Whenever I get so busy that I have to take a few days off from blogging, I end up coming back to the ‘sphere and finding a ton of good stuff to read. I always end up with about fifty browser tabs open, trying to read a whole pile of items because I click compulsively. To much info ingested too quickly can lead to a headrush.

Today's headrush was provided, in part, by the following:


n Bad Hair Blog is doing a great job of dismantling the myth of Che Guevara. If you've ever seen trendy kids running around with t-shirts on featuring the guy below, and found yourself wondering "Who the heck is that guy, anyway?" ... then this item is for you.





n Bunker Mulligan nominates Bill Cosby for Secretary of Education.


n At Hey, Relax…I’m Just Sayin’, I found a great new bumper sticker:





n By now you’ve read about John Edwards and his promise that, with John Kerry in the White House, people like Christopher Reeve would rise from their wheelchairs and walk. Well, Chrenkoff has a great take on it:


(What Edwards said wasn’t), as you might expect, prefaced with "In the name of Jesus..." but it certainly gives you a dose of optimism. If the Kerry Administration will be able to heal the sick and make the lame walk, then maybe they will be able to fix up problems like prostitution or gambling. Oh, and terrorism, too.


n Oh, and the guy who put John Edwards on the ticket wasn’t above using Christopher Reeve as a political tool himself. The American Warmonger finds reason to doubt John Kerry’s claims of a last-minute phone call from Reeve.


n I love P.J. O’Rourke. Pink Flamingo Bar And Grill had some fresh PJ for me.


n At MY Vast Right Wing Conspiracy, Beth told me about a school where Michael Moore’s Fahrenheit 9/11 was required viewing. (You read that right, parents. Take a minute for the steam to stop coming out of your ears and then read the story.)


n Hud’s Blog-O-Rama has an item about technology that’s down-right scary.


n A post at Swimming through the Spin, about a shockingly offensive flyer distributed by Tennessee Democrats, really pissed me off.


n I liked what Peter Pike had to say at Opinion Editorials.com about the Kerry/Edwards promises.


n This news story, about a group of moms standing up to protest Michael Moore, really put a smile on my face. You go, moms!


n God, I love Cox and Forkum:





n As is often the case, reading the Jesse Factor left me with my jaw hung open. As usual, that was due to the mixture of shocking vulgarity and smart ideas that these 14 and 15 year old kids (Jesse and John) come up with. While throwing ideas out there about the VP debate, Jesse made a reference to legalizing marijuana.

That’s the thing about the Jesse Factor… you barely have time to finish laughing at some outlandish obscenity before you find yourself pondering a serious idea.

Considering the libertarian ideas held by many of the bloggers I read regularly, I’m surprised that this is the first time I’ve come across the topic of marijuana legalization. I’m going to come out of the closet on this topic right here and now: I’m not sure it’s a bad idea. In fact, I can see more benefits to it than detriments. Sure, there are a lot of questions to be answered before we plunge headlong into legalization… all I’m saying is that it’s time serious people started asking those questions.

What effect would legalization have on the crowding problems experienced in many prisons?

How much would the economy benefit from a legit marijuana industry?

What are the real, legitimate non-recreational uses of marijuana?

Would legalization be one sure-fire way to sweep the legs out from under some elements of organized crime?

To what extent are we denying ourselves tax revenue by keeping pot illegal?

Is marijuana really any more of a “gate-way” drug than alcohol?

Would the legalization of marijuana really encourage underage use of pot, or might it discourage it? Isn’t it possible that, if pot dealers couldn’t compete with state-run marijuana sales, they would end up out of business? And if they ended up out of business, wouldn’t that result in less underage marijuana use?

I’m not saying I have the answers to all these questions, but I do have my ideas. I think it’s time for a more serious dialogue on the subject.