No field testing
[Re: “So-called organic marijuana,” Boulderganic, May 28] A whopping 43 percent of all organic food sold in America tests positive for prohibited pesticides. So why would anyone be surprised that the same is true for the “organic” marijuana biz?
I grew up on an organic grain farm in Saskatchewan, and worked for five years as a USDA-contract organic inspector. But I left the organic movement when I realized it was all just a bureaucratic scam designed to propel a political agenda. Would you believe there’s no field testing in the organic sector? None.
The multibillion dollar organic industry is worth more than Major League Baseball, but continues to rely on record-keeping and record-checking to ensure the rules of organic production are always being followed. This is the same system that failed to keep Bernie Madoff in check as he pulled off the biggest Ponzi scheme in history. Imagine if they quit testing athletes at the Olympics. Imagine if instead paperwork was all that was required to “prove” an athlete was clean. Well… that’s how the organic industry runs. And it looks like that’s hoe the phonybaloney “organic” marijuana biz runs too.
Mischa Popoff/Greenville, TX
Michael Brelo Decision
I listened to Cuyahoga Common Pleas Judge John P. O’Donnell read his decision and found his thought process reasonable given the series of events he was required to describe. Whether or not you agree with his decision is immaterial given that the Law has spoken. And certainly people can protest peacefully and work to improve the system that produced such a catastrophe.
Still, there are no innocent parties here. Certainly Mr. Russell should have obeyed the order of a Police Officer to stop. What other lives were placed in harms way because he chose to continue fleeing? But why does it require so many police cruisers to join in a high-speed chase? Given the length of the travel why couldn’t some sort of blockade been set up to stop the person fleeing? Mr. Russell and Ms. Williams did not have to die because the ultimate cause of their death could have been prevented. And what does this say about a potential diversionary tactic that could be employed by domestic/foreign terrorists on American soil?
For those of you in the African- American community who are tempted to be filled with rage and hatred at every white police officer I can only say that I had a member of my family (Patrolman Hilary Cudnik believed to be the distant cousin of my Uncle Boley Cudnik) who was killed in the act of performing his duty. But he was killed by a African-American. Because of the influence handed down to me from my Paternal Grandfather (Dziadzia) Albert Joseph Bialek and my mother (Eileen Moran Bialek) I did not react to Hilary’s murder like most people did. I never believed that looting and burning down businesses would solve anything and would certainly not bring him back. My African- American brothers and sisters please refrain from engaging in violence as it will only exacerbate the situation. But rather let our two communities come together in reconciliation and love to make Cleveland once again the best location in the nation if for no other reason than to have achieved racial harmony once and for all.
Joe Bialek/ Cleaveland, Ohio
Heat and water
Now, before, the Flat Earth Society chimes in with barbs about the recent prolonged and near-epic spring storm, it is time to align the record with reality. First, weather is really nothing more than rising air. Second, heat cause air to rise. Third, warmer air holds more moisture than cooler. And from where might additional heat in the atmosphere originate? Why is there more heat in it? Don’t ask “The [Climate] Inquisition!” Does anyone gain a sense of why I voted against Longmont’s flood-mitigation bond? It’s because I am certain all this misery will return, and more frequently. This is likely to be so wherever anyone lives. In short, I think we must unfortunately grow accustomed to more of the same.
Or we could pretend it isn’t happening.
Gregory Iwan/Longmont
Hick’s indecision is showing again Colorado Governor John Hickenlooper told Colorado Public Radio that he’s considering a veto of the bipartisan legislation to outlaw red light cameras in the state. Striking a similar non-committal tone to many statements about controversial issues over the years, the Governor said he didn’t really have the correct facts, despite access to several studies, and called for further investigation of the issue:
“Part of this, as is often the case, it’s hard to get the real facts. Part of me wants to go to the Department of Transportation and say, ‘Why don’t we do our own study,’ and once and for all, in Colorado, try and gather the data and see does this make a difference or not?” We hear this same ‘we need more facts and to study this further’ refrain from the Governor of Denver regularly. This is a compromise bill that was agreed to by the leadership of both major parties,” said Kelly Maher, executive director of Compass Colorado.
“Hickenlooper should stop pussyfooting around on this and just sign the bill already.”
Kelly Maher, Executive Director Compass Colorado/Denver
FairTax please Harry Reid called our income tax system a voluntary one. He wants you to think it’s just like giving to your church or charity. Giving is an emotional act, usually done from the heart.
Americans give to many causes, more than any other nation on Earth. We are a giving people George W. Bush once advanced the scariest idea I’d ever heard of. In 2001 The CATO Institute reported “President George W. Bush has proposed that faith-based charities be made eligible to receive billions of dollars in federal grants to provide social services.” Government would have decided which religious organizations received funding. Someone in Washington D. C. would hand out favors to his or her best choice.
When government hands out your tax dollars, is that giving? More than likely the IRS would have been in charge of selecting the “proper” receivers of these monies. Someone like Lois Lerner would choose between Catholics or Baptists or Lutherans, etc. I mention this to contrast it with the theft that is our current tax system. You have no say in how much they take. They want to crush your hope, work harder and they take more. The FairTax is voluntary.
Al Ose/Wisconsin Rapids, WI
