Economy is bigger than health which is bigger than education which is bigger than deficit which is bigger than power which is bigger than prosperity which is bigger than Iraq. The word terrorism did not make the Wordle at all and the world was only used once in the entire speech last night.
"The people who truly deface our neighbourhoods are the companies that scrawl giant slogans across buildings and buses trying to make us feel inadequate unless we buy their stuff. They expect to be able to shout their message in your face from every available surface but you’re never allowed to answer back. Well, they started the fight and the wall is the weapon of choice to hit them back.
Some people become cops because they want to make the world a better place. Some people become vandals because they want to make the world a better looking place."
– Banksy, Wall and Piece
Shepherd Fairey, the famous graffiti artist responsible for Obey as well iconic imagery used in the Barack Obama presidential campaign was arrested in Boston on Friday night. Fairey was in town for an opening of a new show of his, "Supply and Demand," at the Institute of Contemporary Art. He was arrested on two outstanding warrants for graffiti in Boston.
Fairey told the Los Angeles Times last year that his "Obey Giant" street art campaign had led to his arrest many times.
When Fairey came to San Francisco for a show at the Shooting Gallery late last year the entire City was bombarded with his art on everything from the back and fronts of billboards to abandoned gas stations. Most of his work in San Francisco last year was around his Obama images.
Earlier this week I blogged about an ongoing dispute between Fairey and the Associated Press regarding the source of his famous Obama HOPE image.
In another high profile graffiti arrest about two weeks ago, 7 high profile graffiti taggers from the crew MTA were arrested in Los Angeles.
If you think marijuana should be legal, digg this here.
Kellogg Co. today become the first major company to drop Michael Phelps over the photo that appeared of him smoking marijuana.
“”Michael’s most recent behavior is not consistent with the image of Kellogg. His contract expires at the end of February and we have made a decision not to extend his contract,” spokeswoman Susanne Norwitz said in a statement.”
1. Kellogg Co. is idiotic. Apple Jacks, Cocoa Krispies, Eggo waffles, Froot Loops (yes, you heard that right Froot Loops!), Frosted Flakes, Frosted Mini-Wheats, Cinnamon Marshmallow Scooby-Doo! cereal, Spider-Man Spidey-Berry cereal, SpongeBob SquarePants cereal (say it ain’t so!), Cheez-It crackers, Mother’s Cookies (and I’m talking pink and white frosted animals sailor!), Pop-Tarts, Rice Krispies Treats, and the list goes on. Do those idiots not realize that stoners probably make up at least 50% of their sales?
Fortunately Cap’n Crunch still remains safely owned by by Quaker Oats and their parent, our good friends over at Pepsi (whew! dodged a bullet with that one!).
2. By dropping Michael Phelps for the sole reason of smoking pot, they are making a statement that pot is bad. That pot is evil. That by extension pot ought to be criminalized. In a very public way.
Earlier this week when several of his sponsors announced that they’d be standing by him, I think Dave Winer put it best, “Glad to see some sensibility emerging. Smoking pot is like having a beer. BFD.” And that’s exactly how Kelloggs should look at this as well.
The War on Drugs has cost our country dearly. It’s cost millions of dollars to incarcerate people for doing something that is no different than imbibing in a little alcohol. Instead of legalizing pot, taking the profits away from organized crime and drug dealers, and taxing it to raise much needed revnue, the politicians (along with their friends from the alcohol lobby) would rather just keep wasting money. To this end Kellogg Co. is not part of the solution. And they are very much a part of the problem. And for this reason, as much as it pains me, I’ll be keeping away from my Froot Loops and frosted animal cookies for a while.
Hopefully someone can talk some sense into Kellogg and Co. and have them reverse this horrible decision announced today.
Update: an interesting article from Anthony Citrano. Michael Phelps Should Not Be Sorry.
Many news outlets are running a story this morning that Olympic Great and winner of 16 medals last summer Michael Phelps apparently has admitted that a photo of him smoking pot is authentic.
From the BBC:
“Mr Phelps, 23, who won eight gold medals at the Beijing Olympics last year, was pictured by the News of the World inhaling from a glass pipe.
The picture was taken in November at a party in the University of South Carolina, the newspaper said.
Mr Phelps apologised to fans and said the incident would not be repeated.
In a statement sent to the Associated Press news agency, the swimmer acknowledged the photo was authentic. “
To which I say, *who the hell cares!* Surely had this man been enjoying a martini instead of a bong nobody would have given a rats ass. And yet marijuana is no more harmful to your body than cigarettes and alcohol. The “war on drugs,” complete with the propaganda that Michael Phelps in this case somehow did something wrong is idiotic. At present we are spending way too much money prosecuting and incarcerating people for crimes associated with marijuana when smoking pot and getting high really is no different than downing a six pack or if you’re rich, a nice bottle of cabernet sauvignon.
The criminalization of marijuana has gone on too long. It has taken a huge toll on society enforcing it and ensuring that most of the money associated with the trade goes directly to organized crime and gangsters on the streets rather than a more sensible approach where it is sold through liquor stores and taxed like other arguably less than healthy things in our society (alcohol, tobacco gasoline, etc.).
It was the Great Depression and the need for tax revenues that finally got the United States to end the prohibition on alcohol. Maybe this most recent downturn and a need for tax revenue will finally convince people that marijuana ought to be legal as well. Those that argue against the legalization of marijuana most of the time have never even tried it. People make outlandish claims about how it zaps all your ambition and prevents you from achieving anything in life. But in actuality there are many people who use it regularly and are perfectly successful and do just fine with it. Just like there are people who alcohol ravages and people who can consume alcohol socially just fine.
Our President has admitted to smoking pot (and inhaling and enjoying it), millions of Americans smoke pot regularly every year, heck one of our popular TV shows now is basically all about pot, and now we have an Olympic hero who has imbibed. It’s time for the stigma associated with marijuana to go away. If people want to smoke pot there ain’t nothing wrong with that. Smoking pot won’t kill you. It’s time for the country to legalize it.
U.S. New York Representative Pete King (Republican, Long Island) introduced a new bill in Congress this month H.R.414: “To require mobile phones containing digital cameras to make a sound when a photograph is taken. ” The short title of the bill is simply, “Camera Phone Predator Alert Act.”
From the bill:
” (a) Requirement- Beginning 1 year after the date of enactment of this Act, any mobile phone containing a digital camera that is manufactured for sale in the United States shall sound a tone or other sound audible within a reasonable radius of the phone whenever a photograph is taken with the camera in such phone. A mobile phone manufactured after such date shall not be equipped with a means of disabling or silencing such tone or sound.
(b) Enforcement by Consumer Product Safety Commission- The requirement in subsection (a) shall be treated as a consumer product safety standard promulgated by the Consumer Product Safety Commission under section 7 of the Consumer Product Safety Act (15 U.S.C. 2056). A violation of subsection (a) shall be enforced by the Commission under section 19 of such Act (15 U.S.C. 2068).”
Now I’m a father of four young children, and nobody wants to protect their children from predators more than I do, but this is just plain stupid.
First off there are many times that you don’t want your camera to make audible noises. Let’s say your shooting your own kid in the school play. Having a bunch of disruptive beeps going off every time someone takes a photo is annoying. There are many times when you want to shoot something being less disruptive not being more disruptive. There are certainly plenty of times and places where it is perfectly appropriate to try and be as quiet as you can while shooting.
Secondly, this bill only applies to cell phones. So if some predator wants to try to sneak photos of kids in the locker room all they would have to do is use a regular old point and shoot camera which this bill doesn’t apply to. In fact, spy type cameras have been around for years and if someone really wants to try to take stealthy photos, they certainly can without the need to use their cell phone camera. The law also does nothing to address video.
Then of course there is the part of the bill that this would only apply to new phones. So let’s see, a predator then could, theoretically, still use any old cell phone that they want to take silent phones while millions of law abiding users have to put up with noisy beeps going off whenever they shoot.
I have no idea what the cost of implementing this technology would be, but I’m sure AT&T would figure out some way to make the “enhancement” a reoccurable fee every month on your cell phone bill.
It seems to me like this bill is yet another example of really bad ideas coming from government. It would seem that this is not the first boneheaded idea that Rep. King has come up with by the way. Another of his winner ideas was responsible for funneling $3 million in taxpayer money to a campaign donor for custom manhole covers that Con Ed said could be dangerous in — order to fight those pesky terrorists. At least that’s the way the Daily News reported it. I thought Republicans were supposed to be for less government not for more.
The wordle above compares the Inaugural Address presented earlier this morning by newly elected President Barack Obama (top) with President George Bush’s Farewell Speech (bottom).
No matter what your politics, we are very fortunate to live in a country where every 4 or 8 years a peaceful transfer of power takes place based on Democratic elections.
You can read President Barack Obama’s entire Inaugural Address here. You can read a transcript of President George Bush’s farewell speech here.
The Register published a story yesterday regarding President-Elect Barak Obama’s experiment with a public suggestion box over at change.gov. Change.gov is a sort of government suggestion box where people can ask questions or offer suggestions to the newly elected President that supposedly he’s going to consider. Users on the site can vote suggestions up or down. And the top suggestion amongst the thousands offered to the new President. Yep, you got it, people wanna get high, legally.
From the Register:
“Obama’s Change.gov site will close down its internet suggestion box today, after a week of taking suggestions and opinions on the new administration’s executive policy from the web public at large. In standard Web 2.0 fashion, users can vote up or down on existing entries — the theory being that the best schemes will rise to top.
Supposedly, the “top ideas” will be presented directly to the new Commander-in-chief in the form of a “Citizen’s Briefing Book” following his inauguration on January 20.
Barring any massive last-minute changes, the tip-top idea will be best summarized by the philosopher/poet Chris Tucker in his cinematic role as Smokey: “I’m gunna get you high today, ’cause it’s Friday; you ain’t got no job…and you ain’t got shit to do.”
There are lots of other interesting ideas that the general public has come up with including suggestions for bullet trains and light rail, ending Govt sponsored abstinence programs, creating a more green country, etc. But top of the list is legalizing pot.
Barack Obama of course is the first President who has admitted that he smoked pot in the past and actually inhaled frequently because “that was the point.”
With the budget woes that are currently facing the country, certainly legalizing marijuana could provide for a windfall of Government revenue. It was largely the need for tax revenues that got the government to end the prohibition against alcohol back after the Great Depression. In an interesting editorial in the San Francisco Chronicle last week the tax benefits of legalizing marijuana were raised once again with the argument being made that the State of California could possibly address our current budget woes by a tax on the popular drug:
“The marijuana crop is valued at $13.8 billion annually – nearly double the value of our vegetable and grape crops combined. Our state is the nation’s top marijuana producer. Indeed, the average annual value of our marijuana crop is more than the combined value of wheat and cotton produced in the entire United States.
According to government surveys, 14.5 million Americans use marijuana at least monthly but both the producers and consumers of this crop escape paying any taxes whatsoever on it. While precise figures are impossible given the illicit nature of the market, it is reasonable to suggest that California could easily collect at least $1.5 billion and maybe as much as $4 billion annually in additional tax revenue, if we took marijuana out of the criminal underground and taxed and regulated it, similar to how handle beer, wine and tobacco.”
It will be interesting what our new President has to say about legalizing marijuana if he has the political gumption to actually broach the subject. Certainly almost 100,000 people on the internet have. One person though who it looks like doesn’t support marijuana legalization is Obama’s pick for Surgeon General, Sanjay Gupta.
My wife got the email below a few hours ago from General Motors’ Troy A. Clarke, Group Vice President and President GM North America at GM.
I assume that we got this letter because we own a GM car. The email reeks of desperation to me. GM says in their letter that they don’t want a bailout from Congress that they only want a $25 billion loan.
Whether or not GM ends up in Chapter 11 or not, it seems to me to be in poor taste for GM to try to use my personal information that they possess for the purposes of political lobbying.
What do you think? Should the U.S. bailout, er, I mean “loan” the automakers another $25 bil? If so, who else deserves a bailout as well? The homebuilders have asked for one. Nobody’s building homes anymore. What about the newspaper business? They’re in deep trouble right now because people aren’t subscribing or buying newspapers like they used to. Should the U.S. Govt bail out the newspapers as well?
Anyways, it’s a complicated situation. Email received today below:
Dear Thomas Hawk,
You made the right choice when you put your confidence in General Motors, and we appreciate your past support. I want to assure you that we are making our best vehicles ever, and we have exciting plans for the future. But we need your help now. Simply put, we need you to join us to let Congress know that a bridge loan to help U.S. automakers also helps strengthen the U.S. economy and preserve millions of American jobs.
Despite what you may be hearing, we are not asking Congress for a bailout but rather a loan that will be repaid.
The U.S. economy is at a crossroads due to the worldwide credit crisis, and all Americans are feeling the effects of the worst economic downturn in 75 years. Despite our successful efforts to restructure, reduce costs and enhance liquidity, U.S. auto sales rely on access to credit, which is all but frozen through traditional channels.
The consequences of the domestic auto industry collapsing would far exceed the $25 billion loan needed to bridge the current crisis. According to a recent study by the Center for Automotive Research:
• One in 10 American jobs depends on U.S. automakers
• Nearly 3 million jobs are at immediate risk
• U.S. personal income could be reduced by $150 billion
• The tax revenue lost over 3 years would be more than $156 billion
Discussions are now underway in Washington, D.C., concerning loans to support U.S. carmakers. I am asking for your support in this vital effort by contacting your state representatives.
Please take a few minutes to go to www.gmfactsandfiction.com, where we have made it easy for you to contact your U.S. senators and representatives. Just click on the “I’m a Concerned American” link under the “Mobilize Now” section, and enter your name and ZIP code to send a personalized e-mail stating your support for the U.S. automotive industry.
Let me assure you that General Motors has made dramatic improvements over the last 10 years. In fact, we are leading the industry with award-winning vehicles like the Chevrolet Malibu, Cadillac CTS, Buick Enclave, Pontiac G8, GMC Acadia, Chevy Tahoe Hybrid, Saturn AURA and more. We offer 18 models with an EPA estimated 30 MPG highway or better — more than Toyota or Honda. GM has 6 hybrids in market and 3 more by mid-2009. GM has closed the quality gap with the imports, and today we are putting our best quality vehicles on the road.
Please share this information with friends and family using the link on the site.
Thank you for helping keep our economy viable.
Sincerely,
Troy Clarke
January 20th 2009 is a street artist doing Obama portraits in San Francisco. Check out his Flickrsteram here: www.flickr.com/photos/january20th2009/
