You all have experienced SPAM. We get them all the time and we get them in each and every email account we have. I am not sure how exactly these people get our email address –but I assume there are some big companies who have dedicated teams of “professional email gatherers” that search the web and collect email address all over and of course sells them to “third party” vendors.

All SPAM emails are illegal and are done through sophisticated software that is hard to trace back to its original sender. It is also known that most SPAM emails are generated from Russian with love and China. However, there are thousands of legitimate companies that send emails only to opt-in lists. They follow and abide Federal laws that are designed to protect consumers.

To make this short, if you happen to have a problem with said legitimate companies and/or have unsubscribed from their services and still get emails, you can send your complaint to spam@uce.gov. There are also many other useful tips and can be found here.

I rarely get time to read or write anymore -so here I am waiting for the bus. This provides me with an opportunity to write something. Has anyone ever written about city buses and what goes on withing them? I am for certain if you can take the bus every day and write about your experience, what you see and perhaps what you hear, Indeed and interesting task all by itself -I was sitting in the back seat last week and there were about four to five people in the bus but the most interesting part of it was that a guy was sitting in front of me, looking relaxed and seemed to be enjoying himself.

He seemed busy at something I could not tell at first, but after a second, I noticed that he was breaking pieces of bud and putting them into a rolling paper. Now where can you find such a scene except the bus. Now there are some folks in the back seat talking ab out having sex with girls and how “they get in your nerves dog.” This could definitely turn into something interesting. I can see it already. “Thank you,” says the guy right before exiting the bus.

The engine noise in the background is mixed with the chimes going off and the loud click noise taking over inside the bus time to time when when someone is pressing the request stop tape. This road seems too long and the traffic is moving very slowly. There a lot of construction going on the roads. Step by step moving forward each car is taking a brake every five to ten foot. Most people are calmly sitting on their chairs inside the bus disparately waiting to depart the bus. “Mothafucking light is green..” a guy shouts in the back, “..this construction is pissing me off.” He finishes with frustration. He is probably speaking for everyone on the bus and anyone driving this road. No matter how many green light, the traffic will always be slow on this road for years to come.

Another green light, but there are more red light on the street from cars pushing on the brakes every second. The stop request light is on -someone wants to get out of this bus. “Indian School”, shouts over the speakers letting everyone know what the next stop is. The bus is moving on and the computer on the bus yells “approaching Indian School Park.” I suppose these are prerecorded voices programmed to coincide with the location of the bus. Not sure exactly how it is though, perhaps GPS?

Some people have fallen asleep. What else can you do? The bus is always a long ride no matter how short the distance. Perhaps a TV is in order -or a monitor printing today’s news across every five or ten minutes to keep the passengers busy. Although I must admit, there are plenty of people who like to sleep and catch up with their dreams.

As the bus moves northbound, the number of the passengers get smaller. I think the people in north phoenix do not take the buses as compare to the southern phoenix. I feel hungry. “All these buses are late,” shouts the same voice from the back of the bus. He is still around and have not gotten off yet. “Now they are always late.” He finishes his statements with such a tone that you can almost hear him say it every time he is on the bus. “It wasn’t like this.”

The bus stops and picks up a few passengers from a the bus stop. This one guy sitting across from me is already looking at the bus book to figure out his next destination and perhaps make it home on time. What is this smell? Someone is wearing an extremely toxic smelling perfume -if that even by far explains this foul aroma. They should reconsider.

I wonder how much I can write and remember to write from each trip on the bus. After all it is a one hour ride. “I missed it -fuck.” yells a man from the back and departs the bus abruptly. If you miss you bus, it is another forty minutes till the next bus is schedule to arrive. That is not good if you want to be somewhere at a certain time. Whey is everyone sitting in the front? There is only one guy in the back and he is asleep. “Glendale.” Yells the bus driver over his microphone. I guess you can catch up with your sleep if you missed it last night. Bus is perfect for that. The bus is filled with all kinds of ads for the bus. There is the where to find a bus book ad. And what items are allowed inside the bus. Maybe someone could use the space for better advertising. Or NOT -most people are poor on the bus so it would not be any use to advertise to them. How would they get to the store? The ads are published in both English and Spanish -then again what isn’t these day. My stop is approaching fast… “Final Stop,” says the bus driver changing his course to start all over again.

Now a days every every page of every web site is filled with banner ads. As of last month there were 50 million US consumers on broadband/cable internet connection. They are spending more and more time surfing the web -more than watching tv. And it is just the start. It is one of those times where a right company can sit itself in position to capture a big peace of the market. Sort of the AOL for modem internet users just till few years ago.

If the rigth connections are made, the potential is great for this company. This is the time when consumers are speeding more time online and moving their shopping habbits from off line malls and store to online market where they -at their comfort of their own homes can buy the exact same item for cheaper price with no effort at all. The product arrives at their house in two days. Be then they have bought more material from the internet and this will continue to rise by day. This phenomenon is catching fast to every corner of the world. Not only the companies who use online advertising and companies who make the onling advertising will diplay their products and talent to local and national audience, but also for international market.

Most companies can ship items to many parts of the world thanks to FedEx. The potential is still hight. This will be close to a trillion dollar market in the very near future. Companies who are in position to capture the market of making these banners for other clients and in turn the client’s products are show around the world and their sales are up by the month. This is where the market will merge and provide every service and every product from around the world. From Canadian cheap prescription drugs to a bottle of wine from a French web site. This is after all -as Mr. Tom said himself “a flat world…” and of course very soon a flat market.

Hit-and-Stay?
Imagine; you are driving along a valley street. The maximum speed is posted 35 miles per hour (mph), and you are doing about 50 or 60. It is just past the one in the morning. Given the obvious, it is often the case that combination of speed and the late night hour, you have alcohol in your system and feeling somewhat tipsy to say the least. Next comes a shadow, and you hear a thump. Your front windshield is broken and you have a big dent on hood of your car. Reality hits you; you just hit someone crossing the street. What do you do? You have options. All the good things you have been thought all your life, moral, ethics and family values. Perhaps even the thought of going to jail. You have to make a decision based on some or all of these factors running through your mind 200 miles per hour. Should you stop and help? Should you flee the scene? There are no easy answers for these questions, unless you are the driver of the car. There are people who have been in this sort of situation, he or she had to answer these questions and make a decision instantaneously.
Mark Aaron Torre, 28, an attorney in the Phoenix office of Squires, Sanders & Dempsey, a graduate of Arizona State University (ASU) was most recent person who had to answer the above questions. On August 18, 2001 at approximately 2:45 a.m. according to police reports Mr. Torre was speeding through a green light on Apache Boulevard at McAllister Avenue in Scottsdale when he struck and killed Jessica Woodin, 18, a freshman at ASU. According to the www.azcentral.com, police had found Torre’s brand new black Mustang parked on a street a few miles from the accident. He was near to be found. He turned himself in the following Monday. Tempe Police charged him with leaving the scene of fatal accident, according to Arizona Republic. He did not make any statements and he was later released on bail pending further investigation.
Perhaps Mr. Torre would have stayed and provided assistance and called paramedics after the accident had happened. According to A.R.S. §28-663 A1 and 3, “The driver of a vehicle involved in an accident resulting in injury to or death of a person shall: Immediately stop… render reasonable assistance…” The current law in Arizona provides persons running from a scene fatal accident less punishment than one who stays to assist the victim. If you stay at the scene, you get breath or blood tested. Chances are you also get charged with manslaughter, a second-degree felony in Arizona, A.R.S. §13-1103 B; presumptive term, five years, first offense, A.R.S. §13-701. Is this what we have to rely on? Either according to law or our ethics, if we were to stay and assist the victim, we get charged with second-degree felony that is to say that we were sober. But perhaps you were impaired and you killed someone: up to 21 years. Perhaps Mr. Torre made a decision that most of us would have under circumstances and lenient state laws. It may be cruel, cowardly and against out moral and ethics, but to someone with a mind of legalities, it makes perfect sense to leave. If you choose to leave the scene of fatal accident, a class three misdemeanor, according to A.R.S. §28-663 3B, that would mean a fine, probation or a term less than a year. Laws are made to protect the society, the victims and prevent actions that cause harm to the public. So far hit-and-run laws are so lenient that even in case of a fatal accident and serious injury, the driver get much less punishment than what he deserves.
Last time I read on the story was October 11th on The Arizona Republic. Headline, “Lawyer indicted in hit-and-run death”. A Maricopa County grand jury has charged Mark A. Torre with second-degree-murder. I will be following the story to see what happened to Mr. Torre. Maricopa county Attorney Rick Romley has said that “we used our investigative tools” in the case. Perhaps he may convict Mr. Torre or he might walk away free. We just have to sit back and see how the laws will protect the innocent, punish the wrongdoer and prevent wrongdoing this time.

Legalize it!!!
One can decide on their own whether using marijuana is legal or not. But regardless of what you and I think, marijuana is listed in the Schedule I of Controlled Substance Act, U. S. C. 21.812. It reads “The drug or substances has a high potential for abuse.” If you read further into the law it lists marijuana as hallucinogenic substance listed as number ten ‘Marihuana.’ U.S.C. 812.1 (a). The act which was passed on October 27, 1970 made marijuana’s use, position, distribution and manufacturing a federal crime. That was in effect up until 1996, when State of California voters enacted an initiative measure entitled the Compassionate Use Act of 1996. California is not the only state that has passed the voters initiative to use marijuana for medical purposes. Since 1996, the District of Columbia and nine other states including Nevada, Arizona, Alaska, Colorado, Hawaii, Maine, Nevada, Oregon and Washington have passed laws protecting patient use of marijuana. The most widely known case that found its way to the highest court came from California. 3
The voters initiative which became law in California Health and Safety Code Section 11357-11362.9 (A) reads, “To ensure that seriously ill, California have the right to obtain and use marijuana for medical purposes…” 1 This statute created an exception not only to California laws prohibiting the position and cultivation of marijuana, but also violated the federal laws. I will use OCBC and Cooperative, which are the same company alternatively as deemed fit.
In the wake of this new voters initiative several groups such as the Oakland Cannabis Buyers Cooperative (OCBC) organized medical cannabis dispensaries to meet the needs of qualified patients. A physician served as a medical director, and registered nurses staffed the Cooperative. To become a member, patients must provide a written statement from a treating doctor confirming to marijuana therapy. Once accepted the patient received an identification card entitling him/her to obtain marijuana from the Cooperative. The OCBC organization became the most active amongst others and attracted federal authorities to take action. It took the federal government about two years to bring a case against the OCBC. In January 1998, the United States sued the Cooperative and its executed director, Jeffery Jones in the U. S. District Court for the Northern District of California. Seeking to stop the Cooperative (OCBC) from distributing marijuana, U. S. argued that, whether or not the OCBC’s activities are legal under California law, they violate federal law. 2 Specifically the Government argued that the OCBC violated the Substance Abuse Acts prohibitions on distributing, manufacturing and possessing with intent to distribute or manufacture a control substance. 21 U.S.C. 841(a). The U. S. argued, claiming that the Cooperative violated the Controlled Substance Act, a federal law, the district judge granted the injunction preventing the OCBC from distributing and manufacturing of marijuana. However this injunction did not stop the Cooperative from distributing and manufacturing of marijuana. They were brave enough to go against the judges decision and continue to serve the ill patients even though they could have been criminally prosecuted. These actions by OCBC did not stop government from pursuing their case. The government moved for a finding that the cooperative was in contempt of court, and the district judge agreed and found the cooperative in contempt. Finally the cooperative appealed the judge’s decision to the 9th U. S. Circuit court of Appeals. According to the cooperative, marijuana is the only drug that can alleviate the severe pain and other debilitating symptoms of the patients. The appeals court decided that there was a medical necessity exception to the federal ban on marijuana. The court went further saying that “… the district courts retain broad equitable discretions… and should have weighted the public interest and considered factors such as serious harm in depriving patients of marijuana.” 2
The Justice Department made a judgment that of all the misconducts subject to federal laws that takes place everyday, what merited its attention was a medically run nonprofit organization (OCBC) that distributed marijuana to sick people. Even though the government lost its case in the 9th U. S. Circuit court of Appeals, they were determined to bring down this organization regardless of public interest, medical necessity for ill patients and voters initiatives. The government thus began a crusade against the cooperative and did not stop the case until they felt that the National drug laws had been enforced properly.
After having granted the right, by the 9th circuit court, to resume distribution and manufacturing of medical marijuana to ill patients, cooperative got another news; the U. S. had taken the case to the Supreme Court. The Government filed a petition for a writ certiorari, which means that the Supreme Court will review lower courts decisions. Surprisingly the Supreme Court accepted the petition, knowing that it grants certiorari only in 1 percent to 2 percent of the cases. The government argued that the Ninth Circuit held that medical necessity is a “legal cognizable defense” to a claim of distributing marijuana, and that that district courts have “equitable discretion” to permit an organization to distribute marijuana. 2 The government argued that congress has banned the distribution of marijuana for any purpose, including purported medical use. To let an organization such as the Cooperative distribute and manufacture marijuana significantly undermines the effectiveness of the Controlled Substance Act and threatens the government’s ability to enforce an Act of Congress.
There are many arguments about the medical use of marijuana in state and the federal levels. There are people in the government who do support the medical use of marijuana for ill patients, and some of them are against it. Moreover 73 percent of the people support the use of marijuana for medical purpose, according to a March 1999 Gallup. No matter how many states have voters’ initiative, and how much the use of medical marijuana is supported by the public, the government of the United States is determined to bring down any organization that practice such actions. We all have witnessed California. Regardless of public interest and the ill patients the Controlled Substance Act still list marijuana under the Schedule I as hallucinogenic substance. We just have to sit tight and see what state is next. Perhaps the congress may pass a “Compassionate Use Act.”

Refs:
United States Code, Title 21, Section 812: part B. Authority to Control: Schedule of Controlled Substances

California Health and Safety Code

http://www.cannibisnews.com/news

http://www.cnn.allpolitics.com

http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com