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David McElroy

making sense of a dysfunctional culture

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1984

This news just in: Aging drug warrior Bill Bennett is still an idiot

By David McElroy · July 1, 2011

If you want to argue that people don’t have the right to do something, at least have the guts to be honest about it. Don’t pull a page out of “1984” and redefine words to mean whatever you want them to mean.

After U.S. Reps. Ron Paul and Barney Frank introduced legislation that would end the federal ban on marijuana (but allow states to decide for themselves on the issue), drug warriors have been apoplectic. The latest example is from former “drug czar” Bill Bennett, who argues in a piece he wrote for CNN that giving people the freedom to make their own decisions about drug use isn’t freedom, because people who are addicted to something aren’t free.

Even many conservatives agree that the war on (some) drugs is a failure. National Review, for instance, editorialized last week in favor of the proposal from Paul and Frank. But old drug warriors such as Bennett aren’t going to let facts get in the way of what they’ve devoted their careers to fighting for.

Personally, I’m strongly opposed to the use of recreational drugs. I think it’s a poor decision that leads to lousy outcomes for a substantial number of people. My own decisions about this are so conservative that I don’t even drink alcohol, which is a drug far more dangerous than weed. But freedom is about deciding that for yourself, not letting Bill Bennett decide what freedom means.

Once again, this is why the state needs to go away. People should be free to choose among competing systems of governance that are most likely to make them happy. Let Bennett and his friends go live in the police state they’ve built and are so in love with.

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Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: 1984, barney frank, bill bennett, cnn, drugs, freedom, marijuana, ron paul, war on drugs

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The look of the moon and clouds through the bare b The look of the moon and clouds through the bare branches really gives a stark wintery feel to this cold Sunday night.
Alex says he’s the real photographer around here Alex says he’s the real photographer around here, so he’s taking over the camera. #cat #cats #catstagram #catsofinstagram #cute #cutecat #pets #petstagram #petsofinstagram #tabby #tabbycat #instacat #ilovecats #birmingham #alabama
I caught the tail end of the Thursday evening suns I caught the tail end of the Thursday evening sunset, but just enough to see some lovely pastel colors fill the sky. #nature #naturephotography #sky #colorful #clouds #sunset #birmingham #alabama
This was the view just after sunset Tuesday evenin This was the view just after sunset Tuesday evening near my house. #nature #naturephotography #sky #colorful #clouds #sunset #birmingham #alabama
At sunset Tuesday evening, the cloud cover over me At sunset Tuesday evening, the cloud cover over me was solidly gray and black, but one tiny break in the clouds appeared just for a few minutes to show a little bit of sunset’s colorful light. #nature #naturephotography #sky #colorful #clouds #sunset #birmingham #alabama
I just remembered that I caught the sun just befor I just remembered that I caught the sun just before it slipped beneath the horizon Tuesday evening. This is near my house just east of Birmingham. #nature #naturephotography #sky #colorful #clouds #sunset #birmingham #alabama
This was another experiment with a moon photo — This was another experiment with a moon photo — with my iPhone — but I allowed the moon to be overexposed in order to get the clouds in the foreground to show up. I’d really like to figure out how pros do shots of this sort. I don’t have it even close to right. #nature #naturephotography #sky #clouds #moon #iphone14
This is the sunset I just watched right after dinn This is the sunset I just watched right after dinner. It was one of the most vibrantly colorful displays I’ve seen in weeks. It was really beautiful. #nature #naturephotography #sky #colorful #clouds #sunset #birmingham #alabama
I don’t have the right lens to photograph the mo I don’t have the right lens to photograph the moon properly, but there are some nights when I try anyway. The longest lens I have goes to 240mm, which means I have to enlarge a tiny part of the frame way too much. But even if I had the right lens, I’m not sure I’ve figured out how to expose the moon decently while still showing some stars around it. Tonight’s attempt has given me a grainy moon and pinpricks of stars that become invisible when viewed at normal size. (Blow this up with your fingers in the app and you can see the tiny stars.) I really want to learn how to do this better, so if anyone has tips for me, I’d be happy to hear them. #nature #naturephotography #sky #moon
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Since it’s past noon, Alex wants to know if that Since it’s past noon, Alex wants to know if that’s close enough to dinner time for me to break out the food now. #cat #cats #catstagram #catsofinstagram #cute #cutecat #pets #petstagram #petsofinstagram #tabby #tabbycat #instacat #ilovecats #birmingham #alabama
From the CritterCam: I caught a little bit of mutu From the CritterCam: I caught a little bit of mutual grooming by the cats when I checked on them early Friday morning. They were quickly back to sleep on a chilly and rainy morning. #cat #cats #catstagram #catsofinstagram #cute #cutecat #pets #petstagram #petsofinstagram #instacat #ilovecats #birmingham #alabama
Alex and Oliver suddenly decided to pose together, Alex and Oliver suddenly decided to pose together, so I snapped a couple of shots before they could change their minds. It’s unusual when they both cooperate at once. #cat #cats #catstagram #catsofinstagram #cute #cutecat #pets #petstagram #petsofinstagram #instacat #ilovecats #birmingham #alabama
My little buddy Oliver has been asleep late Thursd My little buddy Oliver has been asleep late Thursday night. He and Lucy have been sleeping on the bed just a couple of feet apart. #cat #cats #catstagram #catsofinstagram #cute #cutecat #pets #petstagram #petsofinstagram #instacat #ilovecats #birmingham #alabama
I am terribly biased, but I think Oliver gets more I am terribly biased, but I think Oliver gets more beautiful every day. Not only is he a very sweet and loving kitten, but I think he’s going to become an absolutely beautiful adult cat. It was just three weeks ago tonight when he was spending his first evening with us and didn’t know what to think. Now, he’s pretty sure he owns the place — and Alex is having to fight him for the right to be “top cat.” #cat #cats #catstagram #catsofinstagram #cute #cutecat #pets #petstagram #petsofinstagram #instacat #ilovecats #birmingham #alabama
For "throwback Thursday,” I’m going to go all For "throwback Thursday,” I’m going to go all the way back to 2009, which was the last time when I had kittens as young as Oliver is right now. Emily and Charlotte were two of Molly’s three daughters — and this is a composite of two photos of what I woke up to find one morning when they were only a couple of months old. Emily continued to sleep on top of me every single night for the rest of her short life. #tbt #cat #cats #catstagram #catsofinstagram #cute #cutecat #pets #petstagram #petsofinstagram #instacat #ilovecats #birmingham #alabama
From the CritterCam: It seems as though I see hint From the CritterCam: It seems as though I see hints every now and then about what Oliver is going to look like as an adult cat. Today marks his third full week with us, but he already seems so much bigger and more mature looking. #cat #cats #catstagram #catsofinstagram #cute #cutecat #pets #petstagram #petsofinstagram #instacat #ilovecats #birmingham #alabama
Alex hasn’t stolen my Apple Watch lately, but on Alex hasn’t stolen my Apple Watch lately, but one of the cats stole my car keys just now. They were on this chest in the bedroom a few minutes ago, but I finally found them hidden behind the litter box in the office when it was time to leave the house. Since I found Alex at the scene of the crime, he’s my chief suspect. #cat #cats #catstagram #catsofinstagram #cute #cutecat #pets #petstagram #petsofinstagram #tabby #tabbycat #instacat #ilovecats #birmingham #alabama
It’s just about five seconds of Oliver playing w It’s just about five seconds of Oliver playing with his paws and tail late Wednesday night. Just loop it and it’ll be longer. 😺 #cat #cats #catstagram #catsofinstagram #cute #cutecat #pets #petstagram #petsofinstagram #instacat #ilovecats #birmingham #alabama
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Briefly

I haven’t posted anything new in my YouTube series about narcissism in the last couple of weeks, so some people have been asking about it. There’s nothing wrong and I’ll be back soon. The issue is simply a technical problem because of a piece of equipment that died. Here’s a brief video I posted on YouTube to explain.

On a live awards show Sunday night, one man made a joke about a female celebrity. The husband of the celebrity was offended and hit the man who made the joke. Or maybe it was staged for entertainment. Who knows? Who cares? Social media is full of discussion — and even arguments — about this idiocy today. This baffles me. Let’s assume for a moment that the event happened as reported. People have been having such idiotic fights ever since there have been humans. Half the bars in the world see such brief dustups regularly. It simply doesn’t matter. The fact that so many people believe they need to talk about this — or even need to have opinions about it — is more evidence of the bizarre media brainwashing that convinces many to care passionately about brain-dead trivia. Your life will be happier and saner if you focus on yourself, your family and your friends, not on whatever scripted (or spontaneous) bilge that the media wants to pipe into your home.

I’m in the middle of migrating this website to new servers this week. This means you might encounter some unexpected behavior until I get all the bugs worked out. Clicking on my links (including this one) might cause your browser to give you the message that it’s a site without a current security certificate. It’s not actually unsafe, but there’s something which isn’t yet set up for the security certificate. I apologize for any such errors you might encounter while the process is going on. If you notice any problems with content which didn’t migrate properly, I would appreciate you letting me know the details at davidmcelroy@mac.com. Thanks for your patience.

I often wonder what animals think when they look at us and consider the society we’ve created. Yes, I know this is fanciful and unrealistic, but what if they could? Would they be astounded at how we treat each other? Would they be disgusted by the ugliness and pettiness which fill so many of our daily interactions? The truth is that I’m feeling pretty disgusted with humanity tonight. I made the mistake of reading some online interactions that I should have avoided — and it sickened me. The people involved appeared to be vile and stupid and arrogant. I wish I could pretend they’re a tiny minority, but I know better. It’s times such as this when I most need to escape much of “civilization” and disconnect from their world. If humans are going to be worthy of “ruling this planet,” we have a lot of growth to do. And I fear that growth is nowhere in sight. So my buddy Thomas, above, and all of his friends would be right to judge us harshly — and to think, “Why do you folks get to be in charge?”

I should have expected this, but I honestly didn’t. The article I wrote last week about disagreements over treatment for autistic children brought me angry emails. You could almost call it “hate mail.” Of the five emails about it so far, two have been to tell me that I’m wrong to even listen to critics of the most popular therapy for autistic children — and the other three tell me I’m wrong for not condemning the treatment as the “obvious” abuse it is. If you read the article, you know I didn’t take a position on the issue, because I simply don’t know enough to have an opinion. But by talking about the issue, I stepped into a heated controversy. The emails from the two sides convinced me of nothing. But they did give me even more empathy for the unfortunate parents who have to figure out for themselves where the truth lies for their children.

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