Tuesday, June 26, 2007

Tiahrt mentioned in my new book available on the internet and many of the big chains

The Fight Over Needle Exchange Programs to Prevent AIDSAll of this raises health questions, as to the use of used and dirtyneedles. By 1990 there were an estimated 250,000 intravenous drug users.

My book is now available at Amazon.com and through Barnes & Noble and yes, Tiahrt is given his due.
The book can be ordered at www,Barnesandnoble.com
The book can probably be ordered through your local Borders as well.


Tiahrt is mentioned in
Chapter 8
Paraphernalia
Equipment or Art, They Are Used to Ingest



The Fight Over Needle Exchange Programs to Prevent AIDS

Here is a comprehensive reference book to songs, publications and objects of art that reflected the last century's counter-cultures as well as government and mainstream press attempts to censor them.
in New York City alone and more than half of them were estimated to
have AIDS. And even with these alarming statistics, the government,
under President Reagan, wanted to prevent clean needle exchange or
distribution programs. There were many AIDS activists who where
running needle exchange programs (exchanging clean needles for old
ones) and providing the use of bleach to clean old needles when new ones
were not available. They were often harassed by police for violating drug
paraphernalia laws. When various groups advocated government-funded
needle exchange programs to counter AIDS, Nancy Reagan, then first
lady who made a crusade against casual drug use, came out against any
type of exchange or even bleach to clean old needles. “That would send
the wrong message,” she said.427
There’s no doubt that needle exchange programs work. Since these
programs were started, there has been a 30 percent drop in AIDS among
intravenous drug users, according to the National Institutes of Health. At
least 60 federally funded studies have shown that such programs work in
reducing AIDS. At the same time, these studies show no significant
increase in drug use attributed to these programs.428
Still, President Clinton, despite all the evidence, took the position that
there should be no federal funding for needle exchange programs. This
policy was taken despite recommendations by the president’s own
Advisory Council on AIDS and Health and Human Services Secretary
Donna Shalala, that such programs work.429.
Kansas Representative Todd Tiahrt, Republican, angered AIDS
activists by pushing for a ban on programs that distribute needles to
addicts in Washington, DC. Tiahrt, who got the ban passed with the help
of other conservatives, complained that these programs encourage drug
use.
AIDS activists claim this program saved lives and Tiahrt’s actions
would literally kill people. Presently, needle exchange programs are
endorsed by DC Police Chief Charles H. Ramsey and former Surgeon
General C. Everett Koop. Representative Albert Wynn, Democrat from
Maryland, called Tiahrt’s move “arrogant and misguided.” Washington,
DC, has one of the nation’s highest rates of new HIV infections.430
Tiahrt said these programs promote drug abuse and don’t work. He
cited a study done by the Office of National Drug Control Policy that
claims the public health risks of needle exchange programs outweigh
their benefits431.The ONDCP is a hawkish “war on drugs” organization.
By using them as a source, we see that Tiahrt is more concerned with his
twisted sense of morality than the public welfare. And this is not the first
time.
Besides the AIDS issue, Washington, DC’s, home rule advocates were
also angered that the federal government is dictating what programs they
can operate on the local level. Tiahrt’s bill also included a ban on the use
of medical marijuana. This is not the first time Tiahrt has led an effort to
halt needle exchange programs
. Two years earlier, he voted for a House
amendment to ban the use of any tax money for needle exchange
programs.432








429 Clarence Lusane, “Right Turn on Clean Needles,” The Wichita Eagle, 4 May 1998, p. 6A.
430 New York Times News Service, “Tiahrt Angers AIDS Activists,” The
Wichita Eagle, 1 August 1999, p. 19A
431 Ibid.
432 “Tiahrt Gets Support for Ban on Needles,” The Wichita Eagle, 8
August 1998, 3A.
433 Eleanor Krohn

Monday, June 18, 2007

Tiahrt: defender of gun toting criminals

Once again Rep. Todd Tiahrt is defending unscrupulous gun dealers against further regulations. His new amendment is meant to shield small time shading gun dealers from having to be able to trace the source of the guns they sell. His interest is once again, purely business related and as usual, public safety comes a distant last.
According to the The Wichita Eagle:

Jun. 18, 2007


SHARING OF CRIME DATA
Tiahrt, Bloomberg clash over gun data
BY DAVID GOLDSTEIN
McClatchy Newspapers
WASHINGTON - Rep. Todd Tiahrt of Kansas and New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg are waging a gunfight.
It's not quite pistols at 20 paces; it's more like political sniping via long distance.
Their feud is over an amendment that Tiahrt wrote in 2003 that puts strict limits on how broadly the government can share gun-tracing data. The information identifies the original dealer and buyer of a weapon used in a crime.
Tiahrt and others say the restrictions are necessary because disclosure could reveal names of undercover officers and informants or tip off targets involved in investigations related to those weapons.
Bloomberg and more than 200 other mayors counter that the measure handcuffs their anti-crime efforts where illegal guns are involved because they cannot trace their source.
"That's why trace data is so important in the post-9/11 era," said John Feinblatt, Bloomberg's criminal justice coordinator. "Why wouldn't you let cops connect the dots?"
Once again Tiahrt’s excuses are flimsy, illogical and just plain profit motivated. Once again Tiahrt has embarrassed the state of Kansas by protecting criminals.


Friday, June 08, 2007

CITYPAPER. Sells out to Tiahrt and other useless conservatives

It never fails. Some one starts a newspaper to provide the other side of issues a voice, it starts loosing money, then a conservative buys it and scoops out the same dog shit we get every day in our daily newspaper, not to mention other weeklies and the newspapers of the religious wing-nuts or fundis.
Our latest victim is the CITYPAPER. It was originally a decent paper that replaced F5. It had always been geared to entertainment, but it did provide a forum for the disenfranchised reader. Now it’s a straight out piece of crap.
It’s put out by a couple, Ron and Sheryl Nut. And just to let the Nuts know, we don’t need more conservative fish wrap in Wichita. We have enough manure that passes for political politics as it is.
The best example of duplication is a column by Congressman Todd Tiahrt. As if he doesn’t get enough uncritical publicity in the local media, this stupid rag has designated him the “Capitol Report” – As if we don’t already have enough biased congressional reporting from one of the worst politicians ever allowed to serve on behalf of Congress. We already pay to send his whole family to Hawaii and Europe for vacations and listen to him spout off about issues he knows nothing about due to his blinded fundamentalist rhetoric. Now a small alternative paper gives him yet another voice.

Well, CityPaper of Wichita, we don’t need another useless conservative rag and many of us have no use for you at all.