The time has come to consider legalizing and taxing Marijuana. Sure, it’s easier to ignore this problem and go along with the status quo, than to come out for change. But it’s my blog and I can say what I want. There are already a lot of states that have made it totally legal and medically legal. there are medical dispensaries in texas, medical marijuana texas is doing good work and no one is getting hurt. If you would like to try marijuana then you can by getting a ohio cannabis card, it may help for medicinal purposes but it may not. A lot of consumers that are looking to purchase a more raw product, would head to an online retailer like rocky mountain dispensary, but not use it entirely for the medicinal values others would.
Since what we are doing is costly and doesn’t appear to be working AT ALL, I think it makes sense to try another way. I imagine public figures everywhere struggling with this idea. It’s better to get along and go along. But that doesn’t make it the right thing to do. I sense a rising momentum for this idea from the blogosphere, but that may be all there is to it. Still, major newspapers are printing articles like this:
http://www.philly.com/inquirer/currents/43237522.html
which actually expresses my ideas about the subject better than I can. Even our own local newspaper has hinted at the idea. Which is something at least. It’s time to stop enabling organized crime in Mexico, and making criminals out of local potheads and medicinal users. The hypocrisy of allowing some intoxicants to be legal, and others out-of-fashion to be made illegal, harms our society more than the drugs. Sure the tax revenue would be fine, but the real good would be to reduce the damage to our civil liberties and societal fabric. I don’t advocate drug use, but I fear drunk drivers more than addled potheads, and this foolishness must end. We are harmed by the illicit grow operations in our forests, and by the costly criminalization and imprisonment of the people whose only crime is to themselves. Our current failed drug policy is turning the border into a narco-state. It has come to a point where the law is creating more problems than the subject of the law. California State Assemblyman Tom Ammiano wants to change the law. If you agree, you should tell our local Assemblyman Doug LaMalfa that you are open minded to new ideas to attack this old issue. But then, it’s always easier to go along and get along….
Extreme autos race one another at the Redding Dragstrip
There is something utterly visceral about watching two jet powered cars race. You have to be there to feel it. Last night, these two “cars” spooled up, and took off down the track at over 200 mph. Afterwards, there was a moment of stunned silence in the crowd, like we all couldn’t believe what we just saw and felt. Then, an exhilarated cheer, almost in unison. We all turned and looked at one another as if to confirm “Did you see/feel that too?” I was laughing so hard. What sort of looney-tunes do you have to be to strap yourself onto a ROCKET, and then race somebody?
You think your job is tough. The two track workers you can just see, crouched toward the left of this shot, are literally sandwiched between two plasma plumes of death!
Where the rubber meets the track on Kool April Nites
Hope to see you at Kool April Drags this evening, and over the rest of the weekend. The weather is supposed to be perfect.
I’m only a casual fan, but I run their website. This event is their biggest of the year, and with dueling jet cars after dark, no less. Definitely worth coming out. They’ve made a lot of track improvements.
This is oldest continuously operating dragstrip in the US. A longtime Redding tradition.
Where our taxes go
Escapee from Turtle Bay found hiding on our porch
We ran across this hardened escapee from Turtle Bay. Perhaps Turtle Bay is like Pelican Bay, and escapees should be considered dangerous.
We live along the Sulphur Creek watershed, so it was a clear path to freedom for the smelly escapee.
Did I mention that it smelled bad? Don’t let that smiling face fool you.
We took the Bullet Train to San Diego
We spent a few days in San Diego after taking the Bullet Train out of Redding. It just took a few hours. I remember when it took all day on I-5 back in the bad old days. What a great trip. The train was really nice, and we met some cool people. San Diego has a terrific Light Rail system. Look at what they’ve done to their cityscape HERE. We even took the Red Car to Tijuana for an afternoon of fun.
The Red Car is quaint and fun, but not as nice as our Green Car system that stretches from Shingletown to Whiskeytown. Of course, the best part of any trip is coming home to Redding. Our NicholsMelburg&Rossetto designed train station is one of the nicest in the world.
Of course I’m making all this up. I was thinking about this as we started getting so many e-mails this week about trying to beat down the proposed SCRIP (formerly Fix 5) building fees that are ostensibly meant to pay for widening I-5. Widening I-5? Are we maybe preparing for the wrong scenario here? They have “freeways” ten lanes wide in the Bay Area and they are still jammed. What if we had a decent rail system like they have in Europe? Why is that Europe has a better transportation system than we do? We are spending trillions of stimulus dollars and all we get is widened roads? I’m feeling really gyped. Where is the vision that built Shasta Dam? Our leaders today spend big, but think small.
Photos of Innerworkings at Bombays Apr 6. Awesome show.
Band debut at Bombay's Monday April 6 @ 8 pm (note new time)
My friend Craig Padilla has lately been playing keyboards with longtime Redding guitar rockers Innerworkings. They are doing their first live gig with this new lineup at Bombay’s, opening for a band called Highlight Bomb and 2 other bands. $5 cover. Check out some excerpts of their new music at the image:
On another more immediate musical note, there is a podcast you should listen to if you like spacemusic. This one features Craig Padilla and me, along with Zero Ohms from our CD Beyond the Portal. You can listen from your browser if you don’t have an iPod. Are there people who don’t have iPods? Well anyway, its a very nice sampler of this genre put together by TC from the Netherlands, and is 47 minutes of cinematic atmospheres. Well worth a listen just to hear TC’s Dutch accent as he describes our music. Click on the image below for the podcast, and find more at http://spacemusic.nl
Battle of the local Homeshows rage
Readers know we did the Homeshow at the Anderson Faigrounds last weekend. Its a 3 day burnout, but its always good to see so many of our friends and neighbors. That show has been going on for 30 years, and it was our 5th year there. Meanwhile another Homeshow is scheduled for this weekend at the Redding Convention Center, which is a much smaller venue. We heard this new homeshow is put on by folks from Eureka. One thing is for sure though, the new Redding Homeshow has been MUCH more well advertised. Which I suppose they must do to succeed. Is there room in town for 2 homeshows? Who knows. I guess we’ll find out.
Last week’s homeshow in Anderson is the one run by Popovic, which used to be an upholstery business. Now Jeff and Shirley do this show twice a year, and have a cookie store the rest of the time. This year they added a Baby and Maternity show to Fusaro Hall, which was welcome. From our perspective, the show was well attended by either aging retirees, or expectant moms. It was a striking contrast in demographics. Who knew there were so many moms and moms in waiting around here? I hadn’t seen so many pregnant women since, well maybe never. I guess all those new families will need bigger houses, so maybe the future of real estate here is bright. Come to think of it there are a few houses for sale near me that would make the perfect home for a growing family. Watch this space.
A couple of things to note too. I don’t think I’d seen seeds for sale here before. A reflection of the new interest in home vegetable gardening, no doubt. These seed packages were about 4 times the size of the ones you find at the hardware store. Too bad the photos on the packaging always seems to often look so much better than the results! The tomato packages never show the inevitable hornworms either. I’m going to stick to planting tomatoes though and growing a lot of my own vegetables. Heck, if I get that into my gardening I may even end up producing a whole fields worth on a farm! If I get all the necessary tools and equipment, and search up Mahindra tractors for sale near me, I’ll be good to go! However, I’ll just stick to growing in my back garden for now, but maybe not using the seeds provided here.
Our booth was next to the Egyptian Cotton booth, and they did a very brisk business. It was interesting to hear the shoppers talking about 600 thread-count Egyptian Cotton, and how it felt. The only problem was that the banner sign actually said in very small gray letters (the feel and texture of) EGYPTIAN COTTON. So for all we know it was cotton from Bakersfield or Bangladesh. It was the subject of much hilarity among the regular vendors. It worked though.
Actually, this was one of three booths put up by the As Seen on TV store. Showcasing products whose chief claim to fame is that you’ve seen them on TV. A testament to the power of TV advertising. Hmm. Maybe the new Homeshow in town will do OK after all; it is the one As Seen on TV.
Trailer Joe's not scared of new competitor Trader Joe's
I checked with the staff at Trailer Joe’s down on Hwy 273 to see if they felt threatened by the upcoming opening of competitor Trader Joe’s up in Redding. There was much laughter and derision when it was pointed out that Trader Joe’s probably didn’t even carry cigarettes or lottery tickets. “How do they even expect to stay in business?”, said one incredulous customer. There was, however, much agreement with having the outhouses in front of the store instead of out back, which might be an innovation worth copying. See below:
