Men don't mind being influenced by their women, as long as it is in a positive direction.
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Friday, May 31, 2013
Wednesday, May 29, 2013
Frige
The good thing about eating healthy food is that you can leave it in the refrigerator at work and no one will touch it.
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Truth
The truth does not need anyone to believe in it in order to remain the truth.
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Exist
Why do atheist spend so much time and energy disputing someone they don't believe exist anyway?
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Monday, May 27, 2013
Impact
Deliberately seeking after God, in a devoted manner, will have positive impact in everything you do in life.
Saturday, May 25, 2013
To What End?
To What End?
1. The futility of the current drug war:
If only 10 percent of illicit drugs are seized in any given year, then, based on the figure of 2,412,365 pounds of marijuana seized in 2002, one could estimate that in 2002 the total amount of marijuana that traffickers succeeded in smuggling into the country was roughly 24 million pounds, or about 10,889 metric tons. If one doubles that amount to take into account the domestic production of marijuana that was not seized, then the total amount would be closer to 22,000 metric tons."
(2009 - value of global opiate market)
"At retail level, the total value of the heroin market is substantial at an estimated US$55 billion. The size of the annual opium market is a more ‘modest’ US$7-10 billion.
Consequently, the combined total opiates (heroin/opium) market could be worth up to US$65 billion per year. This amount is higher than the GDPs of many countries. In economic terms, nearly half of the overall opiate market value is accounted for by Europe (some US$20 billion) and the Russian Federation (US$13 billion). Other lucrative markets include China (US$9 billion) and the United States and Canada (US$8 billion)."
(2008 - cost of narcotics trade)
"The narcotics trade has also significantly impeded fiscal growth and stability by diverting scarce resources away from more-productive uses. Between 1981 and 2008, federal, state, and local governments are estimated to have spent at least $600 billion (adjusted for inflation) on drug interdiction and related law enforcement efforts; factoring in costs associated with treatment and rehabilitation, the overall total rises to around $800 billion.34 If one were to also add in “invisible” losses brought about by curtailed job opportunities and reduced workplace productivity, the true cost would be far higher."
(2007 - cost of drug diversion)
"...the estimated cost of CPD diversion and abuse to public and private medical insurers is $72.5 billion a year, 3 much of which is passed to consumers through higher health insurance premiums.
Additionally, the abuse of prescription opioids is burdening the budgets of substance abuse treatment providers, particularly as prescription opioid abuse might be fueling heroin abuse rates in some areas of the United States.
2. Since law enforcement's interdiction efforts have little effect on the flow of illegal narcotics, who really benefits from its effort?
The federal part of the Drug War budget number comes directly from the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy, including the National Drug Control Strategy Budgets (2002-2009) (adjusted after 2003, for budget structure changes implemented in 2004), and subsequent budgets, the latest of which is the 2011 budget, which indicates that the federal government will spend at least $23.44 billion on the War on Drugs in 2011.
With violent crime rates continuing their decade-long decline, the United States should be able to reduce its prison population. But the still-growing number of men and women behind bars attests to criminal justice policies – including mandatory minimum sentences, three strikes laws, and reduced options for parole – that favor incarceration over alternative sanctions, even for low-level and nonviolent crimes. According to the Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) data, 53 percent of all state and federal prisoners are incarcerated for nonviolent crimes. Indeed, an estimated 337,872 men and women are serving state or federal prison sentences because of drug convictions, most of whom are low-level offenders.
At least 37 states have legalized the contracting of prison labor by private corporations that mount their operations inside state prisons.
The list of such companies contains the cream of U.S. corporate society: IBM, Boeing, Motorola, Microsoft, AT&T, Wireless, Texas Instrument, Dell, Compaq, Honeywell, Hewlett-Packard, Nortel, Lucent Technologies, 3Com, Intel, Northern Telecom, TWA, Nordstrom's, Revlon, Macy's, Pierre Cardin, Target Stores, and many more.
All of these businesses are excited about the economic boom generation by prison labor. Just between 1980 and 1994, profits went up from $392 million to $1.31 billion. Inmates in state penitentiaries generally receive the minimum wage for their work, but not all; in Colorado, they get about $2 per hour, well under the minimum. And in privately-run prisons, they receive as little as 17 cents per hour for a maximum of six hours a day, the equivalent of $20 per month. The highest-paying private prison is CCA in Tennessee, where prisoners receive 50 cents per hour for what they call "highly skilled positions." At those rates, it is no surprise that inmates find the pay in federal prisons to be very generous. There, they can earn $1.25 an hour and work eight hours a day, and sometimes overtime. They can send home $200-$300 per month.
(2008 - savings from legalizing drugs in the U.S.)
"The report estimates that legalizing drugs would save roughly $48.7 billion per year in government expenditure on enforcement of prohibition. $33.1 billion of this savings would accrue to state and local governments, while $15.6 billion would accrue to the federal government. Approximately $13.7 billion of the savings would results from legalization of marijuana, $22.3 billion from legalization of cocaine and heroin, and $12.8 from legalization of other drugs."
3. The purpose of foreign wars...control of the black income of the illicit drug market?
At current levels, world heroin consumption (340 tons) and seizures represent an annual flow of 430-450 tons of heroin into the global heroin market. Of that total, opium from Myanmar and the Lao People's Democratic Republic yields some 50 tons, while the rest, some 380 tons of heroin and morphine, is produced exclusively from Afghan opium. While approximately 5 tons are consumed and seized in Afghanistan, the remaining bulk of 375 tons is trafficked worldwide via routes flowing into and through the countries neighbouring Afghanistan.
(2009 - opium income and the Taliban)
"The Taliban’s principal and most lucrative source of income in Afghanistan is its control of the opium trade. The Taliban have long profited off of the ten percent ushr tax levied on opium farmers, an additional tax on the traffickers, and a per-kilogram transit tariff charged to the truckers who transport the product. In recent years, however, they have been “taking a page from the warlords’ playbook,” and regional and local Taliban commanders have been demanding “protection money from the drug traffickers who smuggle goods through their territory.” A 2007 analysis by the Jamestown Foundation described “arrangements whereby drug traffickers provide money, vehicles and subsistence to Taliban units in return for protection.” In addition, at even higher Taliban command levels, “senior leadership in Quetta are paid regular installments from narcotics kingpins as a general fee for operating in Taliban controlled areas.” Through these various forms of taxation and extortion, the Taliban have been estimated to earn nearly $300 million a year from the opium trade."
4. The true costs of the war on drugs:
The presence of illegal narcotics on the streets, first of all, is preventable. Their deliberate proliferation fuels an equally deliberate effort to create an unaccountable source of funds from this lucrative illicit business. The chief benefactors of this underground economic system are the same who feign concern and mount 'efforts' against it.
Mainly, their war allows themselves to pay themselves to combat an enemy they themselves control and protect.
In the end, it is the citizenry who pay the true costs of this war. It is we who have to live with the ravishes of addiction, crime, incarceration and death that are the true price of this 'war'.
Commentary by
@ewjjr
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1. The futility of the current drug war:
If only 10 percent of illicit drugs are seized in any given year, then, based on the figure of 2,412,365 pounds of marijuana seized in 2002, one could estimate that in 2002 the total amount of marijuana that traffickers succeeded in smuggling into the country was roughly 24 million pounds, or about 10,889 metric tons. If one doubles that amount to take into account the domestic production of marijuana that was not seized, then the total amount would be closer to 22,000 metric tons."
(2009 - value of global opiate market)
"At retail level, the total value of the heroin market is substantial at an estimated US$55 billion. The size of the annual opium market is a more ‘modest’ US$7-10 billion.
Consequently, the combined total opiates (heroin/opium) market could be worth up to US$65 billion per year. This amount is higher than the GDPs of many countries. In economic terms, nearly half of the overall opiate market value is accounted for by Europe (some US$20 billion) and the Russian Federation (US$13 billion). Other lucrative markets include China (US$9 billion) and the United States and Canada (US$8 billion)."
(2008 - cost of narcotics trade)
"The narcotics trade has also significantly impeded fiscal growth and stability by diverting scarce resources away from more-productive uses. Between 1981 and 2008, federal, state, and local governments are estimated to have spent at least $600 billion (adjusted for inflation) on drug interdiction and related law enforcement efforts; factoring in costs associated with treatment and rehabilitation, the overall total rises to around $800 billion.34 If one were to also add in “invisible” losses brought about by curtailed job opportunities and reduced workplace productivity, the true cost would be far higher."
(2007 - cost of drug diversion)
"...the estimated cost of CPD diversion and abuse to public and private medical insurers is $72.5 billion a year, 3 much of which is passed to consumers through higher health insurance premiums.
Additionally, the abuse of prescription opioids is burdening the budgets of substance abuse treatment providers, particularly as prescription opioid abuse might be fueling heroin abuse rates in some areas of the United States.
2. Since law enforcement's interdiction efforts have little effect on the flow of illegal narcotics, who really benefits from its effort?
The federal part of the Drug War budget number comes directly from the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy, including the National Drug Control Strategy Budgets (2002-2009) (adjusted after 2003, for budget structure changes implemented in 2004), and subsequent budgets, the latest of which is the 2011 budget, which indicates that the federal government will spend at least $23.44 billion on the War on Drugs in 2011.
With violent crime rates continuing their decade-long decline, the United States should be able to reduce its prison population. But the still-growing number of men and women behind bars attests to criminal justice policies – including mandatory minimum sentences, three strikes laws, and reduced options for parole – that favor incarceration over alternative sanctions, even for low-level and nonviolent crimes. According to the Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) data, 53 percent of all state and federal prisoners are incarcerated for nonviolent crimes. Indeed, an estimated 337,872 men and women are serving state or federal prison sentences because of drug convictions, most of whom are low-level offenders.
At least 37 states have legalized the contracting of prison labor by private corporations that mount their operations inside state prisons.
The list of such companies contains the cream of U.S. corporate society: IBM, Boeing, Motorola, Microsoft, AT&T, Wireless, Texas Instrument, Dell, Compaq, Honeywell, Hewlett-Packard, Nortel, Lucent Technologies, 3Com, Intel, Northern Telecom, TWA, Nordstrom's, Revlon, Macy's, Pierre Cardin, Target Stores, and many more.
All of these businesses are excited about the economic boom generation by prison labor. Just between 1980 and 1994, profits went up from $392 million to $1.31 billion. Inmates in state penitentiaries generally receive the minimum wage for their work, but not all; in Colorado, they get about $2 per hour, well under the minimum. And in privately-run prisons, they receive as little as 17 cents per hour for a maximum of six hours a day, the equivalent of $20 per month. The highest-paying private prison is CCA in Tennessee, where prisoners receive 50 cents per hour for what they call "highly skilled positions." At those rates, it is no surprise that inmates find the pay in federal prisons to be very generous. There, they can earn $1.25 an hour and work eight hours a day, and sometimes overtime. They can send home $200-$300 per month.
(2008 - savings from legalizing drugs in the U.S.)
"The report estimates that legalizing drugs would save roughly $48.7 billion per year in government expenditure on enforcement of prohibition. $33.1 billion of this savings would accrue to state and local governments, while $15.6 billion would accrue to the federal government. Approximately $13.7 billion of the savings would results from legalization of marijuana, $22.3 billion from legalization of cocaine and heroin, and $12.8 from legalization of other drugs."
3. The purpose of foreign wars...control of the black income of the illicit drug market?
At current levels, world heroin consumption (340 tons) and seizures represent an annual flow of 430-450 tons of heroin into the global heroin market. Of that total, opium from Myanmar and the Lao People's Democratic Republic yields some 50 tons, while the rest, some 380 tons of heroin and morphine, is produced exclusively from Afghan opium. While approximately 5 tons are consumed and seized in Afghanistan, the remaining bulk of 375 tons is trafficked worldwide via routes flowing into and through the countries neighbouring Afghanistan.
(2009 - opium income and the Taliban)
"The Taliban’s principal and most lucrative source of income in Afghanistan is its control of the opium trade. The Taliban have long profited off of the ten percent ushr tax levied on opium farmers, an additional tax on the traffickers, and a per-kilogram transit tariff charged to the truckers who transport the product. In recent years, however, they have been “taking a page from the warlords’ playbook,” and regional and local Taliban commanders have been demanding “protection money from the drug traffickers who smuggle goods through their territory.” A 2007 analysis by the Jamestown Foundation described “arrangements whereby drug traffickers provide money, vehicles and subsistence to Taliban units in return for protection.” In addition, at even higher Taliban command levels, “senior leadership in Quetta are paid regular installments from narcotics kingpins as a general fee for operating in Taliban controlled areas.” Through these various forms of taxation and extortion, the Taliban have been estimated to earn nearly $300 million a year from the opium trade."
4. The true costs of the war on drugs:
The presence of illegal narcotics on the streets, first of all, is preventable. Their deliberate proliferation fuels an equally deliberate effort to create an unaccountable source of funds from this lucrative illicit business. The chief benefactors of this underground economic system are the same who feign concern and mount 'efforts' against it.
Mainly, their war allows themselves to pay themselves to combat an enemy they themselves control and protect.
In the end, it is the citizenry who pay the true costs of this war. It is we who have to live with the ravishes of addiction, crime, incarceration and death that are the true price of this 'war'.
Commentary by
@ewjjr
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Friday, May 24, 2013
Frogs
Princesses are so accustomed to kissing frogs that when Prince Charming finally shows up, they treat him like a frog.
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Times
In tough times, we have a choice. We can stand together or we can fall apart.
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Thursday, May 23, 2013
Exit
Great men enter into death knowing full well that their exit is unsure.
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Monday, May 20, 2013
Coffee Talk
Coffee Talk
I am sitting in a coffee shop, and I can hear two men talking. One of the men is talking about how his marriage is failing because of his wife's behavior and attitude. I have heard mention of one of the larger churches in the city, so I can only assume these are two Christian men.
I often think that so called christian women today have really bought into this independent, feminine mindset that permeates the rest of the world. This only serves to create conflict in a relationship where one is trying to steer his family toward a more traditional family model and the other is hell-bent on conforming to worldly standards. The end result is the disruption of and ultimate destruction of the family unit.
I pity this man because I have walked in his shoes already. I can only imagine that while he is hear seeking counsel from his christian brother, his wife is somewhere with more deceit and rebellion being conjured up in her heart.
I have a constant thought that something is truly missing from the 'teaching' that goes on in the churches.
It seems that the mainstream message is weak and ineffective at moving believers toward a lifestyle that is different from the rest of the world.
I was having this same conversation with someone else online yesterday, in regards to prophecy.
When the conversation turned toward some signs regarding the end times. They simply were unaware of even the more obvious end time trends being talked about in the mainstream media.
The scriptures say that the antichrist can not be revealed until "there be a falling away first".
I think the begining of this is the lack of knowledge that most in the church have, simply because they are not being taught.
As you may recall, the scriptures do say that God's people, not other people, perish "for lack of knowledge". How long can "He who hindereth" hinder all alone?
Certainly, God could do whatever He needs done to defeat evil on His own, but He has made us partners in this conflict.
We simply need to choose who it is we are most willing to serve.
Commentary by
@ewjjr
http://ewjtoday.blogspot.com
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I am sitting in a coffee shop, and I can hear two men talking. One of the men is talking about how his marriage is failing because of his wife's behavior and attitude. I have heard mention of one of the larger churches in the city, so I can only assume these are two Christian men.
I often think that so called christian women today have really bought into this independent, feminine mindset that permeates the rest of the world. This only serves to create conflict in a relationship where one is trying to steer his family toward a more traditional family model and the other is hell-bent on conforming to worldly standards. The end result is the disruption of and ultimate destruction of the family unit.
I pity this man because I have walked in his shoes already. I can only imagine that while he is hear seeking counsel from his christian brother, his wife is somewhere with more deceit and rebellion being conjured up in her heart.
I have a constant thought that something is truly missing from the 'teaching' that goes on in the churches.
It seems that the mainstream message is weak and ineffective at moving believers toward a lifestyle that is different from the rest of the world.
I was having this same conversation with someone else online yesterday, in regards to prophecy.
When the conversation turned toward some signs regarding the end times. They simply were unaware of even the more obvious end time trends being talked about in the mainstream media.
The scriptures say that the antichrist can not be revealed until "there be a falling away first".
I think the begining of this is the lack of knowledge that most in the church have, simply because they are not being taught.
As you may recall, the scriptures do say that God's people, not other people, perish "for lack of knowledge". How long can "He who hindereth" hinder all alone?
Certainly, God could do whatever He needs done to defeat evil on His own, but He has made us partners in this conflict.
We simply need to choose who it is we are most willing to serve.
Commentary by
@ewjjr
http://ewjtoday.blogspot.com
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Thursday, May 9, 2013
Cause of Crime?
Cause of Crime?
Why is little Johnny in jail again?
Some have tried to explain this by saying that poverty, unemployment,
underemployment, illiteracy, environment, exposure to crime, abuse and racism explain why Johnny is in jail once again. While any one, or any combination of the afore-mentioned factors could be suitable explanations, they do not explain why Johnny's sister Jane is a straight A student or why his brother Jack has never been in trouble with the law. So, what happened? How does one account for such differences? How can children, raised in the same home and environment, have uniquely different outcomes when it comes to the criminal justice system.
Choice. It all boils down to choice. Each individual has to choose, often daily, which influences they will yield themselves to.
Morality comes from the same root word as mores, which form the basis of the laws in any society. These also determine the values, principles and standards which guide the thoughts and lives of each individual in a given society.
For a society to work, it takes a partnership between clergy, school and community organizations that support the work of the parents. Together, this partnership inculcates and reinforces the morality of the family, community and society. OK, I will just say it. It really does take a village.
The criminal justice system is an indicator of how successful this partnership really is. As the family fails, society fails, and the involvement of the criminal justice system increases.
The cause of crime rests within the heart of every person. Yet so does the remedy!
Commentary by
@ewjjr
http://ewjtoday.blogspot.com
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Why is little Johnny in jail again?
Some have tried to explain this by saying that poverty, unemployment,
underemployment, illiteracy, environment, exposure to crime, abuse and racism explain why Johnny is in jail once again. While any one, or any combination of the afore-mentioned factors could be suitable explanations, they do not explain why Johnny's sister Jane is a straight A student or why his brother Jack has never been in trouble with the law. So, what happened? How does one account for such differences? How can children, raised in the same home and environment, have uniquely different outcomes when it comes to the criminal justice system.
Choice. It all boils down to choice. Each individual has to choose, often daily, which influences they will yield themselves to.
Morality comes from the same root word as mores, which form the basis of the laws in any society. These also determine the values, principles and standards which guide the thoughts and lives of each individual in a given society.
For a society to work, it takes a partnership between clergy, school and community organizations that support the work of the parents. Together, this partnership inculcates and reinforces the morality of the family, community and society. OK, I will just say it. It really does take a village.
The criminal justice system is an indicator of how successful this partnership really is. As the family fails, society fails, and the involvement of the criminal justice system increases.
The cause of crime rests within the heart of every person. Yet so does the remedy!
Commentary by
@ewjjr
http://ewjtoday.blogspot.com
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Monday, May 6, 2013
Graduation
Without personal dedication to the proper stimulation, there can be no graduation.
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Destinations
Destinations
Each of us has a specific destination for a specific purpose the creator has designed for us.
To get there will require difficult decisions and choices we have to make:
-There are some places we have to leave behind in order to get where we need to be.
-There could be some people we have to step away from and lead, instead of follow. If they truly are our friends, they will want to see us improve and excel. And in fact, they may decide to grow with us.
-There are some bad habits we have to exchange for the aptitudes, skills and abilities that will serve to create the better habits that move us from where we are to where we are called to be.
Don't sacrifice the millions you can't see, to hold on to the thousands you can see. It takes faith to look beyond the reality of your present to visualize the reality of your future.
And once you arrive at your destiny, become an agent of change for someone else.
Commentary by
@ewjjr
http://ewjtoday.blogspot.com
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Each of us has a specific destination for a specific purpose the creator has designed for us.
To get there will require difficult decisions and choices we have to make:
-There are some places we have to leave behind in order to get where we need to be.
-There could be some people we have to step away from and lead, instead of follow. If they truly are our friends, they will want to see us improve and excel. And in fact, they may decide to grow with us.
-There are some bad habits we have to exchange for the aptitudes, skills and abilities that will serve to create the better habits that move us from where we are to where we are called to be.
Don't sacrifice the millions you can't see, to hold on to the thousands you can see. It takes faith to look beyond the reality of your present to visualize the reality of your future.
And once you arrive at your destiny, become an agent of change for someone else.
Commentary by
@ewjjr
http://ewjtoday.blogspot.com
Live and Learn. Subscribe to free health information.
http://ow.ly/1z4ta0
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