Unfortuantely, I think that tonight brought about a stark change in my overall view of life. Before a recent series of events that I’ve been to, I would think that people should be free. They should be allowed to be stupid, frivolous, rude jerks. I mean people should be free, right? I noticed some of the peculiarities to which people lend themselves to when intoxicated. If I wanted to control people, I’d give them liquor that will distract them (and make them feel miserable and unproductive the next day), food that will weaken their health, holidays that don’t require any particular reverence to celebrate, music that is filled with words, sounds, and concepts that a retarded two-year could come up with. Maybe all the time and effort spent to raise individuals up, to make people better has truly been wasted. Maybe people need to be controlled, not with outright force, but with subtle, more friendly coercive forces. Maybe the party is that friendly control. I might be getting too serious about this, but I sit and watch people become weaker spiritually and freedom slipping away from us all, and I wonder… Damn, if only I had a few more drinks.

Anyway, that’s all I’ll write. I could go on, and into more detail. It won’t bring out the best in me to dwell on the remainder of the evening. The melatonin is starting to kick in just at the right time. Joy — tonight I will sleep…

Today’s portion of our health quest started at 6:30 am at the Lifetime Family Fitness in Cary, North Carolina. We met with one of the trainers there. Hope learned new ways to flatten her abs, while I concentrated primarily on nutrition and getting better control of my metabolism. I walked away with a sample meal plan that went between 500 to 1,000 calories higher than what I typically consume in a day, so I’m a bit skeptical, but willing to give it a try. However, I did get some good insight into my regular diet’s lack of protein.

So I was a good boy diet-wise and exercise-wise today. I rounded it all out by downloading some new workout music. Now-a-days I’m spending a large part of my day listening to hardcore militant rap — the kind of stuff you can hear on my new favorite podcast, the Ghosts of the Republic anti-NWO weekly podcast. It’s definitely the perfect soundtrack to get ready for war and a year of solid, vigorous workouts.

My name is Johnny Crawford and I am here on behalf of the Wake County Libertarian Party. The Libertarian Party is consistently no-compromise on the issue of re-legalization of marijuana.

I was in attendance at last year’s event. Last year it was cold and very rainy. This year it is sunny and warm, definitely more appropriate for celabrating a day declared as “Global Liberation Day”. When I think of the word “liberation”, my mind usually conjures a vision of a man raising his arms high above his head and breaking the chains that have long enslaved him. This idea of liberation most closely identifies with the changing of one’s physical or bodily condition. However, throughout human history we’ve been blessed by those who have taught us that there is something else to life and our existence than our bodies, our physical limitations, or even those things that we are readily able to perceive.

We live in a world where what some people go so far as to call “God-given rights” are increasingly being either lost or taken away from us. The things that can be done to coerce me can be horrible indeed. They can place me in physical chains, or more appropriately today throw me in prison, but I’ll still carry the scars of my physical imprisonment, usually by being labeled constantly as “felon” or “drug user”. My hard-earned and legally-owned possessions may be “liberated” from me and taken away by the state. I can suffer the great pain of illness and not be allowed to do those things that would effectively end my pain and suffering. I can be allowed to be in a situation where I can feel the constant torment of addiction, withdrawal, or both — and be treated like a criminal if I choose to do something about it. My loved ones may be harmed in the course of saving me from marijuana, either accidently or possibly even intentionally. I may even be killed. But even with all of the torture and torment, one thing endures — one thing cannot be taken away from me. That was until the War on Drugs was launched.

In Eastern religion and spirituality, particularly Hinduism and Buddhism, there is talk of liberation. The word for this is “moksha”. It refers to an escape from the endless circle of so-called reality that we experience everyday. In the Christian tradition, Jesus is recorded as having said that the Kingdom of Heaven is within. This is a somewhat weird sentiment considering that most of mainstream religion and society tells us that Heaven and God are “out here” and “out there somewhere”. No matter what the religion or spiritual tradition, we have been told by prophets that there is something that is inside each and every one of us that is connected to the ineffable. We are told to know this and to cultivate our relationship with this inner presence. Whether or not we realize it, this understanding is alive and well. In every moment in time and in every particular place, those who have been in tune with this belief have taken many forms and names. These names have included mystics, philosophers, artists, musicians, poets, social activists, scholars. Even people who are extrememly high-level theoretical mathemeticians or physicists utilize this true perception to understand the prophet’s meaning in their daily work.

In contrast, the prophets did not say, “Go build temples unto me!” They did not live, preach, and in some cases die attempting to erect complex multi-layered government bureaucracies. Nobody worth his salt commanded us to go forth and create more laws than grains of sand on the beach. Contrary to some beliefs, Jesus never advised his disciples to harshly and brutally coerce others to believe in his divinity. But they are often portrayed as having said such things, and due to this well-meaning but entirely baseless understanding of the prophets, we now have an overabundance of government entities here to help save us from the dangers of drugs.

But we must always hearken back to the true prophets. Jesus did not order — he invited — he invited everyone who was truely willing to expand to the full circle of the universe, to look outside and then to return to looking back inside, to know what it is that is perceivable within that would have led Jesus to even declare, “I am God — I am Lord!” Last time I checked, God and the entire Universe trumps any piece of legislation coming out of either Raleigh or Washington D.C.

The so-called “War on Drugs” is evil! Yes — evil!

The “War on Drugs” tells us that the forces of the most flawed human invention — the STATE — is superior to that which is both internal and eternal. Through the Internal and the Eternal, we are all created free with a mind that allows us to each choose right and wrong for ourselves. Through the Internal and Eternal, we all yearn to be one with the Universe and to be at peace with our neighbors. And through the Internal and Eternal, we all wish to know the answer to the Big Question — “WHY?” The War on Drugs, or as I will now call it by it’s true name “the War on Consciousness,” is opposed to the natural state of humanity and is in direct opposition to the ideal of divinity that is contained within us all.

What power could an entity wield if it had the central core of your being — what if those in power could control and own your own soul?

By arbitrarily inhibiting freedom of choice, inner peace, vision, freedom of thought, consciousness, and liberation from the harsh realities of existence one would control all of the cards. There could be no possibility of escaping the chains, nor could there ever be the possibility of a person to take that crucial first step in deciding that they want to be free, or that it could even be a reality. Thus the true face of the Drug War is now revealed. The book of Revelations says that the Devil appears as an “angel of light”. The Drug War promises, as it has promised for years, relief from crime, relief from addiction, relief from death and suffering. None of these promised results have ever been delivered. In the end we are left with one less choice — the ultimate choice — the choice over our own mind, our own state of individual being.

It’s somewhat sad to think that many people are forced into becoming activists against the Drug War due to mishaps or run-ins with law enforcement. Law enforcement officials for the most part are just doing their jobs. Most of them do a fine job everyday and are very worthy of respect. Unfortunately they are being placed in a position where they lose a great deal of respect for their personal actions in this meaningless Drug War. The real enemies are the people giving the orders. Thus today it seems most appropriate to protest, and celebrate, at the seat of power for the entire state of North Carolina.

The Bible tells us that Paul, who is credited with writing many of the books of the New Testament, wrote many of his letters while imprisoned for speaking out on behalf of his beliefs. In his letter to the believers at Ephesus, he wrote these words that are famous and almost as applicable today to many of the SOLDIERS fighting against the Drug War:

“Put on the whole armor of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places…”

I pretty much agree with the address, although I would have been clearer on some of the concepts associated with cognitive liberty and spiritual anarchism, addressed the hypocrisy of many “compassionate conservatives”, and shortened it.

Pictures from the event may be found at my Picasa profile.

Better pictures from the event may be found at former Wake LP Chair Susan Hogarth’s Picasa profile.

The best pictures from the event are at the Raleigh Marijuana March’s Myspace profile.

For video clips of the event, please see the clips on YouTube provided by the North Carolina Chapter of Americans for Safe Access (clip one: general issues; clip two: medical issues).

Planning the party was easy. I just showed up at a meeting that was already going on and said “Hey everybody, it’s my birthday!” Genius. And I knew no one would be so upset by this act that they would get up and leave in the middle of dinner. The meeting that I crashed was the Wake County Libertarian Party meeting. There was no where else I wanted to be on my very special 33rd. Everyone was great, as usual.

More photos from tonight’s get-together can be found at my new Picasa photo album.

Without going into a lot of detail, I had a great time at Casablanca. It was a very comfortable environment filled with very friendly people. I definitely recommend it. The biggest problem is dealing with the customs and etiquette associated with such an environment. I was quite taken back by all the lights, good music, and comfortable atmosphere that I didn’t feel like I could deal well socially. Really this is just an extension of the fact that I feel I don’t deal well socially in all other environments. Now that I’ve seen such an environment, though, I feel that I will be more confident and more likely to entertain an easy-going evening on the town in such an establishment.

So to complete the title of this post — when in Rome, do as the Romans do, just be sure to get some Romans to go with you to show you the ropes.

After watching Poltergeist, I went to nearby Lake Johnson, intending to feed the ducks. But a more interesting bread-eating target appeared in the guise of a couple of gulls. After throwing a couple broken off pieces of bread at them, there were now between thirty and forty of them surrounding me. I’m sure that at least one of them thought my hair was reminiscent of a red-headed version of Tippi Hedren. All the birds on the bridge scared everyone who wanted to cross (except me, of course). Anyway, my wacky Mexican neighbor Esperanza snapped this picture that looked eerily like the latter half of “The Birds”. Lesson learned: absolutely no lesson learned.

Other than blogging and my pre-blogging desk cleaning ritual, I had a pretty good day. I finished it up with a little bit of herb grinding using my new mortal and pestle (as detailed in yesterday’s post, “Adventures in Herbology”).

I showed up at Vines Bistro at about 7:45ish. I reserved a table the night before. That was a good decision, even though the place wasn’t nearly as busy as it was for last month’s show at the Vines. After a day of feeling stressed and like a loser, it was good to be greeted with a “This way to your table, Mr. Crawford.” Classy. I ordered a Yuengling, one of the two draft beers this fine Italian restaurant serves. Since I hadn’t eaten, I got a lot of buzz for the buck. I mulled over the menu and listened to Brien’s warm-up while waiting for my former co-workers Ricky and Sue to show up.

After they arrived, we chatted momentarily and ordered. Ricky and Sue both went with the special of the evening, lasagna for about $10 or $11. Not wanting to be like everyone else, I ordered the penne a la vodka (like I did last time I was at Vines). It was about $14 or $15 and one of the tastiest pieces of pasta I have ever had. Oh, yeah, I ordered my second beer too.

I knew that Ricky and Sue would totally dig Brien’s set. Ricky is a big fan of Celtic music and quite often shows up at social gatherings dressed in a kilt. He’s also got learning to play guitar on his lifetime to-do list. I figured he would appreciate the acoustical styling. Sue is an eclectic spirit who I figured would be taken back in time by covers from the Eagles, Billy Joel, the Mamas and the Papas, and Simon and Garfunkel. That, and being a chick, she would fall in love with Brien’s wit and golden voice. I loved the show, but was still feeling like shit from my nineteenth day of this vicious cold. The good part was that my hearing had returned. The bad part was my cough had drastically worsened.

All-in-all it was a great night. I said during dinner that if I died tonight, I would die happy. I would recommend Vines in a heartbeat if you’re a fan of Italian dining in North Carolina’s Triangle region. The food was great and the entertainment provided monthly by Brien Barbour is an asset. Good food, wonderful friends, and fine music — what else could you want?

And as usual, all of the evening’s exploits were recorded in photographic form on my Flickr profile.