skip to main |
skip to sidebar
A blog by Managing Editor James Jordan about the newspaper. So far it's mostly about city commission, but I hope to delve into other local issues.
Posts
My Blog List, My blogs are in capital letters
people following this blog
Blog Archive
-
▼
2009
(143)
-
▼
April
(31)
- kansas oklahoma
- Sunday
- kasha kelley live
- note on live blogs
- Real city commission
- live blog
- Freedom of speech redux
- Freedom of speech takes a fall
- live city worksession
- Music
- City commission meetings changes
- Saturday, music , good thoughts
- positively
- The Music
- letters
- Big Brother
- The night before Easter
- Deleted string
- new commission
- city commission
- lowe's
- City Commission worksession
- City commission candidate Scott Margolius
- About the live blogs
- More live candidate interviews
- Saturday
- Commission candidate Gordon Fry
- escapee maybe
- city commission candidate jay warren
- who you like
- city commission candidate Jean Snell
-
▼
April
(31)
Live Blogs
About Me
- Traveler Editor
- I have been at the Traveler for 4 years. I have been in the newspaper business longer than that. I came here from South Carolina. Apart from that, I am an unapologetic Jesus Freak. I am not, however, Republican.
29 comments:
How can you endorse Reese for School Board when he doesn't even let his kids attend the schools here?
I have seen young girls jumping with glee when they find out they are about to become single mothers and getting a check/assistance from the state. I'm not saying they ALL feel that way, but I have personally witnessed some who do.
Also, have known many people on assistance who are illegal drug users.
The next step is to make sure Kansas tax dollars are not being given out in the form of welfare to citizens of other countries.
For those of you who want to help feed these people (I know you have big hearts and good intentions), feel free to donate more money to that cause. However, do not force those who do not agree with you.
JJ, I'm glad there are those like you who see the best in people.
Still... I'm still trying to figure you out. Either you have not seen the dark underworld of illegal drug usage like I have and are naive, or you have personal reasons to want it legalized.
Maybe you think legalizing drugs would make it better because it will not be more accessible? I'm pretty sure we'll have some new plants growing in our neighbor's veggie gardens if the law is abolished. Do you consider that a good thing?
I agree with the previous post. Legalize drugs? There is only one segment of the population who takes that angle. Sometimes called "superjustifiers."
1. "Legalize it, tax it, all problems will be solved."
2. "The Bible says God put all plants on Earth for our use."
3. "Hemp fibers make rope and clothes."
4. "More people die from alcohol and tobacco."
5. "Thomas Jefferson grew hemp."
6. "Dentists used to use cocaine."
These go on and on. Drugs are bad (mm-kay). To suggest they should be legalized, to any degree, speaks volumes about you. I have seen lives ruined, lost, and families destroyed as a result of drug use.
Can anyone become successful and use drugs? Exceptions test the rule.
Surely you are throwing the idea out there for the sake of arguement. But what an irresponsible stance to take.
I don't agree with legalizing drugs either. It is a well known fact that physical and chemical changes occur with drug use even when its maryj.
Besides, the availablility is to the point that only the people that get caught are ones that commit a crime or get so comfortable with the life style they let down their guard.
I think it was said once before that most of those people who are in jail for drugs or its use or sale are there because they committed another crime!
As far as taxing it to the max I don't think that will work either-
look a the black market and how prevalent it is in society.
One other aside - look at how popular the addiction to prescription drugs has become -
I didn't realize how big it really was until someone I met filled me in on how it works!
Now your going to have to spend some time an educate yourself about the way they are getting high! I didn't know about schrooms until I met some one of a younger age that said they were in season!
They are mushrooms that make them high! There are also peyote buttons that were originally used by the Indians. Then huffing of
areosols and on and on.
Your going to have to start young to break this chain of events - and some generations may already be lost!
"I have seen lives ruined, lost, and families destroyed as a result of drug use."
I guarantee you that I have seen more families hurt from alcohol use than you have from drug use.
After spending many years arresting people for marijuana possession and sale, and having to deal with drunk people who were not breaking any laws because it was legal, I gotta go with JJ on this one.. WHY NOT legalize marijuana?
Package it like cigarettes, tax it, and outlaw the growing and sale by private individuals, much the same as alcohol. The weed dealers in this town would have to find a new line of work, although they might just move up the ladder to something heavier, but at least then they could be put in prison for some serious time, and not slapped on the wrist after wasting the time of our law enforcement and court system.. Also, the cops would have more time to concentrate on the bigger fish.
Alcohol is no different than marijuana, yet we allow it, celebrate it, and even have beer gardens at Arkalalah. There are millions who use both alcohol and marijuana, legally or illegally, so the state might as well quit fighting a losing battle and make some money from taxing it.
And no, I have never tried marijuana, or any other kind of illegal drug, but I do know that the effects of marijuana are no worse than the effects of alcohol.
sg - of course you have, I have too...it's exponentially more prevalent. People die crop dusting Columbia from F-15's...should we legalize cocaine and crack? People die trying to eradicate the poppy fields, should we legalize all derivatives of the poppy?
Further, just because something is not as bad as alcohol doesn't mean it should be legalized. Your logic is all over the place. I'm certainly wasting my time, so we should agree to disagree. Anyone thinking legalizing illicit drugs is a good idea cannot possibly be taken seriously.
I dont mean to defend drugs.
Im just saying the current system of rotating them through the jail system at a terribly high cost to taxpayers is not working.
Trying harder at the same thing that doesnt work, wont work.
We are throwing billions of dollars at the problem, and are getting nowhere.
So ... i was just suggesting a different approach.
And, if you are so against drugs, how can alcohol be legal?
Its a drug too.
Im just saying there is a good bit of hypocrisy and silliness in the system.
Half the people - literally true - are in prison because of drug charges. If we took the money to prosecute them, keep them jailed etc., and used it for treatment, we would have enough left over to pay for other needed things. and we would not have to keep building jails.
Drugs are very bad. Alcohol is too. For that matter, too much sugar, salt and grease, is bad for your too. :)
Im really just being practical here :)
"Anyone thinking legalizing illicit drugs is a good idea cannot possibly be taken seriously."
I was talking about marijuana, not hard drugs. There is a difference. Alcohol is actually much worse than pot.
All of us saw one group of visible people in the society of this town call
all the shots for years and years. Let me tell you; they were shocked when
that all came to a crashing end in the last commission election.
We are seeing there dirty tricks as they demand to have back their
"rightful place" calling the shots and knowing in advance what will happen
even before an issue comes to a public vote.
Our town finally got in a commission that will not do their bidding. You
know there are some tough times ahead, but the “old money” will never
suffer. The real problem is; they don’t care if you do.
So follow the money of the candidates, how much is bank money and how much
is self funded? Just look at the signs for a start.
Please get out and vote so the “ Chosen Ones” and their minions can’t run
this town in to the ground ever again. Vote for openness, honesty, and a
fair shake for even the little guy.
Don’t ever think your vote does't’t count, in the eyes of God and in the
voter’s booth we all account for the same amount!
The Ark City Tea Party
ACTP I have never agreed with you until now. One of the things these people "know before the public even vote" is whose votes they are going to get. They are counting on the low turnout. How many registered voters are there...6-7K max?? If that. 10 - 15 % is 600-1000 TOPS. It will take at least a couple of hundred votes they didn't count on to make a difference. You and I both know that is not going to happen.
Everyone running knows this election was decided the day they declared.
Say it Aint so say it aint so
There must hope or what is the point
You better make sure all you know vote because all that they know will
The tea party?
"Our town finally got in a commission that will not do their bidding."
Boy, that's the truth. That was very evident when our petition to go to the next step on the Lowe's deal was totally ignored, and then thrown out with the garbage.
"Donna Avery has previous executive experience, having led the Arkansas City Area Chamber of Commerce for 14 years and served as full-time manager of Strother Field Industrial Park and Airport for eight years."
I was supposed to meet Donna Avery at the only commercial aircraft hangar at Strother Field and she was an hour late and said she spent the time driving around Strother Field looking for the hangar because she didn't know where it was.
It had been there as the only aviation business on the field for over 10 years. It is still there, on the south end of the runway. It is where the planes are.
You should have seen the airport when she got done with it.
She eventually converted the Airport Terminal into a cellphone store.
Anybody can be the "manager" of the airport. If your experience is as as secretary (Donna) or maintenance man, then bingo, you're it.
When Cowley had an aviation mechanic school at Strother Field she voted to move it to Wichita. She was on the Cowley College Board and was an ex Strother manager. Oh, by the way, Cowley County taxpayers paid to move it to the Pawnee center in Wichita.
Great move for Ark City!!
She has a road named after her on the south side of Strother Field.
Why?
When she ran the Chamber of Commerce, the downtown businesses revolted and created the "Merchants on the Move" as a replacement.
She did her best to run Ark City into the ground with mismanagement.
No more. Enough.
Hey Tea Party, heres a theme song for your group--
Oh my God, smell them tires,
Someone save the baby, it's a trailer park fire!
How did the whole thing get out of hand?
I was burnin' spiders with an aerosol can...
Gotta get in there, kick down the door,
Daddy left his Harley on the livin' room floor...
Fire's out of hand, man, there she goes,
Only hope now's if the waterbed blows...
You save grandma, I'll save the crank,
We'll meet out back by the propane tank...
Oh, my, my, smell them tires
Someone save the baby, its a trailer park fire!
How do some of you all get on the internet with the library being closed on Sunday???
Hay you who plagiarized the song move to Derby or Ponca they have a Lowe’s we never were nor ever will have one. There was no next step only another conn Lowe's had no intention of ever coming to AC
Teaparty
Wow, your spelling and grammar are top notch. I will be sure to follow you.
Brilliant insight, 10:37. Lots of substance and thought in your post.
JJ, they will not get much in taxes, as most know how to grown it themselves. Actually, you are right. The government would probably legalize it but only allow large companies to grow and manufacture the product after paying Washington and their states a huge chunk of change for permits, etc. Then, they would tax the consumer on the other end.
I do not see a cost savings in prisons, as most are not there for actual "drug usage". Most are there because of the effects of drugs and alcohol. Legalizing it will not change anything there.
Wow, for once I agree with SG onb a topic. Who, better then a former officer, would know? Alcohol is just as bad, in my opinion worse then marijuana. I USED to smoke it and I sure don't recall people getting violent and in fights, but get them drunk and you can bet an aurgument or fight would start. Anyone here notice the large amount of domestic violence reports lately? I wonder how many are alcohol related?
Anyone here notice the large amount of domestic violence reports lately? I wonder how many are alcohol related?
April 6, 2009 7:38 AM
Mostly they are money related, or stress within the family. Alcohol doesn't create the action, it doesn't make it happen it removes the fear of the action.
It was always there, within the peson to do that, the alcohol just made it easier to do.
I have seen a lot of abused women stay in bad relationships because they were too high to give a care.
I have seen a lot of kids running the streets, locked out of their own homes, while their parents sit inside with their friends and get high.
I have seen a man sit of his duff smoking weed while his house literally fell in around him. He had no desire to get a job or to fix his home. In the meantime, his wife worked and his daughter slept in a room where her bed would get soaked everytime it rained. You couldn't see the house from the street for all of the weeds and vines growing around and over it. He had no desire to mow or take care of anything. He just wanted to stay high.
I have busted a middle school aged boy smoking a joint. When I asked him where he got it, he said from his father's drawer. The boy had been skipping school and suddenly failing his classes.
I know of many people who come to work high, but wouldn't dare do so drunk. The evidence of alcohol use is obvious due to lack of motor skills and the "smell". However, pot use can get by unnoticed. Many times we just assume the person is lazy or "slow", but really they are high.
Well, then we should make alcohol illegal too. I want to make it clear that I do not condone any one using marijuana because it is illegal, but my personal experiences tell me alcohol is more dangerous then marijuana. I don't drink but maybe once or twice a year, but i notice people getting a lot more angrier on alcohol. I admit to using marijuana in the past when I was a teen and young adult. I made good grades, was involved in choir, orchestra and afterschool activities and yes, even went to college and held a job. Please don't stigmatize all marijuana smokers as lazy lax people based on a the type of people you have come in contact with in your job. Most likely trouble makers anyway. Understandable that you would see it that way because my opinion is that alot of those people you are talking about are/was raised without any type of values and have taken up to smoking from morning to night. Do we not see the same thing(maybe even worse) in an alcoholic? Only difference is, alcohol's legal.
"Anyone here notice the large amount of domestic violence reports lately? I wonder how many are alcohol related?"
Possibly a result of a LOT of people being out of work and wondering how the rent is going to get paid. Financial problems are the number one source of conflict in marriage after all.
Yes, Jamie you are right. The people I encountered smoked from day to night. I have never met a pot smoker who just smoked evenings and weekends.
I've noticed most the time when people get in trouble they are not people that just smoke marijuana, they are doing other types of drugs, including alcohol.
Typical sounding acpd officer, sarcastic. Sorry.
Uh, can I get arrested for saying that?
@anonymous April 6, 2009 3:37 PM
Not very nice. Maybe your attitude would change if you was in need of the pd's assistance.
Post a Comment