Here's a real cowboy hero, riding for freedom to save justice in America. Howard Wooldridge, from Ft. Worth originally, road his horses across the US. It took them three years to cross the county as a promotional event for LEAP Law Enforcement Against Prohibition. He has received an award from the Long Rider's Assoc. for his effort. He shares McCool's Rebel with Just Cause Award for 2006 with Cindy Sheehan. This award honors true patriots, those who stood for freedom and those still standing.

The retired police officer warns," Drug prohibition causes more pain, suffering and death than the drugs themselves." He adds "As for Misty & me, we will donate our time as much as we can handle until the war on drugs is in the history books or I draw my last breath."

Howard is our man in Washington in 2007. Read his newsletter, LEAP ON THE HILL

WFAA, channel 8 D/FW ran a story last week about another former police officer, Barry Cooper, who wants to end prohibition, of cannabis specifically. They ran a poll and last I looked 80% said marijuana should be legalized.

"After millions of people arrested and incarcerated, it is clear that the
"war on drugs" has reshaped the way America responds to crime and ushered in an era of instability and mistrust in countless communities." According to a new report from the Sentencing project , a half million are presently incarcerated for drug offenses.

Wednesday night on "Drugs, Crime, and Politics" WTP-TV Cable Channels around Houston, Buford Terrell interviewed a young man from Let it Grow, Bro! The group in Austin is working primarily around the premise of strewing (or more carefully planting) marijuana seeds wherever they can. He informed us that this group is beginning to organize a "March on the Capitol" to converge in Austin sometime in late April next year.

"Take one swift glance at a U.S. map coded to reflect the widely
varying marijuana laws in each state, and drug policy seems to range
from irrational to incoherent.." Michael Booth, a Denver Post Staff Writer encourages you to do so.

We are on a slippery slope; slip sliding toward marshal law. Police brutality is being reported everywhere but especially around political events. The unnecessary use of a taser on the student asking inconvenient questions at a political rally last week is a case in point. The statistics show a disturbing trend to militarize our police like storm troopers, use them mainly to fight the non-violent in war on drugs, or to arrest protesters against the Iraq war while allowing murderers and violent sexual predators to roam free.

Have you ever done a search for violent crime statistics? Many murders, rapes and robberies go unsolved while we try to police medicinal and recreational use of drugs. Drug abuse is not a criminal activity. Compassionate treatment is the answer.

The TIERNEY LAB ,Putting Ideas in Science to the Test at the New York Times reported the good news about Richard Paey, a victim in the war on drugs, who was serving a 25-year sentence in connection with prescription for painkillers and became a rallying cause for chronic-pain patients across America. Paey was wheeled out of prison by a guard, a free man for the first time in 3 ½ years. After hearing his case presented to the state clemency board, Gov. Crist said: “We aim to right a wrong and exercise compassion and to do it with grace.” Oh let it be, let it be!

This was a big week for taking action against the Iraq war; culminating in a nationwide protest last Friday that hopes to be the start of something big. Citizens left toy solders in public places that have a card attached saying "Bring ME home." Others had die-ins or "living graveyards" with sheets and a lot of red paint standing in for blood as was done in the capital earlier this week. Ideas for protest are varied: displaying empty boots of local soldiers, putting peace sign on lawns, wearing black arm bands and range from groups standing silent to banging pots and pans together. Join or start the surge in your town on the third Friday of every month.

Stop the War FOR Terror! Torture, spying and unjust incarceration without habeas corpus are such un-American activities; how did we come to this? Warrants must be required for the surveillance of ordinary Americans, as required by the Constitution! Tell Congress not to provide immunity for telecom companies that conspired with the government to violate the Constitution. Tell them to restore habeas corpus.

Leaders responsible for current quagmire will one-day answer to a higher power for their crimes against humanity. It's time to end the terror by changing our intrusive, big-bully policies, both foreign and domestic. The monetary and environmental costs are staggering and the human suffering unconscionable.