EVERYTHING YOU WANTED TO KNOW ABOUT POT...

BUT WAS AFRAID TO ASK.

The medical community will indiscriminately medicate patients with substances that can and does kill us... while a safe one is deemed illegal by THE POWERS TO BE... I have long wondered why this safe drug was ever demonized by these same powers?

Did you ever wonder... that maybe it's, so the law has a reason to harass...?

Did you ever wonder... if it was because of some irrational political ideology (a similar type of ideology that got us into an unnecessary preempted war)?

Well perhaps the article below will answer some of your perplexing questions on WHY ALCOHOL IS LEGAL AND POT IS NOT... but read this recent article
first Study turns pot wisdom on its head.
ThinkingBlue
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Calgary — Forget the stereotype about dopey potheads.

It seems marijuana could be good for your brain.

Rhiannon
Rose, right, and Heidi Farnola enjoy pot yesterday at Marijuana Party
bookstore in Vancouver. Photo: Lyle Stafford/The
Globe and Mail

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Why is Alcohol Legal and Marijuana Illegal?
by David Cable

In life, we are continuously surrounded by objects that can be harmful to
our health. We are also simultaneously around substances that can be
beneficial to our health. The question is—how do we know the difference?
Is it through media, the government, or our peers? There is always so much
hype about new foods and medicine that is supposedly healthy. Then some
new evidence arises and…oops we were wrong. The only way to really know is
through experience. People are so quick to make assumptions and believe
almost anything they hear. For this reason, I will try to answer my own
question—Why is alcohol legal and marijuana not?

The first area to be addressed is the drawbacks that alcohol carries. If I
were a man of assumptions I would assume that since alcohol is legal and
marijuana is not, then marijuana must be pretty dangerous. Only I don’t
like to assume anything. I spent most of my life in the presence of both
of these drugs (and more recently I have done quite a bit of research) and
I have yet to hear of a single overdose incident from marijuana. As for
alcohol…well, people get their stomach pumped everyday. In fact, about
50,000 reported cases of alcohol poisoning occur each year. It is
estimated that one person dies every week from alcohol poisoning. Alcohol
is a central nervous system (CNS) depressant. When alcohol is ingested,
the first part of the brain that it affects is the frontal lobe—which
controls our motor functions, planning, and reasoning. This is why
people’s speech gets slurred, coordination is impaired, and bad decisions
are made. About 10% of people who use alcohol have problems in their lives
related to alcohol use. Around 90% of all assaults, 50% to 60% of all
murders, and over 50% of the rapes and sexual assaults on children are
alcohol-related. Alcoholics’ life expectancy is cut by an average of 10-12
years. According to the National Survey on Drug Use and Health in 2002, an
estimated 120 million Americans (12 or older) reported being current
drinkers. That is just over half of the population. Also about 54 million
Americans participated in binge drinking at least once in the 30 days
prior to the survey. That comes out to 1 in 5 Americans over the age of
12. Over 33 million people (1 in 7) drove under the influence at least
once in the 12 months prior to the survey. In 2001 more than 6 million
children lived in a household where at least one of their parents abused
or was dependent on alcohol. In 2002, an estimated 18.6 million people
needed treatment for alcohol problems—2.2 million actually received
treatment (13, 14).

Looking at all of these numbers, I can not help but to think of a lifetime
of memories where alcohol was the source of infinite problems. Is alcohol
the real gateway drug? Has America made the assumption that—it’s legal, so
it can’t be that bad, or is it the classic-he did so I figured it would be
ok? At the same time, alcohol does have some positive aspects, doesn’t it?
It provides temporary relief of insomnia—even though there are over the
counter and prescription drugs for that. It helps people with high blood
pressure by thinning the blood. Wait a second; doesn’t aspirin do the same
thing? There are also prescription drugs for high blood pressure. When you
have a rough day it can help you forget your problems. Although, the next
day you will remember your problems and maybe even have a few new ones
accompanied with a headache from dehydration. Alcohol can help shy people
be more sociable, but they might do something a little too sociable and be
filled with regret the next day.

If all of this is true then why is alcohol still legal? The fact is—it is
part of our culture, a way of celebration. America would still continue to
drink if it was outlawed. It was made against the law and look what
happened—it went underground. This is exactly where marijuana is today. In
2002, about 54% of young adults (18-25) and 21% of youths (12-17) had
tried marijuana. In the month prior to the survey in 2002, about 14.6
million people smoked marijuana. Of that 14.6 million, 12.2% smoked on
300+ days out of the year. That is close to 3.1 million daily pot smokers.
In 2001, there were an estimated 2.6 million new users. That number has
nearly doubled in the last decade. So if this many people use it, why are
we wasting our time trying to catch all of these “criminals”? Why not turn
it into the capitalist-American way of life and legalize to make money and
quit trying to stop the inevitable? “Make the most of the Indian hemp
seed, and grow it everywhere.”—George Washington. “The greatest service
which can be rendered any country is to add a useful plant to its
culture.”—Thomas Jefferson. This makes me wonder even more: why is it
illegal? Only history can answer this question (6, 13).

It all started in 1914 when a drunken white man was killed in El Paso,
Texas by a drunk and stoned Mexican. So they put the blame on the
marijuana—instead of the booze. Possession became illegal in El Paso
because of this incident. Then came the real problem—prohibitionist-Harry
J. Anslinger, the Commissioner of the Federal Bureau of Narcotics. He
believed that if the laws were tough enough, then America could do away
with alcohol. If enough people went to jail, eventually the public would
learn to behave. He then turned and applied this philosophy to begin
America’s famous “war on drugs”. He quickly realized that it would be
impossible to police 48 states with a “depression strapped budget”, so he
lobbied for the states to pass the Uniform Narcotics Law. Here comes the
propaganda. During the 20’s, marijuana caused “physical and mental ruin”.
In the 30’s it was “if you smoke it you will kill people”. When they all
finally signed, Anslinger was able to get Roosevelt to pass the Marijuana
Tax Act of 1937—without public debate, scientific inquiry, or political
objection. This prohibited the possession of marijuana in the United
States without a special tax stamp from the treasury department. Only the
treasury department never issued any stamps—oh and did I forget to mention
that Anslinger’s position was in the treasury department. Then to make
sure the public supported the law and to induce fear, the propaganda
continued to pour. In the 40’s, the public service announcement was
“marijuana: assassin of youth; causing violence, insanity, and murder”
(6).

There were still hopes though. The mayor of New York, Fiorello La Guardia
commissioned a six year, medical and sociological, study by 31 scientists
which finished in 1944. They found that “marijuana did not lead to
violent, antisocial behavior, or uncontrollable sexual urges. Smoking
marijuana did not alter a person’s basic personality structure.” This
commission “fully disproved every single negative effect ever claimed by
Harry J. Anslinger”. He was furious. So he used his influence with the
press to have the report discredited. He then destroyed every copy of the
report that he could get a hold of. As if this wasn’t enough, he put a
stop to any further research by restricting the supply of marijuana. Next,
he ordered his men to dig up dirt on anyone who opposed him. His next
target was the entertainment industry. In fear of trouble with the
government, Hollywood studios agreed to give Anslinger personal control
over all movie scripts that mention drugs. If he felt it was the wrong
message, he just banned the movie (6).

During the late 40’s and 50’s the new scare was heroin. This opened the
door for more propaganda—“if you smoke it you will become a heroin
addict”. This enabled Anslinger to assist Senator Boggs in getting the
Boggs Act of 1951 passed. This gave possession convictions mandatory
sentences. Their slogan—“behind every narcotics peddler there was a
communist preparing to over through our government.” How could they
actually believe this? Well, because drugs are “primarily” coming from
“red” China. If this wasn’t enough, Anslinger then persuaded Eisenhower to
push the Narcotics Control Act through congress in 1956. This put
marijuana in the same category as heroin. The sentence for a first
conviction was a mandatory 2 to 10 years. With these stiff penalties,
America needed more propaganda for justification. During the 60’s, it
was—if you smoke it, you will not only “withdraw from reality, lose all
motivation, and undermine national security,” but you will become a
“dysfunctional loser” (6).

Of course, those penalties couldn’t hold for too long. During the 60’s,
many people started thinking that the problem was not so much the
marijuana but the marijuana laws. “The use of the criminal law causes more
harm than the drug itself.”—Keith Stroup (founder of National Organization
for the Reform of Marijuana Laws). The cover of a 60’s Newsweek magazine
read “Marijuana: Time to Change the Law?” This spawned the Controlled
Substances Act of 1970, which eliminated mandatory minimum sentencing and
effectively reduced penalties for possession of marijuana. Then the Ann
Arbor (Michigan) City Ordinance of 1972 was passed making possession a
minor offence equal to a parking ticket. A year later, Oregon became the
first state to pass a decriminalization law. Four years after, a study was
done that showed no increase in marijuana use and a substantial savings in
tax dollars normally spent on law enforcement. By this time nine other
states had decriminalized marijuana, but the war still had a long way to
go (6).

The next tough soldier in the “war on drugs” was President Nixon.

President Richard M. Nixon sniffs out a sample of confiscated marijuana
in a scene from Unapix Films' Grass - 2000

First, he launched “operation intercept”. Since it was off-time from war, he used
the military to do what was officially called the largest search and
seizure operation. He put people all along the Mexican border to stop the
marijuana. After about three weeks of wasted time and money, the operation
was abandoned. So Nixon poured the money into police drug training. At
this time the propaganda was—if you smoke it “bad things will happen” (but
we don’t know what they are). Nixon wanted to find out what these bad
things were so he used millions of dollars to set up the National
Commission on Marijuana and Drug Abuse. After strenuous testing the
commission put out their first report. It concluded that “marijuana did
not cause crime. Current laws against marijuana led to selective
prosecution. The police were suspected of using these laws to arrest
people with objectionable hairstyles, skin color, or politics. The
enormous costs of trying to enforce laws against marijuana overwhelmingly
outweighed any deterrent value of these laws. In conclusion, private use
and possession should not be a criminal act.” Just to give you an idea of
the “enormous costs” of the “war on drugs” mentioned above—

1937-1947=$220 million

1948-1963=$1.5 billion

1964-1969=$9 billion

1970-1977=$76 billion

1980-1998=$214.7 billion

This was the most comprehensive and highly publicized study of marijuana
ever done. When Nixon got the feedback with the report, he became very
angry and tossed the report in his wastebasket without ever reading it.
Doing the exact opposite of what was recommended; Nixon formed the Drug
Enforcement Agency (DEA). This combined all of the anti-drug agencies into
one super agency. With over 4000 agents and analysts, the DEA had the
authority to “request wire taps, enter private homes without knocking, and
to gather intelligence on ordinary citizens” (6).

Things began to look up when Jimmy Carter took office. He was openly for
decriminalization. He wanted to end federal criminal penalties for
possession of up to one ounce of marijuana. Then a man named Peter Bourne
(one of Carter’s appointments) got caught up in a cocaine scandal and
ruined it. Carter could no longer afford to appear soft on drugs. His
proposal to decriminalize just died in congress (6).

When Carter left office Ronald Reagan became the new general in the “war
on drugs”. Since they had no real evidence of the dangers of marijuana,
they had to take the broad approach. Recognize this—“This is your brain,
this is your brain on drugs”. Reagan also pioneered the “just say no”
campaign. Then when George Bush took office he wanted to take real action.
“Drug trafficking should be grounds for the death penalty,”—George Bush.
So along came about the Anti-Drug Abuse Act of 1986 and 1988. This allowed
the seizure of property because of a threat to national security. They say
like father, like son. When September 11 hit, it gave George W. Bush the
chance to get more laws through congress. So all of a sudden, all of the
drugs were coming from Afghanistan. The government has the right to put a
bug in your home, car, and phone. The big change was that this evidence
was now admissible in court. What ever happened to the right to privacy (6)?

I can’t understand why the government would push so hard for all of these
years to keep it outlawed. Since Proposition 215 was passed in November of
1996, effectively legalizing medicinal marijuana in California—quite a bit
of testing has gone on. Studies have found that if you had glaucoma,
marijuana could lower your internal eye pressure and effectively slow the
onset of blindness. AIDS patients get a lot of pain that can be eased by
marijuana. It can also stimulate the appetites of people suffering
malnutrition from AIDS “wasting syndrome”. Multiple sclerosis, epilepsy,
and spinal cord injuries cause muscle spasticity and chronic pain that can
be alleviated by marijuana. Cancer, anorexia, migraines, and even
arthritis patients can all benefit from marijuana. It has been found
successful over and over in helping stop nausea and vomiting. Recent
reports from the National Institutes of Mental Health have stated that
delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC-the chief psychoactive compound in
marijuana) and cannabidiol (CBD-a non-psychoactive component) both appear
to protect brain cells from the damage that often occurs during a stroke.
When the blood supply is cut from the brain, THC and CBD act as
antioxidants, protecting the brain cells from glutamate (a toxic brain
chemical). This also indicates that marijuana can hold medicinal value for
the treatment of brain injuries and diseases like Alzheimer’s and
Parkinson’s (4,8,12,16).

Anonymous “Patient No. 9” signed up to participate in marijuana testing
about five years ago. He had already signed “do-not-resuscitate papers”
expecting his death soon from AIDS. Fighting Pneumocystis pneumonia,
Kaposi’s sarcoma, and internal parasites—his weight dropped from 240 to163
pounds. This experiment turned his life around. The pneumonia and
parasites were cured. The sarcoma receded. His AIDS virus levels, “once
sky-high, became undetectable in tests” (5).

“Doctors and patients should decide what medicines are best. Ten years
ago, I nearly died from testicular cancer that spread to my lungs.
Chemotherapy made me sick and nauseous. The standard drugs, like Marinol,
didn’t help. Marijuana blocked the nausea. As a result, I was able to
continue the chemotherapy treatments. Today I’ve beaten the cancer, and no
longer smoke marijuana. I credit marijuana as part of the treatment that
saved my life.”—James Canter (12).

If the government ended marijuana prohibition all sorts of doors would
open. All of the $11 billion gross sales would generate some serious money
from taxes. Sales taxes and excise taxes similar to the ones placed on
tobacco and liquor would generate some serious income. Just a 6% tax on
the consumers that spend $11 billion would produce $660 million every
year. Also, we can’t forget about the money spent on the “war on drugs”.
Every year the federal government spends an estimated $19.2 billion, and
the states combined spend about $77.8 billion. “Conservatively speaking”,
over 20% of that money is targeted towards marijuana. Suddenly all of the
“criminals” and drug dealers would become agricultural workers, farmers,
factory workers, sales people, and CEOs. All of the growers, runners,
financers, distributors, collectors, lookouts, and consumers would not
have to worry about getting caught. They would just be doing something
they believe in (1).

In my opinion, it is unethical to have marijuana illegal especially when
drugs like alcohol and cigarettes are legal. I feel that the illegality of
marijuana is an extreme economic, cultural, and medical limitation to the
advancement of our society. I feel that the evidence speaks for itself and
that America should know the truth.

Bibliography

1.) Brown, Maureen. “Legalize, Tax Marijuana to Fill Budget Gap.” The
Seattle Post-Intelligencer. Aug 14, 2003, Final. Editorial: pg. B5. http://web.lexis-nexis.com

2.) Dealing With Alcohol and Drug Problems. Keele University. Sept. 16,
2003. http://www.keele.ac.uk

3.) Drunk Driving. Sept. 16, 2003. http://www.alcoholstats.com

4.) Ehisen, Rich. “The Battle Medical Marijuana.” State Net: California
Journal. July 1, 2003. Vol.51, Iss. No. 7. http://web.lexis-nexis.com



5.) Krieger, Lisa M.. “Study Targets Stalemate Over Medicinal Use of
Marijuana.” San Jose Mercury News. July 19,1998. http://www.medmjscience.org

6.) Mann, Ron. Grass. Sphinx Productions. 2002.

7.) Miller, Steve. “Pot Paradox: Medical Marijuana Draws Unusual Political
Backing.” The Washington Times. July 20, 2003, Final Edition. http://web.lexis-nexis.com

8.) New Emerging Evidence of Marijuana’s Medical Efficacy. Sept. 16, 2003.
http://www.medmjscience.org

9.) O’Keefe, Michael; T.J. Quinn and Christian Red. “Gone to Pot (1 of 2):
Reefer Madness—Why More Athletes are Turning to Marijuana.” Daily News
(NY). May 4, 2003, Sports Final Edition. http://web.lexis-nexis.com

10.) Palca, Joe (host). “Medicinal Marijuana.” Talk of the Nation/Science
Friday: National Public Radio. July 18, 1998. < http://web.lexis-nexis.com>

11.) Porterfield, Elaine. “Should We Make It Legal?” The Seattle
Post-Intelligencer. Sept. 10, 2003, Final. News: pg. A17. http://web.lexis-nexis.com

12.) Proposition 215: Text of Proposed Law/Analysis/Rebuttal. Sept. 16,
2003. http://www.marijuana.org

13.) Results from the 2002 National Survey on Drug Use and Health:
National Findings. Department of Health and Human Services Administration;
Office of Applied Studies. http://www.samhsa.gov

14.) Sternberg, Robert J.. Pathways to Psychology: Second Edition.
Harcourt College Publishers. 2000

15.) Turner, Chris. “Grass Routes.” National Post: Canadian Business and
Current Affairs. Aug. 2003. Iss:1494-1988. http://web.lexis-nexis.com

16.) Zeese, Kevin B.. Summary of Results of State-Sponsored Medical
Marijuana Studies. Nov. 6, 1988. http://www.medmjscience.org

Endnotes

I found this paper to be the most mentally rewarding out every other
research paper I have ever done. My feelings toward this topic are very
strong. Upon completion, it was just another reason for me to think of how
corrupt our government is.

The amount of information available pertaining to this topic is endless.
My biggest problem was narrowing it down. If I included everything I
wanted to include, this paper would have tripled in size. I even thought
about trying to get permission to combine my two papers into just this
one, but I knew that probably wouldn’t fly.

There were two particular sources I found to be extremely useful. One is
the documentary Grass. This was basically a biography of marijuana in
America. The other source was the National Survey on Drug Use and Health.
I actually participated in this survey when I was attending Texas A & M
University Corpus Christi. The government funds the survey and this latest
is considered to be the most scientifically accurate survey ever done in
the history of mankind. It was asked not to be compared to any of the
previous surveys because of its accuracy. Although, there was a two-inch
stack of papers to sort through in order to find the equality of about a
paragraph and a half useful.

I also found a ton of information on the medicinal aspect of marijuana,
but considering that a group already covered that in their presentation I
only touched on it lightly. Also source #3, titled “Drunk Driving”, I
found to be particularly biased. I found out that Anheiser Busch owns the
website. All of the information was watered down to show that alcohol
wasn’t that bad. In addition, the first source on the list had some very
interesting theories of what could happen if marijuana was legalized.

I am not too sure on exactly what the guidelines are for the endnotes. If
you have any questions or comments just email me at
dcable@satx.rr.com.

TO BUY THE DOCUMENTARY "GRASS" CLICK HERE

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

POT QUOTES AND MORE
And on the seventh day, god stepped back and said "There is my creation, perfect in every way... oh, dammit I left pot all over the place. Now they'll think I want them to smoke it... Now I have to create
republicans." -
Bill Hicks
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
See I think drugs have done some good things for us. If you don't think drugs
have done good things for us then do me a favor. Go home tonight and take all of
your records, tapes and all your CD's and burn them. Because, you know all those
musicians who made all that great music that's enhanced your lives throughout
the years? Rrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrreal f**king high on drugs, man.
Bill Hicks
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
You know all that money we spend on the military ever year - trillions of
dollars? Instead, if we use this money to feed and clothe the poor of this
world, which it would do many times over, then we can explore space, inner and
outer, together, as one race .Bill Hicks
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Today a young man on acid realized that all matter is merely energy condensed
through a slow vibration, we are all one consciousness experiencing itself
subjectively, life is only a dream and we are the imaginations of ourselves. .Bill Hicks
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
My final point about alcohol, about drugs, about Pornography...What business is
it of yours what I do, read, buy, see or take into my body as long as I don't
harm another human being whilst on this planet? And for those of you having a
little moral dilemma on how to answer this, I'll answer for you NONE OF YOUR
F**KING BUSINESS Take that to the bank, cash it and take it on a vacation
outta my f**king life. And stop bringing shotguns to UFO sightings, they might
be here to pick me up and take me with 'em .Bill Hicks
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Obnoxious , self-righteous, whining little f**ks. My biggest fear is that if I
quit smoking, I'll become one of you...Don't take that wrong. I have something
to tell you non-smokers that I know for a fact that you don't know, and I feel
it's my duty to pass on information at all times. Ready?.......Non-smokers die
every day...Enjoy your evening. See, I know that you entertain this eternal life
fantasy because you've chosen not to smoke, but let me be the 1st to POP that
bubble and bring you hurtling back to reality....You're dead too. Bill Hicks
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I generally love my job. You know what the great thing about being a comic is? I
have no boss. That's a definate lifestyle plus isnt it?..Aren't bosses
something?.....They're like gnats at a picnic man....Get the f**k out of here
buddy, it's just a job, doesn't mean a thing. I smoked a joint this morning,
you're lucky I showed...My bed was like a womb man...Bill Hicks
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Ever noticed that people who believe in Creationism look really un-evolved? Bill Hicks
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
When Jesus comes back to earth the last thing he wants to see is a cross. Bill Hicks
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The world is like a ride in an amusement park. And when you choose to go on it,
you think it's real because that's how powerful our minds are. And the ride goes
up and down and round and round. It has thrills and chills and it's very
brightly colored and it's very loud and it's fun, for a while. Some people have
been on the ride for a long time and they begin to question, is this real, or is
this just a ride? And other people have remembered, and they come back to us,
they say, "Hey - don't worry, don't be afraid, ever, because, this is just a
ride.. Bill Hicks
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

So who the hell is Bill Hicks?

Tell the Truth, Laughing: The Life and Work of Bill Hicks by Nick Doody

Bill Hicks Biography by Paul Outhwaite
With American comedian Bill Hicks there was always an awareness of other people, of how our society links together. With this came an idealism and a vision of what the world could be. But first he had to slay all the "fevered egos" polluting the planet. He saw himself as a flame, Shiva The Destroyer, using comedy as a weapon to expose truths and show people how governments are screwing us every day of our lives. He also happened to be achingly funny such was the accuracy of his comedy. At the age of 13 Bill Hicks did his first gig. Six weeks before his death, aged 32, he did the last. In the intervening years he frequently did over 250 gigs a year. He tried to reach as many people as possible, to put them in touch with inner and outer space in a majestic flight of one consciousness thinking. Those he inspired haven't lost the ability to take a ride.People use and misuse the word "tragedy" all the time. It seems to accompany the death of anybody famous. But the real definition of tragedy evokes a sense of loss and poignancy, a sense of someone dying before they really gave everything they had to offer. Without hyperbole, Bill Hicks' death was a tragedy, for there was so much still to come from this creative, imaginative talent. When he died in 1994 the world lost a rare talent, but his spirit and philosophy still live on.

• LISTEN TOO A: WILLIE NELSON PUBLIC ANNOUNCEMENT
• Another Willie Nelson Song: I'll Never Smoke Weed With Willie Again.wav
• MORE SONGS ABOUT POT CLICK HERE
  

CAROLYNCONNETION - I've got a mind and I'm going to use it! ThinkingBlue