A friend watched 'Bullshit' last night, and has this to say: I've just watched another superb episode of Penn & Teller's 'Bullshit' on Prime. Sincerely hope you caught it. I've been a fan of these two for a long time. They're out and out libertarians. I especially enjoyed Nixon, in sanctimoniously alerting America to this 'enormous problem' in 1971 (as opposed I guess, to the 'minor' problem of Vietnam), being described as a 'whacko motherfucker' ... Delicious. This was the smartest 45 mins of TV devoted to drug use that I've ever seen. I'm going to write to Prime and beg them to repeat it. Who knows. We must advise/remind libs to regularly watch the programme and then write to Prime, as it's truly 45 minutes of blatant promotion of freedom. Tuesdays @ 10pm.Of course, if it doesn't get repeated, looks like the boys have made it available on Google Video for you to watch. Here's the summary of the 'War on Drugs' episode : "Penn and Teller examine the war on drugs. If drug prohibition ended there wouldn't be a dangerous black market, police would have more time to go after real criminals and drugs would be safer." Are they wrong?
LINKS: War on Drugs - 'Bullshit!' - Google Video
RELATED: Victimless_Crimes, Films
9 comments:
Wheres Berend the Bore when you want him...? ;-)
damn i forgot and missed it, might ask videon (Dominion Rd) if they intend to stock it, they are superb
Penn's podcast is well worth a listen. Mike Goudeau (BS writer and executive producer) is his co-host as Teller cant really do much on radio :)
http://penn.freefm.com/
I love the 'Bullshit' show especially on episodes relating to 'faith healers', ‘homeopathy’, ‘numerologists’, 'psychics' and all faith-based practices. Penn & Teller reveal how weird those practitioners are and their followers.
Some claims in those practices completely contradict the laws of Physics -- that is, they break the laws of Physics. I hope that faith-based followers would understand or be inspired from Penn & Teller that Physics' laws cannot be broken or contradicted. Even if they have no science background, they should have realised that they had been conned or misled.
You should see the Gun control "Bullshit" episode. Marvellous! Especially the little lady who packs a .32 in her bra, a pump-action shotgun and a .45 in her office and a 9 mm carbine in her vault. She makes fur coats you see and doesn't want to get raped, robbed or threatened.
As she points out, although she is a strong woman, she isn't as strong as a man - unless she's packing heat that is.
And oh how smug the middle-class white anti-gun advocate is. "Only the police should have guns..."
Tell that to the black civil-rights protesters who got attacked with fire hoses and attack dogs in Birmingham, Alabama when Commissioner of Public Safety Eugene "Bull" Connor decided to show those "uppity niggers" who was boss.
"Get a burglar alarm..." Says Mr Smug. Tell that to the poor folk living in the ghettos. Some of which (like those in Paris) are places so bad that even the police won't lenture there unless they go in force.
"Oh but with gun control, the criminals won't have guns..." Arse. Criminals break laws by definition! If you are going to kill someone, what does it matter if you buy an illegal gun and then J-walk in the commission of the crime. What are they going to do? Execute the crim twice?
Thanks for posting this. Cannot argue with one word they say, nor with the way they say it.
I lived in a Colombia a few years ago and saw first-hand the impact that the "war on drugs" has on the people of that beautiful country. Whatever you think about the dangers of drug use, the violence and death that this war brings (and has brought) to the people of Colombia (and Latin America) is 10,000 times worse than any supposed danger from legalising drugs.
To support the "war on drugs" is to implicitly support the continuation of violence against innocent people!
There are an increasing number of commentators in Colombia who recognise that the legalisation of drugs is the only way to deal with the violence. In an interview I conducted with a former Attorney General of Colombia, he indicated to me that this path (while having merit) was not possible since the USA would never permit such a policy by the Colombian government.
Julian
Julian, within only the last year or two a high-ranking American police officer (Eddie?) visited NZ to speak. His full name escapes me, but other readers may recall it.
I never heard him speak, but a friend did. According to her, he spoke candidly about the whole drug prohibition absurdity, and how the hierarchy at both Scotland Yard and the FBI and DEA were pushing their political counterparts toward eventual legalisation.
I remember being highly skeptical in that I believe too many people stand to lose too much, but who knows. Maybe one day reason will prevail.
That would be Eddie Ellison, Sus, from an organisation founded by police officers and justices from around the world called L.E.A.P. -- Law Enforcement Against Prohibition. (He was brought out by Blair from the Mild Greens.)
Eddie was the former head of Scotland Yard's Drug Squad, and he explained that within Scotland Yard legalisation is "mainstream thinking." They recognise there that prohibition has failed, and that legalisation is the only practical answer.
See their website for more.
Julian, you said, "I lived in a Colombia a few years ago and saw first-hand the impact that the "war on drugs" has on the people of that beautiful country."
PJ O'Rourke used to say that every time the US President declares a War on Drugs the biggest celebrations are held at the drug barons' rancheros, because the price of drugs goes through the roof. Would you agree with that too?
how would legalization happen? you couldn't legalize drugs overnight and religious conservatives would fight tooth and nail to prevent this, especially as it would prove they've been wrong the whole time, something they're dimly aware of I'm sure.
i read that half the U.S prison population are held for drug offences, just crazy, and the war against drugs goes on making drug dealers and weak minded police officers and various officials rich, all the while expanding the number of addicts to the delight of those who profit.
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