Baseball Prayer

Let Timmeh Smoke!

(Go Giants)

Prop. 203

Once again, the people of Arizona will attempt to legalize medical marijuana (it's been passed by the voters three of the four times it's been on the ballot, but courts have intervened) this November:

The 2010 Arizona election is looking once again, at a long held debate over the legalization of medical marijuana. If passed the Arizona Medical Marijuana Act would authorize the use of marijuana for individuals with medical conditions and written certification from a physician. Most controversial to the election outcome, is the fact that Prop 203 would establish a regulatory system under Arizona Department of Health Services to create and license medical marijuana dispensaries.

http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/5842608/arizona_election_2010_prop_203_arizona.html?cat=49

My views on this are quite clear: for humanitarian reasons, there should be no question about medical marijuana. Compassion demands that it should be legal. I can see a legitimate moral argument against recreational marijuana (I disagree, but I can see a valid debate), but it's a very different issue.

Of course, this being Arizona, there are some serious flaws with the law. For one, it's way too restrictive:

Unlike California, where it's possible to get a doctor's recommendation to use marijuana for almost any condition, only patients with a limited number of serious and debilitating conditions, including cancer, HIV/AIDS, Alzheimer's Disease, glaucoma, Crohn's disease, and multiple sclerosis (MS) will be able to acquire medical marijuana in Arizona.

It would not be an initiative that would implement any immediate and wide sweeping licensing, so it is not going to change anything over night. Nor will Arizona become like California in status over medical marijuana, as some conservatives fear might happen.

Still, I support 203 as a starting point. It will be interesting to see how the vote turns out.

Quite a Year

It's been quite a year for weather here in Flag. Blizzards, wildfires (OK, technically they aren't 'weather'; rather 'events'), floods, and now tornadoes. Haven't seen anything quite like it in my sixteen years here. My only question is: what next?

Good Morning Tornado

Nothing like waking up to a tornado warning, even if the tornadoes are outside of town. So far, three are being reported, in the area of Parks and Bellemont (about 8 miles outside of town). Interstate 40 is closed, and "extensive damage" is being reported. The tornado watch is in place until 11:00 am local time.
Tornadoes are not something we're used to around here. I realized that my tiny apartment lacks a storm cellar, like most housing in the region. We'll see what happens, but for now there's not much I can do. More coffee, anyone?

A Post

I'm a lazy slacker of a blogger. Or I haven't had much to say.

Celebrate!

They did it! My beloved Giants are in the playoffs!

Not Ready for Prime Time

Jan Brewer had an abysmal performance in her debate with Terry Goddard. So she's making a smart move by avoiding any more debates. Well, unless she starts losing:

Arizona Governor Jan Brewer has had only one debate against Terry Goddard, her Democratic challenger in the gubernatorial election, and she didn’t have a choice: since she took public funds for her campaign, she had to agree to one debate under Arizona election law. Given the option, Brewer prefers not to debate again — and she admitted to a local reporter yesterday that she would only debate the issues again if it was politically advantageous:

“Maybe there would be a possibility that we would debate if my numbers starting dropping dramatically,’’ she said. “And, of course, I’m working hard to see that they don’t.’’ [...]

She said her reticence to meet with Goddard again should come as no surprise.

“We made that decision long ago,’’ the governor said, saying the single debate was part of the game plan all along.“So far, we’ve been right on the game,’’ Brewer said, adding, “And I’m winning.’’

Brewer brushed aside a question of whether Goddard will be disappointed with her stand. “And you think I care?’’ she quipped.

It’s not surprising Brewer doesn’t want to have another debate. In her first one, she struggled to name her accomplishments and subjected the audience to a long, awkward pause; she also advanced a falsehood about beheadings in the Arizona desert and was unable to justify it after the debate. She quietly retracted her claim a few days later.

http://thinkprogress.org/2010/10/01/brewer-no-debate/

The question to be determined is whether the semi-comatose Goddard can take advantage of this. Given that he's shown the typical democratic aversion to actually winning elections, I'm betting against it.

Smart Lock

The best device to keep someone from carrying away your Smart car.

Nice Looking Boobies

A nice pair of Masked Boobies. Is it really October already?