tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8774131.post959074459099585466..comments2023-06-24T11:57:48.459-04:00Comments on larrylivermore.com: WoodstockLarry Livermorehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11948659387575597910noreply@blogger.comBlogger9125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8774131.post-54381323362288280522009-09-02T01:22:57.999-04:002009-09-02T01:22:57.999-04:00Great post, Larry. Over the last year or so, I...Great post, Larry. Over the last year or so, I've thought a good deal about whether bands/culture from the 60s is considered so monumental and influential simply because there were so many young people at the time. It seems obvious, but I guess I never thought about it much. And I wasn't around to see any of it happen. Anyway...a good read, as always.Joehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00479854108056331340noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8774131.post-85971595156011980432009-08-22T05:39:25.569-04:002009-08-22T05:39:25.569-04:00I don't know what kind of fantasy world Mr/Ms ...I don't know what kind of fantasy world Mr/Ms Anonymous is living in, but in fact people in the 1960s were routinely charged with major felonies and given major prison time for marijuana charges that today might result in not much more than a ticket or a talking to.<br /><br />For the record, I was arrested on drug charges in 1968 and was facing 20 to life over four ounces of pot. It was only by going underground for a year until some of the furor had died down and a couple of the witnesses had disappeared that I avoided going to prison.<br /><br />It was that same year or the year after that John Sinclair was sentenced to 9 1/2 to 10 years for two joints. Granted, he had gotten on the authorities' nerves through his political activities, but at the same time, he actually got off light in terms of what the marijuana laws dictated at that time: legally, he could have been given a minimum of 20 years.Larry Livermorehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11948659387575597910noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8774131.post-86757316709212652392009-08-22T05:11:59.558-04:002009-08-22T05:11:59.558-04:00David: Sure, we've gotten better, as a countr...David: Sure, we've gotten better, as a country, in some ways since 1969. We've also gotten worse in some ways. Sorry for focusing on one of the ways we've gotten worse. America is far closer to a "police state" overall than it was in 1969, and the "War on Drugs" is largely insanity. I realize America has improved on gay rights, and areas such as that. But I don't get why America is trying to set some kind of record for the percentage of its population it can suck into its criminal justice system. Maybe you can explain that to me. And maybe you can explain to me how it helps anyone to slap a 19 year old with a felony if he's pulled over in a car and a cop finds a crack pipe. Felonies used to be reserved for the worst of the worst crimes, such as murder and rape. Now, you can get a felony if they find drug paraphenelia in your vehicle, stuff that is openly sold at gas stations in the ghettos. If you're a felon, you're stripped of many of your rights as a citizen and will have trouble getting a job. So, you'll be further sucked into the criminal underworld. You think lowering the voting age and extending more rights to gay people trumps these negative trends. I don't. There's a tendency for people to always think things are always getting progressively better. It depends on who you're talking about and what you're talking about. Many things have gotten worse since 1969. I was just noting how lucky Livermore was that he was not pulled over in a van full of drugs in 2009. It might've ruined his life instead of just being an interesting story from his youth. <br /><br />It amazed me that the last three presidents were all into drugs in their youth yet they sit idly by as youths of today are having their lives ruined by our War on Drugs.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8774131.post-34166435223549178322009-08-19T00:12:27.608-04:002009-08-19T00:12:27.608-04:00Why live in 69 when you can live in 85.Why live in 69 when you can live in 85.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8774131.post-6637010711766149272009-08-18T12:18:25.345-04:002009-08-18T12:18:25.345-04:00And to the second anonymous commenter, yeah we all...And to the second anonymous commenter, yeah we all long to live in that liberated 1969 society when abortion was illegal, gays had no rights, people under 21 couldn't vote, and we had a military draft so you could go to Vietnam and die.David HDhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14582726869321232657noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8774131.post-11767696698475933282009-08-18T12:12:17.244-04:002009-08-18T12:12:17.244-04:00Great article! There's no point living in the ...Great article! There's no point living in the past, nostalgia is futile. You might as well embrace what you can in the present.David HDhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14582726869321232657noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8774131.post-38256779574998010562009-08-18T00:10:37.060-04:002009-08-18T00:10:37.060-04:00Hello, Mr/Ms Anonymous!
Yes, I go to a lot of tro...Hello, Mr/Ms Anonymous!<br /><br />Yes, I go to a lot of trouble "making up" stories like this, but it's worth every bit of the effort just knowing in advance what an outraged, frothing-at-the-mouth reaction I'm going to get out of you! Cheers, LLLarry Livermorehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11948659387575597910noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8774131.post-85543831146772602952009-08-16T03:50:15.817-04:002009-08-16T03:50:15.817-04:00Hey, Larry Livermore, 2009 is so great? Those cop...Hey, Larry Livermore, 2009 is so great? Those cops who pulled you over would've slapped you with felonies in 2009's America and not just ruined your trip but your whole life. Sounds like those days were better to me.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8774131.post-88385034655682985732009-08-15T15:32:46.474-04:002009-08-15T15:32:46.474-04:00Why you make up this story Larry? You weren't ...Why you make up this story Larry? You weren't at Woodstock.<br />Your brother was. People you knew were. You weren't there.<br />Stick to the truth.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com