Ohio is about to get a lot dumber.

[Hi! My name is: Katie]

Some people here live in Ohio right? I gotta say- I hate your governor. The guy is taking $200 million from the libraries- essentially cutting the library budgets in half. Generally libraries get funding from communities, but in Ohio's case they get all their funding from the state. A lot of libraries are about to disappear all across Ohio. Sad.

It makes me kind of angry. People use libraries to: look for jobs, get access to the internet, learn new skills, check out dvds, and books, get free access to newspapers and magazines.

Meanwhile, he is reversing his stance on slot machines. In one place I read that he is using public funds to help set them up.

I can see where libraries are pretty inconvenient if you, along with Governor Strickland like the idea of suppressing dissenting opinions. Take out a major hub of self education and communication and you are on your way to a drooling ineffectual populace.

Ted Strickland, I hope you had no higher aspirations politically, because the United States does NOT need leaders like You!

[donteatpoop]

Yeah, it sucks balls. Cutting our library fundings by 50%.

And my family loves the libaries.

[apotheosis]

That's terrible. If states need money, the solution is simple, legalize and tax pot. With that money, they could double funding to libraries and still have enough left over to cover the deficit.

[Hi! My name is: Katie]

Yeah, they should legalize pot.

What might be worse than them cutting the budgets is that the governor is basically accusing the libraries that inform the public about the cuts that will undoubtedly close numerous public libraries of causing undue fear. First he takes the library funding then he starts picking on the librarians?! There's a rather extensive internet/facebook/twitter protest going on these days. Ohio libraries used to be the best in the country. In response he wrote a letter about the importance of libraries and about "tough choices" it was all political double-talk. It didn't suggest any alternative plans. Hopefully the checks and balances system in Ohio will actually pull through for the public.

Hey DEP, will your family still HAVE a library when he is through???

[Megamantn]

Yeah, they should legalize pot.

Legalizing pot is a bad idea just as bad as taking money from the libraries & blowing it off on stuff Ohio doesn't need.

I agree with Katie against cutting library budget. Where are kids gonna get learning books for their young minds, Adult 18+ bookstores?

Believe me, Political figures are more corrupt now than they have been before.

[End Master]

Most of the pot smokers I've personally known have been the stereotypical stoner idiots that don't do anything with their lives, BUT they should just legalize pot and just put the same restrictions on it like they do with alcohol (Like no driving while smoking it) and tax the hell out of it like they do with cigarettes.

As a matter a fact we should just legalize prostitution too and just have the hookers get mandatory "hooker licenses" and monthly health check ups like the porn stars are supposed to do. You could also have mandatory condoms for the customers at these state run brothels just to be even safer for health concerns.

Really, whores and weed are hardly "criminal" concerns, so this would free up the legal/prison system a bit as well.

[Megamantn]

I disagree. Pot is just as bad & dangerous as other drugs. Even one huff of pot can screw up a person & everyone around him/her.

I'm even surprised that Arnold Schwarzenegger became governor after smoking pot. Pot users or any other kind of drug users can't hold political office.

[apotheosis]

Once again, Megmann is a fucking idiot.

Prostitution is another good one End. If legalized, would stop the abuse of a lot of women because instead of a pimp beating them, they would have mandatory STD prevention and just pay a percentage of their earnings to the government.

Also, gambling would be another great way for states to get some additional revenue. Take the business away from illegal bookies and push it above ground.

Even medically prescribed and monitored heroin use was proven to be effective in the UK. Prison should really be reserved for violent offenders and really really big assholes (like Madoff).

[Dragavan]

I do not drink, smoke, or do any kind of illicit drugs, and never have... but even I know that Megamantn is completely wrong on this one. I think he's watched Reefer Madness or the 80s Health Class scare films too many times and took them to heart.

Marijuana, although not healthy, is nowhere near as dangerous as most other drugs, including Alcohol and tobacco (which are both legal). The "mind altering" parts of pot, mostly the THC, causes one to become slowed down, relaxed, lazy, and hungry... none of which is dangerous unless you are doing some kind of act that requires quick reactions (like driving a car).

Plus, if it was legalized and regulated, the level of these chemicals would be controlled (kept down to standard levels) and not allowed to be increased to potentially dangerous levels through botanical crossbreeding and chemistry. It would also remove the majority of criminal elements dealing in it, which is where the "gateway drug" belief comes from. If they are in connection with people who deal pot, they are most likely also people who deal other drugs and would be likely to push them on you as something more additive and better to pad their wallets with. Make some state run liquor/pot store the "dealer" and you take that element out of it.

It would also be a huge boon to the state and federal governments, as they could make sellers have to be licensed (which costs fees) and tax the hell out of the sales (just as they do with cigarettes). The income for this would well MORE than pay for any programs that would also be smart to put in place to help people who feel they are addicted and want to "recover" from it, as well as paying for so many other programs and roads and things the state/federal governments want to put in place.

On the subject of prostitution, nearly all the same arguments work for it. making it legal would be nearly better for all people on all sides of the board. Prostitutes would get regular health care and check ups. There would be no pimps feeding on the addictions of others and abusing their hoes. STDs would be better tracked and kept under control. Again you would have taxes and other income for the government that could go towards programs to help maintain the health, education, and even recovery of both prostitutes and their clients if they should need it. The sex trade is one of the oldest and most profitable enterprises of all time.

Legal gambling is already on the rise across the country. More casinos and card houses are springing up all over the place. Hell, just in my state here alone we seem to have new ones every year, and not just tribal ones like it used to be. Again, legalized and taxed gambling leads to large revenue boons for the government and could be used to fund all sorts of programs to help those addicted or who have problems with it (as is done here). It also limits what can be said or done in advertising for them as well as forcing them to place warnings against the potential problems (just as cigarettes require the warnings and aren't allowed to appear in certain places or say certain things).

All making any of these things illegal has done is given power and control to criminals, just as prohibition did with alcohol back in the 1920s.

[Megamantn]

Once again, Megmann is a fucking idiot.

Prostitution is another good one End. If legalized, would stop the abuse of a lot of women because instead of a pimp beating them, they would have mandatory STD prevention and just pay a percentage of their earnings to the government.

Also, gambling would be another great way for states to get some additional revenue. Take the business away from illegal bookies and push it above ground.

Even medically prescribed and monitored heroin use was proven to be effective in the UK. Prison should really be reserved for violent offenders and really really big assholes (like Madoff).

I'm not being an idiot. I'm speaking facts therefore if you believe pot, prostitution or gambling should be legal, go ahead and think that as you would be the idiots.

They screw people's lives up while gambling causes addiction & later 100% loss of money especially with a bad economy like this.

As for prostitution, SICK! People shouldn't use their own bodies for money & especially have sex without marriage. WAIT UNTIL MARRIAGE OR BEFORE AGE 40!

[Dragavan]

As for prostitution, SICK! People shouldn't use their own bodies for money & especially have sex without marriage. WAIT UNTIL MARRIAGE OR BEFORE AGE 40!

Oh, so now it's clear... it's a religious based moral hang up and not facts that you base this all on... then there is no more point in speaking or even attempting to debate because those stances, although mostly bearing-less, are also nearly impossible to shake... good day sir.

[Usoki]

Hang on, Drag- don't be so hasty. He's speaking facts.

They screw people's lives up while gambling causes addiction & later 100% loss of money especially with a bad economy like this.

Everyone knows that real facts aren't longer than a sentence, sound suspiciously like statements, and have absolutely nothing to support them.

And then there's this gem-

As for prostitution, SICK! People shouldn't use their own bodies for money & especially have sex without marriage. WAIT UNTIL MARRIAGE OR BEFORE AGE 40!

Let's take a closer look, shall we?

People shouldn't use their own bodies... until marriage or before age 40!

See it yet?

People under 40 can do whatever they want with their bodies!

Eh?

My name is Megaman, and I fully support drums request for child robot pornography!

[End Master]

Congratulations Mega, you just fucked yourself again with your own retarded post.

Good work!

[Hi! My name is: Katie]

Mega, you have a very narrow view of right and wrong. You really care more about trying to force people to do what you think is right than having libraries and more public services available to people? Use your imagination, what could we do with the tax revenue from those services that are already happening illegally and currently detracting from society rather than benefiting it?

1. pay for libraries
2. develop a national health scheme
3. boost financial aid for college students
4. create new industry for the unemployed workers. (pot farming would be totally in)

It would increase tourism, decrease the capacity in most jails.

Even if YOU choose not to engage in those activities, can't you see how other people might feel differently?

[MikaelL]

He's provoking you. He's too stereotypical.