In a twist to the recent drug raid on the Mayor of Berwyn Heights MD in which both of his black labs were shot and killed the AP is reporting the 32 lb. bag of marijuana was delivered by undercover police.
Prince George’s County Police said Berwyn Heights Mayor Cheye Calvo brought a 32-pound package of marijuana into his home that had been delivered by officers posing as delivery men. The Tuesday evening raid was conducted by county police narcotics officers and a sheriff’s office SWAT Team.
The package was addressed to Calvo’s wife, Trinity Tomsic. His mother-in-law had asked the supposed delivery men to leave the package outside. Calvo has not been charged, though police said he, his wife and his mother-in-law are “persons of interest” in an ongoing investigation.
“We never opened the box. We have nothing to do with this box,” Calvo said.
The questions now mount:
Was this a setup by the police based on an ongoing investigation?
Are the Mayor’s wife and mother-in-law truly involved in something illegal?
No matter the answers to these questions, one thing most people agree upon is that the raid could have and should have been handled differently. It’s not like there is time to hide or get rid of 32 lbs. of marijuana before letting the police into the home if they had knocked. Somewhere along the line a poor decision was made and two family dogs are now dead.
Ron Paul was interviewed for 10 minutes on the Bill Press Show today. They discussed monetary policy, fiscal conservatism, and spent a good amount of time discussing the upcoming Rally For The Republic in Minneapolis. Press admitted he has been in contact with the rally organizers to try to speak out on behalf of Ron Paul at the rally. Bill Press is a self described “progressive” radio show host, which is the liberal left’s “nice” word for “liberal”. Once again, Ron Paul demonstrates his ability to truly unite those on both sides of the aisle and everyone in between.
The Mayor of Berwyn Heights in Maryland’s Prince George’s County had a rude awakening. Apparently, a 32 lb. bag of marijuana was sent to his house addressed to his wife. A SWAT team busted down his door, shot and killed his two black labs, and held him for questioning for hours. The Mayor claims he has no idea where the pot came from. He also said that if the police would have just knocked, he’d have let them in.
Instead his two dogs are now dead and all members of his household are “persons of suspicion”.
Must I point out how incredibly ridiculous this event is? It demonstrates the lunacy of the war on drugs. In a somewhate related note, CNN today had a poll asking if marijuana should be made legal. Over 65% said yes. When will we learn our current policy is having the opposite of its intended effect? Maybe someday. Watch the news report of the story below.
Bob Barr took questions from callers on NPR’s “Talk Of The Nation” today for about 17 minutes. He answered questions that go to the heart of libertarianism. The majority of the questions were regarding the role of government in helping those less fortunate. It was a tad obvious that he was making his points to deaf ears. It must be difficult for Barr to sit in a studio and answer question after question where the “nanny state” is praised while the freedom message is deemed heartless. Kudos for Barr not getting too upset with his answers.
In a recent press release from the Barr campaign, Bob Barr expresses his opposition to foreign aid legislation introduced by Sen. Barack Obama.
The measure, already passed in one form by the House, calls on the president to develop a strategy to “cut global poverty in half by 2015 through aid, trade, debt relief,” and other policies. “But Sen. Obama is hostile to free trade, along with much of his Party. And debt relief is just a synonym for more aid. The bill’s most important – and outrageous — provision dedicates 0.7 percent of America’s GDP to foreign aid, which would be roughly an extra $800 billion over the next dozen years,” notes Barr.
There are many documented reasons why foreign aid is a bad idea. History has shown that the money usually doesn’t make it to those in need; the foreign governments steal the money or otherwise hinder the aid in some way. And, of course, foreign aid is unconstitutional. There’s no provision in the ultimate law of the land known as the Constitution for Congress to spend money in this manner. But most importantly, the concept of nationally-sponsored foreign aid (and any other kind of welfare) is utterly unconscionable. It is simply unethical for someone to stick a gun in my face and force me to give my hard-earned money to someone else, no matter how good a cause it may be. (What’s this about a gun in the face? What do you think will happen if you continually resist paying your taxes and stand up for your right to keep the money you earn? You will, eventually, be staring into the muzzle of a firearm and led off to prison). I should, of course, be free to donate my money voluntarily at any time — through nongovernmental, nonprofit entities — but I should never be compelled to give away my money against my will. How dare these politicians (like Senator Obama) presume to spend my money, to rob me, for any reason whatsoever. Foreign aid is no exception.
In one of the best interviews in recent memory, Ron Paul was interviewed for over 18 minutes today by Glenn Beck on his radio show. He was the lead-in interview for the show. Beck normally will always mention the caveat that he disagrees with Ron Paul on foreign policy. He didn’t do that this time. Instead he allowed Ron Paul to articulate many of his own views on the devaluation of the dollar, even agreeing with him on the topic.
Ron Paul was able to promote both the Campaign For Liberty and the Rally For The Republic. This, I believe is the first time he was able to do so to a main stream audience. Pay close attention at Ron Paul almost slipping up and saying what the Rally truly is, an alternative convention. Beck brought up the idea of the move towards the “Amero” currency first. Sometimes I feel that Glenn Beck is the main stream version of Alex Jones with the very large exception of foreign policy. Beck also asks Ron Paul if he will vote for McCain. Paul reiterates that he will not and then they delve into libertarianism and the “lesser of two evils” argument. Paul says voting for the lesser of two evils is “the dumbest thing”.
Recently Virginia Senator John Warner proposed bringing back the federally mandated 55 MPH speed limit. His argument is that it will reduce carbon emissions and save many thousands of barrels of oil per day. Just about every one-size-fits-all federal government mandate comes with unintended consequences. Is bringing back the 55 MPH speed limit any different? Can other government imposed “green” transportation regulations help us “save the planet”?
Ever since the invention of the automobile governments at all levels have imposed regulations on the industry, drivers, and the roads people drive upon. There have been laws for registering vehicles, mandatory safety standards, licensing, emission controls, speed limits, seat belts, child seats, driving under the influence of various substances, carrying certain materials, using the proper tires for road conditions, traffic signals, and more. As a libertarian I certainly take issue with many of these laws, but I’ve always had a personal conflict between the purist in me who’d like absolutely no regulation and the pragmatist in me that realizes some of these laws may be necessary.
The youth in the Middle East are in the majority and, like young people in America, just want to be free. They don’t hate Americans. They don’t even hate Jews. They save their distaste for the American and Israeli governments. At first glance one would say that Jared Cohen’s “Children of Jihad” is a fascinating examination of the youth culture in the Middle East, but it is so much more than that. It is possible that somewhere in the book lies the answer to the question: Will there ever be peace in the Middle East? Young people are the future, and, according to Cohen, they are much more like us than we realize.
Cohen, a Jewish American, befriends the youth of Iran, Lebanon, Syria, and Iraq. He sits down with young members of Hezbollah at McDonald’s in Lebanon. He travels into war-torn Iraq. He worships at a synagogue — in Iran. Most Americans haven’t a clue about daily life in the Middle East. Cohen’s travelogue shatters the mistaken, but commonly held belief that every Muslim with a turban on his head is chanting “Death to America” in his head.
The White House released a budget deficit projection today for 2009 at $490 billion. In more shocking news, the Democrats and Republicans blamed each other for the mess. Bush inherited a budget deficit of $128 billion from Bill Clinton in 2001. This after Clinton was praised the year before for showing a budget surplus. What a wonderful gift George Bush and his Congress are leaving for the next administration and America. It’s like receiving a mugging for Christmas.
The two major parties continue to rearrange deck chairs on the Titanic while truly fiscally responsible Third Party candidates are waving their arms wildly holding up life preservers trying their best to show the economic geniuses the way to salvation. Maybe someday they will pay attention.
The White House on Monday predicted a record deficit of $490 billion for the 2009 budget year, a senior government official told CNN.
The deficit would amount to roughly 3.5 percent of the nation’s $14 trillion economy.
The official pointed to a faltering economy and the bipartisan $170 billion stimulus package that passed earlier this year for the record deficit.
The fiscal year begins October 1, 2008.
The federal deficit is the difference between what the government spends and what it takes in from taxes and other revenue sources. The government must borrow money to make up the difference.
The official spoke on the condition of anonymity, citing a lack of authorization to speak publicly ahead of an official briefing later Monday by Office of Management and Budget Director Jim Nussle.
White House spokeswoman Dana Perino said the stimulus package was necessary, even if it increased the deficit.
Last year, I admitted to my Ron Paul-aholism. It could be more accurately described as an eternal need to quench my thirst for liberty. Ron Paul was my elixir of choice, but he is no longer running for President. I reject writing his name on the ballot. You might as well drink water. Sure it is pure, but doesn’t accomplish much.
Once it became obvious Ron Paul would not get the GOP nomination I began scanning the back of the bar for new drinks to satiate me. The problem became obvious from the start. That delicious Ron Paul concoction was nowhere to be found. Ron Paul ruined all of the other potential candidates. Drinking up the other candidates from Ron Paul’s gold shot glass left me unsatisfied.
To remedy this I came up with a scoring system to help determine which of the current candidates most closely represents Ron Paul’s sweet liberty message. I started with only 10 criteria. Those 10 quickly became 20. Each of the criteria is assigned a score between 0 and 5. A perfect score of 100 means the candidate is a Ron Paul twin which to me is not possible, so I disallowed a perfect score making the total possible score a 99.
Liberty Maven
” is a fascinating examination of the youth culture in the Middle East, but it is so much more than that. It is possible that somewhere in the book lies the answer to the question: Will there ever be peace in the Middle East? Young people are the future, and, according to Cohen, they are much more like us than we realize.
