Hello Beachnut,
Great post. First, regarding the police. They are supposed to "serve and protect" and do so for the most part. But, like any other area, they are as good as the people involved.

There is a saying,"Power corrupts. Absolute power corrupts absolutely." Now, keep in mind that a policeman's job is TO STOP THINGS! That is the flow that they operate on ALL THE TIME! They are looking to STOP crime. So, when you are constantly STOPPING things, you can tend to over-step that flow by stopping things unnecessarily.

As for the 9/11 influence. Well, those "fear-mongers" who make a living off of selling newspapers, magazines, psychiatric drugs and more, would keep us all in fear all the time if they got their wish. If you do some research, you'll find that there is a connection between some government agencies, big pharma and the newspapers. IMHO, this controlling "trilogy" has a great money machine built to keep us all under their thumbs.

If you don't believe me, take a look at which large drug companies own which newspapers or magazines. (Hint: check out TIME and USA TODAY for starters) Then, take a look at how much government funding goes out to Big Pharma (Hint: in the billions), and how much of that funding gets into the personal pockets of those organizations who support certain government officials. It's downright disgusting.

As for the drug war. I agree with what you say. However, I also wish to point out that the false "PR" about the coolness or great relief brought about by doing the drugs is an intentional campaign that started back in the 1960's by a specific group of people who made money from the drugs. If you research this, you'll see that drugs were positioned with cool musicians and artists so as to give them a great PR image. This was a deliberate PR campaign and there is much data to support this.

It is always the best to pull the string all the way back to the source of any problem if you want the problem to cease. The drug problem started in the 1960s. Do some research and you'll see just who started it all. You may find out that they are the same people who are still making all the drug money. The thugs are only serving to assist in the problem. They aren't the problem.

As far as the prison systems go. They totally suck and hopefully they will look to certain programs that are truly working such as Criminon. And yes, I'd love to see more people like Johnny Cash get involved. This world needs all the help it can get!

Auntie Rant

"And, in the end, the love you take is equal to the love you make." Paul McCartney