Video: KKK Leader and U.S. Senate Hopeful from Mo. Talks "Inferior Races"

By: Chad Garrison

From: http://blogs.riverfronttimes.com/

Heard about Missouri's U.S. Senate hopeful Glenn Miller?

The Springfield man is a former leader of the North Carolina Ku Klux Klan and has been airing bizarre radio advertisements throughout the state denouncing the white man for being cowardly and blaming Jews for all the country's problems. (Listen to the ads here.)

In this interview -- from 1984 -- Miller is introduced as being the No. 1 enemy of the Anti-Defamation League.



Miller's campaign website states that, "It's not against the law to be white, yet." And encourages anyone to call him for advice. His number? 417-463-7703.

US 2010 Census: Who needs it?

By Dan Jones
From http://www.americainfra.com/

The US Census

If you haven't already, you should soon be seeing a envelope direct from the US government sitting in your mail box. Don't worry, you haven't done anything wrong it's just the government's once-a-decade population count.

120 million US Census forms are scheduled to arrive in US households today as the government do a head count in order to help divvy up congressional seats and more than $400 billion in federal aid. But government officials, along with private-sector leaders, are keen to point out that the data will be used not only on a federal level, but locally as well. Shorter than previous Censuses, this decade's questionnaire will only include ten questions in an effort to boost lower-than-average mail participation ten years ago.

Fair political representation

The Census is a decennial census mandated by the United States Constitution, with the first performed after the America revolution in 1790. Nowadays the Census determines how $400 billion in federal funding is spent each year. Hospitals, schools and roads are examples of infrastructure funding that the Census determines. It helps to know how many new roads need to built, and where they are going to be.

One other primary goal is to divide the 435 seats in the House of Representatives among the states. Because population changes so much as time passes, a census helps to keep things in order and determine if the nation is fairly represented politically. Your state's population in the 2010 Census will determine if it gains, loses or keeps House seats.

Even though it helps to know if you have a larger, stronger House delegation, there is more to it than the simple possibility of losing or gaining a member of Congress.

Growing US apathy toward surveys

The Census is very important to the business world and can have long-lasting implications for how successful a business is. Knowing the demographics of an area helps to determine advertising and marketing strategies, whilst non-profit organisations use the age and income data to examine the specific needs of each community.

The biggest potential obstacle to the Census being successful is the American people. Low mail participation means inaccurate data, which means policies will be affected on both a local and federal level. However, those who forget or just refuse to take part surrender the right complain about policy decisions based on the data.

A fine of $5000 is applicable for those who fail to respond, but that law is very rarely enforced

The AP shrewdly reports that even as it aims high, the Census Bureau predicts that maybe two-thirds of US households will mail in the form. That's because it faces special challenges of growing US apathy toward surveys, residents displaced by a high number of foreclosures, as well as immigrants who have become more distrustful of government workers amid a crackdown on illegal immigration.

On top of all this the logistics of carrying out a survey on this scale are sizeable to say the least, and a hell of a lot of work (and money) goes into making it happen. So, if for nothing else, reply as a means of making all this hard work worth while...

Well, The Census Is Hiring

By Meg Marco

From http://consumerist.com/

(frankieleon)

Unemployed? If you're looking for something to get you out of the house, the Census is hiring and apparently they're really enjoying the sudden influx of lawyers and other professionals to choose from, says the Washington Post.

The WaPo says:

“

The Census Bureau expects to hire at least 700,000 people throughout the spring and summer for part-time jobs, paying $10 to $25 an hour, mostly to knock on the doors of people who don't send in forms that will arrive in mailboxes this month. Many of the expected 3 million to 4 million applicants will be like Williams: highly educated and in the prime of their working life but sidelined by a recession that has driven the unemployment rate to almost 10 percent.

”

So, what are they looking for? WaPo says you must be 18 and submit to an FBI background check that includes fingerprinting. it's also helpful if you are actually from a neighborhood where the Census needs people for canvassing. They figure that people are more likely to open the door to a familiar face.

Language skills will also be important.

Does this sound like something you'd like to do?

Laid-off professionals line up for part-time census jobs [WaPo]
[Census.gov]

Who pays taxes - and how much?

The federal tax burden varies widely across income groups, but a surprising number owe little if anything in income taxes.

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- For most Americans, Wednesday is the day they have to make sure they're square with the tax man.

It's also a day that focuses the mind on those perennial questions about the fairness of the U.S. tax system. Are higher-income people paying enough - or would raising their taxes depress their incentive to work? Are the poor getting gouged - or do too many get off without paying a penny? Are those in the vast middle getting squeezed?

The questions are particularly relevant these days, as deficits pile up, demands for government spending soar and many of the past decade's tax cuts near their expiration in 2010.

Going forward, the White House has said it wants to cut taxes for families making less than $250,000, while at the same time start collecting more from families with bigger incomes in 2011.

Of course, the burden of funding the federal government isn't designed to be spread equally. The U.S. tax code is progressive, meaning that higher-income tax filers pay more in taxes than those lower down the income scale.

But just how much more?

The highest earners pay the lion's share of the dollars Uncle Sam collects.

The top fifth of households made 56% of pre-tax income in 2006 but paid 86% of all individual income tax revenue collected, according to the most recent data available from the Congressional Budget Office.

Narrowing in further: The top 1% of households, which made 19% of pre-tax income, paid 39% of all individual income taxes.

The trend is similar if you count income taxes, social insurance taxes, excise taxes and corporate income taxes (such as capital gains) combined. The top fifth of households paid 69% of all federal taxes. The top 1% paid 28%.

But researchers also note that the highest income taxpayers derive the most benefits from the tax cuts put in place since 2001.

Next year, as a result of all those tax cuts, filers making more than $1 million will enjoy a 7.7% average boost in their after-tax income relative to what they would have if the tax cuts weren't in place, according to the Tax Policy Center. Middle-income households, by comparison, will see an average boost of 2.6%.

Many pay no income tax or very little

A Tax Foundation survey found 56% of Americans think the amount of federal income tax they pay is too high. Those most likely to feel that way, according to the survey, include those making between $35,000 and $50,000.

But once the various tax breaks to which they're entitled are counted, the burdens of low- and middle-income tax filers as a group has been fairly low.

The Tax Policy Center estimates that for 2009, 43% of tax units (most of which are lower income households that may or may not file a return) will have no income tax liability or will have a negative income tax liability, meaning the government will actually pay them.

When measuring the tax burdens from income tax and payroll tax combined, the Tax Policy Center estimates nearly 12% of tax units will have zero or negative liability.

As for everyone else, it's likely their net income tax burden will not be high.

For example, in 2005, just under one in 10 filers owed more than 15% of their income in federal income tax, said Roberton Williams, senior fellow at the Tax Policy Center. Virtually all of them had incomes over $100,000.

US Government supplies FDA approved medical marijuana

Irvin Rosenfeld and the Compassionate IND -- Medical Marijuana Proof and Government Lies.

Irv Rosenfeld's appearance at the Illinois medical marijuana hearings has drawn quite a bit of attention and interest. People have been asking me questions about him and the program, so I thought I'd go into more detail.

But first... Steve at decrimwatch was also at the hearings yesterday and provides a fabulous perspective on the detention of Irv Rosenfeld.

"The government does give marijuana to patients. I'm living proof," he told reporters during a press conference. "I'm also living proof that it works well. I'm also living proof that the government doesn't want to know how well it works. If they want to do research, all they have to do is contact me."

He brought a tin can full of marijuana cigarettes that he picks up at his pharmacy each month and showed them to a room full of astonished state legislators during the hearing. Shortly after his presentation, he found himself surrounded by four burly state security officers.... [read the rest]

You see, Irv Rosenfeld is one of a small group of patients who actually gets medical marijuana legally from the federal government -- yep, that same federal government that sends storm troopers to arrest California patients doing the same thing. He is part of the Compassionate IND (Investigational New Drug) program and gets about 300 marijuana cigarettes in a metal tin prescribed to last 25 days.

He was a real hit at the Illinois House Committee hearing yesterday. The press was particularly fascinated by the notion that someone could be legally carrying around a tin of marijuana in the State Capital. (seen here examining Irv's tin and supporting letters)

And no surprise. It's not common knowledge. The federal government doesn't want people to know. They don't deny the existence of the program, but they sure avoid talking about it.

How did Irv become a federal medical marijuana patient?

It all started in 1976 in a fascinating case...

U.S. v. Randall

In 1976, a Washington, D.C. man afflicted by glaucoma employed the little-used Common Law doctrine of necessity to defend himself against criminal charges of marijuana cultivation. On November 24, 1976, federal Judge James Washington ruled Randall's use of marijuana constituted a "medical necessity." In part, Judge Washington ruled:

While blindness was shown by competent medical testimony to be the otherwise inevitable result of defendant's disease, no adverse effects from the smoking of marijuana have been demonstrated.... Medical evidence suggests that the medical prohibition is not well-founded.

Judge Washington dismissed criminal charges against Randall. Concurrent with this judicial determination, federal agencies responding to a May, 1976 petition filed by Randall, began providing this patient with licit, FDA-approved access to government supplies of medical marijuana. Randall was the first American to receive marijuana for the treatment of a medical disorder.

Randall chose not to be silent about his victory, and started organizing others, which led to:

Randall v. U.S.

In 1978, federal agencies, disquieted by Randall's outspoken opposition to the medical prohibition, sought to silence him by disrupting his legal access to marijuana.

In response, Randall, represented pro bono publico by the law firm of Steptoe & Johnson, brought suit against FDA, DEA, the National Institute on Drug Abuse, the Department of Justice and the Department of Health, Education & Welfare.

Twenty-four hours after the suit was filed, federal agencies requested an out-of-court settlement. The resulting settlement provided Randall with prescriptive access to marijuana through a federal pharmacy located near his home.

The settlement in Randall v. U.S. became the legal basis for FDA's Compassionate IND program. Initially, this program was limited to patients afflicted by marijuana-responsive disorders and some orphan drugs. In the mid-1980's however, the Compassionate IND concept was expanded to include HIV-positive people seeking legal access to drugs which had not yet received final FDA marketing approval.

Irv Rosenfeld met Randall, who convinced him to go after the same legal arrangement, which he successfully did (around 1983). Irv has a rare degenerative bone disease called multiple congenital cartilaginous exostoses, a painful bone disease.

More patients joined the Compassionate IND program, but in the 1980s, it looked like it would grow significantly because of AIDS. So The George H.W. Bush administration shut it down in 1991.

Again, from marijuana-as-medicine.org:

The Compassionate IND program was closed because too many people were asking for access to medical marijuana supplies. In order for marijuana to be classified as a prohibited Schedule I drug it must not have "accepted medical use in treatment" in the United States. The federal government knew that hundreds of approved Compassionate INDs would quickly undermine that criteria and marijuana would have to be rescheduled. Rather than respond in an honest and open way, the federal government closed the Compassionate IND program for marijuana.

The existing patients were grandfathered in because it would require public and embarrassing court cases to deny them medicine at this point. The AIDS patients in the program died (this was prior to the AIDS cocktails that could prolong life). And finally, Randall died, making Irv Rosenfeld now the oldest living legal federal marijuana patient.

Seven are alive, two of which remain anonymous.

They continue to get their marijuana on a fairly regular basis. They have to work with a pharmacy that's been approved by NIDA and that has a secure safe. Then usually a five month supply is shipped at once, and the patient is informed so they can pick it up. The marijuana is grown on a farm at the University of Mississippi, mostly from seeds of Mexican origin, rolled and packaged at the Research Triangle Institute in North Carolina under the supervision of the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA).

Irv's current supply was grown in 1997, and frozen until needed. It's low grade marijuana with very low levels of THC, which explains the large amount that must be smoked to serve the medical purposes.

The patients have no other contact with the federal government. There's no ID card or official paperwork -- only some decades-old letters and phone numbers of the pharmacy and an old DEA friend that keep him out of trouble when he's detained (as he was yesterday).

Irv gets animated and almost angry when he talks about the federal government's complete and utter lack interest in him over the past 22 years that they've been supplying him with 10-12 joints a day.

He notes that they've had a perfect opportunity to do a full scale study on long-term controlled use of medical marijuana, and they aren't interested. They don't even want to know. All the talk about not having sufficient evidence, about not having controlled scientific studies. Total crap.

"Go ahead, study me!" he exclaimed.

So some of the patients got involved in their own study (excerpts from the study by Ethan Russo, MD are available at CannabisMD). They received MRI scans of the brain, pulmonary function tests, chest x-ray, neuropsychological tests, hormone and immunological assays, electroencephalography (brain wave recording), P300 testing, history, and neurological clinical examination. The results? Other than their original condition for which they were taking marijuana, there was nothing wrong with them. No significant adverse affects from smoking 10-12 joints a day. Irv even had 108% lung capacity. That's after smoking marijuana for over 30 years, 22 years for the federal government. That's over 80,000 federal marijuana cigarettes.

This is medical marijuana, the drug that the federal government declares to be too dangerous to be used as medicine, and yet that they supply to 7 patients every month.

Irv Rosenfeld is grateful that he gets his medicine, but finds it extremely unfair that others cannot, so he feels that it's his responsibility to help spread the word. He was riveting on the Montel show, and was a hit yesterday at the hearing. He single-handedly made numerous people in the room realize how much of a liar the drug czar is (although unfortunately that was not enough, as the Drug Czar carries significant political clout).

Irv's a real dynamo. He's a successful stockbroker working in a fast-paced industry while smoking marijuana every day. He's an outstanding public speaker, and the entire room is drawn to him. He's a terrific asset to the medical marijuana movement -- not only as a good speaker, but because in the end, when the drug warriors claim that medical marijuana is dangerous, Irv stands in front of them proudly and strongly and demands:

"Explain me!"

The truth about medical marijuana:

In the end, it's really quite simple. Here's what you say to those who would deny medical marijuana.

1. When they say there's no proof that it works, ask them to explain that directly to a medical marijuana patient.
2. When they say that marijuana is dangerous, ask them to explain Irv Rosenfeld.
3. When they say they're worried about the message that's sent to children, ask them to explain the fact that in states that have passed medical marijuana, recreational use by teens has dropped.
4. And finally, ask them: "Why do you want to throw sick people in jail for following the advice of their doctor?"