Showing posts with label Oakland. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Oakland. Show all posts

Thursday, July 22, 2010

Revenue Madness

by Dick Mac

Now that the United States tax rate is at its lowest since 1950, and most Americans still don't want to pay any taxes, we need to find other ways to fund civilization. Not that Americans have any interest in civilization!

For most of us, you need only ensure that the television networks are broadcasting, the booze manufacturers are open for business, there is a free flow of gasoline, and the high-fructose-corn-syrup-laced snacks are easy to reach.

But, the government cannot spend any money ensuring things like roads, airports, seaports, and the protection of commerce are in place. We need our tax cuts first. Well, and if are paying attention to the teabaggers, we need to get rid of the brown immigrants and put the brown citizens in the place they enjoyed in the good-old-days.

So, how are we going to run a government, a civilization, when the overweight, well-paid white guys don't want to pay taxes? Tax the things they don't use, of course! Taxing human brain use would be acceptable I suppose, because most teabaggers aren't using theirs; but that would be hard to measure. We could tax books, because most teabaggers prefer Fox News to the printed word, but taxing books is so unseemly. We could increase the tax on cigarettes, which I think is a great idea. We can't tax the HFCS-laced soft drinks, because most of the teabaggers buy sweetened juices and soda pop. Whatever is a nation to do when it's controlled by a tiny minority with a huge media conglomerate behind it?

Oakland, California, has an idea! They've decided to legalize the recreational use of marijuana, and license and tax farms within their municipality.

Most teabaggers, although they pretend to support personal freedom, are opposed to the legalization of marijuana (not all of them, just most of them). So, although Oakland may have found a legitimate and intelligent revenue stream, you can be sure that some chubby white folks will be on the air assailing Oakland for being irresponsible and jeopardizing the safety of all the little white children.

Little white children should have access to booze, prescription drugs, guns and automobiles; but they should never, under any circumstances, have access to marijuana!

Legalization of marijuana is long overdue in the United States and the more cities and states that start the process, the more pressure will be put on the federal government to address the issue.

Kudos to Oakland, California! I hope you successfully beat back the teabaggers who will try to stop your brilliant plan!

Then you can retain and/or re-hire the sixty cops you'll have to fire this year without that revenue stream.

Oakland, Seeking Financial Lift, Approves Giant Marijuana Farms



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Friday, January 23, 2009

Explicit: Another California Tragedy

by Al Falafel

Dec. 31, 2008 Oakland, CA: On this New Year's Eve, 22-year old Oscar Grant was shot execution-style by transit police officer Johannes Mehserle. He was shot in the back while lying face down on a subway platform, unarmed and restrained by other officers.

The shooting was caught on film by commuters waiting on the BART platform. The video presented here is EXPLICIT.

The gun shot that killed Mr. Grant is recorded at 01:26 on the counter.



Despite such damning video evidence, it took nearly two weeks for the District Attorney to arrest Mehserle and charge him with murder.

In 14 years as Alameda County District Attorney, Tom Orloff had never before charged a police officer for an on-duty shooting. And when asked, several legal experts were unable to come up with any examples of officer-involved shootings becoming murder cases in California.


The DA admitted that it was only due to massive public pressure that he moved even at that pace, pressure that included more than 20,000 people speaking up after this video was distributed via email by the organization, ColorOfChange.org.

Johannes Mehserle's arrest is important, but it's only the first step. In cases like this, history has repeatedly shown that as soon as the public eye turns away the prospect of justice fades.

Oscar Grant's family and survivors deserve to see justice carried out. Making sure the prosecution does its job and pushing for much-needed reforms requires all of our voices.

Add your voice here: http://www.colorofchange.org/oscar_update/?id=2515-253960