Greg Hartnett

When asked tonight by Tucker Carlson what he would do to the man who threw a rock at his dog, convicted Watergate felon G Gordon Liddy replied that he would “hurt him real bad”. I guess the people of Texas better hope that Liddy’s dog doesn’t get out when it is pissed off.

Another fire hit my hometown today - and this one directly across the street from my house - literally. Less than 50 paces from my doorstep, a neighbor of 30 years will come home this evening to find their life in shambles. I used to shovel his driveway years ago, when I had the energy to do more than just my driveway.

As I sit here and jot this down, the volunteer firefighters of East Norwich, Oyster Bay, and Syosset are cleaning up the streets, and making sure that the last of the fire is indeed out. I highly doubt that there is any foul play involved in this, but with the string of recent blazes, it leaves you wondering.

See also:

New Round of Flames
Eco-Terrorism in Oyster Bay?

There is so much going on in this crazy world, and so little time to talk about it. Instead of spouting off on any one topic, today I am going to present links to strories that are shaping our world - some you may know about, while others are barely mentioned in the mainstream news.

As I spoke of earlier, the Patriot Act is up for review, and it seems the Federales want to step up the efforts. Ugghhh - read more

As the world finally begins to take notice of the atrocities committed in East Timor, we should remember that the slaughter could not have taken place were it not for the full backing of the US military industrial complex. The Clinton administration could have easily stopped the Indonesian slaughter of the East Timorese. To date, only ONE person has been brought to justice for crimes against humanity. Human Rights Watch has more.

President Bush gave an Iraqi war pep rally that was so full of inaccuracies and misrepresentations that it should be filed under fiction, and not history in the Library of Congress. By misrepresenting past events as factual they become embedded in the national psyche as part of our history. Unchecked, they shape attitude, policy, and action. With the war in Iraq turning into a 21st century Vietnam, the puppet masters are lining up their pawns, and doing all they can to keep the doves at bay. Luckily, modern “wild men in the wings” have more of a chance to reach the masses than back in the sixties. The DNC provides some nice insight - Bush Offers Defensive Rhetoric, Rejects Real Solutions

How do you feel about Army recruiters hanging around public schools trying to lure your kids into service?

With the situation in Iraq growing ever worse, the role of recruiters is becoming more important to the war effort, and increasingly more difficult. Recruiters are turning more and more to their little black book, the “School Recruiting Program Handbook”. Some excerpts worth mentioning:
“The goal is school ownership that can only lead to a greater number of Army enlistments.” “The football team usually starts practicing in August. Contact the coach and volunteer to assist in leading calisthenics or calling cadence during team runs.” “If you wait until they’re seniors, it’s probably too late.” “Get involved with local Boy Scout troops. Scoutmasters are typically happy to get any assistance you can offer. Many scouts are [high school] students and potential enlistees or student influencers.”

As could be anticipated, if you are lucky enough to be a “have” instead of a “have not”, chances are that the recruiters will leave your kids alone. History has shown that the kids in those schools are not the kids who fight America’s wars.

Most parents don’t even know that Uncle Sam is in the schools. The Army needs to be honest and forthright in their recruitment policies. War is not for kids, and smooth talking recruiters should not be allowed to prey on easily influenced children, too immature and unprepared to make decisions that could result in having to kill, or be killed.

If you are interested in the medical marijuana plight, by now you are aware that the Supreme Court ruled for the prosecution in the (Ashcroft)Gonzales v. Raich case. A setback for sure, but far from the end of the battle. For a variety of views, check out the following:

Drug Reporter
The Australian News
National Post
Santa Cruz Sentinel

A passage from Chomsky’s Hegemony or Survival seems somewhat relevant:

One of the leading academic authorities notes that “a provocative case can be made that US drug policy contributes effectively to the control of an ethnically distinct and economically deprived underclass at home and serves US economic and security interests abroad.”* Many criminologists and observers of the international scene regard that as a considerable understatement. The analysis helps explain why the US-sponsored actions are carried out with ever greater enthusiasm and zeal even as they increasingly fail to achieve the alleged goal of dealing with domestic drug use, and why measures that are known to be far more effective, specifically prevention and treatment, are scarcely funded.
The governors of Colombia’s targeted southern provinces, along with peasants and human rights activists, have proposed plans relying on manual eradication of coca and poppies and support for alternative crops, but to little effect. Meanwhile the land is poisoned by fumigation, children die, and the uprooted and scattered victims suffer from sickness and injury.
Peasant agriculture is based on a rich tradition of knowledge and experience gained over many centuries, commonly passed on from mother to daughter. Though a remarkable human achievement, it is very fragile and can be destroyed forever in a single generation. It is being destroyed, and along with it, some of the richest biodiversity in the world. Campesinos, indigenous people, and Afro-Colombians are now joining the millions in rotting slums and camps. And with the people gone, multinationals can strip the mountains for coal, extract oil and other resources, and probably convert what is left of the land to ranching by the rich or agroexport in an environment shorn of its treasures and variety. Informed analysts and observers describe Washington’s fumigation programs as another stage in the historical process of driving poor peasants from the land for the benefit of foreign investors and Colombian elites.

*Jason Burke, Sunday Observer, May 18 2003.

Tuesday saw another fire in Oyster Bay (Cove) - this one approximately 1/2 mile from where one of the houses on the 18th was set ablaze. Odd that I can’t find any mention of it anywhere, but I assure you that there was indeed a fire.

Things are getting creepy on the Gold Coast…

Maybe it’s the sun? Something in the water? Maybe just sheer boredom. The kids in Barbados sure like to party. According to a report published by the National Council on Substance Abuse (NCSA) 34.9 per cent of the 12- to 14-year-olds admitted they had been using drugs for more than five years. Seems a bit young if you ask me. Many students indicated their introduction to alcohol and marijuana “began in the home”. Yikes - better find a better hiding spot.

Full article: The Nation Newspaper | DOPE DAZE

I live in a little town called East Norwich - a hamlet sandwiched between Oyster Bay and Syosset. The main thoroughfare between the two towns is a street called Split Rock Road. The road that I live on turns into Split Rock.

While I was in Vegas stirring up trouble, it would appear that somebody was up to no good on the home front. On the night on May 18, three fires started within a two hour time frame. Town officials have said the fires might have been intentionally set to send an antidevelopment message. While police have yet to put together any leads, they say the fires are “suspicious”. You think???

Related articles:
Oyster Bay Enterprise Pilot
Daily News

“We remain skeptical of the use of medical marijuana, but we continue to monitor the issue,” said health department spokesman Bill Van Slyke.

What the hell is it with these guys? How many reports need be read, or studies conducted before they realize that marijuana is for more than the slacker-set? Get with it already. It kind of reminds me of the tobacco executives, and doctors on their payroll, who fought for years that cigarettes were not unhealthy.

Mike Long, chairman of the Conservative Party of New York State, said many medical marijuana advocates are “looking to liberalize the use of marijuana.” Fantastic!

Here are some must read pot resoruces:

* NORML
* Marijuana Policy Project
* Drug Policy Alliance
* AlterNet Drug Reporter
* Drug War Facts

It’s been 4 years since Congress was rushed into the passing of the Patriot Act. It was a troublesome time, and knee-jerk decisions were made to appease the masses, and calm the terror fear. It was at this point that the Bush administration unleashed their Orwellian nightmare upon the American populace, and Congress pushed the bill through without much discussion or debate.

Many of the provisions of the Patriot Act have come under fire from both sides of the party platforms. Human rights activists have worried that the bill would be used to further encroach privacy and civil liberties. According to reports, the bill had been invoked 108 times over a 22 month period by police entering and searching a home or office without notifying the owner.

Congress has stated that they will hold hearings before a portion of the bill’s provisions set to expire on December 31, 2005. Unfortunately, U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales has already stated that any revisions to the current version would be modest. So much for lifting the veil of secrecy and suspicion of the Bush theocracy.

In an age of continued consolidation in the media industry, it is encouraging to see online classifieds and community site craigslist.org buck the trend.

According to a Yahoo article, there may be light at the end of the Rupert Murdoch tunnel.

Well, the number of soldiers reported injured topped the 10,000 mark, according to Pentagon officials.

To further muddy the situation, it would appear that some murder charges are being dealt in the death of an “injured insurgent” in Falluja. The tragedies continue to unfold - while over 100,000 die from natural causes at the dawn of the new year, we continue to find ways to kill one another en masse.