cannabisnews.com: Lawmakers Consider Medical Marijuana Lawmakers Consider Medical Marijuana Posted by CN Staff on January 16, 2006 at 08:38:35 PT By Edward Mason, Staff Writer Source: Newburyport Daily News Newburyport, MA -- Scott Mortimer uses marijuana to relieve crippling lower back pain that has tortured him since he was a teenager, following an operation to correct a spinal defect.Muscle relaxants left Mortimer, 37, lethargic. Prescription pain relievers, including opiates, caused severe stomach bleeding. Grasping for an alternative, Mortimer began using marijuana in 1995. Although the cannabis relieves his agony, he has taken on a new burden: fear of arrest. "You don't want to add legal problems to dealing with a serious illness," Mortimer said. "I shouldn't have to break the law to get relief."Mortimer's worries might end this year.Massachusetts could become the fourth New England state to legalize medical marijuana under a plan before state lawmakers.On the heels of Rhode Island's recent approval of medical marijuana use, lawmakers here are pushing a measure, with the support of some Newburyport-area legislators, that would allow doctors to prescribe marijuana. Backers say people who suffer from debilitating pain and chronic diseases should be able to gain relief without fear of arrest, something 11 states have approved.But the initiative faces high hurdles. It is opposed by the Romney administration. Local lawmakers, aware of the plague of opiate addiction in the Merrimack Valley, want to ensure access to medical marijuana is airtight. Also, marijuana use — even under a doctor's care — is illegal under federal law, and the Supreme Court holds that permissive state laws are trumped by the federal prohibition.Under the Massachusetts proposal, authored by Brookline Democrat Rep. Frank I. Smizik, the Massachusetts Department of Public Health would certify patients using or growing marijuana, also called cannabis, for medicinal purposes. The state would issue identification cards to patients and also would designate a single caretaker who could handle or grow marijuana for a disabled patient. Patients would be limited in how much marijuana they could use and grow. Doctors would be restricted in the types of afflictions they could prescribe cannabis for, including HIV/AIDS, severe pain and nausea, multiple sclerosis and Crohn's disease.Rep. Barbara A. L'Italien, D-Andover, whose district includes part of Georgetown, is a co-sponsor of the bill and one of several North of Boston lawmakers who have expressed support for the proposal. She opposes legalizing marijuana for recreational use but thinks it can help those with serious illnesses."I feel very strongly that there are people who have chronic illnesses or pain for whom this seems to bring some measure of relief, and they don't respond to alternatives for pain relief," L'Italien said. "Why wouldn't we want those folks to have relief and some quality of life?"L'Italien's argument resonates with many area legislators, especially those who have family members or friends who have suffered from long-term ailments.For Rep. Harriett L. Stanley, D-West Newbury, her mother's losing battle with lung cancer cemented her support for legalized, government-regulated, medical marijuana. Stanley said toward the end of her life her mother might have found relief from marijuana.State Rep. Michael Costello, D-Newburyport, said he would support the bill if changes were made. He wants to see marijuana dispensed in a controlled manner, similar to other prescribed drugs."I may have a problem if people are allowed to grow it," he said. "The question is, where are you going to put controls on it? You don't know if children can get at it."The issue of decriminalizing marijuana — not just for medical purposes — has been raised locally before.In the 2002 election, voters in towns represented by Costello, Stanley and L'Italien — including Newburyport, Amesbury, Georgetown, Groveland, Merrimac, Newbury, Rowley and Salisbury — backed a non-binding ballot question to "decriminalize" marijuana. Advocates want marijuana possession treated the same way as running a red light, where a ticket is given to offenders.The vote instructed Costello, Stanley and L'Italien to file legislation to make marijuana possession a civil offense, and vote in favor of it. None of them filed such a bill.The debate over legalizing marijuana for medical use kicked up when Rhode Island became the third New England state — along with Maine and Vermont — to pass a medical marijuana law. The Rhode Island law, passed over the governor's veto, lets people grow up to 12 marijuana plants or buy 2.5 ounces. Medical marijuana users must register with the state and get a photo identification card.With the New England states, 11 states allow marijuana to be grown and used for medicinal purposes. The other states are Alaska, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Montana, Nevada, Oregon and Washington.Even with the state laws, marijuana use and sale can be prosecuted under federal law. The Drug Policy Forum of Massachusetts says fear of prosecution makes it difficult to know how many use marijuana to cope with long-term pain and disease.Source: Newburyport Daily News (MA)Author: Edward Mason, Staff Writer Published: Monday, January 16, 2006 Copyright: 2006 Eagle Tribune Publishing CompanyWebsite: http://www.ecnnews.com/nt/Contact: online_editor EagleTribune.com Related Articles & Web Site:DPFMAhttp://www.dpfma.org/Lawmakers Consider Medical Marijuana http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread21457.shtmlHedlund Favors Allowing Medical Use of Marijuanahttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread21452.shtml Home Comment Email Register Recent Comments Help Comment #57 posted by ekim on January 17, 2006 at 20:10:55 PT thank you potpal yes cool idea potpal 48 sorry to hear you have been sidelined but is lucky for the people. ----will a 3-d stereogram work with your annmation. if their were a picture of a lush green field blowing in the wind -RANDOM dot stereogram with cannabisnews.com and cause stereopsis would attract attention. http://www.magiceye.com/faq.htm#inventedwww.magiceye.com/3d http://www.magiceye.com/3d [ Post Comment ] Comment #56 posted by whig on January 17, 2006 at 16:30:52 PT global_warming Just intonation is a recognition that harmonics should be respected and reinforced. We avoid the temperaments which dissonate for the fundamentals which resonate.In equal temperament, all pitches are ablated to a uniform distance from one another, twelve semitones to the octave, so that the square peg fits the round hole simply by filing off the edges. It is this premise upon which most western classical music has been based in the past several centuries to the destruction of genuine inspiration. [ Post Comment ] Comment #55 posted by whig on January 17, 2006 at 16:25:03 PT museman We are all related, we are all divine. [ Post Comment ] Comment #54 posted by global_warming on January 17, 2006 at 15:35:21 PT re:52 Only 'intonation, sounds interesting, especially the part about what kind of world do want to live in?Thanks pp comment48, that was perfect, I hope to see more states blinking green..As for me, when I read about, http://www.cnn.com/2006/LAW/01/10/teens.lynching/index.htmlI realize that it is not only the corrupted who suck on the government tit, but that our families and communities are still blindly and currently being instructed in the most hateful ways, ways that even the dumb animals uphold a greater honor in this world. [ Post Comment ] Comment #53 posted by museman on January 17, 2006 at 14:25:52 PT: whig 52 It isn't important (except to the person) how you reach the mountaintop, by wing or careful steps, as long as you reach it.O Mitakuye Oyasin http://wholeearthfamily.org [ Post Comment ] Comment #52 posted by whig on January 17, 2006 at 14:03:47 PT museman #50 I tend to be more on the theory side to some extent, but I don't accept the common practice of equal temperament, and I find it's mostly useful to understand what others have done in order to avoid doing the same stuff in the same way.I think it is awesome to hear someone jam out, and some musicians are fantastic at it, but there is a place for a carefully constructed message too. I think of music as a conversation, and there are many kinds of conversations. Sometimes you are just chatting with your friends, or discussing things with folks you know understand your basic metaphor. Other times you have to really sort of lay a foundation and try to reach out to those who are still finding their way in the darkness. And we're all in need of a little of both at different times.I try to express my musical ideas in just intonation, it requires a certain amount of patience to analyze things this way but it allows me to correct mistakes that might be nearly impossible to hear, but the resulting clarity is amazing.I want to say to people: LISTEN. YOU ARE GOD. RIGHT NOW. WHAT KIND OF A UNIVERSE DO YOU WANT TO LIVE IN? NAMASTE, NAMASTE, NAMASTE. [ Post Comment ] Comment #51 posted by FoM on January 17, 2006 at 11:55:04 PT potpal I started doing some math and I was wrong about Ohio's laws. More precisely any amount under 100 grams not a quarter pound. There I feel better. [ Post Comment ] Comment #50 posted by museman on January 17, 2006 at 11:09:07 PT: whig 46 There are of course many ways to approach music, or 'be' a musician. The socially accepted norm is through the left-brain mathematical study and practice of 'theory.' Most of the music you hear on mainstream radio, falls into this category.Though I appreciate some of the musical works that have come from this formula, as a musician I classify those as 'old school.' With much respect. However I had the opportunity to explore new horizons of musical possibilities during my psychedelic phase, and came to respect the ability of musicians to 'boldly go where none has gone before' even more. The total right-brained intuitive spontaneous composition of music is a thrilling experience. When you can also compose your lyrics on the spot as well then you are at the apex of the possibilities (from my perspective).I have found generally speaking, that those musicians who are oriented in the theory find it difficult to be musicly uninhibited enough to step out of well defined structure. In contrast, I have found also generally speaking, that those intuitive 'play by ear' musicians are capable of playing right along with the structured as well as the freestyle.A lot of the really greatest rock music is/was a combination of the structure and the intutitive together.It's really a matter of taste and spirit. Music is a tonal vibration that appeals to like vibrations in the observer/participant. That's why we have certain kinds of music for certain kinds of people. http://wholeearthfamily.org [ Post Comment ] Comment #49 posted by FoM on January 17, 2006 at 10:20:27 PT potpal That's a great idea! Go for it and keep us posted. Ohio is sort of a green state. Ohio has decriminalized anything under a quarter pound. [ Post Comment ] Comment #48 posted by potpal on January 17, 2006 at 10:10:07 PT global_warming For you... http://www.atbeach.com/burgerlink/greenstates.jpgandhttp://www.atbeach.com/burgerlink/greenstate.swfThe jpg is ripe for the taking...if you want it.Aloha.Anyone wish to fill me in on other states, like those leaning, and I'll update the map.I worked for a time as a flash programmer, up until I was denied a security clearance, creating educational flash based animations. Anyone know anything about storyboarding? I started to make a short re: official word versus correct science animation. Each storyboard contains some text and some form, be it graphic or animated, of visual accompaniment or interaction. We could make a commercial ourselves and upload it to video google, whatever. Whachathink? [ Post Comment ] Comment #47 posted by FoM on January 17, 2006 at 08:30:55 PT Whig When my husband and I got together back in the early 70s he said he would like to learn to play a guitar. He never did. I said to him recently lets get you an acoustic guitar and he looked at me puzzled. I said don't you remember when you said you wanted to play a guitar and he said yes. Why not now I said. He smiled so maybe we will get one for him to enjoy. It's never too late unless you wait too long and die. [ Post Comment ] Comment #46 posted by whig on January 17, 2006 at 08:15:06 PT museman #41 There are listeners who are not per-se musicians that do understand, at least they know when they are hearing something real, and I've been such a listener since I was 16. Just learning to compose music lately, and I still approach things from a different direction than performers, I spend a lot of time on careful tuning and listening. Peter Gabriel is a good example of someone who has a perfectionism that works well. There is a place for free performance, and some people excel at that, but I am not someone who wants the spotlight, so it isn't for me. [ Post Comment ] Comment #45 posted by Hope on January 17, 2006 at 08:06:18 PT "lets project some light towards him" Good idea, NuevoMexican. Throw a little "love" which is also "light" in there and all the better. [ Post Comment ] Comment #44 posted by FoM on January 17, 2006 at 07:49:15 PT Nuevo Mexican Here you go!http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/stores/artist/glance/-/75228/104-5371255-3634330 [ Post Comment ] Comment #43 posted by nuevo mexican on January 17, 2006 at 07:43:30 PT Mason Profitt! Mayan, you blow my mind! As a 15 and 16 year old, I would see Mason Profitt once a month, at the Sherwood Country Club in Indy, as they were from Champain, Illinois. Great band, ahead of their time!I've even brought them up here before, so for you to mention them, I don't know what to say! They moved to Tucson back in the early Seventies, as did I, and then broke up after two great albums that made me fall in love with the lap steel guitar!These guys were the FIRST I can recall, to take country, bluegrass, rock and put it all together!Before the Eagles even!And I'm not a country fan, unless its' Willie, or Neil!So thanks for the info, both songs you mention are classics that only a few priveliged people know about. Do you know where I could find copies of their two albums Mayan?We will have to get together someday to go through the history of rock, cannabis, and the roots of the Neo-Con takeover we are currently victims of.Thanks for your persistence with the 911 info, it WILL come out soon, and bush will eat a pretzel and end it all before justice is done, yet the Universe will take care of biz I'm sure, always does, eventually! Key word!Congrats to Mary Louise Parker, AND the gay cowbow movie! Now bushie can come OUT OF THE CLOSET!Guesss what everyones thinking George!EWWWWWW!AND Bill Richardson had better not postone the Medical Cannabis bill, when I met him, he looked at me like he could use a big fatty, I guess I look like I use Cannabis, and I had already gotten a big laugh from the audience with my pointed question to him, that you couldn't hear the answer to due to the commotion.Great moment, and then we were introduced afterwards, and I felt I could read his mind, by the way he read me, (my question was about how the Dems could let bush get this far, and why arent' they doing their job as an opposition party).I really wanted to hear his answer. but my question made everyone nervous, yet it was the question on everyones mind, that I chose to ask.Anyway, I never cared for Bill, and after meeting him, I felt differently, yet, he is too Bill Clinton-like for me, too middle of the road, and certainly not outspoken enough for someone with Hispanic and native American blood.The cannabis question will confirm or change what I think of him, lets project some light towards him, so he gets it!The Dems in New Mexico are very Republican, conservative and useless, the way bush likes them, and our local gov is total bush wannabes, Democrats in name only. They love the war, and refuse to 'pipe up' about it, as their cousins, sons and nephews, and neices, since we are the poorest state (financially, rich in evey other area) are all in Iraq getting killed for bushes lies, and they supported it!Just like Di-Fi, Diane Fienstien, loser Dems from Cali, saying she won't vote for Alito, but a filibuster is Wrong!With people like her representing the American people, you can be sure it is her ties to the Defense Industry, through her husband, that it her bottom line.Can we throw out ALL of these bums next election? Or will we throw our votes away on electronic, computer theiving Diebold machines.Bill is behind paper ballots in New Mexico, as he knows how corrupt this state is, both Dems and Repugs, so the only thing that we can look forward to is an epiphany for these guys, through an act of nature, so let's manifest this with our ability to visualize our realities, and make them real, with our minds eye, the third eye, that we we all given to create positive outcomes, as we are all part of God, and thus, all in this together.Remember the quote, we all hang separately, or we hang together, I choose the later! Peace! [ Post Comment ] Comment #42 posted by FoM on January 17, 2006 at 07:30:30 PT museman I am not a musician but I believe that when we have a talent we must wait until we feel inspired and then it flows. When I make a web page I make it in a few hours and it makes sense to me but if I plan on making a web page it just won't come together. Inspiration is vital to creativity in my opinion. [ Post Comment ] Comment #41 posted by museman on January 17, 2006 at 07:21:33 PT: feeling the music Take away the lyrics of Neil Young, and you got a guitar player playin the moment into eternity. Probably only a musician would understand. Musicians have a much longer attention span (for instrumentation) usually than their audiences, and we have to learn to sense and 'feel' just how much of our instrumentation they can take before they need some lyrical breaks. The fact that this society has fostered the phenomenon of 'background music' doesn't improve our musical outlook. In fact I stopped playing acoustic years ago because I was tired of the conversation overwhelming the music. http://generation.no-ip.org [ Post Comment ] Comment #40 posted by FoM on January 17, 2006 at 07:03:51 PT Willie is Willie, as Neil is Neil Dankhank that's right. There are always exceptions. [ Post Comment ] Comment #39 posted by Dankhank on January 17, 2006 at 06:58:47 PT Blanket ... It's easy to pick at comments that suggest blanket descriptions of a "group."Yes, there are always exceptions to any blanket statements.Many make them not understanding this.I do, yet I can see that certain attitudes lend themselves to certain entertainment choices."Mama, don't let your babies grow up to be Cowboys" is a strong statement from a man who sings to that groupthink.Willie is Willie, as Neil is Neil.There is no Country song like "American Idiot" that I know of. [ Post Comment ] Comment #38 posted by runderwo on January 16, 2006 at 22:12:46 PT country music Hey! What about Willie Nelson? Can't really make a blanket statement about any genre.BTW, whoever thinks acid didn't have a significant impact on jazz, you haven't listened to Trane of the late 60's - just as one example. That style carried forward into the fusion that most improv artists play today, and the tension/release improvisation strategy derived from it as well, allowing for more freeform and emotionally driven musical messages.Heroin had quite the influence on jazz too, but using it for inspiration is a deal with the devil to say the least. Heroin claimed the lives of several genius musicians in exchange for the professional benefits they derived from it. By the hard rock era (post-Doors), heroin and LSD were mostly old hat. They liked their alcohol, cocaine and pills. Heroin didn't really make a reprise until the grunge era, where several more bright and talented individuals allowed it to claim their lives. [ Post Comment ] Comment #37 posted by FoM on January 16, 2006 at 21:33:24 PT Feels His Music I totally understand what you mean. You got it right in my book. Feeling one's music makes it work or it's just plain music.Dankhank, You're funny. Chris Rock had the audience laughing and Mary Louise Parker smiling. He said this is what we want a person to be like and people were really clapping and roaring actually. That's far from word for word but I hope you catch the meaning. He was funny and was really making out how important Weeds is. [ Post Comment ] Comment #36 posted by whig on January 16, 2006 at 21:23:53 PT FoM Well, a lot of jazz music is instrumental, and the same is true of a lot of other genres of music that I would think might have been written and/or performed with the aid of cannabis. So it's just something you hear and feel, and most people surely don't, but that's how it goes.The thing that characterized jazz was its use of blue notes, bent pitches that aren't part of the traditional western musical scale, like a dominant seventh chord with a partially flatted fourth. I can't really explain it well here, but if you are a musician and you are high you know what your chords should sound like, you feel it, and you play it that way, and if you listen then you hear it too.A lot of this feeds into rock and certainly Neil Young uses nonstandard tunings because he feels his music and you can tell, but take away the lyrics and would you still know what he's about? Sometimes we cannot say what we want to in a public way, so we just let the music speak for us. [ Post Comment ] Comment #35 posted by Dankhank on January 16, 2006 at 21:19:25 PT Desperate Housewives??????????????never saw it either ... what channel is it on?Nevermind ...Mary Louise Parker won because she's great ...Fck Chris Rock ... he probably got a good laugh ...BTW, the Mutt People probably like Country Music ... [ Post Comment ] Comment #34 posted by afterburner on January 16, 2006 at 21:06:09 PT running a red light??? "Advocates want marijuana possession treated the same way as running a red light, where a ticket is given to offenders."Running a red light can cause death. No one has died from medical cannabis. Another guilt-by-association editorializing by a reporter with an agenda. [ Post Comment ] Comment #33 posted by FoM on January 16, 2006 at 20:00:18 PT News Brief About Weeds No Need for Golden Globe Jealousy Among the Ladies of Desperate Housewives***January 16, 2006 BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. (AP) - There's no need for jealousy on the set of Desperate Housewives. The Golden Globes avoided anointing any of the four leads as best actress Monday in favour of Mary-Louise Parker of Showtime's Weeds.Parker, who plays a suburban drug dealer on the low-profile premium cable show, competed for the best comic actress award against Marcia Cross, Teri Hatcher, Felicity Huffman and Eva Longoria of TV's top-rated comedy. Hatcher won last year."Desperate Housewives is one of the biggest shows on the planet," quipped presenter Chris Rock, "and Weeds is only watched by Snoop Doggy Dogg."http://www.680news.com/news/entertainment/article.jsp?content=e011659A [ Post Comment ] Comment #32 posted by FoM on January 16, 2006 at 19:32:39 PT Dankhank I wanted to make sure that no one thinks that WEEDS won because it lost to a show called Desperate Houswives. I never saw that show even one time but it seems popular. I didn't like the name so I never checked it out. Mary Louise Parker won against the women who are on Desperate Housewives. Great win.I agree about the music. Music that says something no matter what kind is good to me. I have seen it mostly in rock but that is all I have ever really listened too.I don't like soap opera type music if that makes sense? I don't know what to call it but poor me so I'll cry in my beer. [ Post Comment ] Comment #31 posted by Dankhank on January 16, 2006 at 19:19:40 PT refined ... Hooray for "Weeds." A truly awesome show ...In condensing my idea of how music-likes can suggest behavior or thought I know I left out much.The trail of Cannabis-using artists whose music often lends itself to considerations of life, resistance and many other positive/rebellous attitudes runs from blues to jazz to swing to folk to rock ... and is seldom seen in Country music.Guess you know what I think about Country, It's true. I actively dislike it.Hank Williams??? Your Cheatin' Heart.There's no Country version of the Kottonmouth Kings.Anyway ... I've said too much, and not enough ... but ...Enough ... :-) [ Post Comment ] Comment #30 posted by FoM on January 16, 2006 at 18:43:46 PT mayan I went to Amazon and checked out a couple clips and I added 2 CDs to my wish list. I start after Christmas for the next Christmas. I'm weird I know. LOL! Thanks. [ Post Comment ] Comment #29 posted by FoM on January 16, 2006 at 18:29:53 PT Whig I didn't mean how the laws were made but the music itself. That's what I didn't know. I can't think of a song. I can think of a number of rock related songs that mention marijuana. [ Post Comment ] Comment #28 posted by FoM on January 16, 2006 at 18:26:37 PT Excerpt from New Mexico Article - MMJ N.M. Lawmakers Brace for Busy 30 Days ***Associated PressMonday, January 16, 2006 SANTA FE — Lawmakers on Monday braced for a 30-day session that promised to be so busy it was giving even boundlessly energetic Gov. Bill Richardson second thoughts. ''I worry that we're already doing too much,'' acknowledged the governor, who was reviewing legislators' requests to add even more items to the extensive agenda he has outlined. Short sessions in even-numbered years are restricted to budget and financial matters and whatever else the governor decides should be pursued. On the eve of the session, Richardson was still poring over pleas from legislators and interest groups, including a last-minute request — conveyed in a full-page newspaper ad — to put legalized access to medical marijuana on the list. Richardson supports the proposal — which has been considered several times — but said he was hesitant to put it on the short session's agenda because it's controversial and time is so limited. House Speaker Ben Lujan, D-Santa Fe, said the issue would be better left for a 60-day session. He asked the governor not to include it this year.Complete Article: http://www.abqjournal.com/news/xgr/aplegis01-16-06.htm [ Post Comment ] Comment #27 posted by mayan on January 16, 2006 at 18:23:13 PT Mason Proffit Anybody here ever listen to Mason Proffit? They were one of the the best 60's bands that never made it big but they were an awesome blend of country,rock,folk and bluegrass! I have a greatest hits of theirs titled "Come and Gone" that is really good. Their biggest hit was probably "Two Hangmen". If you haven't heard them they're definitely worth a listen.Go Massachusettes!THE WAY OUT... ENRON - THE SMOKIN' CANNON OF 9/11? http://www.newswithviews.com/Devvy/kidd155.htmRevealed - Pentagon Anti-leak Policy Just Before 9/11: http://rense.com/general69/3nk.htm180+ 9/11 'Smoking Guns' Found in the Mainstream Media: http://thewebfairy.com/killtown/911smokingguns.htmlUnplug the War Machine By Facing the Truth of 9/11: http://www.911sharethetruth.com/ [ Post Comment ] Comment #26 posted by whig on January 16, 2006 at 18:22:24 PT Jazz and cannabis One man who first spread myths about marijuana is Harry J. Anslinger, who was appointed director of the Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs (predecessor of the Drug Enforcement Agency -DEA- of today). He was a man who hated jazz music and tried to get jazz musicians herded up into prison for smoking the sacred herb. The time dilation effect of THC probably helped introduce extra beats into jazz music. But Anslinger didn't like jazz and he hated marijuana even more. At first, Anslinger declared marijuana caused users to go crazy and commit violent acts. As a result of his testimony, persons who used pot could use the insanity defense to get a less charge to murder. Later on, after doctors testified at a second hearing regarding marijuana, Anslinger recanted his earlier testimony, conceding the sacred herb probably didn't cause insanity or violent behavior, but added that it could lead to opium use. This is how the gateway myth originated. THE GREAT MARIJUANA CONSPIRACY [ Post Comment ] Comment #25 posted by FoM on January 16, 2006 at 18:07:22 PT They Played Little Boxes! Little Boxes Made of Ticky Tacky!!! Yippie!http://www.sho.com/site/weeds/music.do [ Post Comment ] Comment #24 posted by FoM on January 16, 2006 at 18:02:44 PT WEEDS Won! This is great!!! Go Mary Louise Parker!!! [ Post Comment ] Comment #23 posted by FoM on January 16, 2006 at 17:28:21 PT Whig I didn't know that Jazz was about Cannabis. I don't listen to a lot of Rock music but keep closer to music that connects for me to what I feel I need from the music. [ Post Comment ] Comment #22 posted by FoM on January 16, 2006 at 17:21:51 PT billos That's a great song. I listened to it over the holidays a lot. [ Post Comment ] Comment #21 posted by whig on January 16, 2006 at 17:11:22 PT Rock is a lot of things Acid, speed, heroin... Not just pot.Jazz is cannabis. [ Post Comment ] Comment #20 posted by billos on January 16, 2006 at 16:56:03 PT .... A blast from the past.... Neil is cool,However there is one song I'd like to put in Bush's face."Power to the People" -John LennonPlease... More than ever......PLEASE Listen again....it will re-juvinate you... [ Post Comment ] Comment #19 posted by FoM on January 16, 2006 at 14:59:11 PT Dankhank Awe, I like that. I agree with you. [ Post Comment ] Comment #18 posted by Dankhank on January 16, 2006 at 14:50:52 PT Rock of Country ... Aside from piling up on us with patriotic songs post-9/11, the reason you don't hear much about..."I don't know much about the messages of caring and changing that Country musicians sing about since it hasn't been a part of my life."...is because it's rare in that genre. I'm irqed if anyone thinks Neil is country. He's never been country. He is so much more. As observed, Country is generally about the heaven and hell of "love."It takes folk/rock to produce the wealth of music that makes us consider our place in this world.Neil can rock, but as FoM says. he's Neil, he's Unique. Many will disagree, but Country is Beer. Rock is Cannabis. [ Post Comment ] Comment #17 posted by FoM on January 16, 2006 at 14:22:21 PT It's the Message That has to be why I like his music no matter if it's rock or country or anything else. The message is important to me. I don't like songs about my cheating heart or drinking or bar scenes. They bring me down and make me feel in a sense hopeless. I like songs like Neil sings full of hope and also loyality to his wife and children. He doesn't need to take Ben on the road with him but he does. That really impressed me. [ Post Comment ] Comment #16 posted by museman on January 16, 2006 at 14:18:43 PT: runruff A reminder.http://www.wholeearthfamily.org/XMB/ [ Post Comment ] Comment #15 posted by museman on January 16, 2006 at 14:13:57 PT: Neil Young Good 'ol Neil."Country" music as played by real people, like Neil, is just amplified folk. He puts the people into it. As well as truth, spirit, and dedication. [ Post Comment ] Comment #14 posted by FoM on January 16, 2006 at 14:07:00 PT Just a Comment I don't know much about music or musicians but I do know I like Neil Young. That I'm sure of. I never was exposed to country music when I was young. It was considered more music from the south and beer was a big part of the music or something. I know that I like Neil when he sings country songs and I like Steve Earle because his songs make a point. Rednecks were referred to as those who got sunburn on their necks because they wouldn't dare have long hair. I don't know much about the messages of caring and changing that Country musicians sing about since it hasn't been a part of my life. [ Post Comment ] Comment #13 posted by museman on January 16, 2006 at 13:36:43 PT: two wealthy men The politics of popular music are the same on both 'sides' of the musical/political fence- money, fame, and glory.When I was a teenager in Bakersfield, I used to tube down the Kern river. Our favorite place to start was up in the Kern River Canyon. Merle Haggard (deliberate spelling) bought all the land just at the mouth of the canyon, built a big compound, fenced it with concertina wire, and had armed guards and dogs patrolling it. That in itself was kind of a giveaway. It wouldn't have been so bad, except the SOB put barbed wire across the river at his property line, so that us kids couldn't go tubing past his property.Now any teenaged kid worth his salt is not going to let a stupid thing like barbed wire get in the way of his adventure, so we all just had to stop, get out and portage our tubes around the blockage.Aparrently ol Merle had it in for us, because after about the second time, his guards and dogs were waiting for us. They took a couple of our tubes, threatened to call the sheriff, balh, blah, blah blah. Real a**hole.Mr. Zimmerman can hang out with whom he chooses, as a popular musician he is obligated to play the celebrity game. He ceased being of interest to me about 20 years ago. I still play some of the songs he wrote before that though. Great music is great music even if the author ends up a distinguished member of the exclusive club of power elite a*s kissers. http://wholeearthfamily.org [ Post Comment ] Comment #12 posted by FoM on January 16, 2006 at 13:06:37 PT Interesting Music & Politics Related Article The One On the Right Was On the Left...***The political puzzle of country music By Jesse Walker January 16, 2006 The surprise tour of last year—a surprise, that is, to anyone whose worldview froze around 1970—was the series of concerts Bob Dylan did with Merle Haggard. In the last big culture war, Dylan was the guy who sang "You fasten the triggers/For the others to fire/Then you set back and watch/When the death count gets higher." Hag had a snappy number where he "read about some squirrelly guy who claims that he just don't believe in fightin'/And I wonder just how long the rest of us can count on bein' free." Put them together, and you get— Apparently, you get kismet. In Rednecks & Bluenecks, an engaging expedition into the politics of country music, Entertainment Weekly's Chris Willman watches the pair play a date in Los Angeles. When Haggard asks everyone to sing along with his vintage hit for hippie-hating hardhats, "Okie from Muskogee," more than a few fans do, and "the singer reacts with mock alarm: 'This is Bob Dylan's audience! You're not supposed to be smoking—I mean singing—along with that!'" Even in 1970, Dylan was alienating his fan base with an album filled with pop-country covers; Haggard, meanwhile, had just written "Irma Jackson," an ode to a thwarted interracial romance. But if the singers don't fall on opposite sides of the so-called culture war, it wouldn't be entirely accurate to suggest they're sitting on the same side either. Like most people, they don't really fit into any rigid camp. Dylan has had an uneasy relationship with the left since he moved away from protest songs in the early '60s, and he sounded downright reactionary on 1979's brimstone-filled Slow Train Coming; in the liner notes to one '90s CD, the man who introduced the Beatles to marijuana declared, "give me a thousand acres of tractable land & all the gang members that exist & you'll see the Authentic alternative lifestyle, the Agrarian one." Conservative hero Haggard has a history of singing Guthriesque songs about economic hard times, and more recently he's taken to praising hemp and speaking out against the Iraq war, the Patriot Act, and the Bush administration. (In Rednecks & Bluenecks, he declares the president one of "the top three assholes of all time," right next to Hitler and Nixon.) But he's a populist, not a liberal, and is as hard to pigeonhole as Dylan is: In "Where's All the Freedom," one of two antiwar songs on his most recent album, he includes "can't show the Ten Commandments anymore" in a litany of lost liberties. Complete Article: http://www.reason.com/links/links011606.shtml [ Post Comment ] Comment #11 posted by whig on January 16, 2006 at 12:59:15 PT museman Not within buildings of wood or stone. [ Post Comment ] Comment #10 posted by FoM on January 16, 2006 at 12:53:44 PT Absolutely Right in My Book It's a phenomenon that is directly associated with a certain fear-based republican/christian attitude of judgement, and self-righteousness, found in church, and practiced in the courts and legislatures. [ Post Comment ] Comment #9 posted by museman on January 16, 2006 at 12:47:54 PT: Fear and Loathing in America I live in America, and despite all my best attempts, effort, and understanding I and my family live in fear. Any day at any time those military robots could come crashing through my door and haul my aging medicly challenged body to the local hoosegow there to await 'judgement' for my illegal medicinal use of an herb that MY GOD told me was mine-for just such purposes as I choose to use it, for rope, food, fuel, medicine, or Sacred Communion. Seems it's still happening even in those 'green' states.I can't walk down the street in very many towns without fearing judgement and harassment because of my looks. Even after all these years, fearful uptight mothers still pull their children away as if I would snatch them up and swallow them or something. It's a phenomenon that is directly associated with a certain fear-based republican/christian attitude of judgement, and self-righteousness, found in church, and practiced in the courts and legislatures.Fear and Loathing in America is an often ignored reality- I would like to point that out, and so I do. http://wholeearthfamily.org [ Post Comment ] Comment #8 posted by FoM on January 16, 2006 at 12:42:40 PT museman Where two or more are gathered. That is so true and perfect for me to hear right now. I was raised Catholic and went to parocial school. I was always a Doubting Thomas and drove my priest and nun's that were my teachers half crazy with my why questions. Many years later I was in a horse barn and the sun was shining into an aisleway and I heard a song on the little radio they had playing in the stable and it was Jesus is Just Alright With Me and I thought that's it. That's right and I never forgot it. [ Post Comment ] Comment #7 posted by museman on January 16, 2006 at 12:31:58 PT: FoM forgive my paraphrasing, but;My guru once said; "When two or more are gathered together in my name (his name is Love) then I will be with you." That statement is the one and only description of 'congregation' that is offered by the Man Himself. As far as I can tell that is a simple common sense, easy to understand direction to finding fellowship. Following that precept I have found numerous temples of divine worship, on top of mountains, in alpine meadows, by running streams, and in the clear sparkling starkness of the desert. And none of them needed building permits or non-profit tax status.The 'church' is as much and more (for a much longer period of time) of a corrupted institution as the government. There are more judges in church on sunday then you can find in the entire justice system on any other day.Too many of our fellows walking around out there are followers of blind guides, a veritable nation of lemmings.They need another example to follow. http://wholeearthfamily.org [ Post Comment ] Comment #6 posted by FoM on January 16, 2006 at 12:12:54 PT Another Comment Last night we watched a little of 60 Minutes. They did a piece on North Korea. Even though their country is around the size of a small southern state it's army is the third largest in the world. The more the USA pushes the more militarized other nations will become. Can we blame them? If I lived in a small vunerable country I would fear us. Hate, killing, lust for money breed all of this. That's why it is so dangerous to be the way we are now as a society. It's very disturbing to me. [ Post Comment ] Comment #5 posted by museman on January 16, 2006 at 11:58:19 PT: green states vs RED FED A map of states that demonstrated both their humanity and their intelligence by recognizing common sense and sanity would be cool- almost like christmas with all those red and green states. Funny how the green states were all blue in the last election-maybe it was because we knew that the FED was so big bad and corrupted, that only an earthquake swallowing all of DC could have saved the election.If I were to make a map we'd all have to concentrate real hard on believing; "The glass is half full, the glass is half full."FED up and hungry still for justice http://wholeearthfamily.org [ Post Comment ] Comment #4 posted by FoM on January 16, 2006 at 11:48:53 PT global_warming You know I have trouble understanding you sometimes but I understand what you are saying in this post. I agree with you. What is happening in the 60s young people shunned what was being pushed on them as a way to live but the powers that be have fought to make us working machines, robots to a degree. Don't buck the system but what that has created are very angry people. Angry and bitter seems to be the way it has been since they squashed the peace and love movement. Young people now don't want to grow up to be bitter, angry people so they are seeking a better way. That way is not found in Churches but within themselves and friends. There is a scripture that says in the last days that people will be seekers of knowledge but they won't find what they are looking for. Lack of natural affection is another expression I remember. I don't remember what scripture though. We really desperately need to get back to the garden. If we don't our future looks so dismal to me. I hope you understand what I mean. [ Post Comment ] Comment #3 posted by global_warming on January 16, 2006 at 11:36:06 PT its unfortunate many people currently do not question authority, they think the government is always right, these scandals in the news currently are not enough to make them question yet.The senior citizens of this country are just getting a glimpse at the prescription program recently signed into law and they are not too happy with this failure, the vioxx scandal and cover up by the fda and our sterling leaders is another fraud placed upon the backs of the people.the youth of this country are pretty sharp, they understand more than most of us think, perhaps it will be them who come to the rescue.as for me, "fed up" just doesn't say how deep my frustration has been since the 60's. [ Post Comment ] Comment #2 posted by runruff on January 16, 2006 at 10:03:49 PT: Are you "FED" up yet? Prohibition is more harmful than the behaviors it is in place to protect us from. As a whole generation who finally repealed prohibition of alcohol found the law was more damaging than the substance the law was in place to protect them from. Today the drug war is corrupt. Budgets are misused. Politicians and law enforcement are corrupted by it. Millions of innocent citizens are imprisioned for hurting no one. Prohibition is a clear corruption of our constitution and bill of rights. After 35 years of Nixon intituted tyranny drugs are cheaper and more pleantiful. One hundred million Americans have used cannabis and if they didn't tell you you would never know it. So where are all these harmful effects the "drug warrions" keep talking about? Is the trade off worth it.?Are you "FED" up yet? [ Post Comment ] Comment #1 posted by global_warming on January 16, 2006 at 10:01:19 PT something to see It would be nice to see a graphical map of the United States with the Green States and Mass blinking green..and any other states that are close also blinking green; Honk if you are Green.. [ Post Comment ] Post Comment