Shame on You, Marc Emery

I haven’t spoken much on the issue of pot in this blog, and certainly haven’t talked about marijuana activist Marc Emery (aka Prince of Pot) either, but recent news surrounding Emery and his impending extradition to a US prison is certainly worth talking about:

First, some background information for your reading pleasure:

CBC News: Marijuana activist Emery awaits extradition

The Vancouver Sun: Marc Emery's sentence reeks of injustice and mocks our sovereignty

I will talk about my take against the very biased Vancouver Sun article later, but first, let’s talk about the incident:

Marc Emery sold marijuana seeds to the US. This is against the US laws. Whether you agree with the laws in the States in regards to marijuana is irrelevant – he broke US laws knowingly. Canada and the US have extradition agreements. When a Canadian citizen has broken American laws, the US has the right to ask the Canadian government to extradite that person to the US to face prosecution and imprisonment. The same is true when an American breaks Canadian laws. These are objective facts.

If Emery wants to be an activist, and feels that his cause of the nature of civil disobedience, so be it. At least, I can almost respect him for taking a stance on something he believes in (though I would disagree with his stance completely). But, if he wants to be looked at as a martyr, then behave like one! Don’t whine about being extradited, don’t complain that Canada is “selling you out!” Emery KNEW when he sold the seeds to the States that he would be breaking their law! Emery mis-calculated, and now, has to pay for his mis-calculation. If he makes it sound like he didn’t know that this would happen, then either he has too much “hippie lettuce” in his system to think straight, or he is just a liar. Plain and simple.

As for Ian Mulgrew’s column – I have been criticizing this columnist for a very long time, and this is just another example. Look at the facts, Ian! Canada and the US have extradition agreements with each other! People who break the other country’s laws can be summoned for extradition! This is not a humanitarian case where Emery may face execution – he is going to the States for a jail term that he knew he might face. Canada is merely following what it has agreed upon; it is its international duty – how is that selling out our sovereignty?

Bottom line – when one has made a conscious choice, take ownership of the consequence. And please do not throw in the sovereignty card to make your argument sound more patriotic and reasonable – it only shows that you would go out of your way, even if the way is totally unreasonable and inaccurate, to make a point. It does not make you look smart, to say the least.

Hilarious or Worrisome?

Social networking has been extremely popular in recent years. Sites such as “Facebook” and “Twitter” have been used extensively, sometimes excessively, by people young and old. But this latest news is just over-the-top:

cnet News: Facebook break leads to burglary suspect

PC World: Burglar Checks Facebook During Raid, Gets Busted

Jonathan G. Parker, a 19-year-old from Fort Loudoun, Pa., was arrested by police for an alleged burglary. According to the charges, Parker broke into a home and stole two diamond rings that are worth $3500. The quick arrest happened, not strictly due to the police’s efficiency, but more so, because of Parker’s stupidity:

You see, when the victim of the crime came home and realized that someone had broken into her home, she also noticed that her computer was turned on, and on the browser was Parker’s Facebook page. Apparently, Parker could not stop the urge of logging onto his Facebook account during the burglary, and had to log on (but had forgotten to log off).

If you are in the middle of a burglary and you cannot resist logging onto Facebook to check if your “homie” is having lobsters that evening, or if your buddy is having a fight with his girlfriend, you have an addiction problem! Jonathan, if it is not too much to ask, next time you are breaking into someone’s home, bring your smart phone with you so you can twit about your crime, and can update your status without leaving such apparent tracks for the police. So you can update your status as “in the middle of a burglary, hope I won’t get caught…”?! Or so you can twit and say “picked up two diamond rings, score!”?!

Social networking has done wonders for many of us – how many of us have benefitted from these programs that allow us to connect with friends that you have not seen for the longest time? Having said that, it has also created a bunch of us, who seemingly can no longer survive without letting the whole world know about what we are doing. What has happened to sports, to private, quiet reading time, to family time?

As for Jonathan Parker, he may be behind bars for as many as ten years, likely without a chance to Facebook or Twit during that time.