Civic Engagements

          After looking into options for educating people about the benefits of the reformation of marijuana  laws i was pleasantly surprised. There are a few different venues that would be a good fit.The 33rd annual "Wake up the Earth Day"  will be held in Jamaica Plains at Stonybrook Station on the first Saturday in May, of 2011. This festival celebrates community organizations and diversity. This would be an ideal audience to educate on topics like: the contaminate free fuel that can be produced from the hemp plant, the economic benefits that could be seen from taxation and the many medicinal uses of the marijuana plant. There is also the JP's World Fair which has taken two years off  but is slated to return late in the summer of 2011. This Cultural Event slash Carnival is all about community and social change. Partners Healthcare and Channel 7 have put on The Annual Boston Health Expo for the past four years in June. This would be a huge  opportunity to make an impact nationally. It would cost about 50$ or so to rent a small table/booth and hand out pamphlets of N.O.R.M.L. literature and  display diagrams that vividly show some of the more major medical advancements that could be achieved by the utilization of marijuana such as its use as a bronchodilator. Another fun way to educate the masses would come at the end of September next year at the "Malden Community Health Fair" It was hosted this year by Cambridge Community Health Alliance. There were games and face painting with doctors. There were free bike helmets and other safety gear. This would be an awesome free way to get information dispersed.
 
      I knew I would find something to do as far as civic engagements go however this opened my eyes to the idea  that awareness of my issue could be a full-time year round job. ............Sorry I was daydreaming. Back in reality I  have to pay rent and go to school. But if I hit the lottery tomorrow I vow to devote everyday of every week of the next 5 years to the education of serious social issues. But I do still have to go to school because I am not going to get an honorary degree from Harvard like Barack Obama) . Lottery money or not I will be able to get information to  vast amounts of people efficiently through the implementation of theses organized civic engagements.

I'm a voter

      On Monday October 4th I approached the voter registration table a bit apprehensive. Just to let everyone know, it was absolutely painless. I filled out the paper application and just like that, I had taken a huge step toward making my opinion count and my voice heard. Now it is time to educate myself on the issues that matter to me. Then see what canidates share these political views and investigate them. Being a voter is a way to pacify the inate urge to be a detective like Sherlock Holmes. I now look forward to attending some political debates and asking questions. I now want to make my voice heard. I admit it is kind of sad that I didn't register to vote until my professor made it an assignment, but as the 12 step people would say" the first step is admitting you have a problem." There is no reason to beat myself up for not voting the last eight years. Instead, it is time to listening, investigating and asking questions. so for those of you whom are not registered to vote, I would recommend it. This sense of political influence, whether false or not, may be the beginning of the 2020 Senatorial election for the handsome , charismatic and honorable,  Me.

The president for a second grader

        The President of the United States of America is Barack Hussein Obama. This job carries a lot of power. As Spider Man would say,"with great power comes great responsibility"

         To be the President you must be at least 35 years old, a natural-born U.S. citizen, and have lived in the U.S. at least 14 years. There are some benefits to being the President in return for four years of work including : $400,000 of taxable income, $50,000 for expenses which is taxed and $100,000 tax free for travel per year. A taxable pension upon retirement with a salary equal to a cabinet member, which according to http://www.senate.gov/reference/resources/pdf/98-249.pdf is 191,300 per year. So yes, he gets that for the rest of his life. He gets Camp David which is a beautiful retreat on a lake in the country, his own private plane and a professional chef.

          The President also has a lot of power and "say so." He is the Commander in Chief and Commission Officer of the armed Forces. This means he has the final say regarding our military. Besides impeachment, which is firing the President, the President can forgive any federal crimes. He gives speeches that other people write for him and meets with important people from other countries. He can also pick who gets some of the lower level jobs under him. He shares the power to choose the higher ranking officials like judges with the Senate, which is one of the other branches of government. The President shares the power to approve legislation with Congress, the third branch of government. Legislation is new laws. Many people say he works very hard for his money

I CAN

                                                     BE THE CHANGE
The rerformation of marijuana laws is an issue that many are too prudishly uncomfortable to speak about because it is not politically correct. In my Opinion, this is partly because of a lack of education on the particular subject, which according to "Merriam-Webster" is the definition of ignorance. I will be arduously fighting to educate and open peoples eyes to the many benefits that the legalization of marijuana presents; fiscal, medicinal  and ecological. I will be explaining in detail a few of the hundreds of medicinal applications tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) can be used as an ORGANIC substitute to the SYNTHETIC DRUGS being pushed on an unsuspecting, naivly trustworthy public. I will also disclose the opportunity to assist in the decimation  the multi billion dollar deficit we are facing as a country. I look forward to working with N.O.R.M.L.  which is an organization that has made great leaps of progress in the reformation of marijuana laws. I eagerly anticipate interviewing and getting feedback from skeptics and naysayers. Enlightening and educating every enemy of the evolution of herbal medicine is a task I will be taking very serious. I will be analyzing sociological alterations that will arise when this momentous ammendment is made.

       I am not advocating the use of "drugs" in anyway and am approaching this topic as an unbiased inquirer  . Hugs not drugs! Lets save the lab rats

A Dream for Everyone

        In seventeen minutes at the  Lincoln Memorial during a march on Washington, on August twenty eighth of nineteen and sixty-three,  in front of two hundred thousand of his peers, Dr. Martin Luther King delivered in my opinion what will live on as the most powerful and meaningful speech in the history of mankind.  Preceding his speech he was introduced as the “The Moral Leader of Our Nation”. That is powerful. At this time racial segregation was a serious problem on the brink of a resolution. However, change is never easy and some times dangerous. In this moving speech he refers to the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence as “A promissory note to which every American was to fall heir.... A promise that all men, yes, black men as well as white men, would be guaranteed the “unalienable rights” of “life liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.” He then goes on to describe the current situation as “Quicksands of racial injustice to the solid rock of brotherhood.” He explains the solution saying “The sweltering summer of the Negro’s legitimate discontent will not pass until there is an invigorating autumn of freedom and equality. Nineteen and sixty-three is not an end, but the beginning…. The whirlwinds of revolt will continue to shake the foundations of our nation until the bright days of justice emerges.” That gives me goosebumps.  

        I am a very big fan of rhetoric and the use of particularly placed words to properly paint a vivid, pristine picture. Like unforgotten orators of lore, Dr. King was captivating. Another speaker on this day was U.S. Representative John Lewis. He was quoted saying “Dr. King had the power, the ability and the capacity to transform those steps on the Lincoln Memorial into a monumental area that will forever be recognized. By speaking the way he did, he educated, he inspired he informed not just people there, but people throughout America and unborn generations.” This is a respected white official sticking his neck out to stand up for what he believes in, Dr. King.

         At this time racial tension was either going to destroy us or force us to make a change. I have a saying, “to make change you must make waves” and I believe Dr. King was of the same sentiment. I am glad that this speech was so successful because it’s hard to imagine what would have happened if we were forced into another Civil War. Dr. King led by example and is inspiring young men and women of all races, religions and creeds over forty-seven years later. I presume that will not stop anytime soon.

         I feel like we have a lot of racial tension in southern Louisiana where I am from. There is a lot of negative media influence and when you mix that with horrific poverty levels and an overall lack of education, you get a state in turmoil. We have come a long way as a union. Hopefully we can do something to educated and inspire these people to fight for a positive change before the government tries to drown them again. That is my dream

We need more billionaires like Ryan Ferrioli

     This blog is in reference to a blog written by a an honorable young man entitled "Response to James M Russel's Post on Huffingtonpost.com. You can view all of Ryan's insightful blogs at  http://rcf1992.blogspot.com/
 
     I agree with Ryan 100%. The  financial debt that the United States Treasury is facing is unfathomable. I wish Ryan was a billionaire. If more of the incredibly wealthy thought like him the world would be  much better off. Instead we are bailing out multi, I repeat Multi-billion dollar corporations whom squandered outrageous amounts of money. The weight of which is supposed to be carried by myself and the rest of the working class. I am not Karl Marx but this is rediculous. Lets,  as americans put our beautiful heads together and start brainstorming. It doesn't cost a thing. Until we start taking action, nothing is going to change.
     My contributive advice would be to diversify. Lets bring the money back to the people who work hard for it.  We should farm our food locally and boycott monopolistic corporations who don't contribute to society. If we are going to think globally, we need act locally. We need to stop feeling responsible for tsunamis and earthquakes around the world. Manifest destiny is a thing of the past. In the famous words of Diamond from the critically acclaimed film The Player's Club,  "Make that money, don't let it make you"

     The state of California projects 1.2 billion dollars of taxable revenue in the first fiscal year upon legalization and taxation of marijuana. That is only one state!!! Hemp can be used to create a contaminate free fuel. The hemp plant also naturally produces an exponentially stronger and more perdurable fiber than cotton. We americans need to take a stand and speak our minds. Vote! Even if you are in the lower or the supposedly existent middle class, your vote counts. Its time to think outside of the box. The box is stifling and we are going to suffocate (fiscally).

     I hope I become a billionaire soon too. Free gumbo, crawfish and beer for everyone.

A Preamble to the Cultivation of the United States of America

     We the people of the United States, in order to form a more tolerant, unbiased and peaceful union, establish understanding, insure financial and social tranquility, provide knowledge to induce acceptance, promote health and wellness, secure the right and liberty to think outside the box of injustice and grow marijuana, even if cotton, steel, and petroleum tycoons and huge drug companies will lose money, do ordain and establish Cultivation for all, in these wonderful United States of America