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Drug policy reform in the world: major events of 2013
Drug Policy Reform on the move
2012 was a turning point for drug policy reform and 2013 keeps plugging along. In the US, the number of medical marijuana states should reach 20 this month with Maryland and New Hampshire in the final stage of adoption, and may even reach 25 by year end. Here is a great link for a review of marijuana policy in every state of the US: http://www.thedailychronic.net/2013/16750/your-state-by-state-update-to-marijuana-decriminalization-legalization-and-reform/
In Europe, the Czech Republic legalized medical marijuana and several cities from Copenhagen to Dutch cities are considering outright legalization. Uruguay is launching a national debate.
Drug policy reform: 2013 in progress from Jeffrey Dhywood
This PowerPoint presentation reviews the major events of 2013. I invite you to check it regularly as it is being updated.
Jeffrey Dhywood
Investigative writer,
Author of "World War D – The Case against prohibitionism, roadmap to controlled re-legalization"
"World War-D" on Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/dp/0984690409/
Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/worldward
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Become a better informed activist and support global drug policy reform!
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A guide to psychoactive substances and substance abuse
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Author Jeffrey DhywoodPosted on April 9, 2013 April 11, 2013 Categories Drug legalization, Drug policy reform, marijuana legalizationTags drug policy reform, medical marijuana, World War-DLeave a comment on Drug policy reform in the world: major events of 2013
Use of illegal drugs by politicians following prohibition
Politicians that have admitted to recreational use following prohibition include mayors, Governors, members of the House of Representatives, Senators, and Presidents. see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_United_States_politicians_who_admit_to_cannabis_use
This is an incomplete list, which may never be able to satisfy particular standards for completeness. You can help by expanding it with reliably sourced entries.
Former Vice President of the United States Al Gore
President of the United States Barack Obama
Former Governor of Alaska Sarah Palin
Former Governor of California Arnold Schwarzenegger
Highest position
Bruce Babbitt
Governor of Arizona, Secretary of the Interior
Mayor of New York City
Senator from New Jersey
Attorney General of Kentucky
Paul Cellucci
Governor of Massachusetts
Lincoln Chafee
Senator from Rhode Island, Governor of Rhode Island
Lawton Chiles
Senator from Florida, Governor of Florida
Member of the House of Representatives
Governor of New York
Governor of Vermont, Chair of the Democratic National Committee
Joseph DeNucci
Auditor of Massachusetts
Mary Donohue
b. ?
Lieutenant Governor of New York
Senator from North Carolina
Speaker of the United States House of Representatives
Governor of New Mexico
Joseph Patrick Kennedy II
Senator from Massachusetts
Member of the House of Representatives, Mayor of New York City
Richard Lamm
Governor of Colorado
Connie Mack III
Senator from Florida
Kyle E. McSlarrow
Deputy Secretary of the Department of Energy
Susan Molinari
Jim Moran
Evelyn Murphy
Lieutenant Governor of Massachusetts
Richard Neal
Governor of Alaska
Edward W. Pattison
Claiborne Pell
Senator from Rhode Island
William Scranton
Governor of Pennsylvania, Ambassador to the United Nations
New York City Comptroller
Peter G. Torkildsen
Senator from Kentucky
Governor of Minnesota
Author Jeffrey DhywoodPosted on March 29, 2013 March 30, 2013 Categories Drug legalization, Drug policy reformTags controlled legalization, drug policy reform, end the war on drug, prohibitionism, World War-DLeave a comment on Use of illegal drugs by politicians following prohibition
Global Drug Survey
NBC and The Guardian (UK) are launching the largest independent survey of drug use patterns in the world. I strongly encourage you to complete this rather detailed drug use survey (http://www.globaldrugsurvey.com/mixmag2013/). Unlike most prior studies that focus mostly on patterns of use and/or side-effects, the survey ask participants to evaluate the perceived benefits as well as the undesirable effects of a wide variety of substances, be they recreational, social, sexual, physical, behavioral, emotional or mental. In addition, the surveys ask you to evaluate how various changes in the legal status of illicit drugs, ranging for decriminalization to regulation, may affect your patterns of use. The results of the survey will be published in March 2013 and could open a more objective and honest discussion about drug policy reform, changing how drug users are perceived, ending their ostracization and demonization. The survey is anonymous and confidential and will run until the end of December. The survey is supported by NBC in the US; Fairfax Media in Australia and New Zealand; and in the UK, The Guardian, Mixmag and Gay Times. Last year survey reveals that while young people have tendencies to risky use behavior, the vast majority of users live healthy, productive lives.
More details at: http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/guardian-mixmag-drug-survey
Twitter: @JDhywood
jd (at) world-war-d.com
Author Jeffrey DhywoodPosted on November 27, 2012 Categories Drug policy reformTags drug policy reform, illegal drug marketLeave a comment on Global Drug Survey
Colorado, Oregon, Washington or … Uruguay, who will be first?
Will 2012 be the year?
Drug policy reform is moving along in the world and 2012 might very well be the year when marijuana will become legal in some part of the world, more precisely, somewhere in the Americas.
Colorado, Oregon, Washington or … Uruguay?
Uruguayan President Jose Mujica is plugging along with his marijuana legalization initiative, crisscrossing his country and the airwaves with his message, calling for a broad dialog on the issue. "We must stop looking the other way: The major problem is not marijuana, it is drug trafficking." The project is being debated in the parliament, but no date has been set for a vote. http://cnnespanol.cnn.com/2012/08/26/jose-mujica-el-problema-grave-es-el-narcotrafico-no-la-marihuana/. President Mujica received the support of various regional ex-presidents, with Cesar Gaviria of Colombia being his most vocal supporter, but was derided by ex-president Jorge Battle(of Uruguay), who on February 11, 2001, became the first head of state to call for drug legalization while still in office. Go figure. Any similarity with the Romneycare/Obamacare controversy is purely accidental of course. http://www.elobservador.com.uy/noticia/230808/batlle-proyecto-de-legalizacion-de-la-marihuana-es-para-el-libro-guiness-/
Ex-presidents Rodrigo Borja of Ecuador, and Ricardo Lagos of Chile have joined the club of anti-prohibitionist ex-heads of states. Ricardo Lagos Weber, son of the ex-president, even presented a proposal for the legalization of auto-cultivation and use of marijuana for medical purpose to the Chilean parliament, a proposal that was squarely rejected by president Sebastián Piñera http://america.infobae.com/notas/56195-Pinera-La-droga-es-muerte-dolor-sufrimiento
In the US, all three marijuana legalization initiatives on state ballots are gathering support left and right (mostly left though), including state legislators, the local democratic party and the NAACP.
Polls give a widening edge to the Colorado initiative with support growing to 47-38, and strong backing by independents. http://www.publicpolicypolling.com/main/2012/08/co-voters-favor-assault-weapons-ban-legal-pot-civil-unions.html#mor Washington fares even better with 50-37 support. The more controversial Oregon initiative is not doing too good, with negative support at 43-46. http://www.wweek.com/portland/article-19599-mari_wanna.html . While Washington and Colorado are sitting on comfortable piles of cash, Oregon is broke and could use some help. You can pitch in at Oregon campaign donations www.octa2012.com.
Put your money where your mouth is, support the marijuana legalization initiatives in all three states, Colorado http://www.regulatemarijuana.org/, Oregon www.octa2012.com and Washington http://www.newapproachwa.org. You can also spread the theme song for Colorado prop 64 http://www.regulatemarijuana.org/news/listen-yes-64-theme-song.
Each of these initiatives has its strengths and weaknesses, and none of them is perfect, but they certainly are a big step in the right direction and deserve your support.
Author Jeffrey DhywoodPosted on August 30, 2012 September 5, 2012 Categories Drug legalization, Drug policy reform, Latin America, legalización de la mariguana, marijuana legalization, reforma de la política de drogasTags drug policy reform, end the war on drug, marijuana legalization2 Comments on Colorado, Oregon, Washington or … Uruguay, who will be first?
Good news and bad news for drug policy reform
Uruguay & Guatemala pushes on with legalization, the US escalates crackdown, Oregon MJ qualifies for November ballot, Drug abuse down 50% in post-decriminalization Portugal
This week brought goods news and bad news for drug policy reform in the US and in Latin America:
Marijuana legalization project in Uruguay
The Uruguayan government is getting ready to send its marijuana legalization proposal to parliament for debate. That's for the good news; the project is plugging along. The bad news is that so far only 24% of the Uruguay population support the proposal; President Mujica would like to get 60% approval to finalize the proposal, counting on widening support as the debates unfolds, a steep uphill educational battle ahead!
http://www.subrayado.com.uy/Site/noticia/14453/mujica-enviara-al-parlamento-proyecto-para-legalizar-marihuana
President Mujica announced today that he will tour the country to explain his proposal, emphasizing that his objective is to reduce drug-related crime. http://www.infobae.com/notas/659981-Pepe-Mujica-ratifico-que-buscara-legalizar-la-marihuana-en-Uruguay.html
Uruguay needs our support. Underneath is the link to the petition in support of the marijuana legalization project. Share on social networks and email. http://www.world-war-d.com/2012/06/22/petition-in-support-of-the-controlled-legalization-of-marijuana-in-uruguay/
Guatemala moving ahead on drug legalization debate
In Guatemala, President Perez Molina is moving ahead. On July 3, he became the first serving head of state to sign the Beckley Public Letter, calling for a paradigm shift in drug policy, joining seven former head of states Kofi Annan, and a slate of high-profile personalities. President Molina also launched the Beckley Foundation Guatemala, in order to assist in the development of new and more effective drug policies. Guatemala wants to build the case for a regional coalition for drug policy reform, a long a tedious, but necessary process. http://www.beckleyfoundation.org/2012/07/02/president-otto-perez-molina-launches-beckley-foundation-in-guatemala/
At the impulse of Guatemala, drug legalization will be discussed in more details at the upcoming SICA meeting of regional heads of states. http://m.laprensagrafica.com/2012/07/16/legalizacion-de-drogas-de-nuevo-a-debate/
The time has come to renew our support for the Guatemalan leading role in drug policy reform. If you haven't done so yet, please sign the petition: http://signon.org/sign/support-guatemalan-president. Help spread it through social networks and emails.
In El Salvador, where the Catholic Church is a powerful force, the Archbishop of San Salvador, José Luis Escobar, called for a deepening debate on legalization during a press-conference on July 8. http://www.s21.com.gt/internacionales/2012/07/08/aboga-debatir-despenalizacion-droga
Marijuana legalization on the ballot in Oregon, Fed escalates crackdown on medical mj
In the US, Oregon is the third state to put a marijuana legalization initiative on the ballot in November, joining Colorado and Washington State. http://www.katu.com/news/local/Marijuana-initiative-qualifies-for-Oregon-ballot-162446216.html
Mayor of Newark, New Jersey, Cory Booker joins a small but steadily growing group of vocal anti-drug war politicians. It looks like anti-prohibitionism is not such a vote-buster anymore. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/07/16/cory-booker-drug-war_n_1676008.html
But Obama doesn't seem to be getting the message, as medical marijuana crack-downs continue and even escalate, with Harborside, the largest dispensary in the world, despite the protests from Oakland city leaders. It is very hard to figure out why Obama, an avid pot smoker during his college-years, embarked on such a losing proposition. The crack-downs will not gain him any support in the center, while it certainly demobilizes and antagonizes some of its most faithful supporters, youths and liberals, who gathered in droves to support him in 2008, but will stay home next November. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/scott-morgan/obama-marijuana-harborside-health-center_b_1678701.html
http://articles.latimes.com/2012/jul/13/local/la-me-oakland-marijuana-20120713
Ask Obama to leave medical marijuana alone, as he promised in 2008: http://www.whitehouse.gov/contact/submit-questions-and-comments
And in case you needed it, here is another illustration of the total idiocy of prohibition: http://news.nationalpost.com/2012/07/13/mexican-drug-cartels-spreading-influence-graphic/
Meanwhile, Portugal has seen a 50% drop in drug abuse since the decriminalization of drug use and widespread adoption of harm reduction measures in 2001; drug-related crime dropped even further. http://www.forbes.com/sites/erikkain/2011/07/05/ten-years-after-decriminalization-drug-abuse-down-by-half-in-portugal/. If you read Portuguese: http://www.cmjornal.xl.pt/detalhe/noticias/nacional/saude/a-toxicodependencia-esta-a-diminuir For more detailed analysis: http://academiajurisprudenciapr.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/Puerto-Rico-Marzo-06-2012.pdf. Need more evidence than prohibition doesn't work?
New Action: Mark your calendar
Mark your calendar and get ready to participate in what could become one of the largest event for drug policy reform: Javier Sicilia and Mexico's Movement for Peace with Justice and Dignity will lead a caravan across the United States this summer, calling for an end to the drug war. The caravan will begin in San Diego this August and will visit two dozen U.S. cities on its way to Washington, DC. http://www.globalexchange.org/mexico/caravan
Ongoing activist actions:
Uruguay needs our support more than ever. Share on social networks and email. http://www.world-war-d.com/2012/06/22/petition-in-support-of-the-controlled-legalization-of-marijuana-in-uruguay/
Obama needs to hear from you. Ask him to leave medical marijuana alone: http://www.whitehouse.gov/contact/submit-questions-and-comments
Stay tuned and keep up the fight. Thank you for your support.
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Author Jeffrey DhywoodPosted on July 18, 2012 July 21, 2012 Categories Drug policy reform, Latin America, marijuana legalizationTags drug policy reform, Guatemala, medical marijuana, Uruguay, war on drugs, World War-D1 Comment on Good news and bad news for drug policy reform
Elections in Mexico: the return of the PRI – did the dinosaurs learn how to fly?
President-elect Enrique Pena Nieto of the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI)
On July 1st, 2012, Mexican people elected a new president, soundly routing out the PAN, the party of exiting president Calderon. After a 12-years lapse, they returned to power the party that had ruled the land with an iron fist through systemic corruption and patronage for 71 years, until its historic 2000 defeat.
The PAN itself had broken the PRI's 71-years grip on power on July 2, 2000, after the first reasonably fair election in the history of Mexico. The fairness of the 2000 election can be credited to Ernesto Zedillo, the last president of the then uninterrupted PRI rule, who ended up displaying surprising honesty and integrity. Unlike the vast majority of his predecessors, Zedillo didn't amass vast fortunes while in office, he didn't empty the country's coffers before leaving office, and he set in place the conditions for reasonably fair elections and a smooth transition of power to PRI's longtime nemesis.
Why, then, did Mexicans return to power the much loathed and feared PRI after a mere 12 years hiatus?
Several reasons have been advanced, starting with the relative weakness of the PRI's presidential opponents. The most serious contender, leftist Andre-Manuel Lopez Obrador, known by his acronym AMLO, spooked moderates with his raucous and bitter reaction to his narrow loss of the contentious 2006 election, giving him a reputation of cranky sore loser. On the right, PAN's candidate Josefina Vázquez Mota proved a rather tepid candidate with an uninspiring program based on vague claims for changes that voters could never quite figure out. She was further plagued by the unpopularity of her own party and its lukewarm support of her candidacy.
But the real reason for the PRI return to power is that it never left power in the first place; it merely retreated to its base at the state and local level and dug in to rebuild its power base and transform its government apparatus into a powerful political machine. Local governments are often run as fiefdoms in Mexico, frequently in open collusion with organized crime through all branches of government, starting with police and justice. The PRI controlled all 31 of the Mexican states until 1989. It still hanged on to 17 states at its lowest point in 2006, a share that grew back to 20 in 2010, and 22 in 2012 as the reconquest picks up steam.
A symbiotic relationship with narcotrafficking and organized crime
To properly understand the power of the PRI and its symbiotic relationship with organized crime, we must flashback one hundred years in history. In the aftermath of the often messy Mexican revolution, the PRI grabbed power and held on to it for seven decades thanks to widespread institutionalized fraud and rigged elections. The Mexican revolution coincided with the first opium prohibition laws in the US, which some Mexican revolutionaries opportunistically exploited to finance their operations through opium production and trafficking. The deep-rooted relationships between government and organized crime and drug traffickers were consolidated after the revolution and became one of the backbone of the PRI hold to power and an almost endless source of shady money. These links were especially strong, almost symbiotic at the state and local level. Thus were born the "gomeros", as were nicknamed the opium producers, and their dynasties in the states of Sinaloa and Durango. Transit routes were established through the states of Baja California, Sonora and Chihuahua. The small village of Badiraguato in Sinaloa at the heart of the gomeros territory gained notoriety as birthplace of a litany of druglords luminaries, starting with Pedro Aviles, the first Mexican drug kingpin, Ernesto Fonseca Carrillo who established the modern Mexican drug cartels and the Colombian connection in the 1970s, Ismael "El Mayo" Zambada, his associate the legendary Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman Loera, and his cousins the Beltran Leyva brothers, among others.
A Pax Mafiosa was established, where the average citizen was essentially spared, except for the practically mandatory bribes required for virtually every single administrative operation, while drugs transited through the country without noticeable trail. The market was divided between two broad alliances in relatively peaceful coexistence, around the Sinaloa cartel on the Pacific side, and the Gulf cartel on the Caribbean sides.
The Pax Mafiosa started unraveling in the 1980s as a result of a conjunction of factors:
• As the old "Dons" retired or were eliminated, cartels broke down in competing factions and a far more ambitious generation emerged in the late 1980s.
• The closing of the Caribbean route through the Bahamas helped launch the Mexican trampoline to transit the cocaine from Colombia, dramatically raising the stakes and exciting the lust of the hot-blooded newcomers who had little patience and understanding for the virtues of backroom dealings and political patronage.
• With the 1994 Signing of NAFTA, Mexican authorities came under increased pressure to give more than token support to the US War on Drugs. The administration of Ernesto Zedillo started distancing itself from the drug cartels, a move that was extended under President Vicente Fox in 2000. Felipe Calderon turned to full-fledged warfare at the onset of his bitterly contested presidency, unleashing the army unto the drug cartels and launching his doomed War on Drugs. The move was widely viewed as an attempt to prop up and legitimate his fragile powerbase, but largely backfired with disastrous consequences. The militarization of drug enforcement in Mexico yielded over 60,000 deaths, 20,000 disappeared and 300,000 displaced.
• Coinciding with the end of the one-party rule, the Pax Mafiosa unraveled within the cartels as well. Alliances exploded, former allies went at each other's throats with unprecedented violence and savagery.
• An entire US-trained elite army unit defected in 1999 to work as hired guns for the Gulf cartel as los Zetas. Los Zetas launched the militarization of the drug cartels themselves; the cartels started large-scale recruitment campaigns through banner advertising, medias and the internet, setting up military-style training camps. Paramilitary convoys of heavily armed thugs routinely run commando operations against rivals or the army. The power of Los Zetas grew dramatically thanks to careful recruiting via secret army connections in Mexico itself and in Guatemala, where los Zetas set up a franchise. They diversified their operations into extortion, kidnapping and human trafficking and set up top-notch accounting systems. As their power kept growing, los Zetas distanced themselves gradually from the Gulf Cartel, whose power was waning after the arrest of its leader, leading to a bloody split in 2010 and an explosion of brutality and violence that is still ongoing to this day.
"Plomo o plata", bribe or bullet, has been the core strategy of the cartels from the onset, but Los Zetas' primary objective is to instill fear, while the Sinaloa cartel still prefers patronage and backroom dealings. This may explain why the Calderon administration largely spared the Sinaloa cartel in its fight against the cartels.
It should be noted a significant strategic change in the cartels modus operandi, which has had far-reaching consequences: whether produced locally or transited, drugs were traditionally exported in their entirety, with no significant local trail. In the 1980s, the Colombian cartels started paying their Mexican associates in merchandise instead of cash in order to spread the risks and to lower the money-laundering costs. The strategy backfired and allowed the Mexican cartels' takeover of international drug trafficking. The Mexican cartels themselves started paying for services in kind, but the merchandize involved in the transactions mostly stayed within the country, and fueled a rapidly growing internal marketplace. As the trail left by narcotrafficking keeps growing, violence is increasingly for control of local markets rather than transit routes and is expanding throughout the entire country. Mexico must now face a rapidly growing substance abuse problem of a magnitude that it has so far failed to acknowledge. It should be noted that Mexico's fate is shared by most emerging countries located on transiting or producing zones throughout Latin America, West Africa and Central Asia.
Operation Pena Nieto: the reconquest
The Mexican public went into the 2012 elections weary and fatigued, almost resigned, without enthusiasm or passion. While the issue of violence was omnipresent throughout the campaign, it was never addressed in any meaningful way by any of the three leading candidates; proposals were characterized mostly by their consistent vagueness. The Mexican War on Drugs itself was a hot potato issue promptly discarded with platitudes. Within the public was palpable a secret longing and nostalgia for a time when crime was more or less controlled and largely a matter of understanding between governments and criminal organizations, sparing the average citizen.
Now that the PRI got back to power, what can be expected? Given the profound transformation that reshaped the Mexican drug-trafficking landscape over the past 12 to 15 years, a return to the old cozy relationship between government and organized crime is unrealistic outside of the areas where such relationship was never disrupted. Given the paucity of details delivered on the campaign trail where broad promises ruled over the practical means to fulfill them, we are reduced to interpreting the rather opaque internal evolution of the party since its historical 2000 defeat, or rather, since the 1994 election of Ernesto Zedillo.
Zedillo was hastily picked by the PRI establishment four months before the 1994 elections after the assassination in Tijuana of presidential candidate Luis Donaldo Colosio, who was viewed as a reformist within his party. Colosio's murder is still unresolved and remains shrouded in rumors. Internal infighting within the PRI is widely invoked, especially as Colosio's assassination was followed a few months later by the assassination in plain daylight in Mexico City of PRI president José Francisco Ruiz Massieu, brother-in-law of then president Carlos Salinas de Gortari. Salinas' own brother Raul was later charged for Massieu's assassination. Mr. Salinas reign ended in scandals and controversy, his name synonymous with corruption and greed.
Left with empty coffers, which constrained him to a hasty devaluation upon taking office in December 1994, Zedillo turned against his mentor and accused him of ordering Colosio's murder, among others. Suspect bank accounts and suspicious money transfers were linked to the Salinas clan and Salinas himself self-exiled to Northern Ireland. As already noted, Zedillo set in place the conditions for reasonably fair elections in 2000. Zedillo was rather unpopular within his own party who felt betrayed by him. To avoid a repeat of the Zedillo experience, the PRI selected a particularly dinosaurian candidate, Francisco Labastida, who lost decisively to Vicente Fox. The 2006 PRI candidate Roberto Madrazo was even more dinosaurian and suffered a humiliating defeat amidst open internal infighting, while the PRI's state base shrunk to 17.
Reality finally sunk in that some changes were badly needed. Thus was launched a charm offensive centered on heartthrob Enrique Pena Nieto, EPN. Back from his self-imposed exiled, Salinas de Gortari is widely suspected to be pulling the strings of his longtime protégé EPN. Also behind EPN, is the powerful TV network Televisa, where EPN's wife Angélica Rivera is a popular soap opera star, and who played a crucial role in building up EPN over the past few years, turning his governorship into a real life soap-opera.
EPN was handpicked in 2005 as governor of the state of Mexico by his predecessor from 1999 to 2005, his uncle Arturo Montiel Rojas. Arturo Montiel Rojas sought his party nomination for the 2006 presidential elections but dropped his bid among charges of widespread fraud and corruption. Monteil Rojas is widely suspected of creating for him and his sons a personal fortune worth 100s of millions of dollars through traffic of influences and the use of public funds for private purposes, among others. Monteil Rojas was acquitted in 2006 thanks to his successor, protégé and parent, EPN himself. Both Monteil and Pena Nieto are rumored to belong to the "Grupo Atlacomulco", named after the birthplace of a long dynasty of politicians stretching back to 1942. Often synonymous with impunity, the nebulous group saw public service as a means of private enrichment, and produced six governors of the state of Mexico since 1942. The group also had an obsessive fixation on producing a Mexican president, a fixation that Pena Nieto fulfilled after several unsuccessful attempts.
To say that EPN is surrounded with shoddy characters is understated. Nevertheless, operation EPN was masterfully planned and executed. The PRI presented a firmly united front; its candidate approached the electoral season with stellar name recognition and a solid lead in the polls that was never seriously challenged throughout the campaign. But what kind of president will EPN be, and what kind of party has the PRI evolved into remains largely a mystery. Did the PRI merely get a facelift, or did it evolve and even mutate? Without a doubt, dinosaurs still abound within the party, but did the new generation learn how to fly? The 1994 presidential election, that saw the assassination of candidate Luis Donaldo Colosio and the subsequent election of Ernesto Zedillo, clearly demonstrate that the PRI is not as monolithic as most people think, although what it reveals about its means of handling dissensions is disquieting, for the least.
Corruption by design
The challenges facing the country are numerous and deep-rooted, most of them creation of and leftovers from the PRI rule and consequences of the PRI's legacy of corruption by design that permeates the entire government apparatus, where rules and regulations are often intended as a mean to repay favors or extract bribes, especially at the state and local level. The often inextricable and confusing web of government procedures is considered a black hole of red tape. Thus for instance, the process for the opening and operation of even the simplest business is fraught with all kinds of obstacles, requiring up to a dozen different permits or more, and the required formalities are well beyond the capacity of a generally poorly educated population. As a result, the informal economy accounts for 30% of PNB and employs over 15 million people, sustaining over 30% of the population; it is also an inexhaustible source of extortion and bribing opportunities by officials and criminals alike, leaving the concerned populations exposed to all kinds of criminal activities. Capricious, arbitrary and excessive regulations are the main obstacle to the integration of the informal economy. To his credit, EPN promised to simplify the tax system to reduce the size of the informal economy and boost revenues, which would be a positive first step, but to be successful, the simplification must take place at the state and local level as well.
Another product of corruption by design is the highly dysfunctional and totally opaque justice system that is in dire need of deep structural reform, if not complete overhaul. Impunity is the rule in criminal cases. Civil cases can go on for decades, for the sole benefit of bribe-collecting judges and fee-collecting lawyers. Flawed property laws leave the door open to all kinds of frauds and abuse. Labor laws are extremely rigid and obsolete, often bordering the absurd; thus, some teaching jobs are hereditary and can be bought or sold. Many of Mexico's teachers are imaginary or dead, some of them are barely literate; absenteeism is rampant; 80% of education expenditures go to teachers' payroll. Calderon's attempt to impose competency tests for teachers were met by stiff opposition and resulted in teacher riots in many parts of the country.
In the economic arena, corruption by design and systemic clientelism spawned the emergence of a neo-feudal system of quasi-monopolies operating behind custom-made regulatory firewalls and controlling vast sectors of the economy from telecommunications, to TV, to food-processing, to cement, to tortilla, sliced bread, alcohol, beer or dairy products. With bloated and highly inefficient states monopolies controlling oil and power, all the vital sectors of the economy are under tight control, stifling competition, raising costs and ultimately creating major hurdles to economic development. Mexicans pay as much as 40 percent more for basic goods and services because of monopolistic practices. The Mexican economy bears a heavy toll for the exorbitant privileges granted telecoms conglomerate Telmex/Telcel that turned its owner Carlos Slim into the richest man in the world, with a fortune equal to 7% of Mexican PNB. According to a 2012 report released by the OECD (Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development), Mexican telecommunications customers are overcharged $13.4 billion per year, while the total loss attributed to the dysfunctional Mexican telecoms sector is estimated at $129.2 billion between 2005 and 2009, 1.8% GDP per annum.
In the media sector, two television networks, Televisa and TV Azteca control 97% of the country's television viewership. Run by Emilio Azcarraga Jean, "El Tigrillo", Televisa is the dominant player with 68% of the audience and yields considerable political might, with the power to make or break political careers. Televisa has been repeatedly accused of being the architect of the Pena Nieto reconquest operation, and the student movement YoSoy132, mobilized for months to protest against Televisa's bias.
EPN promised to open up the Pemex oil monopoly, and the CFE power monopoly, but it is doubtful that he will do much to curtail the power of Telmex,Televisa, or any of the other oligarchies.
EPN and the Mexican War on Drugs
The most pressing issue facing EPN, and the one for which he is most anxiously watched in the US is the Mexican War on Drugs and the cartel violence. While he promised policy changes on the campaign trail, EPN remained extremely short on details. He committed nonetheless to change focus from combating drug trafficking to curbing violent crime, kidnapping, extortion and robbery. This will be a welcome move within Mexico if he can deliver, as justification is hard to find for prioritizing the fight against drug trafficking, a criminal activity that affects mostly a foreign country, over the fight against the crimes that affect all Mexicans. EPN also insisted on the US responsibility in controlling guns trade towards Mexico.
With victory behind him, EPN could become more open about his real intentions; just two days after the elections, EPN declared in an interview with well-respected PBS that legalization should be part of the drug strategy debate. EPN's openness to the drug legalization debate might explain the surprising support he received from ex-president Vicente Fox, who defeated the PRI in 2000. Vicente Fox, along with his predecessor Ernesto Zedillo, has been a vocal opponent of the war on drugs since leaving office.
The debate about drug policy reform has evolved rapidly in Latin America over the past few years, with calls for reform coming from a growing number of retired presidents, including the last two Mexican presidents, and ex-presidents of Colombia, Brazil and Chile. Colombian President Santos has toyed for a while with the idea of legalization, and his government decriminalized possession of cocaine and marijuana for personal use on June 29. Guatemalan president has been asking for an open debate about legalization since taking office in January 2012, while Uruguay announced on June 22 its intention to legalize and control marijuana. Argentine and Brazil are currently debating their own drug policies. Drug possession for personal use is decriminalized in most of the region. Mexico joining the drug reformist camp would signal a radical shift in the region and could be the catalyst needed for the formation of a regional coalition for drug policy reform.
Did he learn how to fly?
So, what can we expect from Pena Nieto and his party for the next 6 years? His two predecessors made sweeping promises of reforms they could never deliver for lack of support in the Mexican senate and congress. The PRI being the largest party in both houses, Pena Nieto will have more latitude to implement the much needed structural reforms he promised on the campaign trail, and that are strikingly similar to those sought by the PAN for the past 12 years. He is still short of a majority and will need to build alliances. Pena Nieto and the PRI will be under intense scrutiny over the next 6 years, both from inside and from the US. In any case, the PRI should be kept in check thanks to its lack of absolute majority, which could also be a recipe for paralysis and an alibi for maintaining the status quo. The PRI has been given a second chance. Will it squander it or will it make the most of it?
Although his legacy has been badly tainted by his doomed War on Drugs, Calderon leaves a country with remarkable economic fundamentals and a rapidly improving investment climate, moderate public spending, solid fiscal accounts, low inflation, low interest rates and a stable currency. Mexico is projected to grow more than 4.5 percent in 2012, its fastest growth rate in a decade. On the flip side, inequality and poverty have been growing steadily over the past 6 years, not to mention out of control violence and insecurity. Enrique Pena Nieto thus inherits an economically and fiscally sound Mexico, though confronted with daunting security and poverty issues. Will he live up to the occasion, build on the legacy he inherits, and propel the country into the century with the badly required reforms? Will he rein in the neo-feudal system of concentrated economic power that created him in the first place? Did the little dinosaur evolve enough to learn how to fly? Will he resist the predatory impulses of his mentors and his ancestors?
As governor of the state of Mexico from 2005 to 2011, Pena Nieto built a reputation of openness and tolerance, with strong negotiating skills and a capacity to build alliances across the political spectrum. He cut the state's debt by about a quarter, ramped up investment and his state outperformed the Mexican economy. He will need all of these skills and more to succeed in his new position. A return of the PRI to its plutocratic past is unlikely, as is a return to the Pax Mafiosa of the past, which doesn't rule out some backroom understanding with the least violent cartels, or even a de-facto alliance to crush the much reviled Zetas. The country has changed dramatically over the past 18 years. The transformation launched by Ernesto Zedillo is irreversible. If he hasn't learned how to fly yet, EPN might not have another choice but to try.
http://www.world-war-d.com/
Author Jeffrey DhywoodPosted on July 6, 2012 July 7, 2012 Categories Drug policy reform, Latin America, MexicoTags corruption, corruption by design, drug cartels, drug policy reform, Enrique Pena Nieto, Ernesto Zedillo, Grupo Atlacomulco, Mexican presidential elections, Mexican War on Drugs, Montiel Rojas, Vicente Fox, violenceLeave a comment on Elections in Mexico: the return of the PRI – did the dinosaurs learn how to fly?
Drug policy reform on the move: pressure building in Uruguay; Guatemala may ready another surprise; Mexican go the polls
Following the announcement on June 20 of a project to legalize and control marijuana in Uruguay, a vigorous debate has been started with proponents and opponents furbishing their weapons. The initial project of creating a national registry of users seems to have been shelved, and the idea of state-run production and retail seems to have been ruled out in favor of closely monitored private businesses. A proposal for legalization of cultivation for personal use might be folded into the new legalization proposal.
"The most important is to have a debate; this debate will take place until the law is approved, and will keep going after that, as we will need to regulate" declared Julio Calzada, secretary general of the National Drugs Board.
The international media has been generally supportive and the news have been welcomed, with the Time wondering if the rest of the world should follow.
Not everybody is pleased of course. Yury Fedotov, executive director of the UN Office on Drugs on Crime told reporters: "Should it happen of course that would be a serious violation of the Single convention and Uruguay is a party to this convention… I'm also aware that the President of the International Narcotic Control Board is planning an urgent mission to Uruguay to discuss the situation with the authorities of this country." There is no official reaction from the US administration; drug czar Gil Kerlikowske has remained silent so far. While Guatemalan president Perez Molina warmly greeted the news, Colombia President Juan Manuel Santos, who had appeared to be favorable to open drug policy debate, was highly critical of the Uruguayan move. The Uruguayan debate must be followed closely in neighboring Brazil and Argentina where a debate on drug policy in ongoing, with Brazil scheduled to vote in July on decriminalization of possession for personal use of all drugs.
Uruguay needs our support. If you haven't done so yet, I urge you to sign the petition in support of the marijuana legalization project in Uruguay.
If you signed already, help to promote it. Share on social networks and email.
http://www.world-war-d.com/2012/06/22/petition-in-support-of-the-controlled-legalization-of-marijuana-in-uruguay/
We need a success story in MJ legalization and Uruguay can be it. They will get a lot pressure from the UN and the US government. Let's give them support from people from the US and everywhere. Uruguay is opening the gates and can be the very first of many. Brazil and Argentine have been debating their own drug policies for a while, they could be next. This could be the beginning of a domino effect. Uruguay is calling on the international community to consider marijuana legalization. Let's respond to them.
In other parts of the world:
Guatemala seems to get ready for a major announcement about drug policy reform. I will keep you posted. It is time to revive our Guatemala petition http://signon.org/sign/support-guatemalan-president that had been dormant since the April 14-15 OAS summit. Please sign it if you haven't done so, and start spreading it around you. We should have more news next week.
Governor Cuomo's marijuana decriminalization bill was killed by his GOP opponent in NY State, but Rahm Emmanuel in Chicago handily sailed his own bill through. This would be relatively insignificant if Chicago was not Obama's political base and if Rahm Emmanuel had not been Obama's first chief of staff, almost his right harm. Now that his buddy Rahm Emmanuel decriminalized MJ in Chicago, and fresh from his SCOTUS healthcare victory, will Obama finally have his Marijuana moment? http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2012/jun/13/barack-obama-marijuana-legalisation-election
The International Conference of Ministers of Foreign Affairs and Heads of Specialized National Agencies Against the World Drug Problem was held in Peru on June 25-26. See also http://www.canzarperu2012.com/
President elections will be held in Mexico this coming Sunday, July 1. All three major candidates have stayed away from the drug war issue throughout the campaign, avoiding the topic like a hot potato as the cartel violence keeps tearing the country apart. As the PRI who ruled the country for 70 years gets ready to regain the reins of power, will it resume its cozy relationship with the drug cartels? http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/jun/23/mexico-elections-drugs-war
The reference book on prohibitionism, psychoactive substances and drug policy reform!
Author Jeffrey DhywoodPosted on June 29, 2012 June 29, 2012 Categories Drug policy reform, marijuana legalizationTags drug policy reform, end the war on drug, marijuana decriminalization, marijuana legalization, marijuana moment, obama, UNODC, Uruguay, war on drugsLeave a comment on Drug policy reform on the move: pressure building in Uruguay; Guatemala may ready another surprise; Mexican go the polls
Apoya la iniciativa de legalización de mariguana en Uruguay
[emailpetition id="2″]
Por favor, agregue su nombre para apoyar la legalización de la marihuana en Uruguay, y haga clic en la parte inferior del formulario para firmar.
También puedes twittear a:
Presidencia de Uruguay: @SCpresidenciauy
Senador Jorge Larrañaga, @guapolarranaga, líder de Alianza Nacional
Pedro Bordaberry @PedroBordaberry, presidente del CEN Colorado y quien fuera ministro de Industria y Turismo en el gobierno de Jorge Batlle, primer jefe de estado en proponer la legalización de las drogas en 2000
Para leer más sobre la iniciativa de ley: http://www.presidencia.gub.uy/wps/wcm/connect/Presidencia/PortalPresidencia/Comunicacion/comunicacionNoticias/gabinete-seguridad-presento-paquete-15-medidas-promover-convivencia-ciudadana
La declaración a medios de la presidencia uruguaya: http://medios.presidencia.gub.uy/jm_portal/2012/noticias/NO_E582/Estrategia.pdf
Para leer más sobre el Presidente Mujica: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jos%C3%A9_Mujica
Conviértete en un activista mejor informado!
Apoya la reforma global de la política de drogas!
Pida su propia copia de "World War-D", el libro de referencia sobre el prohibicionismo, sustancias psicoactivas y la reforma de la política de drogas (disponible solamente en Ingles por el momento)!
Autor de investigación y análisis de "World War D – The Case against prohibitionism, roadmap to controlled re-legalization"
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/worldward
Author Jeffrey DhywoodPosted on June 24, 2012 July 6, 2012 Categories Drug policy reform, legalización de la mariguana, marijuana legalization, reforma de la política de drogasTags controlled legalization, drug policy reform, egalización de la mariguana, prohibicionismo, reforma de la política de drogas, sustancias psicoactivas, war on drugs, war on drugs failure, World War-DLeave a comment on Apoya la iniciativa de legalización de mariguana en Uruguay
Support the proposal for marijuana legalization in Uruguay
Haga clic aquí para versión en español
Please add your name to support marijuana legalization in Uruguay, and click to sign at the bottom of the form.
You can also tweet to the following:
Presidency of Uruguay: @SCpresidenciauy
Senator Jorge Larrañaga, @guapolarranaga, leader of Alianza Nacional
Pedro Bordaberry, @PedroBordaberry, President of the CEN colorado, was minister of Tourism and Industry in the Government of Jorge Batlle, the first head of state in the world to call for the legalization of all drugs in 2000, shortly after taking office.
Become a better informed activist and support global drug policy reform! Order your own copy of "Word War-D", the reference book on prohibitionism, psychoactive substances and drug policy reform!
Learn more about the proposal: http://www.presidencia.gub.uy/wps/wcm/connect/Presidencia/PortalPresidencia/Comunicacion/comunicacionNoticias/gabinete-seguridad-presento-paquete-15-medidas-promover-convivencia-ciudadana
The 20 pages declaration published the Uruguayan government: http://medios.presidencia.gub.uy/jm_portal/2012/noticias/NO_E582/Estrategia.pdf
Learn more about President José Mujica: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jos%C3%A9_Mujica
author of "World War D – The Case against prohibitionism, roadmap to controlled re-legalization", the reference book on prohibitionism, psychoactive substances and drug policy reform
Author Jeffrey DhywoodPosted on June 23, 2012 July 6, 2012 Categories Drug policy reformTags drug policy reform, José Mujica, marijuana controlled marketplace, marijuana cultivation for personal, marijuana legalization, Uruguay, World War-D7 Comments on Support the proposal for marijuana legalization in Uruguay
Instructions for the promotion of the petition in support of Guatemalan president's call for drug legalization
Thank you all for signing this petition. I now need your help in spreading the word. Here are some suggestions:
Send an email to at least 5 of your friends to promote the petition, asking them to sign it (see underneath a sample email, or write your own).
If you do broadcast email campaigns, you should send at least 3 emails, 2 days apart.
Post a link to the petition on your own wall. Post if 3 to 4 times per week.
Post a link to the petition on the wall of your friends
Post a link to the petition on the wall of the groups you follow that are concerned with drug policy
If you use twitter, tweet the petition.
Send letters to the editors or comments either online, or to your local press.
If you belong to a group, try to get your group to endorse this movement
Re-tweet my own tweets, ask your friends to re-tweet. Re-tweeting is a great way to generate a buzz. My Twitter account: @JDhywood.
Post on the Facebook pages of President Molina and his vice-president Roxana Baldetti, as well as all the regional leaders, from Panama to Mexico. Send them emails when possible. Be courteous and respectful please!
Many people have commented that this petition is made for AVAAZ and I couldn't agree more. With AVAAZ behind us, we would rapidly reach 100,000s signers. AVAAZ has more mobilizing power than anybody else in the world, and considering their past history of support for drug policy reform, they ought to support the Perez Molina petition. This is the message I would like you all to send to AVAAZ.
You can contact AVAAZ in different ways:
Through their Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/Avaaz?sk=wall#!/Avaaz?sk=wall
Through Twitter: @Avaaz
By filling out the online form: http://www.avaaz.org/en/contact/
Please refer to the petition by its link: http://signon.org/sign/support-guatemalan-president
You could send a Tweet such as: The Perez Molina petition in support of Guatemalan legalization proposal is made for AVAAZ! Please help! http://signon.org/sign/support-guatemalan-president @Avaaz
Links and resources to promote the petition:
Summit of the Americas: http://www.summit-americas.org/sixthsummit.htm
There is a virtual community http://svc.summit-americas.org/ with discussion groups and forums.
How to contact Latin American presidents:
President Otto Perez Molina of Guatemala: www.presidencia.gob.gt Twitter: @ottoperezmolina. Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/home.php#!/ottoperezpp
Vicepresidenta, Roxana Baldetti despacho@vicepresidencia.gob.gt, Twitter: @roxanabaldetti . Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/home.php#!/roxanabaldettipp
http://www.vicepresidencia.gob.gt Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/roxanabaldettipp
President Felipe Calderon of Mexico: felipe.calderon@presidencia.gob.mx
@FelipeCalderon Sígueme
@GobFed
@PresidenciaMX
http://www.facebook.com/home.php#!/presidentefelipecalderonhinojosa
Edificio 10, Planta baja,
Col. Centro, Deleg. Cuauhtémoc.
C.P. 06067. México, Distrito Federal.
President Juan-Manuel Santos of Colombia:
http://syscopre.presidencia.gov.co/publico/frmCiudadano.aspx
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Presidencia-de-la-Rep%C3%BAblica-de-Colombia/186850511364615?sk=app_4949752878
@JuanManSantos
http://www.facebook.com/JMSantos.Presidente?sk=wall
How to contact the medias – best is a letter to the editor:
Send the petition or a letter of your own to your local newspapers and publications. Here are 2 sites with lots of media contacts: http://www.abyznewslinks.com/ and http://www.prensaescrita.com
Support Law Enforcement Against Prohibition
LEAP has been fighting in the trenches for the past 10 years. They deserve our support! https://org2.democracyinaction.org/o/5663/donate_page/member-program
Diffuse, promote, share, be an activist!Act now!
Here is a sample message you can use for your email campaigns or your social network posts:
I need your help to promote the petition "Support Guatemalan president's call for drug legalization" http://signon.org/sign/support-guatemalan-president
The petition has already reached 6,300 signers, but we need far more than that. There will be on March 24th a meeting in Guatemala of 7 regional presidents (Panamá, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Honduras, Guatemala, Nicaragua, & Belize) to discuss the Perez Molina initiative. I am trying to collect as many signatures as possible to deliver at the meeting. Three weeks later, 34 countries will attend the Summit of the Americas in Cartagena, Colombia, and drug legalization will be high on the agenda. This will be the first time ever that legalization is debated at a major international Summit! It is an opportunity that we cannot afford to waste.
This is an unprecedented event and all activists should take advantage of this opportunity to generate massive mobilization of support for significant and meaningful debate on drug policy reform, especially as obstruction can be expected from the US. There is a window of opportunity here, where a truthful debate might finally take place (despite US efforts at nipping it in the bud), and we have the opportunity to influence this debate. We cannot stay on the sideline and we have to get involved.
Author Jeffrey DhywoodPosted on March 20, 2012 March 21, 2012 Categories Drug policy reformTags Central America, controlled legalization, Decriminalization, drug policy reform, drug prohibition, end the war on drug, war on drugs, war on drugs failure, World War-D4 Comments on Instructions for the promotion of the petition in support of Guatemalan president's call for drug legalization
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text:
Notes on Fuseology
Carolee Schneeman Remembers James Tenney
Robert Enright · Interviews · Issue 132 · December 2014
The painter, performance artist and filmmaker Carolee Schneemann met composer James Tenney in New York in 1955 and they maintained contact with one another until his death in 2006. Their relationship was especially intense in the mid-'60s, during which time they collaborated in a number of ways; in Fuses their lovemaking formed the core of a film that remains an enduring expression of both art and love; Tenney created the sound collages for Viet Flakes, 1965, and Snows, 1970, and performed in the New York production of Meat Joy, 1964, Schneemann's orgiastic celebration of the expressive body.
James Tenney emerged as one of America's most important composers and a number of his pieces will be performed at the New Music Festival in Winnipeg in 2015. The following interview with Carolee Schneemann about her life and work with James Tenney was conducted by telephone from Toronto to Springtown, New York on October 25, 2014. Ms Schneemann had just returned from Texas where she had received the prestigious Aurora Award for 2014. The award is given to an artist who demonstrates "extraordinary originality in the field of moving image art."
Carolee Schneemann and James Tenney, March 1961. Image courtesy Carolee Schneemann
BORDER CROSSINGS: The dedication to "Split Decision," your two-city exhibition in 2007, was to James Tenney. What occasioned a tribute to him 40 years after you had been together? CAROLEE SCHNEEMANN: Our continuing affinity and the rarity and the specialness of that relationship. As time has gone on, I see how remarkable it really was. It was urgent, coherent, mutually influential and inspiring. It was altogether wonderful.
There is a picture of the two of you taken in 1955. You're both adorable but you look like kids. We absolutely were kids. We met through a set of magic coincidences. He was on a fellowship and he lived in a tiny little closet of a room for graduate students. He was going down to the Thalia Theater to see a movie and on the bus he suddenly hallucinated this girl's face, huge, like the Cheshire cat, and he missed his stop. So instead he came to a concert on 57th Street at Judson Hall. I had gone there to hear Charles Ives and Bach; I wanted so much to hear the Bach and I didn't know anything about Ives. It was the 19th of May, a mystical day for me, and I knew I had to do something special. I was on leave from Bard and I had a year to live in the city. So suddenly this skinny guy who I had seen three times in a little café near Columbia came in. I had seen him eating out of a bowl and he did it with the intensity of a tiger. He had a different energy that I would come to understand was western—he was born in New Mexico, grew up in Colorado—and his presence was unique. He walked in late for the concert, which I thought was odd, because he was very shy. He sat down and then just as the pianist was coming in, he stood up, changed to the aisle, and ended up sitting opposite to me. Then at intermission I had to figure out how we could meet. Finally I went over and said, "I've seen you at the café" and he said, "Yes, I remember you," and I said, "I'm a painting student at Columbia" and he said, "I'm a musician at Julliard," and then I said something like, "That's so interesting, I'm thinking of painting as space becoming time," and he said, "And I'm doing my music so that time is becoming space." We were half joking but that's what we told one another. We laid out that affinity immediately.
What kind of a conception did you have as a painter at the time? I was very fierce. I'd been told from the earliest times that it was pointless and that I should stop. At Bard my best painting professor said, "Don't set your heart on art, you're only a girl." That was what it was like, so it was quite unusual to have a companion and lover who was so equitable, the way Jim was.
Carolee Schneemann, James Tenney and Kitsch.
In 1958 you painted a rather remarkable portrait of Tenney that looks like Oskar Kokoschka meets Henri Matisse. Kitch, the cat, is in the portrait as is an elegant coffee pot. What were you trying to capture in that portrait? I simply wanted to have Jim's presence in a painting. It was full of the dailyness, the intimacy and the constancy of our work. I was listening to Ives, chords, fragments, broken phrases over and over again and that was very important for how I was thinking about pictorial space. I wanted to increase fracture, I didn't know quite how that would work, but I knew there was something incremental in collage and in the breaking of form. As an 11-year-old kid I had wandered into a classroom in the basement of the Philadelphia Museum of Art where there were grown-ups painting still life. The teacher let me come in and he took somebody's lunch bag and tore it up into hundreds of tiny pieces and dropped them on the floor in front of us. Then he asked the grown-ups, "Why have I torn up this paper bag and what do you see?" No one moved a muscle, so I said, "Is it because of the rhythm between the pieces?" and the teacher was thrilled and said, "Yes, it's Gestalt." So I learned a big German word and a concept that would always be influential. In Meta (+) Hodos, Tenney wrote a very intense and cohesive analytic essay on Gestalt. That was how we wove through each other's sensibilities.
So there was a crossing over? Your practices were beginning to intersect and you were interested in the spatial qualities of sound? Yes, and listening to how he constructed sound in space. That was daily for us. He was practising Ives and Webern and I was painting in the next room and it was full of the aroma and the energy of what was going on between us.
Leon Golub and Nancy Spero had the same kind of intense aesthetic relationship. But in your case it was the sound of his world that you translated into visual space. Unlike Nancy and Leon we rarely argued. But there were many influences: from certain thresholds in poetry to Stan Brakhage, Jim's best friend from Colorado, who brought us to film. Then, through some of Jim's associates in New York I was taken into what became the Judson Dance group and began to choreograph with them. And Cage and Cunningham became friends and attended everything that Jim and I made. It was like an electrical nest with everything connecting.
What was Tenney's interest in visual art and in performance? Did he have a sense from the start that his interests would drift towards the visual world? Not necessarily. Of course, he had the experience of participating in Brakhage's earliest films so there was that visuality. For me, Stan's earliest films were all black and white psychodramas.
You were reading Wilhelm Reich and D'Arcy Thompson, a biologist who developed ideas of organic form. We were doing research on biology and organic form and then Jim went into complex theories of sound through Erwin Schrödinger. We were reading Freud, Proust and Rilke. The Second Sex had come out and we also had a passionate interest in de Beauvoir. It was a great range of influences that I would relate to Charles Olson's sense of deep space. There was always some opening, some deepening aspect of what the research brought us. Reich did make an impression particularly because of the militaristic government that we had. His analysis of sexual oppression and fascism was especially helpful to us.
Fuses, 1967, 16-mm colour film, silent, 18 min.
Is Fuses the first time that you and Tenney performed together? Although that might be a more calculated word than I think it must have been. Please don't use the word perform. Fuses was the first collaborative visual work. He wanted us to do it. It has no soundtrack. There was a previous little work, shot on 8mm, titled Carl Ruggles' Christmas Breakfast from 1963 that had their recorded conversations. Viet Flakes was our first sound collaboration, then Meat Joy and Snows. Then we created a duet, Noise Bodies, in 1965. That whole installation is going to an exhibition of Charlotte Moorman's history at the Block Museum of Art next year, so I had to dig up all the noise-making elements. I found them, they were all covered in mouse poop but they are okay.
You wore what you called sound-producing debris for that piece? Did the soundscape come out of a kinetic assemblage? Right. It was a noisy collage. We improvised together regarding what made sound and what gestures would produce varieties of sound. The way my kinetic theatre pieces developed was that parameters were set in terms of certain kinds of duration, position and action and then from studying those we would improvise. So each performance was different. Meat Joy has a score and units of specific active improvisation, and then within that motions change and are fluid.
Did Tenney share your rage at the Vietnam War? Are you kidding? He wanted me to cut his back with a razor and I couldn't do it. The pain his body endured would be his way of accepting and sharing what the Vietnamese were going through.
In Viet Flakes, did you assemble the images and then did Tenney overlay the sound collage and the audio fragments? We worked together side by side. I chose the sound and then he added his thoughts to the sound material. We constructed the sounds so the rhythms related to the energy of the atrocity images.
The pop songs work in a weird way. It's strange to hear lines like, "we can work it out" and "all you need is love" over the atrocity images we're seeing. We wanted something grating and contradictory, and to put the paradox of our normal sound environment against the militaristic insanity of the war. Jim found the sources for the Vietnamese chants, which were essential to the sound structure. My work is an experiment and I never know if I'm going to realize the potential of this other voice. The gift is that it has been sustaining and that the work can carry an intense emotional weight.
Over what period of time was Fuses filmed? A year or two. Funnily enough, I'm in my same bedroom right now where I filmed it, and I can see the ceiling fixture where I hung the Bolex, wound it up, and then jumped into bed. I can see the pot-bellied stove where I balanced it. And with a Bolex you only get 30 seconds of film, so that determined the collage nature of the film and also the risk and uncertainty. I like that and I need that. I couldn't work from a specific, programmatic score.
Isn't constructing a film with only 30-second intervals a bit awkward? It is but I like those constraints. They occur in all my work in some way, partly because I never have quite the right equipment, or the right lighting, or the right weather. But when we were making Fuses I'd be doing the dishes and I'd turn to Jim and say, "Look the light is so beautiful, I wish we could just go back to bed," and he would say, "Okay, I'll get the Bolex."
Meat Joy, 1964, performance: raw fish, chickens, sausages, wet paint, plastic, rope. Photo: Al Giese.
And you could always count on Kitch to be the onlooker with the penetrating gaze. She was the aesthetic permission. I always thought of her as the camera director. If you had someone in your intimate space, it was going to be Kitch.
You never had any qualms about using your bodies in Fuses? No, because I needed to see if I could re-proportion the structures that were being given to me as hierarchical aesthetic factors. Pop art produced mechanized female bodies and I wanted to show something different from that deadness and slickness. It was in the culture as a way of being and looking and behaving. We refused to let our bodies become instruments of that kind of power. What we were doing wasn't something we had to fight for, or go into Reichian analysis for. We had our innate pleasurable bodies and expressivities.
It's interesting to hear you say that you never had the right equipment because in Snows you work very early on with the group Experiments in Art & Technology. The way that you're using contact microphones and having the audience be a generator of the action was a progressive way of making a performance at the time. Was that because of the engineers at EAT or was that Tenney's influence? Jim was working at Bell Labs and that made access possible for me. Snows has never been appropriately appreciated for its technology; it has always been more like, "Look what the crazy girl did." The structure and the layers of technology were the things that helped make the piece so powerful, but you and I are speaking about it in a way that has rarely been done.
You turned the whole theatre into a kind of feedback instrument. Did you know what you were going to get out of this process? Well, I knew what I wanted. I always envision what is possible, and then how to get it—that's the adventure. It was a beginning of an intensive transformation of the space into an active sounding space and it worked.
Did Tenney view the sound component in the same democratic and integral way that you did? Yes. He enhanced where I had to go with the concept. He usually had the technical experience that could stabilize what I needed to have happen.
Interestingly, Tenney worked in a more structured way with algorithms, and your approach seemed to be more spontaneous. Was that balance useful to the two of you in your collaboration? The materiality of what concerned us was relatively specific and equal. Listen to this quote from Meta+Hodos: "We know from our visual experience that a change in scale of a picture of a thing, or a change in the distance from which we view a thing, whether it be a picture or a landscape or a figure can substantially alter the total impression we will have of it. The overall gestalt character of a thing seen is to a great extent determined or conditioned by the scale on which we view it." This is painter talk taken to a high degree of theoretical construct. I would say that was the kind of fluidity that we had.
You say you never had domestic fights. But did you have disagreements about the way that he might want to use sound in your pieces? No. We had agreements on how to facilitate them. A lot of his work was done on equipment we had in the house. It was in the environment and the discussions were constant. Whatever we were researching would become an area of discussion. Then one of us would take or intensify information from the other and use it. It was all very fluid.
Viet Flakes, 1965, 16-mm toned black and white film, sound collage by James Tenney.
His desperate need for you is apparent from the letters he is sending while you're performing Meat Joy in Paris. They are full of physical longing, as are yours back to him. Being apart was clearly a difficult thing for both of you. It was excruciating. We had a very specific closeness.
He writes saying he can't even compose because he misses you so much. We needed that life energy for us to really be working. I was miserable without him when we were performing Meat Joy in Paris but I felt that the work was another aspect of tribute to our life together. That was how I thought of it. He insisted on being in Meat Joy when we did it in New York. I didn't want him in it because I thought I needed some distance to shape these participants, but it ended up being perfect.
There is a moment in "Grabs and Falls," a section in Snows, when he is circling a woman and he is genuinely menacing. We practised the menace. It came naturally within the structure of the work but for all the participants "Grabs and Falls" takes a lot of training. That kind of jockeying before you attack was based on watching two cats.
Your relationship with Tenney begins with the Cheshire smile and continues on with a cat playing a major role. The cat, Kitsch, was exceptional.
One of the things your letters trace after you separate is that the love remains. It even seems to intensify. It was very, very deep. When he was teaching in Toronto he got lung cancer and while he was in hospital his young wife developed a back ache, went into hospital and died there of advanced ovarian cancer. Jim survived with one lung and two babies, a two-year old and a four-year old. So he gets a car with baby seats so that he can come back to the States to see me, Stan and others. I asked my dear friend, Lauren Pratt, to help me throw a party for him in New York, which we do, and all his friends come to this loft—Jonas Mekas, Yvonne Rainer, Stan and Pauline Oliveros are all there. But when Jim arrives he and Lauren look at one another and they're like crazy cats. The two of them end up making love on the couch and they fall in love. And she says, "What am I going to do, my mother is very upset that I'm going to be with a musician who has one lung and two children." I said, "Go for it." They marry, have a loving domestic life, a wonderful son and raise his two children. When the cancer returns in 1989 Jim is so sick, and I am invited to stay with them in California. It was extraordinary. One day he was writing a major opus and suffering from the cancer treatment and he said, "The two of you take every work in this house by Carolee and get them framed properly, now." He wanted Lauren and me to do it together.
From your perspective what was the most important thing he brought to your collaboration? His full heart. He had great energy and he was magical. ❚
This article originally appeared in Border Crossings #132, published December 2014.
Border Crossings looks at contemporary art with interest, passion and thoroughness. Subscribe to Border Crossings today for as little as $24/year.
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text:
Robert Lawrenson
Having escaped years of imprisonment, vampire warrioress Selene finds herself in a changed world where
Director: Björn Stein
Genre: Action, Fantasy, Horror
Cast: Charles Dance, India Eisley, Jacob Blair, Kate Beckinsale, Michael Ealy, Robert Lawrenson, Sandrine Holt, Sanny van Heteren, Stephen Rea, Theo James
Everything, Everything
A teenager who's lived a sheltered life because she's allergic to everything, falls for the
Director: Stella Meghie
Cast: Amandla Stenberg, Ana de la Reguera, Anika Noni Rose, Dan Payne, Danube R. Hermosillo, Fiona Loewi, Nick Robinson, Peter Benson, Robert Lawrenson, Taylor Hickson


text:
Justia Dockets & Filings Ninth Circuit Arizona District Court Cannon v. Thomas et al Filing 17
Cannon v. Thomas et al
ORDER granting in part and denying in part 15 Motion for Summary Judgment. Petitioner's Requests for Status are Granted. Clerk of the Court to mail docket sheet to Petitioner. Writ of Habeas Corpus is DENIED and this matter is DISMISSED WITH PREJUDICE. Clerk of Court to enter Judgment and close file in this matter. Signed by Judge Cindy K Jorgenson on 2/3/09.(LSI, )
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 WO IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE DISTRICT OF ARIZONA LIONEL DWAYNE CANNON, Petitioner, vs. JEFFREY THOMAS, Respondent. ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) No. CIV 06-613-TUC-CKJ ORDER Pending before the Court is Petitioner's Petition under 28 U.S.C. � 2241 for a Writ of Habeas Corpus by a Person in Federal Custody. Respondent has filed an Answer to Petition and Motion to Dismiss. Petitioner has filed a Reply. Also pending before the Court is Petitioner's Request for Decision and Motion for Summary Judgment [Doc. # 15] and Petitioner's Requests for Status [Doc. #s 14 and 16]. Factual and Procedural Background On June 23, 2003, Petitioner Lionel Dwayne Cannon ("Cannon") was sentenced to prison for a California parole violation. On August 12, 2003, Cannon was borrowed from the custody of the State of California pursuant to a writ of habeas corpus ad prosequendum issued by the United States District Court for the Northern District of Ohio. On August 28, 2003, Cannon was transported to the United States District Court for the North District of Ohio by the U.S. Marshals Service. While on the federal writ, the State of California paroled 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 Cannon from his violation term on June 23, 2004.1 On August 11, 2004, Cannon was sentenced in federal court to a 130 month term of imprisonment, to be followed by eight years of supervised release, for Conspiracy to Possess with Intent to Distribute Cocaine in violation of 21 U.S.C. � 846. Cannon was incarcerated at FCI Safford, Arizona, at the time of the filing of the Petition.2 Cannon filed an administrative remedy requesting jail time credit for time spent on the writ of habeas corpus ad testificandum. Cannon's request was denied and he appealed that denial to the Regional Director. Cannon's appeal was denied. Cannon did not pursue a further appeal to the Cental Office. On December 7, 2006, Cannon filed his Petition under 28 U.S.C. � 2241 for a Writ of Habeas Corpus by a Person in Federal Custody. Cannon asserts that additional time spent in custody prior to his sentencing should be credited against his federal sentence. On June 4, 2007, Respondent filed an Answer to Petition and Motion to Dismiss. On June 21, 2007, Cannon filed a Reply. Cannon also filed a Request for Decision and Motion for Summary Judgment on May 19, 2008, and a Request for Status on April 23, 2008, and on August 11, 2008. Jurisdiction of the Court "Federal courts are always


text:
Q: Jenkins "unable to find valid certification path to requested target" error while importing Git repository I'm trying to build a Git repo from Jenkins using the Jenkins Git Plugin on my laptop. The Git repo resides on company trusted server which has self-signed certificates. While specifying the URL I'm always getting an error:
Failed to connect to repository : sun.security.validator.ValidatorException:
PKIX path building failed: sun.security.provider.certpath.SunCertPathBuilderException:
unable to find valid certification path to requested target

I understand this error surfaces due to self-signed certificates but the server belongs to my company and is signed by authority.
I also tried to import the same repo from another laptop using self-signed and keep getting the same error.
Any help will be appreciated

A: I've just launched the jenkins.war with JDK cacerts as an workaround
java -Djavax.net.ssl.trustStore="/scratch/install/jdk1.8.0_102/jre/lib/security/cacerts" -jar jenkins.war &

A: Java ships with a default list of trusted root certificate authorities.  If it can't find a path back to one of these trusted certificate authorities, it will not trust the certificate.
It sounds like the server you are attempting to connect to uses a certificate signed by an internal certificate authority.  That's typical for internal servers.  You wouldn't want to pay for a certificate if it isn't external facing.
You can add your company's root certificate authority to java using the keytool command.  Then you will be able to make ssl connections to any certificate signed by this root certificate.

A: The correct solution is to NOT disable the certificate checks as a lot people have suggested but rather to add the website certificate to the Java keystore instead.
I'll list my own guide below which should work for Linux. I suspect the same imports will work in Windows as the keytool is bundled with Java but you're on your own when it comes to any openssl commands.
Download all required certificates in the chain (this is a command I found on SO, I can't find the link but it's not my own creation):
openssl s_client -showcerts -verify 5 -connect updates.jenkins-ci.org:443 < /dev/null | awk '/BEGIN/,/END/{ if(/BEGIN/){a++}; out="cert"a".crt"; print >out}' && for cert in *.crt; do newname=$(openssl x509 -noout -subject -in $cert | sed -n 's/^.*CN=\(.*\)$/\1/; s/[ ,.*]/_/g; s/__/_/g; s/^_//g;p').pem; mv $cert $newname; done

You should now have 2 files:
Let's_Encrypt_Authority_X3.pem
pkg_jenkins_io.pem

Concatenate the 2 files:
cat "Let's_Encrypt_Authority_X3.pem" pkg_jenkins_io.pem > full_chain.pem

This next step is useful as the Java keytool is picky and the openssl package will fix any spacing issues. I have seen the keytool import fail even though openssl claimed it was valid so don't skip this step:
openssl x509 -in full_chain.pem -out full_chain_sanitized.pem

Now comes the fun part. I assume your Jenkins instance is running with some of the following arguments:
-Djavax.net.ssl.keyStore=/applications/configuration/pki/keystore.jks
-Djavax.net.ssl.keyStorePassword=GOOD_PASSWORD
-Djavax.net.ssl.trustStore=/applications/configuration/pki/truststore.jks
-Djavax.net.ssl.trustStorePassword=GOOD_PASSWORD

Also note that you might not be using the custom keystores. In that case, you could try to include the certificate in the default cacerts file instead. Check the next section for details. If you are using any truststores, you will have configured a password so enter it when prompted.
Now we can import the Jenkins plugin site certificate. Make sure to use your own keytool path as it will differ from my own.
/applications/java/latest/bin/keytool -trustcacerts  -import -v -alias pkg_jenkins_io_full_chain -file correct.pem -keystore /applications/configuration/pki/keystore.jks

/applications/java/latest/bin/keytool -trustcacerts  -import -v -alias pkg_jenkins_io_full_chain -file correct.pem -keystore /applications/configuration/pki/truststore.jks

Restart your Jenkins server and the plugin site should work. If it doesn't (or if you weren't using custom keystores to begin with), you could try adding the certificate to the Java cacerts file but this is usually frowned upon as it will get replaced during any updates. A better option might be to instead create a backup, include the certificate in the copy and run Jenkins with using the copy as a truststore.
Remember that the default password for the cacerts store is 'changeit'
cp /apps/java/latest/jre/lib/security/cacerts /apps/java/latest/jre/lib/security/cacerts_copy

# Add the certificate to the keystore
/applications/java/latest/bin/keytool -trustcacerts -import -v -alias pkg_jenkins_io_full_chain -file correct.pem -keystore /apps/java/latest/jre/lib/security/cacerts_copy

# Add -Djavax.net.ssl.trustStore= property to the Jenkins startup parameters, depending on your own OS.
# Just make sure to append it as such:
-Djavax.net.ssl.trustStore=/apps/java/latest/jre/lib/security/cacerts_copy

The https://stackoverflow.com/a/47316409/7569335 answer is good but it does not account for the custom keystore files scenario that I faced. Check it out as well as it has good info.

A: That error is a common error message reported by the Java Virtual Machine. This is caused when the Java environment does not have information about the HTTPS server to verify that it is a valid website. Sometimes the certificate is provided by an internal Root CA or is a Self-Signed Certificate. This sometimes can confuse the JVM as it is not one of the ones on the Java "trusted" list who can provide these certificates.
Because we know that the certificate is "valid" we can import this certificate directly into the JVM. In doing so, we tell the JVM that this is is a "trusted" certificate and to "ignore" any issues with it.
You will need to add the certificate to your Java Certificate Authority file. For an Debian/Ubuntu Linux machine, that's usually located here:
$JAVA_HOME/jre/lib/security/cacerts

However, you don't want to add it to the JRE cacert keystore because it will be overwritten/rewritten by the JRE, so it's best to duplicate this file for Jenkins.

*

*$JAVA_HOME - This should be the location of where your current java home is. If you only have the Java Runtime Environment (JRE) installed, then you can replace $JAVA_HOME/jre with the $JRE_HOME.

*$ALIAS - This can be any value. It is a value to distinguish this certificate from others. Example would be "git-repo", or "artifact server".

*$JENKINS_HOME - This is the path to your Jenkins home. Often /var/lib/jenkins.
You can import the certificate into your JVM cacerts file using the following commands. -- In your Jenkins master. Obtain the certificate, copy the JVM keystore for Jenkins, import the certificate into the keystore, add the trusted keystore to the Jenkins startup parameters and restart Jenkins.
# Import certificate
openssl s_client -showcerts -connect https://your-target-server\
< /dev/null 2> /dev/null | openssl x509 -outform PEM > ~/root_ca.pem

# Duplicate Java Keystore file and move into Jenkins...
mkdir $JENKINS_HOME/keystore/
cp $JAVA_HOME/jre/lib/security/cacerts $JENKINS_HOME/keystore/

# Add Certificate to Keystore
keytool -import -alias $ALIAS -keystore $JENKINS_HOME/keystore/cacerts -file ~/root_ca.pem

# Add -Djavax.net.ssl.trustStore=$JENKINS_HOME/keystore/cacerts to the
# Jenkins startup parameters. For Debian/Ubuntu, this is /etc/default/jenkins
echo 'JAVA_ARGS="$JAVA_ARGS -Djavax.net.ssl.trustStore=$JENKINS_HOME/keystore/cacerts"'\
>> /etc/default/jenkins

sudo service jenkins restart

Reference Help:

*

*PKIX path building failed error message

*How to install a new SSL Certificate in Jenkins

*How to add Java arguments to Jenkins

A: From the question, my understanding is that this Jenkins is installed on a developer box.
If security is not a core concern in this box, you may in Jenkins web UI go to Manage Jenkins > Manage Plugins > tab Available and search for "skip-certificate-check" plugin.
Don't do this on servers exposed public. As the question is pertained to local box experimentation, I am suggesting this solution to get things going.
On installing this, the issue should be fixed. Use this plugin with caution, since it is not advised from security perspective.

A: Go To ->Manage Jenkins -> Configure Global Security -> Plugin Manager
and check the box for Use browser for metadata download.
It will solve the problem.

A: Jenkins is bundled with it's own JRE, so you may be using it's very old JRE hence old trust certificates. Update it as follows

*

*Go to your Jenkins Home Folder and open the jenkins.xml file: %Jenkins_Home%/jenkins.xml

*You will find <executable>%BASE%\jre\bin\java</executable>. This could be really old/obsolete, so replace it with the system installed java runtime like <executable>%JAVA_HOME%\jre\bin\java</executable> or a specific version like<executable>C:\Program Files (x86)\Java\jre1.8.0_144\bin\java</executable>.
Now you should not have the issue since it'll pick up the newer trust certificates
Example

A: Manage Jenkins -> Manage plugins -> Plugin Manager -> Advanced
change "Update Site" to use http not https. this solves my problem.

A: I started getting this error: SSLHandshakeException: sun.security.validator.ValidatorException: PKIX path building failed: sun.security.provider.certpath.SunCertPathBuilderException: unable to find valid certification path to requested target completely out nowhere back in August 2020 on 2 of my Jenkins build servers running on windows server. It prevented updates of Jenkins core and all plug-ins.
Getting some clues from others here and I decided to install the latest version of JRE (v1.8.0_261 in my case) with the hope that the cacerts would be updated. Installing the latest JRE created a new folder here: C:\Program Files (x86)\Java\jre1.8.0_261
Jenkins is pointing to a folder: C:\Program Files (x86)\Jenkins\jre. First I stopped Jenkins service. Second, I backed up and then deleted that C:\Program Files (x86)\Jenkins\jre folder and copied the C:\Program Files (x86)\Java\jre1.8.0_261 to C:\Program Files (x86)\Jenkins\jre.
This may not be best practice but it solved my error.

A: while the above answer is generally correct, it may be also due to an expired certificate in the chain (server cert, intermediate, root). Just got the same error and my server certificate was expired.

A: For Jeinkins on Windows
After installing a stand-alone Java version on my PC, the mentioned error has disappeared.
To be precise, I have installed JDK 8u162 (Java SE Development Kit 8u162) from Java SE Development Kit 8 Downloads

A: Add Root CA (GlobalSign.cer) downloaded from your browser to JAVA_HOME/jre/lib/security/cacerts.
You can use "Keystore explorer" tool to add Root CA to Java cacerts. Check this link for sequence of steps to add Root CA to Java cacerts :
After successfully adding Root CA to Java cert, restart Jenkins.

A: I was able to resolve this issue by updating my JVM to a newer version.  It seems that the new version of the JVM trusted the necessary CA certificate(s) to permit the download of the new jenkins war.

A: Development machine:

*

*Update to latest version of JAVA.

*Install Jenkins (make sure you point to the correct JAVA version).

*Insure Jenkins is using the latest version by looking on the file: C:\Program Files\Jenkins\jenkins.xml:

*

*Ex: C:\Program Files (x86)\Java\jre1.8.0_281\bin\java.exe

*Download certificate:

*

*Go to Jenkins -> Manage Jenkins -> Manage Plugins -> Advanced:

*

*Copy URL from "Update Site" and paste on browser:

*

*Click on the icon left side of the URL and click Certificate.

*

*Go to details and download certificate.

*Import certificate:

*

*Open Java Control Panel:

*

*Got to "Security" -> "Manage Certificates" and import certificate.

*Restart Jenkins.

*Test connection

*

*Go Jenkins -> Manage Jenkins -> Manage Plugins -> Advanced and click "Check now" to test connection.

A: On windows i have jdk-16 installed wich wouldn't work as per the documentation states
My case then it got resolved by:
deleting the content of the .jenkins folder
properly installing and setting a jdk 1.8 version
running the  java -jar jenkins.war
In order for two (or more) versions of java to be switched among you may follow this well written guide by Sven Woltmann
How to change Java versions in Windows (updated 2021 for Java 17)

A: I had this exact same problem on a brand new install of Jenkins on new Mac using Homebrew. After a week of trying to resolve this with no luck, I discovered my IT department installed FortiGuard on the box. Because FortiGuard screws with the SSL responses, this looks like a certificate issue.
I discovered this by looking at the site Jenkins was having issues with (mirror.xmission.com) and then trying to open that site in Safari.
I hope this answer saves someone else a wasted week of effort.

A: My case was pretty unique but had the same exception trace, and none of the above solutions worked. Just putting it out here for someone if they go through the same.
For me, Charles proxy was running in the background which was causing this whole issue and even if I was able to skip the certification check there were other issues popping up due to it. Closing Charles application worked for me.

A: I met this issue when doing the hook connection test between jenkins and  gitlab server connected by LAN.
The issue was solved by check the Ignore SSL Certificate Erros checkbox (hiden in advanced option or  "高级" in Chinese)

A: This is one of the stupid problem that no one has the right answer to. I have the same Jenkins version, same JDK version working in one system with Windows 11 whereas it never succeed in another laptop with Windows 10 version. I made sure its not problem with Jenkins. The problem is related to JDK but not sure what it is.
You can verify the problem with a simple SSL debug as mentioned in https://access.redhat.com/solutions/973783
Use the Java client file to troubleshoot
java -Djavax.net.debug=all JavaHttpsClient https://example.com:port 1

A: go to C:\Program Files\Java\jdk1.8.0_45\jre\lib\security
cmd C:\Program Files\Java\jdk1.8.0_45\jre\lib\security
after that give java -jar jenkins.war it will solve certificate issue

A: Manage Jenkins > Manage Plugins > click on Advance Tab > scroll down to Update Site

enter image description here
update URL as : http://updates.jenkins-ci.org/update-center.json

A: wget updates.jenkins.io/download/plugins/skip-certificate-check/1.0/… to $JENKINS_HOME/plugins and restarted the server, and plugin updates started working again

A: For Newer Version of Jenkins
Go to Jenkins-->Manage Jenkins--> Configure Global Security check the option Use browser for metadata download[by default its unchecked] and Restart Jenkins

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


text:
media, law, expert
Court Rules Skim Milk Isn't 'Skim Milk' in Case in which I Served as Expert
A federal judge ruled earlier this month that Florida's Ocheesee Creamery cannot market its skim milk as skim milk, even though that skim milk contains exactly one ingredient: skim milk.
I served as an expert witness in support of Ocheesee and its customers. As an expert, I spent several hours testifying in a deposition administered by the State of Florida's lawyers. I also drafted an expert report describing how Florida's mandated standard of identity for skim milk does not serve the interests of consumers in the state and tends to mislead consumers. My role as an expert in the case was chiefly, as I describe in my expert report, "to discuss whether or not, in my opinion, consumers would tend to be misled by the labels at issue in this case."
Ultimately, the key First Amendment case centers on whether the government can use Orwellian logic to redefine the meaning of a traditional food like skim milk, and whether the government may force food makers to adopt a deceptive standard of identity and compel those same food makers to repeat that state-mandated deception time and again on their food labels.
The case was brought by the Institute for Justice on behalf of the creamery. IJ said it expects to appeal the case.
You can learn more about the case in my latest Reason column. The case is also one I focus on in my forthcoming book Biting the Hands that Feed Us (which, as I've noted, is now available for pre-order on Amazon).
Tagged: Biting the Hands that Feed Us, Expert, Ocheesee, deposition
Newer PostI'm Speaking at University of New Hampshire Law School Tomorrow
Older Post'Biting the Hands that Feed Us' Now Available for Pre-Order on Amazon!


text:
Yealey on Toll Roads
While reading the beautiful poem written by Riley Scott (a Kentucky boy) entitled "The Toll Gate" we were reminded of our early toll gates. Life is but a Gate-way On the Road of Time Carved with many a legend And with flowers of rhyme. But an ancient Toll-Gate With a keeper old Where each passing trav'ler Pays his piece of gold." Yes we had such gates in Boone County from 1837 up to the early 1900's. During 1837 when the ridge road was completed from Covington to Lexington, toll gates were erected at the most convenient places along the road (generally where another road intersected of close by).
What we mean by a toll gate was a long pole that extended from the residence of the keeper of the toll gate to the opposite side of the road. He was where you paid for the right to travel a toll-road in those bygone days. What is now the Dixie Highway had two of these gates between Florence and Walton, one of these being at Devon, the other one located south of Richwood on the old Road [out of Walton, go north on the old Nicholson Road, and the very last building north of the Gaines/Gault house, east side of the road, stood the toll-house]. Both are still used as residences.
The Florence and Burlington Pike had two gates. In early times the toll was collected from what is now the Price Connor house, but later moved to the residence now occupied by Stanley Aylor. The other gate was located at the junction of the Hebron and Burlington Pike. This house has been removed, and a better approach to the Hebron and Limaburg road is the result. There were two between Burlington and Belleview, and if you went through Petersburg from Burlington you would pass three. The Florence and Union Pike had two. The Price Pike had one, and the Mitchellville Dry Creek Pike had two.
Before the bond issue was carried there were about twenty-five toll gates in our county. The fare for traveling these roads varied according to the vehicle, for a horse and buggy it was generally 2 ½ cents a mile. As the auto appeared it was twenty cents per mile for a motor driven vehicle. This writer paid $2.40 for the privilege to drive his auto from Florence to Burlington and return. Roads would be less traveled today if we had toll gates. We shall close this article by quoting the last paragraph of "The Toll gate:" Does love guide your steps? Are you led by hate? Are you smiling, comrade; Passing through the gate?
From a column by Mr. A. M. Yealey, dated January 7, 1955, but our source clipping had no title of the periodical the article was from.


Top negotiators for the NHL and the players' union met Wednesday morning to discuss the status of their labor talks, agreed to skip a second scheduled session and decided to reconvene in Toronto on Thursday.
NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman and Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly met with NHLPA executives Donald Fehr and Steve Fehr for two hours.
The current collective bargaining agreement expires on Sept. 15 and Bettman has said the league will lock players out if a new agreement isn't reached.
"I think system-related proposals and economic proposals are the most critical issues and probably the issues where we have the widest divergence of views currently," Daly told the Canadian Press news agency. "I'm all in favor of spending as much time as possible trying to bridge those gaps."
Donald Fehr told reporters the talks Wednesday centered on how to go forward and that nothing should be read into the cancellation of the second session. "This is one of the normal things that happens in bargaining," he said. He also said he expects talks to continue in New York "all of next week and maybe thereafter at the NHL offices."
The NHL has proposed redefining what constitutes hockey-related revenues and reducing players' share of those revenues. Its plan would essentially cut salaries by 24 percent, the same reduction it won in 2004-05.
The league also wants to postpone unrestricted free agency until players are at least 28 and to cap contracts at a maximum of five years, though in the meantime owners continue to sign players to lengthy extensions. Most recently, the Oilers extended Taylor Hall's contract for seven years and the Flyers re-signed both Scott Hartnell and Wayne Simmonds for six years.
The NHLPA has proposed taking a smaller percentage of revenues for the next three seasons than the 57 percent players received last season in exchange for the league's implementing a wide-ranging revenue-sharing plan to help weaker clubs. Those funds would be distributed through an industry growth fund.
Separately, a rule-enforcement meeting in Toronto concluded with a consensus to call the diving/embellishment penalty more frequently. On slashing the consensus is that any stick contact to an opponent's hand should be a penalty.