Spoken like a true pot head; "Fu*k It, I Quit"

[Troy]

 

I know I'm getting old when I see something like this and think to myself, how silly can you be?  If you don't like the job are wanna sell herb instead, just quit, like a professional--sheesh.

 

I discovered this video on the News One website.  Someone suggested to me that they are the most prominent sources of Black news on the web.  I disagreed saying the it would be the Huffington Post.  I'm not happy saying that, but that is my take.  Plus I don't consider this particular story "news."

 

Again, I get that it is starling, alarming and sensational.  Indeed, I was even promoted to post it here.  But if our most prominent new source has to broker in this type of news, culturally we are in deep doo-doo.

[Mel Hopkins]

Although it did get her message out, Charlo Greene's on-air resignation seems more to me than alarming and sensational but rather it was about integrity. Yes, “integrity’s 2nd meaning -" to remain whole and undivided".

Maybe Greene could no longer publicly report on the opposition to "legalization of marijuana" while simultaneously presiding over Alaska Cannabis Club.  No telling how many times that story came up and she found herself fronting it.  

Now, Troy, I do understand your position; why couldn't she quit in private.   I'm a firm believer, however, that if you are proponent of cause why not use all of your resources to draw attention to it. Use whatever to be heard especially, when viral content is making ordinary people into minor celebrities.   

​In hindsight, it worked. Not only did Charlo Greene raise more than $8,000 for her cause using Indiegogo, the crowdfunding platform; Alaskans voted 52-48 yesterday to legalize marijuana.  

So maybe we will only be in “deep doo-doo” if we continue to believe someone will recognize our deeds as long as we continue to do good work.

Nope.
 

Well, not as long as we are living in the age of "turn down for what”.

[Troy]

Hi Mel,  sure I get the fact she used that tactic to draw attention to herself.  I also understand why doing something like that is quite lucrative.  But I would not put her behavior in the same category as having integrity.  I think what she did was low class and just plain rude.

 

As a journalist she would be relating facts, not sharing her personal opinion.  That is not frontin' that is called reporting. 

 

True, most people doing good deeds go under or unrecognized, but those types of folks are not motivated by recognition, they are motivated by simply doing good things.  Sure some notoriety, and the money it brings, can make it easier to do good things.  

 

Often the people most motivated to do good things are not the same type of people who are interested in bringing attention to themselves by any means necessary.

 

Speaking of pot you could see the legalization of it coming a mile away.  Head shops and hooka lounges are opening all over the place. Charlo did not drive this change, she is however, apparently, profiting from it.... and perhaps abusing the products as well 

[Mel Hopkins]

LOL! "Abuse"? <big smile>  I'm just glad folks can have their weed without going to jail for it.  Now, if we criminalize sugar and sugary products , we'd be better in the long run! :

[Troy]

Mike Bloomberg (NYC's former major) gave crimializing oversized sugary beverages a shot here in NYC, by making it illegal to sell them.  I thought it was a dumb law, and still do.

 

But I also thought his law restricting cigarette smoking in most public places, including city parks, was a dumb too.  In hindight, however, I think it was a great idea.  Restaurants are much more confortable places now and fewer people are smoking and dying as a result. 

 

A pack of cigarettes costs damn near $15 in NYC, and poorer people continue to smoke them.  Most, I image, buy them on the black market.  People have been arrested for selling cigarettes illegally.  I recall one case of someone being killed for selling smokes on someone else's turf!

 

The idea that a coporation can grow wealthy manufacturing and selling the cancer sticks, while poor people are going to jail for buying then in Virginia and reselling them in NYC is the height of absurdity, and just one more example of unfair treatment of the poor folks. (I guess it was not enough that we had to pick it for a couple hundred years without benefit).

 

Watch who profits from legalization of marijuana.

[Mel Hopkins]

Key words: Government,  "persons" i.e., corporations. Those are who will profit especially big pharma. Individuals will still pay taxes, corporations will not.

In contrast, It is illegal in 26 states to grow marijuana for commercial use.  Whereas  if I wanted to smoke a cigarette I could grow tobacco in my backyard.  Some farmers are subsidized not grow tobacco and others grow and make a nice living .  

By the way; it is reported sugar kills more people in more ways than tobacco ever could.   Every leading cause of death is directly or indirectly caused by over consumption of added sugar... and while some people say "moderation" reports indicate an average american diet contains 156 lbs of sugar per year... 29 lbs is sucrose.  A 2000 calorie diet is only supposed to contain 8 teaspoons of sugar  - unfortunately food manufacturers  add a lot of sugar to everything just to make their foods palatable and it is that sugar that is making us sick.   EXCEPT the difference with  sugar consumption is it personal. Sort of like NIMBY, unlike secondhand smoke where our personal choice is removed.

Maybe since sugar consumption doesn't interfere with another's personal space most people don't care.   Former Mayor Bloomberg, however, understood the effect of overdosing on sugar.He worried about his constituents even at the risk of  pissing off big business.   He understood the toll it takes on the quality of life and even cognition. Yes look at the studies and you will see sugar is making us not only fat but retarded.   Once I realized how toxic sugar is in the doses we are ingesting   Bloomberg's law seemed to be  one of the smartest things we can do to save ourselves - even if it is from ourselves!

[Troy]

Mel I agree with you about sugar in our diet, and I appreciate that if I was being consistent I would not have a problem with Bloomberg's sugar law any more than I do with his smoking law.

 

You pointed out that sugar consumption doesn't interfere with another's personal space the way smoking does, and that is part of the reason I have stronger personal opinions about smoking.  

 

The problem I have with Bloomberg's law is not what he is trying to accomplish, but who his targets are.  The real culprits are the corporations that our government is beholden to.  

 

Why is a small business owner put on the hook for selling a product that really should not have been manufactured in the first place?

 

People who want a lot of soda, can simply buy two servings. or stores can offer infinite refills.  Again, the law is silly because it is too easy to subvert and it does not address the underlying problem. 

 

At least the smoking law allows me to enjoy a meal in a restaurant without being poisoned by 2nd hand smoke.

 

There are numerous documentaries describing how corporations put tons of sugar, salt, and fat into our food to sell more of it.  They target children, get government subsidies and contracts to sell this junk in schools.  Many colleges have fast food franchises ON CAMPUS!  Soda costs less than water in the stores.  Fresh produce cost more than junk food. It does not have to be that way.

 

Meanwhile this has wrecked havoc on the nation's health.  But corporations are here to save us (profit even more) with surgical procedures, pills, health clubs, and the like.  Of course the Black population is disproportionately impacted with obese, diabetes, hypertension, and all the challenges associated with these illnesses,  My father passed at 44 from these illnesses; his brother was in his 30's.  

 

Originally Michelle Obama went after corporation's products.  Under corporate pressure she, then focused on getting people to exercise more!  Of course Let's Move sounds great, but if you are drinking 700 to 1,000 cans of soda a year, as many of us are, there is simply enough moving in the world to make a difference.

 

We tend to blame the victim in this nation, and too often those victims are Black folks.

[Cynique]

Also, unless we are prepared to morph into an Utopian society where bartering is the means of obtaining goods and services, the law of supply and demand will continue to prevail.  All of the appetites that drive us to crave what we want instead of what we need along with the unhealthy conditions that result from this are what create industries that generate jobs and profits. If everybody was healthy and no body smoke or drank or if nobody committed crimes or needed welfare, the economy would totally collapse.    

 

We are not a country, we are a Catch-22. 

[Troy]

Richard perhaps in the larger scheme of things that is true.  But have you ever wondered why Asians run all the Dunkin Donut franchises in the Black community?  Have you ever wondered why more chinese takeout is consumed than soul food in the Black community?  Have you ever wondered why we buy all of our fake hair and other hair "care" products from other groups?  The vast majority of Black children are educated by white women...

 

Black folks used to dominate the numbers racket in Harlem, now New York State robs us.  One of the most profitable casinos in the US is here in NYC.  It is owned by a Malaysian corporation that is sucking the community, of mostly poor people, dry in exchange for tax revenue.

 

When I was a kid you could go into a store and buy marijuana.  All the profit from those business was illegal and the Black folks selling it went to jail. Soon the state will be mandating and controlling who profits from marijuana sales; meanwhile people doing the exact same thing are still locked up.

 

Cynique this statement, "If everybody was healthy and no body smoke or drank or if nobody committed crimes or needed welfare, the economy would totally collapse." is probably the most cynical thing you written in a long time :-)    

 

But I could see why you would say this.  I think it a lot myself.  The problem is that we as a society have never really tried the alternative.  I grew up in a world where everyone smoked.  Both of my parents, most adults, and all the cool kids, I knew.  In between puffs my mom always told me to never start smoking.  Today when I see someone smoking, especially a young person, it seems anachronistic.   Being able to compare the two worlds I know the non-smoking world is better.  

 

I also know a world where everyone has the opportunity to have a good education would be better than what we have now.  Having such a large portion of our population being ignorant drags us all down.  The idea that we would allow this to happen confounds me, but this is perhaps a consequence of a population of uneducated people...

 

We are so accustomed to the way things and are, and are so afraid of change that we fight change it even if it is an improvement.

 

Racism is a manifestation of ignorance, a lack of good education.  It is one of the reasons I run this website and teach.  But both activities will put me in the poor house.  This is how our country rewards these efforts.