brendanm98's blog

Posted at 8:58am on Oct. 27, 2006 Legalize it

By brendanm98

Several states have legalized possession of small amounts of marijuana for medicinal purposes; the drug is useful as a pain reliever, can help quell nausea and stimulate appetite, and may aid in preventing vision degeneration in glaucoma patients. Despite this, the federal government retains the right to prosecute users of medical marijuana under federal law, as upheld by the Supreme Court in Gonzales v. Raich. This election voters will decide an initiative on medical marijuana in South Dakota and also vote on proposals to fully legalize possession of up to 1 ounce of marijuana in Nevada and Colorado. While I certainly don't support legalization of "hard" drugs like heroin or cocaine, pot is less harmful than everyone's favorite recreational drug, alcohol, and as with alcohol it makes little sense to prohibit its use.

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Posted at 2:48pm on Sep. 8, 2006 Puerto Ricans very hot

By brendanm98

Well, who knew? Oh wait, wrong link, sorry. Here it is:

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger apologized Friday for saying during a closed-door meeting that Cubans and Puerto Ricans are naturally feisty and temperamental because of their combination of "black blood" and "Latino blood."

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Posted at 9:54am on Aug. 25, 2006 Praising Rumsfeld

By brendanm98

Here's a chance for everyone who is enamored of Donald Rumsfeld to explain what, specifically, he's done so well. What makes Rummy "my hero" and "a great SecDef" and "a man who, but for age, would be on my short list for President of the United States in 2008" and why is it that "His plans to reshape the military for the post-Cold War world are genius"? What has he done that someone else would not have done? What mistakes has he avoided that someone else would have made? How have his tactics help achieve stability in Iraq?

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Posted at 4:43pm on Aug. 14, 2006 His name is Olaf Wiig

By brendanm98

Re: this RedHot post:

Palestinian gunmen kidnapped two foreign journalists working for the Fox News television channel in Gaza on Monday, a witness said.

The witness, a Palestinian who worked with the two journalists, said one of them, a producer, was an American, and the other, whose nationality he did not know, was a cameraman.al-Reuters

Say this, the guy knows the difference between an American and a cameraman.

His name is Olaf Wiig, he is a free-lance cameraman from New Zealand, and I believe this is his picture below. I hope both he and Steve Centanni are released unharmed.

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Posted at 12:34pm on Jan. 25, 2006 Google goes to China

By brendanm98

Promoted from the diaries by Blanton because someone should be pointing out the irony that liberal chic Google will fight an American subpoena, but gladly submit to the wishes of communist thugs in China.

Google will debut a .cn version of its popular search engine Wednesday, but the Chinese flavor comes laced with censorship:

To obtain the Chinese license, Google agreed to omit Web content that the country's government finds objectionable. Google will base its censorship decisons on guidance provided by Chinese government officials.

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Posted at 3:25pm on Sep. 12, 2005 Prayers

By brendanm98

Susan Anne Catherine Torres, born prematurely on Aug. 2 after her mother was on life support for three months, died of heart failure Sunday, a family statement said.

Despite her brief sojourn upon this Earth, she was greatly loved and will be deeply missed. Deep peace of the shining stars to you.

Prayers and condolences to the family.

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Posted at 2:24am on Sep. 5, 2005 Wal-Mart seeks to remake image

By brendanm98

After years of spending little on advertising, relying on rock-bottom prices to attract and retain consumers, Wal-Mart is aggressively remaking its image. You've probably seen the commercials on TV promoting Wal-Mart as a good citizen of the community. Plenty of folks here don't need to be convinced, but Wal-Mart is seeking to reassure new customers. In addition to the ad spots talking the talk, the company has walked the walk in a big way recently, standing front and center in the relief effort after Katrina. A brief overview below the fold.

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Posted at 12:25pm on May 4, 2005 What's next?

By brendanm98

My (limited) understanding is that our foreign policy currently encourages pre-emptive military action to quell threats before they become significant, and to promote democracy as a broad deterrent to terrorism. That's ok by me. However, if we are to act as a police force we must do so consistently and we must do so effectively.

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Posted at 2:16pm on Mar. 9, 2005 Bankruptcy bill

By brendanm98

Just out of curiosity, what's the general consensus here on the banruptcy bill? I see some negative reaction from the right, where I see it discussed at all: Insty, bless his libertarian heart, is upset, and even FR is mixed (via Atrios). I really don't have a problem with holding people accountable for their spending, but so many bankruptcies are caused by random disasters (medical bills, for example) that it doesn't seem fair to completely ruin someone's life over. As far as credit card companies go -- all's fair in capitalism, and I've found plastic quite useful in the past, but I can't see that they need any extra help. If they were really concerned about protecting their original loan, as opposed to trying to bait the hook and then collect a few times what they pay out via sudden hikes in interest rates and all kinds of fees, they'd stop specifically targeting "risky" customers. It'll be interesting to see how this plays politically in a few years, especially in the red states.

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Posted at 12:33pm on Dec. 15, 2004 Activist judges

By brendanm98

Oh dear.

Why must these judges insist on imposing their personal morality upon the judicial process?

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Posted at 10:23pm on Nov. 26, 2004 Views of abstinence-only sex ed?

By brendanm98

With the recent increase in funding for abstinence programs, I'm curious how the average Republican views the idea. It seems to me to be common sense to include discussions of birth control, since all the data I've seen indicates that, like it or not, teens are sexually active. Do Republicans in general view this as encouraging sexual activity? Is there a way to encourage abstinence but still promote safe sex?

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