| By popular request and expert self-assessment
<grin>, following are
links to
feature stories and
original music.
FEATURED SERIES:
THE WAR ON DRUGS
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This series of investigative
reports looks closely at our drug-war-torn society today. The Taped
Confession, at right, is directly related to the article below,
Battlelines Drawn over Police Informant. |
TAPED
CONFESSION
"He admitted to me that he sold
pot to Mr. Kelley..."
Confession
(slow download -- high quality audio)
Confession
(quick download -- low quality audio) |
|
Reports below are in
chronological order by first date of publication. Current report
is always last on this list. See also:
The Committee for Honest Law Enforcement |
THE CASE FOR HEMP A Special "Reality Check" Report by Gozarks,
initially compiled and published pre-Gozarks, circa 1990, this report
debuted online shortly after Gozarks first publication in April of 2000
and is updated through 2005.
Arkansas Army National Guard visits
Shirley Schools This interview was done in February, 2004, by then-apprentice editor of
Gozarks and eldest at-home daughter of mine,
Shalom. Considering
she was 15 at the time, we find it quite a work of art.
It's OUR $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$: The War on Drugs
Co-authored by ArmchairHoodlum editor/publisher Michael C. Kelly and
myself (Christine Beems, editor emeritus & publisher of Gozarks), this critical analysis of the cost
effectiveness of pot eradication is an eye-opener on the efficacy of
military-style interdiction.
A country of contradictions and vast waste Another in our series
of 'myth-buster' looks at the preposterous state of affairs surrounding
our national war on drugs and how it is making casualties of every
law-abiding man, woman and child.
THE ARREST OF MICHAEL C. KELLEY:
In absolute terms, the United States currently has the largest inmate
population in the world. More than 2 million of our American bedfellows
are in prison and jails even though violent crime and property crimes have
been, according to the Federal Bureau of Justice, declining since the
1990s.
DUE PROCESS: The docket for
Monday, May 7, 2007, was not an anomaly in the courtroom of the Honorable
Michael A. Maggio. As a judge of the Arkansas 20th Judicial
Circuit, the number of cases to routinely come before his bench was
staggering. Sometimes 80 or 90 each day, with about 5% being ‘new’ cases
and the remaining 95% compiled of ongoing civil and criminal matters
pending resolution.
WAR ON DRUGS IS A ‘CORRUPT DISASTER’ LAWMAN SAYS:
According to Tony Ryan, 36-year veteran of
the Denver Police, "The 'War on Drugs' is a disaster for law enforcement."
Ryan addressed members and guests of Rotary at the Indian Hills Country
Club in Fairfield Bay, Wednesday, July 11, 2007.
BATTLELINES DRAWN OVER POLICE INFORMANT:
"This whole thing was orchestrated by the jilted boyfriend of my
landlady’s daughter," Kelley asserted, referencing Shalom Weiss, 18,
also of Shirley.
THE COMMITTEE FOR HONEST LAW ENFORCEMENT:
"Over the past five years and with greater
regularity of late, rumors, circumstances and events have come to my
attention alleging suspicious conduct and illegal drug-related activity on
the part of certain officials in our county..."
DOMESTIC VIOLENCE:
Paying reverent homage to the eighteen women murdered this year in
Arkansas by someone once trusted and loved, in addition to commemorating
these victims of domestic abuse the Dove House Silent Witness Candle Light
Vigil aimed to focus public attention on the depth and breadth of this
‘invisible’ crime wave.
KELLEY POT-CASE SET FOR TRIAL:
As this case has unfolded over the months, the initial allegation
which resulted in Kelley's arrest last March was cited by Murray as an
anonymous 'concerned citizen.' In a following motion to the court
however, prosecutor Hawks acknowledged that this was incorrect; that the
initial allegation actually came by way of a Confidential Informant (CI)
in the hire of VBC law enforcement. In the amended complaint filed in
September, Hawks named the informer as Daniel Watts of Shirley.
~~~
THOT PROVOKING FAVORITES
(random order)
TRADITION (PDF) The role model that mainstream academic education
immerses students in today relies on the authority of
‘certified experts’ to make all the tough decisions for us. This practice
is called ‘teaching to the test’ and it commands that students, in order
to gain acceptance, must memorize and recite information that was
learned by someone long removed from the present place, time or
circumstance.
NET NEUTRALITY (June 2006) "The nation's largest telephone and cable
companies are crafting an alarming set of strategies that would transform
the free, open and nondiscriminatory Internet of today to a privately run
and branded service that would charge a fee for virtually everything we do
online."
A REAL EDUCATION (Gozarks October 2006 front page editorial) My
thots and comments on why parents must reclaim and exercise their imbued
rights to be the sole primary teachers and mentors of their own children.
MEDIA, MANAGEMENT, MARKETING, POLITICS & PRAGMATISM The following
comments originated as private emails and I encourage you to turn
your preferred candidates on to this page.
SODA BOTTLE$
& AUTOMOBILE$ Americans
consume 25 percent of world energy while holding just 5 percent of its
energy resources, however Americans enjoy a lifestyle roughly ten times as
energy intensive as the global average. In a sustainable economy, nothing
is wasted. This is why recycling is more important than ever before.
Watch what they do, not what they say ~Karl Rove On the way coming home
from the keynote speech delivered by Karl Rove during the Lincoln's Day Dinner
sponsored by the Republicans of Faulkner County at the University of
Central Arkansas Student Center Ballroom in Conway, Arkansas, February 16,
2006, we passed a church with a large marquee that read "God is not afraid
of your questions."
I thought, "Right. God's not, but Karl Rove is."
Juistice Stephen Breyer: "What's the alternative?" The one point
Justice Stephen Breyer, sitting jurist of the United States Supreme Court,
made redundantly clear during the open forum held in the Great Hall of the
Clinton Presidential Library in Little Rock, Arkansas, on March 7, 2006,
was that for the democratic principles codified by the U.S. Constitution
to ‘work’ citizens must be ‘involved.’ And I’m getting ahead of myself.
Property Values impact every resident of Van Buren County, June
2006
Music, music, music...
"Songs For Sale
Billboard"
Are you a potential Agent? Join Gozarks "American Agent Contest" and win
BIG... or just simply enjoy the original tunes.
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