April Fool’s!!!

April 15th nears…. and everyone starts making cute comments about the dreaded Federal Income Tax, and the forms start rolling in, and you call your accountant, and high school and college kids are excited because they get a few hundred dollars coming back to them, small business owners cringe for not filing quarterly, etc. etc.

All this ado in early spring every year; it’s a custom we’re used to and never question.  We know that if you do not bite the bullet and ‘Do Your Taxes’ you could face a fate worse than death: an audit.  OR jail, or a beating, or a big fine, or just a big pain in the ass. 

But guess what….?  There is no law that requires you to pay the Federal Income Tax.  That 1040?  Not required.  Taxing your labor?  Unconstitutional.

The 16th Amendment addresses taxation, but no where claims that the Federal Income Tax is a citizen’s duty.  Actually, when the government tried to get the amendment changed to make F.I.T. a requirement, the Supreme Court said ‘no’ and ruled the tax unconstitutional. 

Don’t believe me?  You look it up.  Call the IRS and try and get them to explain the law to you- or even quote the section of #16 that STATES you have to pay income tax.  Call your accountant, ask them.  You will never get an answer, not a real answer, because there is NO law that requires you to fill out that 1040, or to have your checks garnished and portions of your hard earned dollars sent to the… wait, where does the Federal Income Tax go?  What does it pay for?  Not roads, not schools, not even the salaries of politicians.  All those are already paid for by the dozens of other types of taxes we already pay (local, property, cigarette/liquor, etc. etc.).  Those types of taxes are perfectly legal, the Federal Income Tax is NOT.

Here is a great movie by Aaron Russo (director of Trading Spaces, The Rose….) called America Freedom to Fascism.

He’s an excellent director, and takes a good look at WHY we pay taxes, and questions the law (a law that doesn’t exist) that forces us to do so.  Certainly watch all of it, but if you can’t, AT LEAST watch the first half. 

http://www.freedomtofascism.com/

Google Video Link To Movie

*You can find it on YouTube too…

Did I miss something here?

 I think a large portion of the population probably think marijuana should be legalized.  No matter what your reason is for wanting it legalized, it is important to recognize why it was outlawed in the first place!  Marijuana has been around for centuries, and people have been getting high for just as long.  Afterall, it’s just a plant.  A plant that is actually relatively easy to cultivate (in the right conditions) and whose close relative (Hemp) is potentially one of the most useful natural resources available.  

Also, there is no proof that marijuana is more harmful than alcohol (if anything, alcohol is much more dangerous-See NORML link below) and we all know it isn’t as bad as the chemical soaked nicotine we inhale all day either!  So why, you ask, is little old marijuana still illegal?  Why are pot dealers sitting in jail longer than some pedophiles?  Marijuana does not cause cancer, it does not rot your teeth or make you violent, it probably impairs driving skills but so does alcohol, prescription drugs, and cough medicine. 

So what the hell is this pot prohibition?  It isn’t harmful to our bodies (not that this should matter, since there are plenty of harmful subtances out there are harmful AND legal), it doesn’t cause people to commit crimes, it’s sibling  hemp could possibly prove to be a whole new prosperous industry world-wide, and look at all the people who support legalizing it!  This is a democracy, isn’t it?  And I don’t just want to get high and eat Doritos, I want to exercise my basic human rights and put what I want in MY body!  Excuuuussee Me!

Marijuana is illegal in a society where alcohol is pushed as a dietary staple (especially for college students), prescription drugs are dispensed like Skittles, and pollution is a daily dosage that no one is doing anything about.  So what is the big deal about adding in some pot to our already toxic mix?  Pot would at least calm us down, get us off our sleeping pills, cure our chemo-induced nausea, and possibly (with hemp) put clothes on our polyester and lycra covered backs!  It’s not crystal meth or something, it’s not going to make you crazy or kill you.  It’s going to get you high, help you relax, and you aren’t going to bother anybody.

Pot is illegal because of money.  Big surprise right?  But there’s more… the man behind the early Drug War, HarryJ.Anslinger, had some interesting ties that may have to do with the demonization of cannabis.  Back in the 1920’s and 30’s, when Anslinger was serving as the Assistant Prohibition Commissioner, he decided to drum up some negativity towards the drug to get his own name in the history books.  Interestingly enough, Anslinger was also good friends with William Randolph Hearst (magazine mogul) and the DuPont family, whose patented petroleum compounds could easily be replaced by the more simple and natural hempseed oil.  So, while stirring up anti-marijuana scare tactics and appeasing his buddies, Hearst and the DuPonts, Anslinger successfully fucked over all us potheads for the past 90 years.

He falsley claimed marijuana turned good men evil, and was being used and abused mainly by the already “bad” minority groups.  What a way to win people’s support, through blatent racism.  Here are some of his prize-winning bumper sticker slogans.

So, for no real reason at all, Anslinger and all the Drug War supporters after him have been making this “evil plant” illegal simply to convince themselves they’re helping, but really they are just suffocating what could be a prosperous and ecologically friendly industry (HEMP) and making regular people criminals.  So I have never gotten so much as a speeding ticket, but in the United States I could face jail time for having some leaves on me.  Meanwhile, there are people who still have their driver’s licenses after 2 DUIs, pedophiles being allowed to live a block away from an elementary school, and my neighbor getting completely fucked up off Xanax every day of her life and driving and caring for children.  What is wrong with this picture?  Doesn’t it maybe seem like there are some other motives for keeping pot illegal besides its “negative” effects?  Think about it:

Early protests against taxing marijuana

the Miracle Drug

Costs of illegal marijuana

The U.S.’s Shit Doesn’t Stink

When exactly did the United States gain the ability to decide who has nuclear power and who doesn’t?  Shouldn’t NO ONE have it?  So now we’re probably going to attack Iran… is that what the President meant when he said he was going to “sprint to the finish” for the rest of his term?  Because that would be just marvelous. 

Just Saying…

Okay, I know this 9/11 conspiracy stuff may be getting old… but here is a related article.  Not so much about if the government did it or not, but it points out what was gained after the attack… gained for the administration, that is- not us. 

The slow chipping away at our freedom and privacy is really pissing me off, I don’t know about you.  It’s ridiculous- I can’t even open a damn bank account in Canada to put my measly savings into because I might be a terrorist.  Seriously, if I was transferring thousands and thousands of dollars from a bank in the Carribean or something, I can understand.  But I moved here from the US with my Canadian husband and just want to start a joint checking account with him and put in my pathetic summer savings.  The spy shit they’re pulling and TELLING us about is bad enough… what the hell is going on that we don’t know about?  Next thing we know you’ll have to do a cornea scan to walk into fucking Wal-Mart.