Monday Musings...
Ever have one of those days where you have your blog post ALL planned out mentally, and then something comes along, and the brain-slate gets wiped clean?
Well, that's what happened this morning.
Yepper...another bowl of "Boot-Loops" staring me in the face on the newer computer system...AGAIN...a month from the time we LAST took it in for some corrupt files.
Right now, I have managed to get the damn thing back into SAFE MODE, and am running a MALWAREBYTES scan to see what the hell is going on in there.
Trouble is, I had to boot from the CD-ROM, and now, it doesn't want to give the frigging disk back...go figure.
Maybe after all this crap is done, it will "change it's mind"?
In any event...I DO plan to get that boot disk back...one way or another.
Alright...the scan showed NO malicious "stuff", and after a VERY tentative reboot, the system "appears" to be working normally.
Wifey can play FAMILY FEUD and Facebook her little heart out.
Meanwhile, back on BOB'S system....
(very evil and menacing laugh)
All is running nominally...as is usually the case here.
THIS is the system I blog with, and I don't do Facebook on THIS system (I still believe people send viruses through that...call me a conspiracy theorist. I just don't trust these damn machines as far as I could toss the Statue of Liberty), so there 'ya go.
But, let's not dwell, shall we?
Last night had some REALLY good stuff on the TV, and if you get the National geographic Channel, you might have watched what I watched.
DRUGS, INC is a two-part series that explores ALL aspects of the drug trade, from the manufacturing, distribution, use, and enforcement of the laws against such things. And I was certainly enlightened by the first 2 hour show.
The second part can be seen tonight at 9PM.
Here's the link to the series:
http://channel.nationalgeographic.com/series/drugs-inc/all/Overview
Last night, the first hour was devoted to COCAINE. The second was all about METH.
I have to hand it to Nat-Geo - they did some very good coverage from all angles.
They showed how one man in the backwoods of Mexico grows a 1 acre plot of coca and then harvests the leaves, adds cement powder, shreds them, adds gasoline and then presses the mixture into a paste (100 grams) to sell JUST to have money for his family to live, because any other crops don't pay jack-sh*t.
Helluvan economy they have going on down there, isn't it?
And this man ONLY makes about FIFTY of OUR dollars for all his troubles.
Add to that the fact that he doesn't do ANY cocaine himself...never has.
All this guy wants to do is feed his family.
The show about METH was even better. Mexican Ice is making it's way into the USA big time.
The laws we have against the wholesale purchase of ephedrine and pseudo ephedrine don't really make a huge dent in the amounts of meth moving around the world. And the reason is simple.
Ephedrine and "pseudo" is made in ASIA and INDIA, and goes for under $70 bucks (US currency) a KILO.
It's purchased THERE by middlemen (consider them straw-purchasers for the cartels) who transport it to worldwide meth manufacturing centers or "Super-Labs", and these can be found in Canada, Europe, Africa, and, of course, Mexico.




From there, it's carried across OUR border into the US for distribution (after cutting and packaging, naturally)
And since the drugs are carried in much SMALLER amounts, it's a LOT easier to get across, than say several HUNDRED kilos of cocaine, or 500 lbs of marijuana. Just THIRTEEN POUNDS of Mexican Ice can fetch close to a QUARTER MILLION BUCKS on the streets!
Nat-Geo interviewed a former distributor who REGULARLY transported such amounts across our southern border, but turned informant to the Feds.
They also showed the signs of meth use, such as "meth-mouth" (not a pretty sight).
The show also highlighted one unfortunate person, who was cooking up a batch of his own for both use and distribution...and it literally blew up in his face, burning him over 60% of his body.
He will need to undergo months of skin grafts, and rehab just to function, and he may never fully regain the use of his hands.
It may interest you to know that this man ALSO is part of the 48% of meth users that has NO medical coverage, so the tab for his medical expenses is basically un-recouped by the hospitals. Now, I'm all for charity, but situations such as this WILL sap the very life out of the health care system...a system that even the "great and powerful" Obamacare has no idea on how to fund either.
The shows even delve into the physiological changes that users undergo, and they are quite startling.
If you're into Dopamine production in the human brain, this poison's for you!
That would explain the lack of inhibition by such people who are hooked on this crap, and the lengths they will go to for that next high.
One user confessed that his very FIRST high was the BEST, and he spent years and money (from criminal activity) chasing after that FIRST high...only to find he could never get it back.
That's the way it goes for the users.
Many in the health care field see this as a disease, and I can partially understand why they believe that.
Although the initial use of such drugs IS a CHOICE, the changes (read damage) inflicted upon the brain are severe enough to warrant the label of disease.
It's like a alcoholic suffering from liver damage.
Sure, it was a choice to take that drink...and keep ON drinking, but the result was a physical manifestation.
Now, mix such drug use with the GAY community, and you really have a recipe for wholesale health problems.
You have people chasing after that rush, having unprotected sex with same sex partners who might very well be HIV NEGATIVE, and the results are very predictable.
San Francisco can attest to such problems, although we don't hear it as much as we should.
This is a remarkable series, an one that I highly recommend to anyone who might be curious as to this whole "war on drugs", and why it needs to be won.
We, as a society...as caretakers of this planet need to realize that this problem will not go away easily.
We need to be educated about the DOWN side to getting involved with drugs on ANY level, because there IS no up side.
It's ALL bad news.
Doesn't matter if you're using, selling, or manufacturing.
If you're NOT part of the SOLUTION, then you ARE most certainly part of the PROBLEM.
And it's killing people...daily, in more ways than just taking the long dirt nap.
It's destroying relationships, families, and households.
It's overtaxing our judicial and penal systems.
It's placing LEOs at risk, as well as business and regular homeowners.
This is something that DOES hurt SO many more than the person getting high.
And it's time we understood it, and acted accordingly to FIX the problem, and not by sticking band-aid after band-aid on this compound fracture, but by making concerned efforts at every level to halt this as quickly as possible.
So, if you get the NAT-GEO channel, take a look at the show tonight.
They will be re-running the meth show at 8PM, followed by a show on heroin, and then marijuana.
That's THREE hours of TV that could change the way you think...or get you to think.
Either way, you don't lose, right?
You will come away more knowledgeable.
And, as we like to say here:
"Scientia Est Potentia" (Knowledge Is Power)
Be well, make a difference to someone today, and...
Stay safe out there, America.