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| Lisa Madigan. Photo © 2007 by blahedo |
In her latest attack on freedom, last week Attorney General Lisa Madigan banned the sale of super caffeinated Meth Coffee from the good state of Illinois, saying the product is “glorifying drugs.”
Her claim is ridiculous. Look at Meth’s web site. The product’s whole spin is blatant satire—bad taste to some, maybe, but obviously a joke—and therefore protected speech. Right from the very first word on Meth’s home page, the paranoid first-person narrator talks about his new “volatitherapeutic beverage” that “straightens drunks” and “wakes zombies”—and if that’s not enough, click on the ‘About’ page for a look at the madcap disclaimer: “CONTAINS NO ACTUAL METHAMPHETAMINES, I.E., CRANK, GLASS, SPEED, CRYSTAL, BATU, SHABU, MABU, CRACKHOO, ETC. PRODUCT NOT WARRANTED TO CURE ECZEMA, EDEMA, ACNE, CONSTIPATION, TOURETTE’S, OR GUM DISEASE.” It’s hyperbole at every turn, and carries no believable danger. What’s next, banning exploding gum because it might encourage terrorism?
Meth issued a response outlining Madigan’s poorly researched claims against the beverage, that Meth is clearly a joke for an adult audience, that its founding members include recovering drug addicts, and that the company is a good faith co-sponsor of the hilarious 2008 Comedy Addiction Tour for addicts in recovery. Meth also makes the great point that “Richard Pryor, Mad Magazine, and other comedy geniuses have unleashed dark, satiric comedy about drugs for years, and to positive effect.”
The point here is that Madigan is using taxpayer money to trample her own constituents’ freedom to see, hear, and consume what they choose. Other totalitarians have made this mistake. The people of Illinois are no doubt pissed off; read the Chicago Sun-Times comments sections and you’ll see more than one reference to “Nanny Madigan” and her compulsive need to diaper everyone in sight. Slapping an “explicit lyrics” sticker onto a Richard Pryor CD isn’t enough; apparently any product that references drugs, even with funny over-the-top satire that appeals to thousands, must be censored even if raises awareness, promotes discussion, and makes its target adult audience laugh. Madigan is waging a disingenuous fake war against fake drugs in the worst kind of political grandstanding, with Meth Coffee as her straw man. And just watch: if she really does run for IL governor in 2010, or, god forbid, President, her handlers will be sure to misrepresent her soundbites to their fullest: “Remember how tough Madigan was on drugs in 2008? She fought meth!”
We’ve all heard the criticism of the Right over wiretapping without warrants and torture at Guantanamo; this time it’s a reactionary Democrat intent on trampling the Constitution for political gain. But I guess I shouldn’t be surprised, given how hard Madigan has fought against gun ownership and death row prisoner rights. Maybe she earned her law degree in China?
I recently heard of a coffee brand called ‘Bad Ass’. I’m surprised Madigan hasn’t sued it for giving donkeys a bad name.
Watch your ass, Illinois, if you value your freedom.
January 14th, 2010 at 7:27 pm
[...] lisa madigan is mad again [...]
August 20th, 2008 at 11:31 am
Oh my God! When? When did you graduate? That’s so cool?
August 19th, 2008 at 11:24 pm
Hello Still Laughing,
I think that’s an excellent and innovative idea. You go to school in the Tenley Town section of DC, right?
How do you like that section of DC?
You know I graduated from GW? Way back in the day.
August 19th, 2008 at 1:34 pm
You know what would be cool:
Making a Lisa Madigan T-shirt and selling it to Illinois. Of course it should deprecate her in some way. Try putting an image of her face on the front side with a blurb that says something like: “you can’t sell your coffee here”
Then on the backside, “Nor will I let you have have freedom of expression. I’m a democrat can I have your vote.”
August 16th, 2008 at 9:54 pm
Asynchronous:
You are a bright intelligent person. Porn sucks, I’m happy you are working out. But working out in LA means that you are probably too into it and have your own personal desires as a means to an end for working out. When I say means to an end, you probably might be delving into narcissism, obsessiveness over the body, or an agenda of being a legitimate film actor or porn actor. Or just trying to get the ladies by having an Adonis type of body.
It is all just vanity. LA is the bastion of it. Like I said in my post before there are several things that might make you instantly disgusted with porn. I’m tired and want to do some meditation, but I will give you a list of why nots:
First: I love freedom of expression and the right to have sex on film or make a really weird commercial.
But as far as having sex on film think of the following:
1) What is on video will live on for ever
2) When you have kids, they will find out
3) Even though porn is so wide spread – on the internet. Your kids will find out
4) You’ll hate yourself after your first scene, but know its too late after you sign the photo release.
5)You’ll know the Horses Have Left The Barn after your first shoot, so you’ll think what’s another 2 or 3 scenes. Those extra 2 or 3 will turn into 50 with at least one STD that will pop up no matter how cautious you are.
6) There is still pressure for males and females not to use a condom during the act – because they get paid less for the scene if the male uses it. So, it puts pressure on the guy twice. One: the girl may want the extra $$$ and TWO: You may want the extra cash and Three: you don’t want to be a party pooper to your producer and director for the scene.
7) The smells are disgusting. No matter how many times you and the girl shower before session. The lights and activity create smells
8) More smells. You are working in a big production lot with tiny over used stalls where hundreds of scenes have been filmed. THink old Jizz, old blood, and old ass stains that your knees will be scraping into. (THere is no Union in Porn; so no one cares about the cum stained canvass sheets that were used the day before for a shoot.
9) Sex is a personal thing. I don’t care if you are religious or not. Even animals feel embarrassment and coyness in the act of sex or cleaning there private parts in front of their masters. So, if dogs and cats have sex in private, don’t you think nature intended it also.
I hope this keeps you from getting into a disgusting business.
Drink some meth-coffee and keep on programming. You have a marketable skill and seem to be super bright. Love yourself, first. Meditate. Take heed in the Present. And look for some meditation groups in your area. Zen-Buddhism helped me with my issues. Maybe it will help with yours or may be not.
You are a bright person. Stay away from something that isn’t you.
May peace be with you and have a good journey, Asynchronous. This is my last posting.
August 16th, 2008 at 12:26 pm
Miles. you’re like me. a bit too paranoid of what people think of you. it’s just a side effect of being in teaching too long and wondering what your administrators, parents and your kids think of you.
I’m retiring soon. I look back on my teaching career and think was it worth it. Did I touch lives. Do kids remember me?
I got into teaching in 1980. That’s when this field just started taking a nose dive into a trend. Just stop worrying.
Since I’m over at your house, while you’re taking a dump – I just wanted to write something to you on the sneak.
enjoy that poop. At 45 you still say Ahhh after you let when plop. Nice.
Yes, I agree with you, also. It’s nice to see people who like to get involved with issues. That Lisa Madigan is a turd.
August 16th, 2008 at 12:20 pm
To the webmaster:
Some of my punctuation marks have gotten cut off during my prose. I do not like this – me being an English teacher! Furthermore, I have stated I’m an English teacher, as well. The implication being – it doesn’t make me look too well if my grammar and punctuation are off.
August 16th, 2008 at 12:15 pm
Correction:
When I said to buy your coffee like you buy your wine, I meant to make an analogy: meaning, twist off caps to wine is like already ground beans is to coffee. In other words they both suck.
Even many wines with a cork suck, at least you know it has a better chance of being better than a wine bottle that is a twist off.
But really. The bag is artsy in a way. It sits next to my $14 grinder and puts a little accent into my kitchen with the hues of different grays and black. It’s the first thing I notice when I get up – A cute little bag of coffee that gives my kitchen some flair.
August 16th, 2008 at 12:09 pm
Well, it’s nice to see such bright intelligent people with some life experience and intelligence talking about real issues like the 1st Amendment.
Kudos. I’m a wine and coffee drinker. I’ve been reading and enjoying everyone’s posts. Since then I ordered a bag of Meth Coffee in beans. Good stuff! Everyone, like wine, always buy your coffee by the bean and not ground, it just stays fresher longer, and it tastes as it should.
Anyway, let’s talk about the coffee – Meth Coffee. Aside from the zany artwork its a pretty damn good cup of coffee. Some nice hues of flavor that work for my taste buds.
With the Yerba Matte, I guess like ginseng, it gives you an extra boost. The boost is like drinking a Mountain Dew Plus, if there ever was such a thing, without the calories that pot belly English teacher has at 45.
Kudos to this site and the intelligent posters who aren’t sitting on their asses watching “Laguna Beach” or whatever the hell you xyz generations do these days.
There is hope, yet. Now, if I can get my juniors to write with such passion – that would be a good thing. Maybe they should have a cup or two of Meth Coffee in the morning, ha!
August 16th, 2008 at 11:21 am
pretty much on, addict.
I’m not to sure of the the zen-buddha verbiage. but yeah, you got my point. you even put a better spin on it i guess. you kind of expanded it a bit.
also: I’ve done some Googling about methamphetamines and found that you were right about meth and normal amphetamines being used by the armed forces. They were and still are called “Go Pills”. The analogy I guess meaning go time to kill, kick ass, and not have a sympathetic heart while you’re killing the other guy, I guess.
I’ll post a few comments that I found. Just an admonition, though – not everything on the net is true. However, just like a doctor who uses inductive reasoning by sign, I guess if many sights are saying that our military (even through today) and our enemies’ military used it/still using it, then it’s safe to say there is validity.
Here are some quotes from Websites. Me being the anal retentive ethics-programmer man, I felt compelled to put the name of the sites down:
allpositiveoptions.com Created an Article called:
“Meth in the Military”
The following are excerpts from that article.
“In December 2002, an installment of ABC’s 20/20 news program examined the use of “go pills” in the military. During that program, Dr. Robert DuPont, one of the leading authorities on drug addiction in the U.S., stated he was shocked to learn the U.S. air force encourages, if not mandates, the use of amphetamines for pilots.
“People who get strung out on amphetamines are usually crazy,” DuPont said. “They’re paranoid, they stop eating … Their judgment is impaired and they do very bad things … They are the sickest of all drug addicts.”
Same site/new quote:
“Meth was also used by the U.S. Air Force and Navy in the Vietnam War. From Vietnam up through “Operation Desert Storm,” the U.S. Air Force has employed the use of both amphetamines (the military slang is “go pills”) in selected aircraft for specific missions, as well as sedatives to aid sleep when necessary.”
same site/new quoted paragraph:
The flight surgeon’s guide to “Performance Maintenance During Continuous Flight Operations” (written by the Naval Aerospace Medical Research Laboratory in Pensacola, Florida) mentions such possible side effects as euphoria, depression, hypertension, and addiction. There’s also the possibility of “idiosyncratic reactions” (amphetamines can be associated with feelings of aggression and paranoia) as well as getting hooked on the “cyclic use of a stimulant/sedative combination.”
Same site/new quote:
During World War II, soldiers in all the forces (Allied and Axis) were given liberal amounts of speed. Pilots, tank drivers and infantry used (Dexedrine) and methamphetamine (Methedrine) to stay awake for long periods of time and “enhance” their level of courage and bravado. (see “Meth In The Military”) Almost 72 million tablets were provided to British forces alone (and an estimated 200 million tablets to US forces), prompting a London newspaper in 1941 to carry the bizarre headline “Methedrine Wins The Battle Of London”.
Want more legit proof? How about MSNBC?
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3071789/
Excerpt by the reporter: By Jon Bonné
SEATTLE, Jan. 9, 2003 – In conflict after conflict, whenever one of its most deadly enemies rears its head, the U.S. military employs a potent weapon: a little orange pill. The enemy is fatigue, a foe that claimed more deaths among military pilots in the past two decades than combat duty. The solution is selective use of amphetamines, an effective stimulant that has kept military aviators fierce-eyed and alert from the Battle of Britain to night strikes over Afghanistan. With air wings deploying again to the Persian Gulf, questions are surfacing about the safety of “go pills” in the cockpit.
I can go on and on.
Why doesn’t Madigan, A democrat, sue the government for the arm twisting it does on its own military to take amphetamines and methamphetamines from WW2 through at least the first Gulf War?
Maybe Lisa Madigan should make a case and the first statement, as in all cases goes something like this:
“The State of Illinois vs. The Armed Forces of the United States.”
I’m pretty sure that Veterans of Foreign Wars from WW2 through this war have been arm twisted into taking some stimulants for
“Go Time” – Nice way to treat our 19 year old’s, Exxon-Bush!
Hmmm: Coffee and Yerba Matte or Amphetamine use during
“Go Time” Mr. Commander in Chief?
“Well, Amphetamines are stronger, right?
“Yes, Much-Much-Much stronger times 10, Mr. Exxon-Bush, err, I mean Mr. President.”
“Fuck it: go with Amphetamines, I never used them; I liked using cocaine when I was at Camp David when my pops was president. But, if it helps our men kill people better, without falling asleep on the job, make em’ take em!”
“What is coffee and yerba matte, anyway?”
“It’s just that, Mr. President.”
“What’s its street value.”
“Um, sir, it’s not illegal, nor does it have illegal properties.”
“Well what do we call it when it’s not illegal?”
“We call it ‘Market Value’, sir. When the supply and demand lines converge.”
“Oh yeah. No fun in buying anything that has market value except a Hum-Vee. Kinda would like a Hummer right now with a cup of coffee – and not from my wife – get it…see, that’s street value. Cuz getting a blow-job from a prostitute is illegal and has street value, get it guys? Ha-Ha.”
“Yes, Mr. President, I got it.”
“Well get me a hooker, a cup of coffee, and some coke that’s bitches. Let’s go, get to work.”
“Yes, Mr. President.”
August 15th, 2008 at 4:47 pm
I kind of know what you’re talking about. It seems like you are implying a conspiracy between two parties. I can see that. Like a pendulum swing. 4/8 years go one way and then another 4/8 years goes another. You did say both parties hated Bush. I think you probably meant to say that one side is pretending to hate Bush? And while all this is happening. The war. We are just consuming right along. So you may be saying we like to point fingers at the “bad Bush and Cheyney” guy to feel good that its not us.
Is this what I’m hearing from you. Just to be clear on what your opinion might be.
If that is what you’re saying, I can see that. We collectively take on a leader through our Karma. Then we kind of fool ourselves that we don’t really want him/her after we put them in. Kind of a too late the horses are out of the barn and can’t come back. Yes, I see. Then we reelect him another term. OK. Yes: it’s our Karma-effect from our dukka-cause that we create within our collective nation.
It seems Asynchronous that the world is getting smaller and what we do to one guy, group or country we do to ourselves.
We are all interconnected.
Relativism be dammed. We now right and wrong. It depends when and where we might want to be fooled.
I hope I’m following.
August 15th, 2008 at 12:51 am
And Remember Oliver Stone’s Nixon:
There was a scene in which he talks to Kennedy’s picture and I think it says it all about who we are:
Nixon says while looking at Picture: “When they look at you they see what they want to be; when they look at me, they see who they really are.
As Americans, we ain’t willing to give up shit; even the white guilt ridden and angst democrats (like me). When it comes to giving up a staid and content life versus having ten of thousands of people dying from our bombs, we don’t care. We just feel good that we have someone like neanderthal bush and darth vadar cheyney to point the finger at. I’m starting to realize that after a hard week’s work, I want to relax on the couch and let me mexican mow n’ go dude mow my lawn for 30 bucks. And remember, I’m a Democrat.
So I’m full of shit. Everyone’s full of shit. I just want to fuck to someone. Tell me about the biz. The porn biz. I hope you come back and respond, man.
Peace Out.
August 15th, 2008 at 12:37 am
Hey Addict:
Before I call it a night:
Remember that politicians are sociopaths – Addict. They put us to war. They fake a play of My side vs Their Side. Republicans Vs. Democrats. But like your Buddhist beliefs that are the only 2 players on the American Landscape. They are the only 2 materials that create the conservation of a closed system. They both feign that they hate each other.
Dems and Repubs love to play the part of pointing the finger at each other when the other guy is in office. When the Dems and Repubs play this con game, like they’re doing now, we all lose. And we’ve all been losing for some time, Addict.
Both Democrats and Republicans no us, collectively, better than we know ourselves. In other words. Both Democrats and Repbublicans hate Bush, because they all think he lied.
The real issue is that we wanted our president to control the oil markets for our country so that our status quo within our country wouldn’t stop. It’s an enormous pressure to have an aggressive foreign policy that usurps other country’s natural resources and then to be called an asshole. The fact is, we don’t want to change our life styles.
Politicians know that we want to keep all the amenities that we work 40 to 60 hours a week to obtain. This is the bargain we are willing to pay. We will work, as long as our government insures that we control the one resource that we keep us going, oil.
The Dems know this; and of course the Repubs. Know this. Concurrently the Dems knew Bush and Cheyney were lying about the WMD’s as a justification for war, but new they would use it as leverage later on in the 2004 general election and then the 2006 mid terms. And you know what. Know Democrat since 2006 has done nothing. And, Addict, I’m a democrat. Nancy Pelosi gives her general staid from and says how bad bush is. But with his popularity down, and as a lame duck president neither the head speaker of the house or senate are aggresively persuing foreign nor domestic policy reforms. It’s as if they know (the dems) to stop the status quo would be major harsh economic reverbations, if they started twisitng bushes arms.
They won’t do this, because they know Bush-Cheyney-NeoConservative policies have kept China and India from getting all the oil to grow their economy at full tilt. We are keeping the dollar low for major american corps to sell their products internationally. and then when the dollar gets stronger they win again. But to Pelosi and the other Dems, they know this is the reality that must happen to keep Americans working. So, Addict, as they (dems) feign sorrow for 19 year old Midwestern white trash kids willing to get carnaged or reincarnated as you would believe, they are willing to let this happen and not to force the president to change his ways. The dems have the majority. they could kick bushies ass, but they won’t – because they know that we want all to keep our standard of living up. However, what’s happening is that real wages are going down and they know (all politicians) that we are willing to work long hours just so we can buy that 60′ screen at Costco that we can’t watch until the weekend, after we work another 6 hour day.
It’s all fucked.
Tell me more about porn. I live in LA. Not to far from the Valley. I’m a consultant-unemployed software engineer for a gaming company. I’d love to get into porn. I’ve been working out, running and getting in shape.
Tell me more about the biz.
August 14th, 2008 at 11:41 pm
PS:
We all create Karma from our Dukkha. Dukkha is like Monkey mind and always wanting more and never being satisfied until the future gives it to eat. then the monkey mind wants more of everything later. It’s always chasing its tale. Think of Dukkha like the word CAUSE.
The effect is Karma. What we have to live with after the fact. We are all tied up with everyone’s Karma. We keep getting thrown around until we process all this shit out. We have to stop it by not continuing the effect, even when we don’t want to. Even when we want to succumb to doing things which we know are unright.
Life is hard and Buddhism done correctly is difficult but the journey is the best part.
Let’s not give up freedom of speech. Without, good things and good ideas from good enlightened people can’t write what can help you. I guess that’s my point. I fought for it. And then I found it one day at Starbucks coffee house in Santa Monica. Thank God and Karma.
August 14th, 2008 at 11:25 pm
I was born in Leonia, NJ. After h.s. grad. I entered the Marines in 1989 and soon found myself in the First Gulf War. They say it was the boring war – Jake Fucking Gyllenhol and the other fuckface that looks and sounds like the junior version of John Malcovich made a movie called jar head. It implied that they were so bored in their goddam marine unit that the only action was the action they created themselves from their fuckin boredom. False. All room. People when I came back from the war in 1990 said to me things like, “wasn’t it like a push button war of automation? And I was like what? And sure enough everyone in my parish, family and friends thought I was playing fucking atari and bombing people using computers like a fucking video game . No fucking way war is boring. I was shot at and I killed Iraqis and non Iraqis. No one gave a shit as long as you didn’t kill a white man by mistake.
I guess I fought for people in Meth Coffee to express themselves. But freedom comes with responsibility. With all the legal people and that young post high school graduate asian chick, she see’s the world in to many generalizations. just like asshole cnn and the same douchebags on the other cable channels that made my war look like a simple star wars invasion where we kicked ass and no one go affected.
I got affected. I had flashbacks of getting shot at and killing the enemy and non-enemy civilians with dark skin – oops. you think my parish priest gave a shit?
No one did. A year later living in your parents apartment with my bros and sisters was a drag. Jersey sucks in the summer. Hot humid and I had no one to talk to. The veterans hospital sucked dog dick just like they do now.
I moved to CA in 1993. It was fun. Found another guinea roommate that I could relate to and worked as a bartender and waiter on Sunset. My trouble caught up with me in 94 or 95. A few lines, and some pot. I was using credit cards to pick up panty droppers and got into some debt. Fake boobs, perfect teeth, tan and blonde beauties put me in debt after two or three years living and dating in LA.
I was maxed out. I saw an add to make money. My guinea roomate, I’m italian too, said he knew some people “who did male modeling” I have a feeling he did it himself. Got some gigs in Honcho and playgirl. At this time pot graduated to coke. I started not to give a shit. I was chasing credit. Pay just enough from my waitering, male nude shoots pay down a tiny bit more on the ccards and have enough money to buy some blow.
I loved blow, and women. I didn’t want to take chicks out and pop 200 for the night after I worked the whole night making 125. I took the next step. Did porn.
I loathed myself for it, but was able to make more money than male shots in fag mags and wanted to keep fucking women. getting paid to fuck women instead of dropping 200 for hot blonde broads was better. plus, i could keep paying down my debt and do more blow.
I got sick of porn and fucking good looking girls but I could always make at least 300 bucks for one scene and do some blow and go to work, and do another scene for another 300. I felt like a degenerate.
The lights, smells, sweat. the pretend orgasms from the bitches. Disgusting. especially when you felt like a killer and a catholic who disappointed your family your priest back home and God himself. Now a drug addict doing porn. I graduated to heroin.
Know what. Condoms don’t always stop STDs. Another bullshit lie. You can get crabs which are curable. they are lice on your pubs. but you can also get herpies on your mouth and dick. you can get herpies one on your dick and herpies 2 on your mouth. And you do eventually.
So now by ’96 I’m doing herion for bliss and coke to get me back up and sometimes i’d cook them together before a fuckin shoot. A zombie.
What everybody loves about talking about this coffee thing being called meth coffee is really fucked. Methamphetamines is a hyper fun pleasure center but it aint no herioin. It used to be used in WW2 to keep infantry men on their awake so they could stay up all night and day while under attack, and then doctors started to prescribe it to major fatties. fucking doctors. doctors do no harm first, not!
Im babbling. Drugs, addiction. Come from life. Life is hard and then drugs make it hell. Heroin is hell. War was hell. Guess what. I’m off now, I hated getting off it. The only place I had to go for free with a shitass vet hospital with no air conditioning. The nurses were so uncompassionate. I went cold turkey for 21 days to Kick the habit. While puking and shaking and kicking the walls and yelling and crying and drooling I asked the nurse if she could do anything because I thought I was gonna die. She said I’ll take your BP. Your BP is slightly high. 168 over 94. that’s hyper tension. Then another day it was under 90 over 50. I begged my nurse to score me H. or methodone. she took the money. and never gave me shit. the scum cunt.
Man. Glorifying drugs ain’t cool. But what is cool is free speech. What kept me from going back to drugs when I was released from the Downey Vets Hospital was going to get a coffee at starbucks in 97. I saw a man reading an Thith Nhat Hanh;s book on “The Miracle of Mindfulness”.
The dude was a Zen Buddist who read the book 10 times he told me. I told him that he looked so peaceful. I told him what I’d been through. he was so pleasant to talk to. he looked at peace and he didn’t have any judgement – no one in my life had ever listened to me like that. He was like a kind angel sent from heaven just to listen to me without judgement. I’d never seen anybody in my life look so peaceful. I wanted what he had. I think he read my mind.
He said his name was Rich and he gave me the book to have without me even asking. He told me there were several types of Buddhism and that he preferred Zen. Well if it was Zen that he had, then I wanted Zen Buddhism to. He wrote down some places where sanghas and zendos were located in my area of LA. He wrote them down for me before even asking.
Before he left. Don’t ever take Buddhism so seriously. I know you crave it. I see it in your eyes. Zen is both a religion and a philosophy. Either way you win if you don’t try to grasp it too hard.
I told him I wasn’t sure what he meant and that and he said I know but you’ll see if read, practice and go to meditation meetings. He winked at me and said you’ll be fine. I thien asked, do you believe it was fate that I met him. He then said karma brought us together. Oh Like the song from JLennon. he said sort of. and then walked on. I started reading in that chair getting a suntan until I was finished.
I’ve been a Buddhist for 11 years. It is more than a philosophy or way of life, but it is something that you must not permeate yourself with. This what they call circular logic. But, circular logic exists.
What I’m getting at is that while I fought for something that caused me terror, our freedom and for oil stability in world markets I also benefited from it.
You see without free speech, the freedom to gather, the freedom of religion and from religion and free expression that everyone seems to be talking about in this blog thing, I guess I could’ve never have found a book or a group of people that want to find enlightment and help heal the earth and all sentient beings.
Boy that was long.
Peace be with you all and may you have a good life.
August 12th, 2008 at 10:03 pm
As someone who considers herself Taiwanese-American, I love the crack about the law degree coming from China.
China has favored nation status with the U.S. I understand, that you might have a sway towards being a Republican, but please remember, China isn’t all Puppy dogs and Ice Cream. Being in bed with China so the global economy can stay afloat does hurt other people in other countries. Think about Tibet.
China is a bit like us when it comes to other country’s perceptions, ‘An evil empire on the come.’
Do I consider my new homeland evil? No. Do I consider China evil? Yes. Just wanted to get that straight.
I love it here. And I love the freedom of speech; the freedom to write what I think; the freedom to explore; the freedom to go into business; and the freedom to express myself.
I’m nineteen, and a political science major at the American University in Washington, DC, and I love my parents for getting me and the rest of my family over here, so I can have a better life than the one I had in Taiwan. Don’t get me wrong, I love Taiwan – but there is always some bullshit strife that comes by living so close to a belligerent bully like China. The psychological state of anyone who has lived in Taiwan will tell you it is unpleasant to live so close to a bully when you are a tiny island. Even Cuba, to this day hasn’t had to live with perpetual fear of innuendo of being attacked by the U.S. (I know the bay of pigs era; but until a deal was struck with the soviets, they didn’t have to really fear an invasion since then – or now for that matter since the soviet union is no more)
And, in your blog-site, I agree with you kind of. Are there laws that would prohibit you to sell your product because it gives an allusion to drugs? Is that it? Can someone in government do that to a company. It’s just coffee and yerba matte. Yerba Matte is popular in other countries, too. I don’t get it.
I will talk to my political science professor about this. I don’t like this, if what you are saying on your blog is correct.
August 12th, 2008 at 12:47 pm
I work for an ACLU state office (not Illinois) and do research work. I’m a clerical research assistant. Part of my job responsibilities are to research for the head researcher within my state and to network with the other ACLU state-city offices and to sieve out and bring up potential civil liberty infringements to my boss and then my boss brings it to his/her superior until a head attorney makes some criteria as to proceed with litigation or write a warning letter to the institutions or people who are infringing upon any of the United States Constitutional Amendments, especially the first ten (the Bill of Rights). Research clerks out of all state-city offices of the ACLU are networked to discuss potential infringements upon the United States Constitution (the Bill of Rights and the rest of the amendments, therein).
Your issue has come up in a fringe sort of way. As in agreement with other self state legal professionals who have posted within your site, the merits from a potential case, as far as many state research clerks are swaying, would go your way.
I’m not saying to seek us out. But, you have several assistant research clerks from several state-city offices of the ACLU who find this potential broach of state law on the First Amendment to be reproachful and probably contestable. The merits of your case, if you decided to contest M’s threats on a legal level, would on a constitutional level weigh more heavily than state law.
August 10th, 2008 at 5:33 pm
A follow up:
After reading the label on the meth coffee packaging there is an explicit statement that claims there are no illicit substances. This is a loser case for Madigan. Plus, words like “Comparison” and “Innuendo” are shaky areas to want to build a case upon – even if she could use state law as her only wedge. Not smart, for the Illinois State’s Attorney General’s office.
If Meth Coffee continues to sell and she would claim any state tort, civil, and/or any other type of criminal liability on to Meth Coffee, she would undoubtedly lose.
August 10th, 2008 at 5:18 pm
The CSTimes quotes Madigan as saying:
“Madigan said the product’s sale here violates several state laws in its comparison to illicit drugs.”
I am a civil and criminal attorney in the state of Illinois. If the CST stated/paraphrased Madigan’s words correctly, she is making a very spurious case and needs to brush up on her tort law. In my opinion, she is putting herself in an untenable position with any good criminal attorney in the state of Illinois who would take on the defendant. This would be a solid win for the defendant, easily.
I’ve met Lisa; she’s political and this a power play. The ACLU branch within the state of Illinois might take on the Meth Coffee case. She’ll lose and the flimsy, ambiguous state laws that Madigan would use to repel the 1st amendment right of free expression would put Lisa in a bad light. If she tried to use those flimsy Illinois state laws to justify suing a manufacturer that has created a legitimate product she will be putting herself between a rock and a hard place.
Information in regard to my law firm has been sent to Doll God, LLC. Call us: we’ll give you a free consultation.
August 6th, 2008 at 6:49 pm
To the distributor’s of meth coffee:
It is my opinion that you should fight Madigan’s case. If you don’t have the funds, you can do two things:
1) Find a lawyer in the state of Illinois who wants to make a name for him or herself in regard to your plight/case. If you are tight of funds, find some well known attorneys who work in both the civil and criminal domains of law and have them take the case pro bono.
2) If you are tight on funds, if in fact you are a small distributorship of coffee, you might be able to bring this issue directly to the ACLU. First, make an appointment in your state with an ACLU attorney and find out if the case has any merit from Madigan’s point of view.
If they (The ACLU) finds that it lacks in merit, your state’s ACLU attorney will contact Illinois ACLU group and probably vouch for your company in regard to the merits of the case; in this case, meaning, the company’s civil liberties under the first amendment being infringed and threatened.
Lastly, the great thing about the ACLU taking a case (from a small company without much funds) that infringes on civil liberties that was brought on by a governmental entity (in this case state’s attorney general Madigan) is that they will do it for you. Remember, the ACLU has tons of funds, but is very selective on the battle’s they choose. Number one, they want a tight case that infringes on someone’s civil liberties, or number two, they want a case that is lives in a gray area but that is being exploited by a local, state, or federal entity. They really love the second, but will also do bread and butter work like yours, especially if it is a simple case – for them – that has received media attention.
In my opinion, since this is still on the for front in the denizens of the state of Illinois, you might want to seek out the ACLU, because they may take on your case. And if they do, you won’t have to pay a dime.
August 5th, 2008 at 3:36 pm
Dear Louis,
Love your reasoning on things. You know, I do have a bag of meth coffee – in beans. And, you come correct that there is no false advertising. If Meth Coffee explicitly stated it had illegal product as ingredients than I would be the first person to say MCoffee should be shut down. Since I have the packaging and the wording, there is nothing that comes close to false advertising. Everything, I believe the coffee seller was doing was trying to be x gen or y generation edgy. I also think humor was a part of the marketing plan.
Like you mention in your post, I believe that coffee is the United States “speed” drug that we need in our daily work life and the innuendo of “meth” being used is obviously a way to pound its advertisement as a way of saying hey – we’ve got this extra caffeinated stuff with another stimulant called Yerba Matte. I believe this was their marketing ploy – all legal and comedic. – Much like today’s Diet Pepsi, where Jerry Jones is pimping Pepsi’s New Diet Pepsi, which has extra caffeine and ginseng to get you going.
My point that I was really driving home, Louis, was the premise of her argument: meth coffee is glorifying drugs. (I don’t think she can claim misrepresentation within the product because the brand marketer of the product, Meth Coffee, makes no illegal claim. – if they did, they’d be shut down on 1 of 2 counts; 1) illegal misrepresentation or 2) actually having an illegal substance within the coffee. Neither counts can be supported – thus the company still exists because they are breaking NO LAWS says the federal and the state governments within the U.S.)
Since there is no wording on the packaging stating that there are illicit substances within the coffee product, the only way someone could deduce glorification of methamphetamine in this case would be through humor. Glorification comes through innuendo. Yes,
edginess like you said, words, and humor. My feeling was that Madigan was peeved about the internet video that has the actor sniffing, and shooting coffee grinds while the viewer could hear his heartbeat and the paranoid hallucinations of an aborigine doing a tribal dance.
But as you bring up, she could be as exasperated about the packaging as well that has both humor but even more edginess. See, the problem with gut wrenching subjective judgment/ and the everyone perceives reality makes one necessarily have blind spots. You made a very good point about the packaging that I totally missed.
But back to my point: The packaging is not illegal because it doesn’t represent something that doesn’t exist within the product. And let’s face it, most brand manufacturer’s with big wallets do misrepresent their products and are allowed to get away with these doings. But ,I’m becoming too tangentical again. What I’m really saying is this: She can only come to the conclusion of glorification through humor and as you say by edginess. If that is her only complaint, most record labels, movies, and toys use the same equation – i don’t even have to use porn analogies like I did in my first post.
And lastly, “glorification” is not illegal. It is guided under the panoply of the 1st amendment as a right of free expression. I guess I was too peeved early this morning to even realize that.
Lastly, Louis, and everyone else who joins in, The Chicago Sun Times mentioned in their article:
“Madigan said the product’s sale here violates several state laws in its comparison to illicit drugs.”
If the Chicago Sun Times paraphrased her words accurately, then the implication is that it is illegal to compare yourself to illicit drugs within the state of Illinois.
Isn’t comparison a form of expression? If the Sun times made an accurate statement in regards to Madigan’s words, then the state of Illinois is going against the Bill of Rights’ first amendment.
The first amendment allows everyone and even institutions to express themselves explicitly and buy innuendo. (“Hey: if I buy this cologne, I’m gonna get the girls.” “Hey: if I buy these sneakers or kill for them, I’m gonna have mad skills like Michael Jordan.”) Comparison via hard innuendo has been allowed in the advertising industry for quite sometime. The only thing you can’t do is explicitly say is that my product has xyz when it only has xy.
Geez, I’d expect more legal perspicuity from a law maven who went to one of the best undergraduate Jesuit university’s in the country, Georgetown.
She’s lost her way: Most judges in any courtroom in any state don’t want to have a case overturned by a higher court than themselves, because it would make the said judge look ridiculous – meaning he didn’t have a good grasp of the law.
The only time when a local or small time judge opposes the constitution of the United States is when he/she is grandstanding to local constituents within his/her said political district/domain – to get elected from the constituents who use their gut instead of their brains. The judge or politician – in this case – let’s him/herself be the dog, while the layperson constituents within his/her political domain is the tail. The tail wagging the dog, in this case.
The only other time, when a person goes against the constitution of the U.S. is when that person is a true hero. We such cases in “Brown vs. the Board of Education”. That’s when one should go after the the U.S. constitution of the United States, when it is truly for a great cause, which has no room for pettiness.
Madigan in this case, if the Sun Times is accurately phrasing or paraphrasing her, is going not only after the constitution, but also the most precious, the first amendment. This stuff that she is pulling with a small coffee has that has broken no laws by statements or ingredients is under attack. This for Madigan puts her in a sub-league with previous peers who have attacked the 1st amendment and lost. Her case is wrong and marginalized in several facets. She knows this, Louis, as you mentioned thus she is grandstanding.
Her attack on the US constitution and it’s first amendment is very unsubstantiated and lacks any logical merit – which makes it petty.
Not a way to drive toward a federal judgeship nor the supreme court.
She took the grandstanding road using a small benign coffee company as her platform. Stupid move, because it lacks no validity, perspicuity and is extremely petty. You don’t win on pettiness. You don’t build a long term career on pettiness amongst your fellow peers in law. Again, Lisa is Mad, again – as her cohorts must be saying at this time.
August 5th, 2008 at 8:16 am
brilliant post, 1stamendmentlost!!!
i’d only quibble over whether meth coffee is really glorifying drugs.
you write “War is glorified in video games”, and i think that’s true – in video games you get to play the soldier, yell, run, and fully engage in the adventure and spoils of war.
but meth coffee never says doing drugs is good. they use the metaphor of meth – fast, speed, etc. – and apply it to something else: coffee. they’re really glorifying coffee. i’d say they’re *exploiting* one aspect of drugs for gain, but not drugs in general. if SNL does a funny skit where bush is portrayed as wonderful, does it mean SNL and the actors are saying bush is wonderful? no. they’re making use of his public persona to poke fun, which is what satire is, and in this case meth is poking fun at the addictive nature of the drug called caffeine. once you enter into the obvious realm of humor, satire, parody, etc., i don’t think you can really say you’re glorifying anymore. appropriating, maybe, or exploiting, but not glorification. to weigh glorification i think you have to analyze intent. does the meth coffee site show junkies dancing? or bling and gold chains and prostitutes? no. it’s dark, but it’s tongue-in-cheek dark. look at the disclaimer on the About page – the writer was obviously being silly, which undermines any real glorification, doesn’t it?
you really nailed home the examples of how subjective art, culture, and humor are. i agree consumers should be protected against false advertising, but if nobody would believe this stuff really has meth in it, where is the false claim? there isn’t one. it’s like the case of slander. if i say the president is an alien from outer space who slept with his alien mother, that’s gross but it’s not legally actionable because nobody would ever believe bush’s mother is an alien. same thing with exploding gum or fake dog poop or pop rocks – there are no rocks in pop rocks, yet we let them be. and how about grape nuts? no grapes there. or nuts.
i don’t think this is a case of maddy not getting the joke. she has a big law degree from china and managed to take her daddy’s influence that got her into office and spin it into a fine example of abusive power. no, i think this is more a case of her ignoring the obvious fact that meth coffee is a joke (even if she looks absolutely brain dead doing it) so she can look tough on drugs, and even if it means screwing a little funny company and her own voters’ rights. i think it’s mean spirited, antithetical to free enterprise and free speech, and reveals how joyless, dry, and scabby her soul must be. sure, bush’s administration has tortured people and eavesdropped without permission, but at least the guy has a sense of humor, but with this automaton you get abuse AND a sour frown.
on a more serious note, is it just me, or does lisa madigan’s hair look like a dearth vader helmet?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:DVader.jpeg
August 5th, 2008 at 1:05 am
Dear Meth Coffee,
Simply put, I did read the the Chicago Sun times Article and was appalled by such blatant political grandstanding by a state’s attorney general.
Though your product glorifies drugs. What negative venue on god’s green earth hasn’t been glorified? War is glorified in video games. Extreme and unrealistic violence is glorified on a daily basis in TV – dramas, comedies to the latest action flick. Fake grenades, gun water pistols, die-cast steel cowboy guns and cap-guns are still being sold in Cheap nickel and dime stores across the U.S. Heck, a kid can get a wrist rocket slingshot, a hunting knife, and a beebie gun – and use them. Female degradation in sitcoms, alcohol ads, R-rated movies, cell phone ads, and perfume ads are ubiqitous; for that matter anything and everything else under the sun that glorifes something negative and dangerous is going on 365, 24/7. OK, there is my overture. Let’s get down to business, Madigan.
Her logic -Madigan’s- (which I call counter-logic or idiosyncratic-logic) makes one interpolate that due to someone’s traumatic experience with rape, a rap song or pornographic film or pornographic magazine that glamorizes rape should be banned.
Has Madigan tried to stop the intrastate importation of rap songs that gloify rape, and murder. How do we know it’s being glorified in the first place? Some say it is, some say it isn’t. If a raper says, “I rapped the bitch, yeah-uh”, can this be called the glorification of rape? Or when a rapper brags about how he killed a police officer and enjoyed? How about When Nicki Sixx of Motley Crue describes having sex with a record executive’s girlfriend, while the record executive is looking on; and the girl squiells that she’s on her period, but has no objections – all the while the rock star says he’s high on heroin and coke – shouldn’t you be stopping the sale and distribution of thhe book “The Heroin Diaries”? In fact, shouldn’t all said materials described above being distributed on an intrastate level- that are glorifying rape, murder, and heroin abuse all be banned in regard to the premise and reasoning you gave to banning the sale and distribution of Meth Coffee ( a legal product – deemed so by the FDA and FBI – with only Arabica Beans and Yerba Matte )?
Let’s look at some more narratives and examples of your poor reasoning about banning a certain coffee ccompany into your state:
Let’s dig a bit into the issue of pornography: Who owns the cable channel’s that distribute the porn in hotels and within your home? Let’s think: Time Warner, Cox Communications, Comcast, etc. Oh, and who are the hotel’s that retail porn in their own rooms. Would those hotel’s be Marriot, Marriot’s Courtyard, the Four Season’s, the Saint Regis Hotel, Holiday Inn, Motel 8′s and etecetera? Plus the financiers who are involved with porn within the above type of distribution ring is General Motors. Only, one, mind you of many American Brand Companies. After Diane Sawyers sneering attack of the porn biz (in 2003′s ABC’s Special report of 20/20) and its many type of distributor’s who are on the NYSE stock exchange, some sold off their divisions. Way to go Dianne. Madigan, where were you?
The closest that a Supreme Court justice of the United State’s Supreme Court ever came to defining pornagraphy was: “I know it when I see it.” Explains a lot about subjectivity and how perceptions of reality get in the way in regard to objective reasoning, which the law tries to employ a little latter.
For Now:
How about this: Since the Mid Nineties most pornographic DVDs have men ejaculating on women’s faces at the time of the man’s orgasm. Subjectively, to me, that’s disgusting. Why doesn’t Madigan go after those DVDs by Los Angeles Porn Distributors and Production companies making and distributing those types of films.
Truly, Madigan, being a woman herself would have to see that a man gripping a woman’s head to stay still and then masturbating his seaman on to her face as somthing that glorifies the subjugation of women. Right? I do. But wait, that’s my subjective opinion, and the law says it’s ok, and that’s why you don’t see any attorney general going after these Los Angeles porographic companies and distributors that distribute within the 50 states and the world.
Hmmmmm. Porn is still around and so is Larry Flynt.
O.k., enough about moral relativism.
Let’s get to more concrete examples of said pernicious glamorization of some real sick stuff.
Does anyone remember Chanel’s perfume Allure or No. 5 perfume being advertised in the mid-nineties (as a TV commerical) by a 12 year old dressed as a 21 year old seductress inside a bird cage, singing like an “innocent bird” in a seductive manner. Hmmph: No one went after the American Distributor’s (located in the famous West 9 building in NYC) of Chanel’s products for glorifying pedophilia.
Need more up to date and less esoteric stuff that glamorizes the insane?
How about all of Arnold Schwarzenegger’s movies: should all of his movies in which he glorified violence be banned by current DVD distributors in all states. One could counter argue and say he was killing bad guys for those 2 hours. Sure, it’s not glamorized: that’s why most 11 year old’s walking out of a terminator movie don’t throw up their pop corn. They don’t, because if it wasn’t glamorized, they would. Or worse, they’re so enured to violence that it doesn’t matter – in a subjective or nonsubjective realm – it’s not even an arguable issue. These kids love violence at such a young age – that whether it’s subjectively termed glamorized or not, the kids love it anyway. Where’s Madigan on her soapbox on children seeing violent PG-13 movies?
How about X-Box? An easy statistic that no one has to confirm: most of their games (well over 85%) are based on extreme carnivorous violence to the nth degree. Where is Madigan’s uproar on said glamorization or enuredness in regard to X-Box games.
How about in the Mid Eighties when Stephen King came out with the movie: Maximum Overdrive. It glorified machines killing human beings. Why can I say this, because it had a sense of humor within the movie while the killing of human beings was going on. So, the tone, within the movie, necessarily obliged the fact that the killing of humans by lawnmowers and cars were glorified because the sublimina within the movie, especially within the beginning was comedic.
Here’s Why Madigan’s Premise is wrong from a debater’s and lawyer’s point of view:
So, by Madigans standards, Comedy with death/obsenity equals glorification. I make this rhetorical question because it seems that what she is getting her bonnet in a twist about is the silly internet commercial that the actor portraying the meth coffee addict is mixing humor with drug paraphenalia, along with the name of the coffee, so she becomes offended. And from her own subjective offense or the subjective offense of others, she is threatening to bring civil action from nothing that has promulgated into a manifested manner (i.e. a real death of human being). That fact is, no one will die of this coffee, because if the FDA really thought that this could or would happen, especially under the auspiousness of the current Bush Administration, the owners of Meth Coffee’s website would’ve been shut down and arrested on criminal charges a long time ago. Sorry, Attorney General Madigan, since the inception of Meth Coffee, the FDA nor the FBI felt it necessary to bring down a small coffee distributor that has no illegal product within it.
Notice how I said subjective offense, up above. One’s feelings that are felt can be objective, but not the perception that creates the feelings. Therefore when you see something distasteful can one say that it’s repulsive, objectively? No. One can say the feeling that they have in their gut is objective, but the perception of reality that is causing one to say it is replulsive, or even the feeling it emits, is subjective. Hey Madigan, own you feelings, but don’t sell your subjective perceptions of reality to me, while trying to bunk off a small coffee distributor.
The Coup de Grais or How Madigan’s Premise Fails:
Getting back to comedy mixed in with death. When you mix death and comedy together you categorically get what is called dark comedy. So, since your premise is on Meth Coffee’s glamorization/glorification of drugs do to its comedic revelery, why don’t you go after all of the DVDs that are being mailed into the state of Illinois that promotes dark comedies: meaning, since glamorization or glorfication of Meth Coffe can only be premised by it’s use of comedic performance with regard to methamphetamine drug use, then under the same premise and pretext, you should also ban and threaten to ban all DVDs coming into the state of Illinois that promotes death as comedy. While you’re at it, how about banning 5 year old beauty pageants, X-Box Video games, regular pornography in which ejaculate is strewn on the female’s face during the male orgasim. The above just mentioned to me, in my subjective opinion are for more offensive than a goofey name for a coffee company and the internet commercial that goes with it. But again I say: my feeling living in my gut is objective, but the perception of reality that may create it is subject(ive) to my past experiences, brain chemistry, and social upbringing. I guess your social upbring, brain chemistry and past experiences make a better qualifier than I?
While you’re at it, how about banning 5 year old beauty pageants, X-Box Video games, regular pornography in which ejaculate is strewn on the female’s face during the male orgasim.
I digress: the real issue is glorification through humor, not sexual arousal by adult pornography, the love of unadulterated violence of X-Box Video Games, or Child Beauty Pagaents that have no reason to exist.
Glorifaction Through Humor – Madigan’s Major Premise for Positive Argumentation though Debate (As a debater or lawyer; the positive ground is the most tenuous):
Most people would say premeditated murder within comedy falls under the category of dark comedy. Well, then, comedy is the arbiter of glorifying death in a dark comedy based upon your premise with meth coffee. To supplement my point, the only thing you can truly say in regard to meth coffee glorifying drug use is that humor is being employed within the commerical and the packaging. By making comedic references to premeditated murder in a dark comedy, one can – through Madigan’s only premise – only conclude that these type of dark comedies must not be distrbutted within the state of Illinois. I say this because, the only one Meth Coffee could be glorifiying meth use is by humor. If humor is the only arbiter for glorification, within her premise, she would have to submit that dark comedies that the make comedic reference to premeditated murder should also be banned. Premeditated murder trumps drug abuse, because it is more sinister.
TO PUT IT STRAIGHT (no pun intended): My subjective perception of reality creates an objective feeling within me when I view what I consider repulsive things (so when I come to Illinois, please have them banned by the time I get there, Mrs. Madigan). Such things are pretend rape in porno, rap videos in which rap stars brag about rape and murder, and male ejaculation on female faces. The above 3 things mentioned, I actually find more criminal than someone pretending they they are snorting coffee grinds. Don’t you?
I believe that other people believe in my subjective opinions. But guess what, they don’t. That’s why subjectivity without manifested danger – directly or indirectly – should not be threatened, nor shut down.
Or one can say subjectivity is everywhere and it causes madness and pain, directly and indirectly. I actually believe in the latter. So, if you believe in the latter you better ban everything. If you believe in the former, you better come correct, with some straight up data to prove your point.
Don’t just fatuously say to yourself: “I’ve taken some attitudinal polls within my state; this company that I’m going after doesn’t carry much of a tax base within Illinios and won’t step on the toes of the govenor’s business lobby; well, it is time to come down on a 2 person coffee company that has no illegal or illicit product – but is seen to be distasteful to my constituents, because I failed to do anything about putting meth dealers away in my state nor do I have user clinics to help the addict.”
And here is the Coup De Grais ( a second one) to Madigan’s Pontificatory/Soap Box Argument – that is sup-popularistic because it lacks any sort of mediocre popularistic logic.
Here’s why:
How about the legal drug – Tobacco. It is the number one killer of any drug in the world on a daily basis. No war, drug, gang, social instution, nor the Nazis has killed more people than Phillip Morris. Notice how I didn’t put in the Brown and Williams Company, US Tobacco, RJ Reynolds – the maker of Camels. You wouldn’t have to – only one out of these several distributors of tobacco has beaten Adolf Hitler, Saddam Hussein, Stalin, and Addie Amin – put together – hands down. Notice how I didn’t talk about alcohol and how it’s abused and caused much more hurt and death in families than heroin, marijuana, and meth anphetimines combined in any state – on a direct level – including Illinois. Has Madigan thought about these implicatioins just mentioned above. Why isn’t she on a soap box, telling Phillip Morris that she is going to sue them because of the obvious deaths that were caused in her state.
For that matter, how about Anheiser Busch’s Budweiser, the most popular alcoholic beverage in the U.S. I know, without even doing research, that the maker’s of Budweiser have killed more people in her state directly, via teenage and adult drunk drivers – Or – indirectly through liver and kidney failure than methanphetamines has done in her state.
So let’s do some unscientific and simple summing that no one really needs to do research on:
One Tobacco company plus Budweisser means greater deaths several times over than methamphetamins.
OK: A new non scientific study:
Marlboro Cigarettes, which the state of Illinois allows, today, directly and indirectly kills more people in the state of Illinois than Meth Amphetamines.
Lastly:
Meth Coffee is a moderately small coffee company that markets a product that has 2 stimulants within it – caffeine and yerba matte. I guess that’s why she felt more comfortable to bully the first amendment (freedom of expression, and freedom of speech) – as she started to go after a much smaller fish.
What is discernably ironic is that Illinois Attorney General- Madigan, who (as a doctorate of law) should be well versed with the first amendment rights and that what she is doing is against everything she was taught even as an undergraduate within her 101 political science classes. Maybe back to school for her? Seems she forget the basics of civil law and the Bill of Rights.
When you really think about it, Meth Coffee to some extent is kinda like the new Diet Pepsi with extra caffeine and Ginseng added. Except: Coffee and Yerba Matte are natural-organic earth grown products. Diet Pepsi is anything but organic. As we all know, most diet soda products taste abominable and make you feel very gassy – more so than their counterparts, the non-diet colas. Read the label and compare. Meth Coffee: 100% Arabica Bean and Yerba Matte. Any Diet Drink: I don’t have enough time or the spelling aptitude to put these chemical names down right now, but you get the point. Yerba Matte is South America and Central America’s Adult Morning drink. This analogy is quite accurate: Tea is to England, as Coffee is to the United States, as Yerba Matte is to Central and South America.
Let’s pull a Michael J. Fox and go back in time:
Let’s talk about the Mid Eighties for a second: Does anyone remember Al Gore and Tipper Gore going after groups like Twisted Sister, Motley Crue, Kiss, and Judas Priest? Well, again: it was congress going after rock bands who glorified violence, slayings, mass murder, drug use, and fornication. Did anything happen. Well, yeah: Al Gore and the congressional hearing members had good ole’ boy John Denver come in. {Al being the grandstander that he was back in his verile days, thought Mr. Denver would be the coup de grais against “filthy-dirty rock n’ roll”} Al asked his soft ball question to John Denver, and John said (and I paraphrase: ” I don’t think anyone should censore anyone’s lyrics”) pour Al Gore and the gang that had jaws that fell to the floor. John Denver – the nice, clean folk singer was supposed to agree with congress. Nope, he didn’t. And, the world saw what idiots we had in congress. Congress, as we know understands the First Amendment and the canvass of strength it gives to our press and by proxy our country. It seems they forgot that lesson, and Mr. Denver, the good country boy he was, had to remind them. Rocky Mountain “High”, Colorado.
Are we seeing a pattern, here?
It seems history is repeating itself:
McCarthy.
Al Gore
Bush-Cheyney
Madigan.
I wonder why, Madigan doesn’t go after big name American companies who glorify the subjugation of women, music companies that let thier artists adorn and glorify rape and muder? Or tobacco companies that have killed more people than Adolf Hitler and Stalin put together. Maybe Madigan, or Madigan’s govenor of her state wouldn’t get bigh business lobby money anymore? Mmm, just a thought.
Perhaps we should all take a cup of meth coffee (Arabica and Yerba Matte) and pop in a real good film called: “Good Night and Good Luck.” – And yes, grab some microwave popcorn, also.
Then after the movie and a good buzz of the Meth Coffee we drank, we should all email Ms. Madigan how she should read the Bill of Rights again.