Published 10/30

With so much of government doing the wrong thing nowadays, I would be remiss if I didn't commend the Butte County Board of Supervisors for getting it exactly right in banning marijuana dispensaries which run counter to the spirit of Proposition 215, and have been a source of numerous criminal activities. Their departure is warmly welcomed by the majority of all law-abiding citizens.

Prop 215 remains intact, however, and although some quacks have issued "recommendations," and have allowed certain local drug dealers to refer to marijuana as "medicine," none of them has ever publically identified him/herself by name. The facts that they do not call the specious documents prescriptions, and their anonymity prevails, put the lie to the assertion that marijuana has any part in mitigating or curing disease.

Now that I have insulted some "doctors" out there, I invite them to make themselves known, and explain that marijuana simply masks pain, and as the law requires on bottles of other "herbal medicine," they announce that marijuana is, "Not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease."

In response. . .

To the caller [to the E-R] who said the Republican Party should be renamed the "Let 'em eat cake Party," I suggest we rename the Democrats the "Let's take money from the people who are working and give it to those who won't Party."

An old "friend"

A few days ago, I received a postcard from Publishers Clearing House entitled "WARNING Urgent Notice." I had it in my hand when I felt the need to visit the comfort station, so I deposited it into the waste receptacle located therein.

This morning, while I was "waiting," I felt the need for a moment's distraction, so I fished out the document, and read it for its limited entertainment value. The final two sentences yielded, "You've been a good friend of Publishers Clearing House since 5/64. Now you could be just days away from winning."

After 47 years, what do you suppose are my chances of winning? Especially since my family name means, "Those who never win."

It is interesting that PCH has a more comprehensive record of my mailing activities than the FBI. I do remember when I still had fleeting hope, that I sent in some of their solicitations. After all, in 1964, my fourth child was just about to be born, the postage was cheaper than a lottery ticket, and the odds were similar -- none, to a waste of stamps. Over the years, I have even purchased a few things from them, all of which proved to be useless, except for a couple magazines.

Persistent PCH's words earlier in the card -- "Failure to. . . enter in a timely manner may result in immediate forfeiture of funds from this notice." -- are an idle threat. "Those who never win" never win.

FYI

Because I liked it, "Free Agents" has been cancelled. They also cancelled "The Playboy Club," I hope, because I never watched it. I am being very quiet about "Person of Interest," lest they find out how I feel about it.

I really wish I had some power over "they."

PSA

Peter Greenberg (self-named "Road Warrior") writes in the November 2011 edition of the liberal house organ "AARP, The Magazine," "Many airliners don't stock enough bottled water. When they run out (and they often do), flight attendants resort to the plane's own water system. In 2004 the EPA found that 15 percent of U.S. planes tested positive for coliform bacteria. New regulations have been enacted since then, but unless you hear the 'crack' of a new water bottle being opened, I'd say stick with canned beverages."

(I joined AARP to obtain their afflilated UnitedHealthcare's Medicare supplement, and I notice that that insurance is now being sold without a tie to AARP, so I may soon be able to avoid paying for their propagandazine.)

The above liberal scare tactic notwithstanding, I would score my airline bottled water as early in the flight as it's offered. I wouldn't want to drink the same water that is also piped into that tiny, depressing chamber that passes for a restroom.

FYI: My letter to the E-R concerning the clever Increase Diversity Bake Sale (9/28 below) was published today.

SB 185 vetoed

Unobtrusively located at the bottom of page 3A of the Sunday E-R was a short article about the governor's important veto of the bill [SB 185] that would have allowed public state universities to consider race in their admission policies.

When I finish this sentence, this letter about that crucial decision will be longer than that news release. Hopefully, when I finish here, no copy editor will do what was done to the cited article which, at the end, sported the incompletion, "the courts should decide the" (One more line, please.)

This veto is important because college entrance must be based solely upon the student's GPA, his/her SAT or ACT score and, as has become popular of late, his/her contributions to social service. Parenthetically, it could also be proper to accept the recommendations of the educators most closely associated with those applicants whose qualifications are similar and difficult to differentiate. The governor has recognized that the state, being a fair and constitutional body, can embrace no other policy.