The Largest Minority

January 25th, 2008 by Manila Ryce

It is widely thought that Chavez was referring to unprocessed coca leaves (which you chew), and not coca paste (which you smoke). Coca leaves have been used in South America for centuries to make tea with a stimulant effect similar to strong coffee. However, the puritanical hysteria towards anything strange and indigenous was too much for the uneducated dopes at Faux News to resist. They used their ignorance of both the plant and socialism to accuse Chavez of being a cokehead “dictator”. Then they did something shocking, even for the fucks at Faux: They accused Sean Penn, Danny Glover, Naomi Campbell, Oliver Stone, and Kevin Spacey of being coke addicts as well for their political beliefs. That’s some mighty fine reporting there.

December 27th, 2007 by Manila Ryce

Other Western countries like Great Britain are quite honest about their history of drug trading, but we still engage in self-censorship, even amongst the Left, when it comes to acknowledging that similar activities have been carried out by the CIA in Southeast Asia during the Vietnam War and Latin America during the Iran-Contra Affair. Perhaps the reason why the CIA’s well-documented role in the global drug trade is never really acknowledged is because it never really ended.

Remember this story? The video below is an update into the specifics:

A Gulfstream II jet that crash landed in Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula in late September bearing a load of nearly four tons of cocaine. This particular Gulfstream II (tail number N987SA), was used between 2003 and 2005 by the CIA for at least three trips between the U.S. east coast and Guantanamo Bay — home to the infamous “terrorist” prison camp — according to a number of press reports.

Pulitzer Prize winning journalist Gary Webb uncovered that the CIA was responsible for distributing cocaine into poor Los Angeles neighborhoods. Shortly after Webb exposed the CIA, he was killed (the official story is that he committed suicide by shooting himself twice in the head).

War is profitable, and the so-called “War on Drugs” is no different. Government agencies make money in every part of the process: from sale, to seizure, to incarceration. America has 25% of the world’s incarcerated population, and a higher percentage of its black population in prison than South Africa did at the height of apartheid.

October 8th, 2007 by Manila Ryce

What an ass. That’s all I have to say.

October 2nd, 2007 by Manila Ryce

The CIA, or “American Gestapo” as Truman called the agency, has had one of its covert activities revealed once again. Sadly, the recovered coke stash above will never be shown in the mainstream media unless Britney decides to flash her vagina in front of it. Luckily for us, the wonders of the internet allow you to see both whenever you want. Much respect to our friends at BoRev for the following.

Remember how the Bush Administration “decertified” Venezuela—whatever that means—for “failing to cooperate in the war on drugs”? And how Venezuela was all like, “look we would have cooperated if your drug agents weren’t the ones dealing half the drugs in Venezuela?” And the Bush Administration was like “bullshit you’re making that up”?

Well, heh heh. Earlier this week a plane went down in the Yucatan Peninsula, carrying 2.3 tons of cocaine of Colombia to the U.S. And it turned out to be “one of the planes chartered to the CIA for the renditioning of kidnapped prisoners.”

On a side note, the Iranian Parliament recently passed a non-binding resolution which states that “the aggressor US army and the Central Intelligence Agency are terrorists and also nurture terror.” The move is seen as a reply to our Senate voting in favor of the Kyl-Lieberman amendment, which declares Iran’s revolutionary guard a “terrorist organization” for supposedly intervening in our illegal occupation of Iraq. The main difference between our government’s claim and theirs is that they actually have evidence to support their claim. The resolution calls the US Army and Central Intelligence Agency terrorists due to America’s use of nuclear weapons during World War II, depleted uranium in the Balkans, Afghanistan, and Iraq, as well as support for Israeli crimes and the torturing of terror suspects. All in all, that’s a rather short summary of all the atrocities our military and CIA have committed. It’s nice of them to let us off so easy.

August 27th, 2007 by Manila Ryce

The ACLU is suing the Drug Enforcement Administration on behalf of a truck driver who had $23,700 of his own money seized by DEA agents at a weigh station in New Mexico. Anastasio Prieto of El Paso gave a state police officer permission to search his truck to see if it contained “needles or cash in excess of $10,000.” Prieto told the officer he didn’t have any needles but did have a large amount of money since he does not like banks, and customarily carries his savings as cash.

Border Patrol agents used drug-sniffing dogs to search his truck, but found no evidence of illegal substances. Officers took his money regardless and turned it over to the DEA. Despite his objections, agents for the DEA photographed and fingerprinted Prieto without charging him for any crime. DEA agents told Prieto he could receive a notice of federal proceedings to permanently forfeit the money within 30 days, and that he’d need to prove it did not come from illegal drug sales in order to get it back.

The ACLU’s lawsuit states that the DEA violated Prieto’s right to be free of unlawful search and seizure by taking his money without probable cause and by fingerprinting and photographing him. It continues, “Mere possession of approximately $23,700 does not establish probable cause for a search or seizure.”

New Mexico’s ACLU Executive Director Peter Simonson says that Prieto needs his money to pay bills and maintain his truck. “The government took Mr. Prieto’s money as surely as if he had been robbed on a street corner at night,” Simonson said. “In fact, being robbed might have been better. At least then the police would have treated him as the victim of a crime instead of as a perpetrator.”

source

August 23rd, 2007 by Manila Ryce

A newly proposed law in California would establish a five-year pilot program for farmers to grow industrial hemp in four counties. The law would also define “industrial hemp” as separate from marijuana under the state’s health and safety code.

Hemp is a sustainable and environmentally friendly crop which contains less than 1 percent of THC. It is used in skin products, as fertilizer, medicine, building material, fabric, paper, fuel, and can be converted into fully biodegradable plastics. The United States is the only industrialized nation where hemp is not an established crop, much to the delight of oil, coal, and chemical industries which benefit from the ban.

Cultivation of hemp is currently illegal under US federal law thanks to the lobbying of the aforementioned groups. The California Narcotic Officers’ Association has testified that the passage of such a bill would only make law enforcement more difficult because farmers might hide illegal marijuana in their legal hemp fields. I could be wrong, but it seems like this association is either admitting that they’re too incompetent to do their jobs correctly, or they’re making the case for the legalization of marijuana so that they’re not forced to make the distinction. Either way, I say let the layoffs begin.

source

August 2nd, 2007 by Manila Ryce

Despite what Traitor Joe and Mr. Straight-Talk Express might say, the outlook of soldiers serving in Iraq is not so sunny. Perhaps it’s because they’ve served so many tours, or perhaps it’s because they’re simply not as stupid or deceitful as the aforementioned politicians.

A new form of treatment for Post Traumatic Stress Disorder is proving to be successful for not only war veterans, but for the animals themselves. I hope there are enough abused birds to go around, since 25 percent of vets have been shown to have mental health problems. Kids, if you have a pet parrot, start beating the hell out of it. It just may save the life of a returning soldier.

June 22nd, 2007 by Calypso

Children with physical and mental deformities in the Nigerian town of Kano are considered the lucky survivors of a controversial 1996 drug trial by Pfizer. The pharmaceutical giant used hospitalized children, sick with meningitis, as guinea pigs for an experimental and unregistered antibiotic called Trovan. While Pfizer claims that the survival rate for the drug trial was at 94 percent, with only 11 out of 200 children dying, Kano officials state that over 50 children actually died.

The Nigerian government started an expert medical panel to review the drug trial after being pressured by families affected and rights groups. The panel concluded that the experiment was “an illegal trial of an unregistered drug”, and a “clear case of exploitation of the ignorant”.

Anas Mohammadu who was 3-years-old at the time of the trial fell ill and was taken to hospital by his parents. His father still burns with anger over the situation. “My son was ill and we took him to the hospital like any other family would. Then the Americans and some local Nigerian doctors injected Anas with this evil drug.” Anas, now 14-years-old, dreams of becoming a soldier but his dream seems unlikely as the trial left him with weak, wobbly legs, and a permanently drooling mouth. He is made fun of in school, and even daily tasks like getting water from a well can be difficult as he gets tired easily and can be pulled by the slightest weight.

Hassan Sani described how his daughter Hajara, now 14-years-old as well (pictured above left), became deaf and mute thanks to Pfizer. Mr Sani said “the American doctors took advantage of our illiteracy and cheated us and our children. We thought they were helping us.”

Many blame Pfizer’s experiment for the mass rejection of polio vaccinations in many northern Nigerian areas. Some Muslim preachers think it was a western plot to sterilize Muslim women. Pfizer denies any wrongdoing, saying that “verbal consent” was given by the parents, and that the trial was medically, scientifically, regulatory, and ethically “sound”. They added that the experiment followed Nigerian regulations and saved many lives. Moreover, they argue that such allegations are “highly inflammatory and not based on all the facts”.

A decade onwards, the Nigerian government is suing Pfizer for $7 billion in damages suffered by the families of the children who passed away and those still suffering from side effects. The Kano state government is filling separate charges against Pfizer. However, money will never be enough to compensate for dead or disabled children. Mr. Sani expressed his anger, saying; “In addition to the compensation, they should be killed like the children they have killed.”

source