Clinton welcomes news of Mitch McConnell backing hemp

Here is an article by Jason Hibbs of WPSD about a small town in Kentucky that is welcoming the news about the most powerful senator in the nation, their very own Mitch McConnell, supporting hemp. This news is going somewhat viral at the moment, it has of course hit the Huffington Post where the uber liberals are reviling POTUS over the fact that this issue is being championed by the likes of Dr Ron Paul, Senator Rand Paul, North Dakota State House Majority Leader Dave Monson, and now Mitch McConnell - all of whom are GOP derechistas.
FRANKFORT, Ky. (1/31/13) – Today, Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell issued a statement of support for Agriculture Commissioner James Comer and the effort to re-introduce industrial hemp into Kentucky agriculture. Leader McConnell’s office issued the following statement:
POTUS will be seeing the petition from Mina Hegaard of Texas, who was in Dr Ron Paul's district until this year - go there, whether you are GOP derechist, left winger or just a sensible person doing the right, I mean, correct thing - www.minawear.com/about-us/



CLINTON, Ky. - The growing debate over hemp legalization just got an endorsement from a very powerful ally.

Thursday, Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell jumped on board saying he supports re-introducing industrial hemp into Kentucky agriculture. A handful of lawmakers from both parties are backing a bill that would make Kentucky one of the first states to grow hemp.
One leader in the City of Clinton, wants his town to cash in on this form of cannabis before anyone else. He created a resolution to make it official that the City of Clinton supports the "alternative crop." At last month's commission meeting, leaders postponed the decision. On Monday, however, they'll likely take a stand on an issue that makes local law enforcement and neighbors nervous.

When people in Clinton hear the word "hemp," marijuana comes to mind. It even looks like weed, which is what worries Hickman County Sheriff Mark Green.

"If it looks like marijuana, how are we going to be able to tell the difference, I don't know if we can," Green said.

Clinton commissioner Ivan Potter started the discussion with a resolution. A statement that Potter says could turn Clinton into a thriving town.

"It would be a cash crop, number one, but it would also mean jobs for our people here who don't have jobs," Potter said.

Potter said hemp would breath life into old buildings like a former shoe plant that, at one time, employed more than 300 people.

But Sheriff Green worries legalizing hemp would make fighting the war on drugs even harder.

"Until they can prove to me it's not going to hurt law enforcement, I'm not going to back it," Green said.

Potter said harvesting hemp won't hurt anything. In fact, he says it's exactly what Clinton needs.

"It's gotten a bad wrap, let's just say it's cousin marijuana is a bad, bad boy, hemp is not like that," Potter said.

The Kentucky Department of Agriculture, which supports industrial hemp, said you cannot get high from industrial hemp and that the product is basically free of T.H.C., the intoxicating chemical found in marijuana.
Hemp can be used to manufacture fuel, clothing, paper, cosmetics, and other products.
The Kentucky Department of Agriculture says hemp is a nightmare for marijuana because it cross pollinates and actually destroys marijuana plants in the vicinity. Also hemp plants are much taller than marijuana plants.
Clinton commissioners will vote on the resolution Monday.

NOVEMBER SELECTION

As Americans mull over which chad to punch on that first Tuesday of November this leap year, a real candidate runs for office. Forget the GOP man and his sidekick, hockey mom, who has more experience blowing away polar bears than sitting in Congress (none of the latter to be precise); forget the Obama Hussein donkey candidate, who has at least some experience in DC, and forget the other candidates, especially Ralph. Go for the GREEN.
Cynthia McKinney, with whom I was privileged to spend a week with in London, is a matronly woman with a real sense of what is going on. It was she who asked Rumsfeld about the missing $2.3 trillion...and since that day, she has been made an enemy of, blacked out by the press whores who whitewash the theft that it so rife in Washington.
We can look forward to a US President who is not scamming money, who is not (like 40,41 & 43) the subject of paedophile investigations, who is not a Skull & Bones member, who is not into big business, but who is a real statesman, and has a real agenda.
Even if your vote does not get her in, it sends a message, and that needs to be heard. If the GREENS get 5% of the vote it will mean a serious victory for the party. The change from Nader, a man who never served in public office, to a person who has spent about 20 years in office, was a good move for the party and means that they can be taken a lot more seriously. McKinney's tour in London showed she has real diplomatic and speaking skills. She thrilled the audience at Friends House, the historic venue in North London, and held court well in enemy territory, such as the James Whale show (a particularly unpleasant UK shock jock who has recently had his radio licence revoked by the communications authorities). She also spoke at the Green Party UK festival in Brockwell Park and held a conference at the Friends of the Earth HQ. The people who met her, from Tony Juniper of FoE, to Mark Anslow of the Ecologist to Baroness Jenny Tonge were well impressed with her.
Her stance on the treatment of US soldiers is also a very strong point, she is the only candidate to take a stance on the DU issue. Presciently, she asserts that the people who got us into this mess, referring to Iraq, cannot be trusted to take us out. Or to take care of the soldier who they messed up with DU by giving lucrative contracts to companies that use this nuclear waste product. They make the money, our boys pay the price. That's how it works, but McKinney is vocal about changing this - and her record reflects this - look at this issue in the 109th Congress and see how she stood out from the crowd and stood up for those in uniform. The others betrayed the military on this - look at their voting records. So voting for those who vote against proper treatment of the soldiers is, it could be argued, a step away from treason. A strong military is essential, and we are currently looking at a decline in morale and enlistment. For those who care about this issue, McKinney is the candidate.
And of course, for those who want to see America growing hemp, McKinney is the candidate. She would help the likes of Dave Monson in North Dakota to get his legal rights, which his fellow GOP members have failed to do.
But, sadly, we may get Obama or McCain. I would vote for neither. I fear for America's future if they get in.
For more information on Cynthia, check out her site, www.allthingscynthiamckinney.com or click flags to see previous posts on this blog.

NEWS FROM THE HIA

The press team at HIA and VoteHemp have been busy in the US. From Vermont, good news comes in the form of the passage of H267, the hemp bill which was passed 126-9. In Wisconsin, however, AB 146 is having a hard time getting a floor voice, despite a vote of 9-0 last year to recommend passage. The bill's sponsor, Rep. Gene Hahn, is on his last term. HIA suggests that people get on to this and send a postcard to Assembly Speaker Michael Huebsch and Assembly Majority Leader Jeff Fitzgerald. The struggle continues in North Dakota, where Dave Monson (himself a politician, GOP) has filed an appeal to the US Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit in regards to their case against the DEA, which was dismissed in District Court last November.
On more trendy notes, the fashionistas are well into hemp in New York, where Donatella Versace, Behnaz Sarapfour, Ralph Lauren, Donna Karan Intl., Isabel Toledo and Doo.Ri showed off their hempen apparel at Gotham Hall. A display at Barney's Madison Avenue store will be on display from 1-12 Feb and will include hemp creations.
Also from the US, Vote4Hemp has just done an interview with me, and listeners can tune in at www.time4hemp.com In the future, expect to catch an interview with Green Party favourite Cynthia McKinney!

IS MY SHIRT STILL ILLEGAL?

In some countries, hemp is still an outlaw. Legalisation campaigns are going on where needed, including the US. North Dakota farmers received a boost of hope this week as the DEA is allowing the ND State University to grow it, although the paperwork is still not finalised. Click here for full story.

Even where it has been legal, there are problems. In Sweden, where it has been legal since1993, the police haev been confiscating the crop of farmer Ulf Hammarsten until this very year. He had to go to the EU courts to get his rights. In addition to his rights, he has received an environmental prize by Laholm officials. For full story click here.

Pictured above is a hemp shop in Canada, where hemp was legalised in 1996.

NO FREEDOM FOR AMERICA

As part of the Fourth Reich's continued programme of suppression of liberty in the US, hemp is off limits. The insurgency continues with patriots such as Dave Monson launching a law suit against the DEA for denying North Dakotans the rigth to grow hemp, but just this month the Bush government tried to ignore the suit, and went so far as to request a federal judge to throw it out. A motion filed by US attorney Drew Wright asserts that DEA policies can only be reviewed by federal appeal courts, and they do not differentiate between hemp and marijuana. These courts follow the lead of the Hearst press, which supported Hitler argued against hemp.

Ironically, an article in the San Francisco Chronicle, which is run by the Hearst family to this day, discussed AB684, the bill in the California Senate which is pro-hemp, but only for four northern counties (see recent posts for more details). Haley Davies is the reporter, and her email is hdavies@sfchronicle.com, for those of you wishing to send her any information for future articles on hemp.

Back in North Dakota Dave Monson got support from North Dakota State Universtity, which sent a letter to the DEA exhorting them to stop their nonsense. NDSU has also applied for a permit to grow hemp, and they have been waiting for permission since 1999.

Will the DEA crush the partiotic insurgents? Or will America win back its right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness? Stay tuned on this blogspot for continuous updates.

HEMP IN NEW YORK

This month hemp has been making news in New York City. After Anya Hindmarch sold her bags to lots of people lined up outside of Whole Foods, a hemp bag was seen on the shoulders of some women in New York, and it casually stated: "REAL ECO BAGS ARE MADE FROM HEMP". Having the real thing, none of these ladies wasted any time on the line for the Anya bag. Ironically, people buying the Anya bag, supposedly to to something green, were asking the shop for plastic bags to put them in. Then they went and sold them on Ebay. A limited edition of how many million? The REAL ECO BAG was made in an edition of less than 200, and sold exclusively to Ecologist and Positive News readers. John Vidal, environment editor of the Guardian, suggested (jokingly) we send one to Posh, but sorry ma'am, we ran out. Next time we do a run we'll keep you in mind...

On Saturday, 21 July, the New York Times put a story on the front page about the struggle for hemp in North Dakota. NORML posted it on their site in its entirety, save for the photo, click here to view. It is a well written piece, the author, Monica Davey, obviously took the time to get the facts. Technical details and irony give her piece the character of a good front page piece, and I would hope that more pieces like this appear in the press.

The bag on the shoulder of this young woman was made from Romanian hemp, 100% organic, and manufactured in the UK by Bobby Pugh of The Hemp Shop. It and similar bags will be carried by Minawear in the US. Hopefully, however, the hemp can be made in the USA and grown in the USA. American farmers are getting sick of the DEA and its red tape, and some of them, like Dave Monson, are taking the government to court.

Later next month, on 21-23 August, there will be a public event in support of hemp called Lakota Hemp Days, click here to be taken to site. While that event promises to much of a young, music driven, 'leftie' event, Dave Monson and other hemp activists are very much 'right-wingers'. What we are seeing is that hemp rises above politics, and has broad support. Americans really want a profitable crop that does not require pesticides, and as hemp can be used for food, paper, textiles, medicine and energy, there is great demand for it.

MAY IN REVIEW

Hemp is in the air, and in the field, but flowers will have to wait a month or so. As the hemp grows in the field, each day a little bit, so does the movement. Lots of little things to do last month, such as finishing up Bulletin # 1 of the British Isles Hemp & Natural Fibres Industries Association: Hemp as a Replacement Crop for Heroin in Afghanistan. Copies of this 24 page report are available from The Hemp Shop in the UK.

Some dark forces in this world might not like this, as they have, after invading Afghanistan, made poppies to prosper. And guess what, in Iraq, the rice fields are being plowed up and replaced with poppy fields. Is this the progress Bush was talking about? No wonder he wants to stay there forever. US troops are free guards, courtesy of the US taxpayer. One such taxpayer lost her son in Iraq, and when Bush handed her the medal, he joked about it and told her not to sell it on Ebay. Where is the dignity?

And where is the hemp? He finally got talking about ethanol, and it seemed too good to be true. Turns out it was, the idiots used up corn and drove the corn prices sky high so the Mexicans were protesting at his visit. Henry Ford used hemp and farm wastes, but I guess the modern environmentalist does not take the time to read such details, they just jump out there with George Bush and George Monbiot, and when it all fails, they tell us biofuels don't work. Try doing what has been proven effective and you just might be surprised.

Another proven use of hemp to which it has not been put by the wanna-be environmentalists is in the production of shopping bags. Anya Hindmarch came out with her bags in April and was bagged by the national press, and in May we worked on the hemp bag which is featured on this site. Our protests were mentioned in the May issue of The Ecologist, which is doing a reader offer in the July/August issue. We plan some fun with this, as it would really take the mick to carry this bag around all the posh spots of London, and maybe a bit outside the US Embassy.

From the US Dave Olson called to say he was coming over, which means we will be able to give him a hemp bag to take back. Doug Yurchey wrote a sequel to his famous piece on the real reason hemp is illegal, taking a swipe at Judge Judy and the idiot brigade which is keeping hemp out of reach for Americans. So either you buy your petrol from the Middle East or you use up all your corn and the price of corn flakes goes up.

On a sad note, it does not look like Dave Monson of North Dakota got his permits in time to sow hemp, as George Washington commanded. The good ol' DEA dragged its feet and efforts on the part of the US taxpayer were wasted. Let's hope to reverse this sad state of affairs and have hemp in the ground in the US this time next year.