Musings: Utterly Intoxicated

The sky was a mosaic of gray, pink, white, coral and gold, all swirled together onto a soft baby blue background and crowned by the rapidly shrinking moon, which turned from gold to silver to white, right before my eyes, as morning pushed the last vestiges of night from the sky.

Koko and I slipped out for a short walk between the rain showers that first arrived around 7 p.m. and then returned frequently throughout the night, escorted each time by a cool, refreshing breeze. The taro leaves were adorned with rain drops, and the air was scented with plumeria, mock orange and wet earth.

I don’t know about Koko, but I find that quiet, pre-dawn time utterly intoxicating, filling me with a profound sense of joy, peace and wonderment that has never been produced by any drug. And it’s out there every day, free and legal, just waiting for us to imbibe.

I noticed the Honolulu Advertiser has a story this morning on the HSTA’s reluctance to do widespread random drug testing of teachers, citing its concern over constitutional rights. The paper reports:

[HSTA President Roger] Takabayashi said lawyers have advised the union leadership that random drug testing of all teachers would be a violation of the Fourth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, which protects against "unreasonable search and seizures."

"We want to make sure that whatever method is agreed to, it can withstand the constitutional challenge we know we're going to get," Takabayashi said.

It seems to me a prudent approach to take, as the whole idea of drug testing teachers is a colossal waste of money that could be better used for other purposes. It was forced upon the teachers by the Lingle Administration, which was simply moving in lockstep with a Republican mindset that seeks continually to invade the privacy of American citizens, right down to monitoring our bodily fluids. Teachers should have been given a well-deserved raise without also having to promise to piss in a cup, and I hope the HSTA can successfully challenge the provision.

More disturbing, as always, were the comments that followed the story, with the majority of those who posted advocating for the drug tests.

It just goes to show how thoroughly brainwashed people have become on this issue. There’s absolutely no proof that widespread drug testing, which now generates millions in revenues for the companies that perform these “services,” has resulted in decreased drug use or fewer people intoxicated on the job.

It has, however, produced a whole new industry for beating these tests, right down to a fake penis that releases pure pee of the right temperature, suitable for those who are watched during piss tests. This product, which is one of many, just goes to show how meaningless this entire exercise has become.

Yet in their usual sheeplike way, so many Americans have just bought unquestioningly into the shibai of enhanced “public safety” that these tests supposedly provide. And then instead of asking, ‘why are we testing all these workers and has it made any difference?’ they chime in with, ‘well, if all these other workers are being tested, why not the teachers?’

Perhaps one of these days we’ll take a closer look at why America, as a nation, is the world’s largest consumer of drugs (both legal and illegal) and why we have so many people locked up for this activity. Or, maybe we won’t. Denial is such a popular pastime in the US of A.

At least Obama has promised that if he’s elected President, he won’t allow the federal government to harass medical marijuana patients or challenge states that have passed such laws, including Hawaii. And that's a big step in the right direction.