Hey, everyone. Sorry for the long hiatus; final exams and winter break yanked me away from writing for a while there. I thought I'd take a moment and reflect on what's been happening around us recently.
California is considering legalizing marijuana not just for medical use, but also recreational. Well, it's about damn time. There are many issues in the political realm which create completely understandable debate. I have never and will never be able to comprehend why marijuana is still illegal. It has not killed one person in the history of its usage. It's national decriminalization could bring billions of dollars in tax revenue. It's not terribly different than alcohol prohibition. It's okay to smoke cigarettes and drink alcohol (which, combined, claimed over 400,000 lives in 2000; Source: http://drugwarfacts.org/cms/?q=node/30), but marijuana remains illegal. California is taking the first step towards what could (finally) be an end to one of the most hypocritical policies of our government. It makes me very happy that California is remembering the wonders of capitalism, and that common sense just might rule the day.
Gay marriage is up for consideration in NJ and NY. After all these years, gay folks might finally have the freedom to do what they should have been free to do all along. Too long has the government stuck it's nose into peoples' bedrooms. Too long has Congress suppressed individual freedom because of their religious and "moral" scruples. What they had truly forgotten (or perhaps ignored) is that our country was founded on the principles of "life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness". Throughout history, our society has, sadly, been selective on who that applies to. But hopefully, that era will end soon.
Obama is proposing a tax to "recover" the bailout money. Those of you who have read some of my previous articles probably can guess how I feel about this one. OK...So the administration spends over $800 billion on an absurd bailout scheme for companies that completely ignored the warning signs from Wall Street analysts (and, in my eyes, don't deserve to continue operating. I know they won't be disbanded, but this proposal has no punishments of any kind for their irresponsibility). The money still isn't even close to being fully utilized. And now they want to levy a tax on those companies for accepting government help? Other than massive layoffs, we've seen almost no change in the business practices of these companies. That tells me that they're still financially in the toilet, because if they had the money to pay back the government, the government wouldn't need to impose a tax. Something stinks on this one. I'm not quite sure what to make of it, but I'll keep reading. Warren Buffett had some good thoughts on this one: http://www.nypost.com/p/news/business/billionaire_CP8lVyYIT9iq5Z1jWPcy4H
The war stumbles forward. *Sigh*.
So there's some good and bad, like always. Such is life, I suppose.
Now that my winter break is over, I'll be posting a bit more regularly. Thanks for reading, folks.
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