Phil Rudd fined

I have learned something new today and thanks to you Polly, you have taught me a life reality lesson...Food for thought!

Bearing in mind that governments are controlled by multinationals. As I said earlier, the issue isn't "government" but the "big fish", who consume us little fish ... have a look at that book recommendation BassDriver gave me. The big fish include government but, rest assured, if governments don't do the multinationals' bidding they get voted out.

In Oz, most of our money comes through mining, which is largely owned by multinationals with majority foreign ownership. They are digging up non-renewable resources at breakneck speed and making mind-blowing profits. The government decided that we needed to keep some of this one-off money in Oz and aired the idea of a super profits tax - which only raised rates for the companies after the company had made billions and billions of profit. There is no way the companies would be struggling because they had already made "super profits".

Thing is, we're losing our resources and most of the money is going overseas. The mining companies spent many thousands on an aggressive advertising campaign. They cried poor, saying they'd be forced to leave Oz (BS) and sack thousands of workers (BS). With the help of the Opposition and the Murdoch press they got the prime minister sacked through his plummeting approval ratings. Soon afterwards the government lost their previously-healthy majority next election, surviving with only the help of two independents - and this was with a religious fundamentalist loony in charge of the Opposition who was previously considered an unelectable joke!

The tax made sense. When the resources are largely gone - we are screwed. We'll have diddly squat. We need to make the money when it's available. Thing is, we also need to invest that money wisely to set ourselves up for the time when the minerals are depleted.

And what better investment for a country's citizens is there than to pour thousands of dollars on police, lawyers, courts and administrative costs so as to humiliate rock stars and persecute harmless little people who enjoy a few scoobies?

So, yes, government sucks but they are only a cog in the larger sucking machine, which is largely controlled by big biz. They call the shots. Do you think about the spider's life when you pull down its web? Do you worry about the children when you kill pregnant cockroaches (apart from being glad)? If a trail of ants leads to the honey in your pantry, do you leave it be so they can get on with their lives? Or do you "tidy them up"?

We are big biz and the govt. The insects are Phil Rudd and other small, annoying pests like you and me. It's the law of the jungle. All we insects can do is avoid the predators ... the Big Things.

Sure, for some reason Scandinavians seem to be more evolved and have moved past some stupid stuff that we Yanks, Poms and Convicts obsess about. I suspect it's because they're usually stuck indoors in bad weather and are therefore forced to actually think.

I'd rather enjoy good weather and stay under the radar so I'm not squashed like a bug :) Then you have Mike's comment - when you're young it's satisfying to thumb your nose at being naughty and evading the Big Things. That, of course, is why the US has much higher drug use than Holland. Forbidden fruit.

On a musical note (ha) the speakeasies hired lots of musos. Now we have E-fuelled rave parties and they hire DJs.

// end insomniac rant - back to bed :) //
 
I'm not getting into a political argument here. But the thing is - having a little weed on you shouldn't be an offense. It's illegal, but the effects of the drug itself have been proven to be less destructive than alcohol. If the government were to legalize weed (and impose a major tax on it), crime rates would go down, the U.S. would make TONS off the taxes, and there would be less users. Many people use pot because it's illegal - if it were legalized it would be less attractive to them. Of course there would be age limits (I would say 21 would be good) but this would be a great move for the Government IMO. It's essentially inevtable - It shold be done sooner rather than later.
 
... I'm still not clear where big biz has much of a stake in this particular culture mini-war. My impression is that in this case it is solely politicians fretting over the next election cycle and the formidable block of social conservatives who would likely succeed in derailing the career of any who dared push for legalization.

Yes, there's a few sides to this, but bear in mind that another big fish is organised religion. I know there are a lot of religious people on this site and most are fine human beings. Multinationals and government employ some really fine people too. Individuals are great ... it's the behemoths that are the problem.

In this context, the wowserism of religions plays right into the hands of the Mr Bigs controlling the black market. I think it's naivete and rigidity in the case of religious right. They can't admit that the policies are doing damage.

Whatever. You can't fight city hall and, no matter what you do and what the law is, avoiding coming to the attention of the powers-that-be is not hard. I'm not convinced the laws will change in my lifetime.

Not long ago the news was triumphantly reporting on a major "drug" bust ... some helicopters found a pot plantation. So a few dumb ferals go to gaol. Yeeha.Meanwhile, the Mr Bigs with their labs producing crystal meth are laughing. They're not so easy to catch and the big helicopter busts make the police like they're actually doing something in the War Against Drugs, when they are just pi$$ing in the wind. Funny how the biggest crime bosses seem to be untouchable ...
 
Great stuff Pol. Yes the multinationals control the governments, and the governments actually do the arresting. I direct my anger at the governments because they are the ones elected to do right by us. Yea right. It's every man for himself with the governments and the multinationals as the Big Bad Wolf. I don't know that the human race as a whole is capable of living in a non corrupt way. I'd say it's not possible. The one thing I try to do as much as possible is to not buy my needs and wants from major corporations. That is the one power we reserve, our spending power. It is one of our really effective weapons.
Andy I picked Sweden because basically, they keep to themselves. I admit I don't really know what the best place in the world is to live to escape lying governments. Is there such a place?
 
I admit I don't really know what the best place in the world is to live to escape lying governments. Is there such a place?
Not really, but there are areas within "safe" countries where you can get on with life pretty much as you want to, my location being one of them.

The stark truth is that, although most peoples perception of western governments interference with the lives of individuals is high, compared to many governments, it isn't. Polulation opression & control is the global mean norm, & in many countries, add dictation, fraud, state sponsored crime, routine torture, assasination, etc to the list. We live on a shitty rock Larry, & I'm thankful every day that I'm one of the lucky minority.
 
I have noticed that this discussion about marijuana inevitably comes up on pretty much every forum I have ever been on (not just musical ones) and the opinion is always overwhelmingly in favor of legalization or at the very least decriminalization, yet in a lot of countries this has yet to happen.

A government that is comprised of "We the People"? I don't think so, and I am not singling out America here, Canada has the same sort of BS going on.
 
The criminalization of cannabis has everything to do with keeping an extremely profitable commodity out of the hands of the general public, so the ones in control can milk even more substantial illegal profits from it. The government wins all around. They make huge money in payoffs, and then get to arrest those who get caught, providing jobs (and tax revenue, not to mention the fines) on the back end with the prosecution. Then there's the prison fiasco and drug testing companies. The big loser is the individual and human rights.

My advice is:

Don't take pharmeceuticals, government poison.
Don't buy beer or liquor from the majors
Don't buy cigarrettes period
If you can get off petroleum, don't buy that either
Don't buy your soft drinks from the majors
Don't buy cleaning supplies and chemicals from the majors, be creative instead.
Don't buy fast food.
Stop feeding your enemy.

Support local small business and divert your portion of the vampire's lifeblood (your money) to ordinary citizens trying to make it. If we all did this, what would the DuPonts of the world do? Shrivel up and die I would hope.
 
Actually in my country, there is battle raging on between government versus big (money) business men versus the working class. No one protects us - the working class. We pay the taxes, fixed pricing, high cost of living, low miserable income instead and so on.

The Poor are helped by the government and they like it, The Rich have the big money considering themselves as untouchable...The working class sweats the forehead daily to pay off everything to at least have a decent life with their families.

...and many thanks to Phil Rudd, he has been an inspiration for all of us in this thread. Look at all the input from different points of views and thoughts.
 
Do you feel smoking pot, something that increases your chances of mental illness and is in general bad for your health, morally correct?

This is, for the most part, a lie. Marijuana increases episodes of schizophrenia and other psychotic disorders but does not increase the chances of mental illnesses. General bad for your health? Possibly. But no more than other pharmaceuticals we consume, I'd bet.
 
Again, Larry, you have wisdom in areas that are great! Too bad Walmart, Costco, etc etc etc get all our cash. I DO NOT go to Walmart any more!!

My advice is:

Don't take pharmeceuticals, government poison.
Don't buy beer or liquor from the majors
Don't buy cigarrettes period
If you can get off petroleum, don't buy that either
Don't buy your soft drinks from the majors
Don't buy cleaning supplies and chemicals from the majors, be creative instead.
Don't buy fast food.
Stop feeding your enemy.

Support local small business and divert your portion of the vampire's lifeblood (your money) to ordinary citizens trying to make it.
 
Almost any product from Big Pharma is bad for you. Really bad. Cannabis is safer than any product that Big Pharma can cook up, 1000's of years of history have proven that.

Isn't it grossly criminal that a naturally occuring plant that can feed us, (with the very best complete nutrition known to the plant kingdom) provide our liquid fuel, (biodiesel) clothe and house us with the finest natural fiber on earth, (hemp fiber) provide a myriad of medicines that can relieve everything from menstral cramps to cancer, be kept from us?

As a human being on Planet Earth I feel I have birth right to any plant that naturally occurs here. It was put here for us to use. Who is anybody to tell me I can't touch that which naturally occurs? If we outlaw Nature, the people who outlaw Nature.... are the enemy of Nature.

I know which side I'm on.

This amazing plant is SO good that governments want to keep it from us, it is too empowering, something which they DON'T want, lest we:

Heal ourselves
Cut dependency on foreign oil
Have no need for Big Pharma
Cut greenhouse gases by using it's fiber for paper instead of deforesting the planet
Prosper
I could go on and on and on

Keeping it illegal keeps us unhealthy, dependent, incarcerated, ensures future illegal government profits, and keeps us under their ever encompassing thumb.

They say Cannabis is a gateway drug. Which is true. It is a gateway into exposing close to a centurys worth of government lies and manipulation against it's people.

Historically, in the last 10,000 years, there are exactly zero deaths from Cannabis. That in itself is unprecedented. Aspirin takes more than that. Time for the masses to wake up and retake their rights back.

You used to be able to pay your taxes in America with hemp fiber, for 200 years! 200 years! That's insane! When settlers first started populating America they were fined if they DIDN'T grow hemp. (Our Navy needed the fibre for their ships rigging, oakum for the sealent and so on) It literally drove the economy up to the early 1900's and it is still driving it now, except it's "hidden" on the other side of the law.

It's illegal because it is the most awesome plant Planet Earth has ever produced. It's a source of power that governments don't want their people to have. They want all of it, and their greed is tantamount to crimes against humanity IMO.

*Steps off soapbox*
 
Isn't it grossly criminal that a naturally occuring plant that can feed us, (with the very best complete nutrition known to the plant kingdom) provide our liquid fuel, (biodiesel) clothe and house us with the finest natural fiber on earth, (hemp fiber) provide a myriad of medicines that can relieve everything from menstral cramps to cancer, be kept from us?

While I appreciate what you have to say, there is a difference between industrial hemp (non-drug) and pot - the difference is what they're bred for. Unfortunately the US government treats them both illegally.

In my country it is legal to grow industrial hemp as long as they follow the regulations set out in the conditions for license.

...BTW I've heard that medicinal weed is legal some states of the US.
 
Like anti-depressants?

Energy drink... anti-depressants... even sleeping tablets, I'd hazard a guess sleeping tablets cause far more accidental deaths then accidentally dying of pot. I'd also bet that more people smoke marijuana then take sleeping tablets.
 
Larry, I agree that the betrayal by governments in favour of big biz is disappointing, but hardly unexpected. Has there been a time in human history that corruption wasn't endemic at the top levels? Let's not forget the cronyism that goes on in tribal societies.

Power corrupts. There aren't a lot of Mahatma Gandhis around ... sadly.

But nothing is black and white. For instance, if I have cancer then I want big pharma's chemo products - as opposed to lightweight herbal stuff or useless homeopathy. If I'm having surgery I want big pharma's anaesthetic, not to drink a bottle of Scotch and get whacked over the head with a piece of four by two.

I think medicinal THC is mainly used to relive nausea, especially for those on chemo. It's great for boredom / depression (same thing in a way) ... if used, as opposed to abused. Apart from the damage smoke does to you and the occasional person with mental illness where it mixes badly, the worst thing about overuse of pot is that you end up feel great for long periods even if you're not doing anything enterprising to "earn" the good feeling. So it can work to limit achievement. Now think of the problems of overuse of alcohol.

Of course, abuse of anything is bad for you in some way. If people are allowed to judge for themselves instead of being patronised by the powers that be, then more of us will work out a way of approaching intoxicants with maturity rather than like dogs let off the leash.
 
Yea Pol it's sad that I can't expect my government to not screw me. That's why I don't trust them with anything.
As far as the anethesia goes, I'm with you. Anesthesia isn't a medicine though, it's a pain killer. I have no problem with that. It's the other "medicines" for dry eyes, fibromyalgia, high blood pressure, etc. and any chemo therapy (which is poison, how can poison heal? It can't. It causes more deaths than it prevents. What medicine has a skull and crossbones on it's packaging?) that I am railing against.

It's been known since the 70's that THC stops cells from mutating while not harming healthy cells. (unlike chemo) As you know, that's what cancer is, mutating cells. The US government holds patents on it already. You can view the patent on the internet. http://www.patentstorm.us/patents/6630507.html The patent assignee is the US government as represented by the Dept. of Health and human Services. (It says so on the left). It spells out everything if you care to read the full text. This alone PROVES that cannabis has been lied about since 1937. It is currently classified as a Scedule 1 drug, which means it has no medicinal value. Which is blatently opposite of what the patent says. Wake up people. And Pol, please don't take chemo, ever. It's poison. THC oil is not poison.

They know ALL about it. They have kept the cure for cancer from us for about 40 years now. F them. F them. They are the enemy. What kind of leaders keep a cancer cure from it's people?
THC cures cancer people, Google it if you don't believe me. If you want to know more, go to
www.phoenixtears.ca

and look for the movie called "Run from the cure"
Then watch it, it's almost an hour long. They show you how to make your own cure for cancer in the movie. THC oil cures cancer. That's a fact. (not smoking it, it must be ingested, or topically applied, in the case of skin cancer) If you have a loved one with ANY kind of cancer, you really need to watch this.
I care more about you than your government does. There is no reason anymore that people should die from any type of cancer, Krohns, MS and many other terrible diseases. Educate yourself about this, it's really important that the masses know this info.
 
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My ancestors used (Marihuana, Mariguana) due to its effective curative, healing properties to treat on their rheumatoid arthritis, sprained muscles, lumbago...much better than ben-gay, dencorub creams, sprays and other stuff to rub on your body.

The Marihuana was soak in rum then rubbed on the body part affected...great muscle pain relief. The point is about giving the right use in time, if you abuse it then consequences will come as well.

This is, for the most part, a lie. Marijuana increases episodes of schizophrenia and other psychotic disorders but does not increase the chances of mental illnesses. General bad for your health? Possibly. But no more than other pharmaceuticals we consume, I'd bet.
 
So you cannot smoke a Cuban cigar! What a shame, man! all due to political non-sense issues...by the way, the US commercial blockage remains on Cuba.

Here in the US, Cuban cigars are indeed still illegal. In 1962, the political genius that is our government decided to punish the Cubans for trying to impose Communism on its own people by ceasing their ability to sell their primary export to the US.

Of course this is a long and drawn out story, but it does have a very exciting crescendo. At the height of this Capitalist pig-dog versus Communist heretic story is how our whole entire world almost came to a swift and fiery end via nuclear devastation.

We are willing to destroy all humanity to prove how righteous and wholesome and morally proper we are.
 
Hey Ian, what are the laws like in Venezuela?

Larry, Bob Marley died from a malignant melanoma. Bear in mind that cancer isn't a disease, it's a phenomenon - like corrosion. It's a collection of diseases - lung cancer, skin cancer, etc and they require different treatments.

My sister thought like you did about chemo - until she got lung cancer and went for alternative treatments because she was afraid of what chemo would do to her. She nearly died as the cancer spread; going on to chemo saved her. Chemo is unnatural but so, I suspect, is surviving cancer.

Pot is sometimes prescribed for people feeling sick from chemo. Surely doctors would notice it if the patients they prescribed THC to had a much lower mortality rate?

Not doubting that hemp has some great qualities and myriad uses that are being wasted and squandered by rigidity and dodginess by the powers-that-be, but you're carrying the ball a tad further down field than I'm prepared to run :)
 
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