As an October Monday slips away

   Hmmm, the economy's in der Scheißplatz  .... hmmmm, the rich are get richer faster than they can spend it .... hmmm ... even if you have enough money to buy a home no one will buy your existing one .... hmmmm .... because of your wealth of experience corporations do not want you because you'd simply cost too much even if you're willing to accept half of what you were paid before because it's far cheaper to exploit fresh-faced graduates or Third Worlders, especially part-timers ..... hmmmm, as traditional avenues of employment vaporize it looks like we are being driven into some feudalistic form of entrepreneurship: get three part-time gigs, no benefits ... hmmmm, what to do, what to do?
   Well for some folks, they're turning to crime in order to put food on the table and I, for one, think it's time to start taxing those criminals in an effort to reduce our nation's debilitating debt.
  Yes, it's time to start taxing marijuana growers and smokers.
   But first we'll have to legalize the stuff.
   Let's check some stats to get a feel of what's real.
   A a five-year old report estimates the market value of pot produced in the U.S. exceeds $35 billion — far more value than the top three legal crops: corn, soybeans and hay.
   Jon Gettman, the report's author, is a public policy consultant and leading proponent of the push to drop marijuana from the federal list of hard-core Schedule 1 drugs — which are deemed to have 'no medicinal value' and a high likelihood of abuse — such as heroin and LSD.
   Sounds fair enough.
   Opponents of legalization claim marijuana is a gateway drug to the harder stuff. That could be. But I would say that alcohol is likely a larger gateway to all drugs and I don't see that one being outlawed [again].
   So I'd like to see one, just one, 2012 White House hopeful (Mr. Obama included) stand up and say:
   "Ya know, I've never known marijuana smokers to go on a killing rampage, beat their children, yadda, yadda. So let's legalize it, regulate it, tax it, suck the money out of violent drug gangs, and start pumping up American restaurants and grocery stores.
   Funyuns for all!
   Thank you and I look forward to your vote {provided you can get off your arses and make it to the polls}."
   Funyuns is the brand name of an onion-flavored corn snack introduced in 1969. While constituted primarily of cornmeal, Funyuns are ring-shaped, evoking the shape and texture of fried onion rings. They are a product of the Frito-Lay Company and possibly one of the worst things to ever eat.