[Gypsy2222]

CptSternn... I believe that you may have a skewed perception on things... ~Chuckle~... Let me try to clarify what I mean by that...

Originally Posted by CptSternn

You guys really don't have a clue about the rest of the world do ya?

Remember what you though about the Russians when you were a kid? How they were fed skewed media and had all these false beliefs about America? Well now its America who has skewed media and have no diea what the rest of the world is doing or even a clue what is going on.

A reminder... Not all on this site are American... And even some of us who are, haven't seen Stateside media (other than some American based websites) in about six years...

First, Afghanistan has been knocked back 2 decades. Right now, only in the capital city of Kabul is anyone listening to the government. The rest of the nation is back in to control of the various warlords. Opium production, illegal under the Taliban, has increased over 800% in the last year. Right now its the leading crop in the country and the profits fund warlords and taliban factions that roam the countryside at will.

Don't believe me? Well, I would say come over here and I'll get us a ride out there so ya can see it, but you can broswe the web and read about it - even though mainstream US media doesn't talk about it.

It's more lawless now than ever.

True... and a very sad situation it is... However, control and near destruction of opium production in Afghanistan does not mean that the Taliban should not have paid for the acts that they preformed... Is the resulting warlord chaos better? Not for the Afghan people... a very unfortunate thing that humans feel the need to do this... However, I wouldn't say that the Taliban should have been left in place after it's terrorist choices... Solution? No easy one here... You got one?

And when it comes to felonies in the states, well, its just another racist attempt by the us government to keep poor minorities in check.

Read your own stastics - browse the web. Whites that comit the same drug related acts get away with no felony charges while black men have a 1 in 3 chance of being in prison before they are 21.

A very good and close personal friend of mine (who happens to be white) is currently doing twenty years for the selling and distribution of Cocaine...

As for the reasons for the percentages, most of the upper and middle class Americans are white so they do not do obvious crimes (no, they are taught early on how to go about doing 'slick', more acceptable crimes and thus are caught far less often)...

The system does this on purpose. Crack cocaine is a product made from powder cocaine. It conatains about 1/3 cocaine as opposed to pure powder cocaine.

Crack cocaine though, has Federal requirements on imprisonment, meaning the judge has to give you a certain amount of time and has to chrage you as a felon, while possession of pure powder cocaine, even if its 5-10 times as much of the stuff, has no guidlines meaning judges can charge you with a midomenor and let you off with a warning and no jail time.

Perhaps they can... but Ed can tell you himself when he gets out... Most of the time they don't in truth...

80% of the people arrested for crack possession are black
75% of the people arrested for powder cocaine are white

Does this make sense? I mean, if you have 3 grams of powder you can make 9 grams of crack, but as long as you dont mix it down, you can walk away if you get a good lawyer, while a person who possesses say 1/10 of a gram of crack will do at least 6 months on their first offense (if they were to distill the cocaine from the crack it would be less than 1/30th of a gram of coke).

Yes it does... first of all... crack cocaine is many Many times more addictive than uncooked coke... I have seen the effects of both on several people where I grew up, on the streets, in between the fourth and fifth wards (a.k.a. ghetto's) of Houston Tx. (Empty_Purple_Stars was in the exact same area and consequently could probably share similar information)... Freebased crack cocaine is an exceedingly easy thing to make if you have a decent supplier of cocaine and a few household items, it sells extremely well and quickly (due to it's addictive qualities) and (where I grew up) can be found more easily in predominantly black and mexican neighborhoods where it is made...

Bottom line?

Yes, it makes sense why the sentence would be harsher for Crack
Yes, more black (males in particular) are busted for crack because it is in the "black ghetto" where it is primarily made and to be found, so that too makes sense...

I look up statistics mostly to back-up what I know from personal experience... You should try to open your eyes to these realities before screaming racism... (though I do agree, the system is racist, it's just more subtle than you put forward...)

If you look at the national statistics in the states of black vs whites in prisons and the coresponding crimes you will see some blatently racist trends. Once again, don't take my word for it - browse the web.

Now you are hitting close to the truth, but you might have the wrong reasons why...

Saying felons don't deserve to vote is tandamount to racism.

I won't even dignify this with a response...

If you have never lived in the hood, you shouldn't try to dictate how people who are forced to live there survive. I say leave your cushy little parents house and find the worse neighborhood in the largest metropolitan area your closed to and see how people live. You think those people enjoy it? Think they want to be there?

Even if you have lived in the hood you have no right to dictate how other people think as long as their actions do not impose their thoughts or beliefs upon you...

As for the rest... See above.

Anyway, I digress. Bottom line is ya need to live in these places and experience it first hand before you start passing judgement.

'Let them eat cake' is never a solution, but means for a revolution.

*and you can quote me on that

Slán

Even as I have lived in these places, I try not to pass judgement... on anyone... even if they live in a "cushy parents home"...

This much I have learned... It is not only how and where you grew up... it is what you take away from it...

*and you can quote me on that... ~Chuckle~

Always,
~The Gypsy~