So he can have an excuse for being a dumbass? I mean this in the kindest way btw. And I totally didn’t edit that in for fear of being banned for abuse.
huh. Bash against cannabis or bash against Pyro?
Grats Obamans.
I’m not that much of a dumbass. It’s just that, on this particular forum, I oftentimes don’t bother to censor my own stupidity like I usually do.
The advocacy of the reform of marijuana laws isn’t bitching, it’s a legitimate recognition that the laws are unfair and unevenly applied. In some areas of the country, possession of a small amount is legal, decriminalized, or a small fine, in other areas, it has various penalties that range from ruining peoples lives through excessive fines or giving them a criminal history to long and hard time, up to and including life imprisonment for a third strike violation.
The laws are unevenly applied, meaning that college kids and the middle class are given more lenient enforcement and adjudication, while the poor and racial ‘minorities’ are subject to much more severe enforcement and adjudication. Before the cultural revolution of the 60s, marijuana use was exclusively associated with African-Americans in the US, and after the Civil rights movement, these laws were made much more strict and the penalties much more severe.
The laws have historically been used to discriminate against African-Americans, especially in the South. The Voting Rights Act of 1964 and Civil Rights Act of 1965 forced the Southern states to refrain from discrimination regarding voting rights and constitutionally protected civil rights, but the pushback by the Southern states was to arrest and charge African-Americans with felony crimes, making them ineligible to vote, in much the same way that they pushed back against the Emancipation Proclamation by charging African-Americans with petty crimes or with bogus charges and them giving them long sentences on work farms - the state penitentiaries that were state owned farms, or leasing out their labor to private farmers in groups known as chain-gangs. Parchman Farm, the Mississippi State Penitentiary, only stopped doing that in 1974.
So, yeah, the current marijuana laws were specifically designed to discriminate against racial minorities, and the anti-marijuana sentiment in the US is born from slavery and racism. You’ll notice that the current opposition to marijuana is from white conservatives - there’s a reason for that.
I was being sarcastic, but I meant it entirely in a jovial manner. I honestly don’t care much about marijuana myself, but I do think it’s a good thing that people now have a legal choice to use it if they desire.
Odd question of the day:
An American colleague of mine asked me to plan an email blast for this Friday. She would do it herself but her grandfather is dying (aka in the process of dying, if not very dead, very soon to be dead) so she can’t make it to the office.
I did what she asked me and am about to send her a mail to tell her it’s done and she shouldn’t be worrying. Now, the question is: what do I tell to her regarding her grandfather? I can’t really say “condolences” because he’s not dead yet. “Best of luck” also seems to be fairly odd.
Over here we just say “'Het beste gewenst” (wish you the best) or “Sterkte” (strength), but I can’t think of anything US-English-like that fits 
Actually, I think that “I wish you the best” or “I wish you strength” would probably work.
In the US, we usually use phrases like “my thoughts are with you and your grandfather”. It’s a polite acknowledgement without getting too personal.
zen, do you have actual statistics that can back up your ideas?
I don’t know that there is data regarding such things. Regardless of my use of the word ‘usually’, it’s a good phrase for such an occasion and is used commonly, as far as I know. If you have better idea, you can suggest that. I was just throwing that out there.
It’s snowing for the first time in the season. It started just as I left the building for lunch. As soon as it starts collecting on the roads I am out of here.
This snow storm is going to hit you hard, apparently.
I smoked the last marijuana joint I had yesterday, also I knew obama was gonna win 3 months ago, marijuana doesn’t make you more smart, but it lets you see the obvious in between the bullshit.
God, do I hate politics.
So apparently 41% of the US said that Hurricane Sandy had an effect on their vote, that Obama going over there and giving a speech ont he whole ordeal was what drew them away from Romney to Obama, not his policies or plans for the future of this country, but instead his crocodile tears.
If that’s not bad enough, 51% of the country still blame their “hardships” on Bush. What a fucking load of bullshit.
God bless America, indeed.
So Obama won, what now ?
pretty sure bush did a lot of damage to your country though
So, you think that Romney was polling ahead 90-10 before the storm, huh?
What he did that Gov Christie praised him for was not giving a speech, it was quickly organizing federal relief with the State of New Jersey with the state heading up the effort, as opposed to FEMA acting independently of the state, which was at Christie’s request. Apparently, Christie was very happy with Obama’s successful efforts to that end, praising Obama for his leadership, for which he was vilified by fellow Republicans.
But the storm and Obama’s response to it didn’t matter - he never trailed Romney in the polls, and had been trending upward since October 1. The storm didn’t change the trend.
But more importantly, the popular vote doesn’t elect the president, the state electors do. The election wasn’t even close. Romney wasn’t able to win one single swing state, and only carried one big state - Texas. When Florida certifies it’s votes, the final election total will be Obama winning 332-206. That’s not even close.
Honestly, no one should be surprised by this - the polls were spot on. The problem is that conservative news sources were telling their audiences that polls were cooked, and that Romney was actually ahead. They weren’t. The situation with the conservative media convincing conservatives that every poll except one was cooked was yet another example of willful ignorance, yet another denial of reality.