Round of Applause for Uruguay, yes Uruguay, for being the first Country to connect

[tay]

the dots............






Uruguay has become the first country in the world to make it legal to grow, sell and consume marijuana.

After nearly 12 hours of debate, senators gave the government-sponsored bill their historic final approval.

The government hopes it will help tackle drug cartels, but critics say it will expose more people to drugs.


http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-25328656

 

[tay]

Well, here's a tale of 2 leaders. The 2nd seems to be the majority in the world today as there really seems to be a lack of humility amongst Politicians..........






Uruguay's president José Mujica: no palace, no motorcade, no frills



If anyone could claim to be leading by example in an age of austerity, it is José Mujica, Uruguay's president, who has forsworn a state palace in favour of a farmhouse, donates the vast bulk of his salary to social projects, flies economy class and drives an old Volkswagen Beetle.

But the former guerrilla fighter is clearly disgruntled by those who tag him "the world's poorest president" and – much as he would like others to adopt a more sober lifestyle – the 78-year-old has been in politics long enough to recognise the folly of claiming to be a model for anyone.

"If I asked people to live as I live, they would kill me," Mujica said during an interview in his small but cosy one-bedroom home set amid chrysanthemum fields outside Montevideo.

Since becoming leader of Uruguay in 2010, however, he has won plaudits worldwide for living within his means, decrying excessive consumption and pushing ahead with policies on same-sex marriage, abortion and cannabis legalisation that have reaffirmed Uruguay as the most socially liberal country in Latin America.

Praise has rolled in from all sides of the political spectrum. Mujica may be the only leftwing leader on the planet to win the favour of the Daily Mail, which lauded him as a trustworthy and charismatic figurehead in an article headlined: "Finally, A politician who DOESN'T fiddle his expenses."

But the man who is best known as Pepe says those who consider him poor fail to understand the meaning of wealth. "I'm not the poorest president. The poorest is the one who needs a lot to live," he said. "My lifestyle is a consequence of my wounds. I'm the son of my history. There have been years when I would have been happy just to have a mattress."


more



Uruguay's president José Mujica: no palace, no motorcade, no frills | World news | The Guardian








And unlike the humble Uruguay Prez this is more typical of what we see around the world..........




Congo President spent £1m on clothes he never wore more than once

Republic of Congo’s president spent almost £1million on suits and shirts in Paris shopping sprees, French investigators have reportedly found.


President of the Republic of Congo, spent 1.18 million euros on suits and shirts over six years as part of 60 million euros he and his family pumped into luxury items and property in France, French investigators find as part of probe into African leaders.


Judges have been inquiring into the source of money spent in France by Denis Sassou Nguesso and his family as part of a widening investigation into the misuse of funds by African leaders.


After seizing a string of luxury assets belonging to the son of president Obiang this year and issuing an international warrant for his arrest, French investigators have now turned their attentions to Mr Sassou-Nguesso and his extended family.


In drawing up a list of assets, they were intrigued to discover that Mr Sassou-Nguesso spent 1.18 million euros between 2005 and 2011 on shirts and suits at the Pape boutique in Paris’ select 7th arrondissement. He paid via wire transfers from a Swiss bank account.


In the same period, his son, Denis Christel Sassou-Nguesso forked out almost 474,000 euros almost entirely on shirts. “He changes shirts three or four times a day and boasts that he never washes them and uses them as Kleenexes,” a former aide to the presidential clan is cited as telling police by Libération newspaper.


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Congo President spent £1m on clothes he never wore more than once - Telegraph

 

[Walter]

Very libertarian of U R Gay. Milton Friedman advocated legalizing of all drugs.

 

[Blackleaf]

I'm not looking forward to playing Uruguay in the World Cup next year. Especially with Luis Suarez on fire.

 

[damngrumpy]

These guys need to be brought up short for spending on such things at the expense
of the hungry. As for the World Cup, couldn't care less its the most useless sport in
my opinion. I know the howl will start immediately. Little refs in short pants handing
out yellow and red cards for infractions real and imagined. I see more diving than
tripping and god its boring

 

[EagleSmack]

Not to mention each and every ref being paid off.

 

[damngrumpy]

Eaglesmack, this sport is more corrupt than boxing used to be.
figure skating and cycling as well. We have seen too much
money in sport and corruption was right behind.

 

[skookumchuck]

Of course, a round of applause for people who are not sick but cannot live without drugs. Sad.

 

[tay]

The Economist’s country of the year: Uruguay for legalising gay marriage and cannabis which are "obviously sensible" and has "increased the global sum of human happiness at no financial cost"








The Economist’s country of the year: Earth’s got talent | The Economist

 

[bill barilko]

They're not nearly as Happy as many think-weed in South America is generally feeble seed filled sh!t reminiscent of 70's era Colombian-except it's usually grown in Paraguay now.

 

[tay]

They're not nearly as Happy as many think-weed in South America is generally feeble seed filled sh!t reminiscent of 70's era Colombian-except it's usually grown in Paraguay now.

That I wouldn't know about. One would think their weather would be conducive to growing good pot similar to growing coffee. But maybe BC could send the better stuff..............








Uruguay’s neighbor Argentina now considering marijuana legalization






Argentina’s anti-drug czar Juan Carlos Molina has called for a public discussion in his country about emulating the measure.
“Argentina deserves a good debate about this,” Molina told local radio. “We have the capacity to do it. We should not underestimate ourselves.”


Crucially, Molina, a Catholic priest appointed earlier this month by President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner as head of her government’s counternarcotics agency, said his boss also wanted a new approach.


Many Latin American countries already permit — or at least do not punish — possession of small amounts of marijuana for personal use.



According to the United Nations, some 8 million people have used cannabis in the last year in South and Central America.


Yet until Uruguay’s reform, no country in the region allowed the production or sale of cannabis. That has resulted in a confusing situation in which drugs bought illegally can be consumed lawfully.


Article 299 of Peru’s Criminal Code, for example, allows the possession of up to 8 grams (roughly a quarter of an ounce). Yet Peru, now the world’s largest cocaine producer, is one of Washington’s staunchest allies in the war on drugs.


And even Chile, which has many conservative laws thanks to its constitution drafted during the Pinochet dictatorship, permits individual adults to privately consume unlimited quantities of any drugs, including even seriously harmful substances such as amphetamines and crack.




more




Uruguay’s neighbor Argentina now considering marijuana legalization | The Raw Story

 

[gopher]

Happy perpetual 420 to the Charrúas!!!

 

[Blackleaf]

damngrumpy;1842523
As for the World Cup, couldn't care less its the most useless sport in
my opinion.

It's a pity (for you) that several billion people around the world don't agree with you. I'm still proud to say that all of the most popular sports (including football, the No1 global sport) on the planet are British sports. Most people around the world know a real sport when they see one. The only exceptions are the Americo-Canadians. With their rather bizarre sports they live on a completely different planet to everyone else when it comes to sport.

Little refs in short pants handing out yellow and red cards for infractions real and imagined. I see more diving than
tripping and god its boring

And that's coming from somebody who lives in a country where the two most popular sports are whacking a little piece of plastic around some ice and catching a little ball in a wicker basket. It's no wonder you're grumpy watching that silly nonsense.

The Economist’s country of the year: Uruguay for legalising gay marriage and cannabis which are "obviously sensible" and has "increased the global sum of human happiness at no financial cost"


The Economist’s country of the year: Earth’s got talent | The Economist

I wouldn't take too much notice what the left-wing rag The Economist has to day. To say that legalisation of gay marriage and harmful substances like cannabis are "obviously sensible" shows that it's not a rag that is to be taken seriously. If the Daily Mail said that marriage between brother and sister in the UK should be legalised (as it is in Sweden), even though sibling marriage is no less iffy and bizarre than gay marriage, and that the ban on foxhunting should be repealed, the Left would be howling in self-righteous mock outrage.

 

[tay]

This morning, Uruguayan officials will open 18 envelopes. Each will contain a proposal to grow two tonnes of marijuana on up to five hectares of land for sale to the Uruguayan government.


Within a few days, up to five of the 18 bidders (one of whom is a Canadian) will be selected, and another part of Uruguay’s experiment with legalizing and regulating marijuana will fall into place.


The bidders knew in advance what profit level would be allowed, what kind of seed would be required, how the crop would be grown and how much the government felt it required.


The rest of Latin America, where the drug trade in all its manifestations is a scourge, is watching – as are people in far-off places such as Canada, where political parties have dived into the issue with loose talk and little reflection.


The new Uruguayan law emphasizes promotion of information and education about the use of tobacco and marijuana. Educational policies in primary, secondary and vocational schools will inform students about the “potential damage” of drug consumption, including cannabis.


And, of course, all advertising and other forms of public promotion of marijuana will be prohibited. No one under 18 can buy marijuana from the state supplies, nor grow it in their places of residence.


Urugruay’s marijuana politics may be instructive for Canada. Polls showed a majority of the Uruguayan population against the idea, but public opinion is now shifting to a somewhat more favourable position and the party that made the change just won the presidency and majorities in congress. In Canada, polls show a majority in favour.


Sebastian Sabini, a member of Uruguay’s governing party, says that in his district, which contains urban and rural voters, resistance was highest in the countryside and among older people. That sounds exactly like the Conservative Party core in Canada: older and rural. Mr. Sabini said younger, urban voters were favourable – exactly the target audience of Mr. Trudeau’s Liberals.


The Liberal Party has recommended legalizing marijuana. It did so in a particularly, and perhaps tellingly, slap-dash manner: a speech by Leader Justin Trudeau and a resolution at a convention. Neither showed that the leader or the party had thought seriously about the issue. No major policy paper was unveiled to illustrate that the leader and the party had thought deeply about the issue.


Predictably, the Conservatives climbed all over the issue, running party television ads mocking Mr. Trudeau’s support for legalization. As they often do, the Conservatives even used government money to buy television ad time during the Grey Cup warning against marijuana use, a not-so-thinly-disguised partisan message. So the issue of legalizing marijuana is joined, if not fairly or intelligently.


Mandatory voting, by the way, is an electoral fixture in Uruguay. Anyone who fails to vote without a valid reason can be fined or denied government services.




more




A marijuana measure worth watching - The Globe and Mail