Libertarians may be more consistent in their beliefs, but their beliefs have never been tested by the the experience of enduring significant political power, or money.

Cannabis is easily available, much less expensive than heroin, won't unexpectedly kill you, or lead to extremely harmful behavior. I have never seen a junkie transition from heroin to pot, leaving the heroin behind. And I have years of wrenching personal experience with a very close family member who had been addicted to heroin for years, but is now free after a full one year residential program. Cannabis is not near close enough.

Supply (we've got about all we're gonna get) & demand (spiked by natural human interest). Yeah, it's craven. But that's the way things are.

Consider looking into what some call a Paleo or Caveman diet. Basically drop out grains, legumes, sugars, starchy roots like potatoes (yams and such in moderation are fine), prepared foods as much as possible, and any so-called "foods" that have a long list of ingredients. Dairy is in or out as you wish. Cook (Gasp*) with fresh meats, veggies, nuts, certain oils, fruit in moderation. Even bacon, the Candy of Meats, is in. Brownies made with almond butter instead of flour, high-cocoa chocolate and a bit of honey are great, for instance. And enjoy stepping outside Paleo eating once in a while; it's not an ascetic thing. Just different. We've been human for 100-200,000 years, depending on who you ask. We ate "paleo" for the vast majority of that time. We're evolved/designed to do very well indeed on this sort of fare. Anecdotal for sure, but my relatively inactive wife dropped 60 lbs in about 6 months with this diet change alone, no deliberate extra activity. My oldest daughter dropped about 15 (all she wanted/needed), started a Cross-Fit routine and at 34 is very, very fit. Myself, I didn't have much extra, maybe 10 lbs; it vanished with no change in activity level. We all eat as much as we want. At 60 I feel great. And the cost isn't much more than what groceries, junk & fast food altogether were costing. Seems to work for us! *Yikes, I had genuine alarm at the prospect of grocery shopping more frequently and, you know, actually cooking. Turns out this wasn't really an issue.

Science may not be a competition, but technology certainly is. One thing leads to another...

This quote from TFA reveals much about our dilemna..."For example, the government has a lot more power than the people." Where did The Government get such power? Food for thought, perhaps.

Government and corporations are surely separate entities, at least at any given moment. But they cooperate intimately in order to fulfill their respective goals, power for government and wealth for corporations. They're a team, tightly knit, well practiced, interdependent, sharing information and people. Separately and together, they have long and hallowed traditions which have brought tremendous success. We the People are the raw material. Government and large business working together are the process. Wealth and power for select individuals is the final product. Such are the ways of the world. Always have been.

Perhaps if only natural persons, as individuals, could make campaign and other political contributions...with a cap, something like one-tenth of the annual poverty level for a family of four, or some such figure indexed to an amount that represents a natural reflection of the average economic life of all of us taken together. What a fantasy...

Let's take a(nother) look at Google from a business perspective: 96% Google's 1Q 2010 revenues came from advertisers. 66% via their own sites and 30% via Adsense. Google 1Q 2010 Results Our clicks are the real product, sold to advertisers. The Google "products" mentioned above are the production method, not the product.