's hotel on time, when this plumpish little black gal in a red power dress, started trying to put the make on me. She was short-legged and wearing 6-inch heels and was having a hell of a time trying to keep up, so she said, "Hell, can't you even slow down long enough to talk about it!"

Actually, she was kinda cute in a cupie-doll fashion, which then put me in mind of New Orleans, where the best-looking "women" working the French Quarter are the female impersonators. What's the chance in San Francisco of ending up with some honey who has a bigger tool than you!

I got hit on by a whore working from her car at the API meeting in Chicago once. What can I say? Women like my smile! She was a buxom blonde and I wasn't having to hurry anywhere at time, so when she called me over to her car I leaned on her door to listen to her spiel. We exchanged pleasantries for a moment when she suddenly gave me this suspicious look and slipped her hand in my suit jacket and ran her fingers along my belt to the small of my back. I laughed and told her, "You're not gonna find any handcuffs there!" That's where detectives often carry their handcuffs, looped over the back of their belt. She looks at me and asks, "Are you a cop?" Told her no, just a reporter who used to work the police beat, which meant I didn't have an expense account to put her on like some of the high-rollers at the meeting.

One of the funniest encounters was at another API meeting in Calgary. There they had the girls limited to the other side of the street from the meeting hall and hotels. One evening I was walking over to meet some folks for supper in a revolving restaurant at the top of this space needle across from the meeting hall, and I saw this police car with two young uniformed policemen in it and these two young prostitutes dressed like teens in short shorts and low-cut tops standing there talking to them. The girl on the curb-side saw me look at them as I walked by and she called out, "Hey, honey, want a date!" I laughed and said, "What does your friend there think of you propositioning me right in front of him?" "Aw," she said, "he don't care."

Calgary is a friendly, colorful city--last time I covered a meeting there, my wife went with me and we accidently ended up in a Gay Pride parade! But that's a whole nother story.

It's one thing to regulate the alcohol and grain mixtures and formulas on booze; it's quite another thing to police the qualty of drugs that easily can be cut anywhere with anything to extend the supply and lower the cost to the dealer. Besides, like I said, it just moves the illegal market to a younger group, just like us teens buying booze. And I don't think marijuana is the major problem anyway or even the biggest dollar item although certainly it is lucrative. Legalizing pot doesn't do anything about the other more dangerous drugs anyway.

I don't favor legalized prostitution either--I've seen too many of those girls on the street to buy that bull about it being a victimless crime. By the way, those escourt ads and low-scale unlicensed massage parlors aren't illegal either. None of them advertise sex. There used to be this police chief here in Houston, a short, fat smiley-face guy who before becoming police chief was head of the vice squad and before that was a vice squad detective. Back at the time they were trying to bust this one massage parlor front for prostitution and the squad decided this little fat innocent looking cop should be the one to go in and pose as a customer cause no one would ever suspect him of being a cop. Well, he went and paid his money and got stripped and lay on the table with a towel over his fat butt, and a young girl in a sexy outfit comes in and starts rubbing his back. He starts hinting around about wanting something more, but she doesn't say anything, just keeps rubbing his back. Finally his 30 minutes or whatever is up and she tells him to get up and go. Which he does, without ever having anyone hit him up for money for sex. It wasn't until later he figured that the handcuffs he carried looped over his belt in the small of his back left a print in the soft fat around his waist. He had taken off his gun and his badge and his cuffs before he went in, but there was an imprint of his handcuffs in the small of his back for all the whores to see!

1st off when it comes to weed, that is exactly what is done. I had friends working up in the Flin-Flon cultivating the MJ for medical use. There are several strands that produce varying degrees of potency. It was overseen by a government regulatory body similar to your FDA.

As to the prostitution, legalizing it takes the girls , and boys for taht matter off of the street.

Condoms, health protocols can be in place.

I don't believe its the Governments job to legislate the moral behavior of its citizens. I do think reasonable safety measures should be available to all those working within the borders.

So long as consenting adults wish to engage in behavior behind closed doors, that does not infringe upon the safety of others, really what is the problem?

As i've mentioned before, teh Cheque cashing and payday loan joints that dot our landscape now and are financed by the big banks (wells fargo primarily i believe), are providing the exact service that the shylocks (loan sharks) used to do.

So there is a need in the marketplace for it, except the threat of bodilly harm has been removed.

and thats a good thing i would think.

Nope… I'm not suggesting that at all... the Cartel are smuggling guns out of the US into Mexico… one of their favorites is the FN 5.7... known on the street as 'Cop Killers'…

Traditionally, yes, a percentage of it is/was… however, the Cartel have moved into the market and they have easier access to ephedrine... so are producing a much purer product… and are supplying the Asian gangs…