Dance, dance, dance all night long …
Posted by Rick - 18/07/02 at 01:07:50 pmI have never been to a rave, but I have been to hundreds of concerts over the years. So while the legislation being fast-tracked through the Senate doesn’t immediately effect me, it still concerns me for a number of reasons.
The basic gist of the proposed law is that, in order to stop people from ingesting ecstasy at these all-night dance parties, promoters of the events will be held liable for the acts of the people attending the raves. The Senate bill, so cutely-named the Reducing Americans’ Vulnerability to Ecstasy (RAVE) Act, and introduced by Sen. Joe Biden (D-Del.), is based on the federal “crack house” laws which make it a felony to provide space for the purpose of illegal drug use.
However, while a crack house has only one purpose—to provide a place to smoke crack—raves are places where people go to dance, listen to music and meet with friends. They are essentially just big parties. No one goes to a crack house for the atmosphere; and by the same token, not everyone who goes to a rave does so to get high.
As Graham Boyd, Director of the ACLU’s Drug Policy Litigation Project, said regarding a similar case in Louisiana in 2001, “[h]olding club owners and promoters of raves criminally liable for what some people may do at these events is no different from arresting the stadium owners and promoters of a Rolling Stones concert or a rap show because some concertgoers may be smoking or selling marijuana.”
There is a similar—and harsher—law pending in the House of Representatives that would hold promoters in violation if they “reasonably ought to know” that someone will use an illegal drug during the event. This small, but significant difference in the bills is very scary from the point of view of civil liberties. Imagine if such rules were applied to other things… like a party in your own home.
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Out of the gene pool …
Posted by Rick - 09/07/02 at 01:07:09 pmWhen it comes to adults who want to endanger themselves by doing stupid things, I generally roll my eyes and mutter under my breath. Idiots in hulking SUVs who make left-hand turns while running a red light and jabbering on a cell phone in Georgetown rush hour traffic? Whatever. Drunk dudes riding in shopping carts to test their ability to stop when they meet immovable objects? Cool.
What makes me lose my cool—and my patience—however, is when so-called adults endanger children by doing stupid things. A woman crossing against the light at one of the most dangerous intersections in D.C.? Ignorant. Add in that she was pushing a baby stroller while doing so? Stupid fuck.
This ignorant twat is obviously not the only one doing stupid things that endanger children. I frequently see mothers (and fathers) crossing mid-street with their children in tow when there is a perfectly good crosswalk a few feet away. A few weeks ago I saw another woman weaving in and out of traffic at high speeds yakking away on a cell phone with her children in the car. And one of them was entirely too young to be without a car seat.
Continue reading ‘Out of the gene pool …’
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Laughing in a crowd of jewels …
Posted by Rick - 01/07/02 at 01:07:52 pm
It always cracks me up the way some people look at me when I tell them about all the friends I have made over the years via the Internet. Even those who use the Web daily in some capacity still look at me incredulously when I speak of the close relationships I have forged.
I was thinking about all this the other night as I lay on a blanket at Wolf Trap waiting for Indigo Girls to take the stage. I thought about all the wonderful people in my life, and how many of the most important to me were met online. I looked around me and saw some of the kindest, brightest and most caring people I have had the pleasure to meet; and I realised that every one of them I met via the ‘Net. Then I thought about the other people with whom I spend so much of my life, and realised a huge majority of my personal relationships began via the Internet—including the most important one of course.
I have no idea why this is the case. I have had my theories but, honestly, I don’t care why. I am just happy and consider myself quite blessed to be surrounded by such wonderful human beings.
Continue reading ‘Laughing in a crowd of jewels …’
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