Columns

Weed Culture Goes Straight

We knew this day would come, 'way back in the Sixties. That was when the Underground Press revealed a major tobacco company had taken out a patent on the name "Acapulco Gold" (a widely popular variety of pot). Now, in the Tens of a New Century, we have alternative weeklies that are filled with pot news and weed ads celebrating the availability of a growing range of commercial marijuana products.

Even so, a recent two-page spread in the East Bay Express has raised the bar for ad firms working to engage new customers with targeted print media "pot spots." The pioneering hippies and potheads of yesterday would surely be appalled, but there it was: A photo of a clean-shaven, white Millennial, dressed in a neatly pressed business shirt and tie, contemplating a well-rolled reefer clamped firmly in his right hand. The high-minded ad copy read:

"Smoke for the job you want… Not the one you have.

Unlock your creativity with our CBD-rich daytime flowers, designed to get you into that successful headspace without the overwhelming high."

So forget that cup of morning Joe and dispense with the post-work mug of brew.

It you want to succeed in today's competitive business world, just inhale, get high, and get hired!

 

Notes of Note 

Over the years (most of them before the rise of email), I've acquired a number of personal, hand-signed notes from notable Americans. My trophies include autographed letters and memos from Charles "Peanuts" Shultz, Herb Caen, Pete Seeger, conservative columnist William Safire, and political powerbrokers ranging from Elliott Abrams to Bill Clinton and Barack Obama. 

An aside: Abrams, then an evil presence in the George W. Bush administration, responded to one of my written critiques of US foreign policy by accusing me of "naivete" and enclosing an example of anti-US "Chinese propaganda." It was a tabloid containing dozens of reports denouncing US racism, crime, poverty, imperialism, and economic inequality. Abrams apparently failed to notice that—while the newsletter was, in fact, produced by intelligence agents in China—all of the criticism had been reprinted verbatim from articles published by The Washington Post, The New York Times and other mainstream US news agencies. 

Back to the present: A few weeks ago, I received another Notable Note—one that stands apart from the others. 

On March 18, Senator (and Presidential Candidate) Kamala Harris took the time to address my concerns about Donald Trump's decision to abrogate the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty. 

Sen. Harris agreed that Trump's action only "increased the probability of nuclear war" and she promised to continue seeking "nuclear nonproliferation with an international coalition." 

But the best part of the letter was Sen. Harris' salutation. It read: 

"Dear Mr. Sith." 

So I'm typing this note to (1) thank Sen. Harris for her reply and (2) to assure her that I'm not really a rogue Jedi seeking "galactic conquest after a millennia of plotting." 

War of Words 

Our militarized American vocabulary continues to dive-bomb even the most earnest pleas for peace. CREDO Mobile just emailed an alert headlined: "This Memorial Day, Follow These 5 Twitter Accounts Fighting for Peace." (For the record, the five peace-seeking accounts were: Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, International Rescue Committee, Win Without War, and Mercy Corps.) 

And then there was a feature article in Relevant Magazine titled "How to Fight for Peace in a World Addicted to Violence." 

As one x-rated wag once observed: "Fighting for peace is like f—ing for virginity." 

In-CREDO-ble! 

On May 14, CREDOActon, the online campaign branch of CREDO Mobile, made activist history when one of their petitions topped 10 million signatures—an all-time record. 

What issue drew so much support? A petition calling for the impeachment of Donald J. Trump. The co-petitioners included MoveOn, Women’s March, Need to Impeach, Free Speech for People, and By the People. 

The petition was delivered to Congressmembers Rashida Tlaib and Al Green the steps of the US Capitol. As Rep. Tlaib puts it in the following video: "This is how movements start." 

Judi Bari Day 

Friday, May 24, was Judi Bari Day in Oakland. In honor of the heroic, fiddle-playing forest defender, her friends and fans gathered for a "Speak-Out and Sing-Out" at the intersection near Oakland High where Judi and her companion, fellow musician/activst Darryl Cherney were targeted for assassination in 1990. 

The two Redwood Summer activists were riding in Judi's car—en route to an organizing event to protect the state's forests from clearcutting by powerful lumber barons—when a pipe bomb planted under Judi's seat blew the car apart, seriously injuring both occupants. 

Curiously, the first to arrive at blast were the Oakland Police and agents of the FBI. The Feds promptly announced the arrests of Judi and Darryl, branding them "ecoterrorists" and falsely accusing them of planting the bomb that nearly killed them. 

Strangely, the FBI were never able to discover the identity of the real bomber. It remains a hotly contested "cold case." 

Judi's humor survived the bombing. At an outdoor gathering in Oakland, she offered the crowd a riddle: "What do Wall Street and the FBI have in common?" 

She paused a moment before supplying the answer: "Both have a history of Boom and Bust." 

It was subsequently discovered that the FBI had conducted a training course for agents that involved detonating a car bomb. Perhaps, it was only coincidental that the training was conducted on the property of a logging company threatened by the Redwood Summer anti-logging campaign. 

Judi and Darryl took the FBI to court in 2002, charging seven agents and officers with false arrest, slander, and conspiracy. They won a $4.4 million settlement. Judi, whose body was torn apart by the blast, died of cancer in 1997. 

Darryl used a portion of his court settlement to produce an award-winning two-hour documentary called "Who Bombed Judi Bari." The documentary can be viewed here. 

Here is a recording of Judi and Darryl performing onstage, a month before the assassination attempt that nearly claimed their lives. 

US Fibbing about Iran "Threats" 

Prepare to be suspicious. In a reprise of a now-familiar Pentagon trope, we are being "warned" about unspecified "credible threats" that "Iranian proxies" could be planning to attack US forces. 

Not everyone is buying it. Not even Washington's allies. 

On May 14, NBC News reported that "a top British General yesterday directly contradicted US warnings of a new threat from Iran." According to Maj. Gen. Chris Ghika: "There has been no increased threat from Iranian-backed forces in Iraq and Syria." 

Richard Engels (NBC Nightly News, May 15): "Germany and The Netherlands made clear they want no part in a possible conflict, suspending military training missions in Iraq. Spain went so far as to pull a warship from the US aircraft carrier battlegroup sent to the region earlier this month while, tonight, the US is still investigating those mysterious attacks on oil tankers near the Persian Gulf. Iran has denied responsibility. 

"Responding to the skepticism, State Department officials tonight insisted that the threats are real and came within the last week. But it also shows how this crisis with has become a real test of the Trump administration's credibility among our allies." 

An Update on The Boys  

This is a follow-up to a previous note about The Boys Who Said No, an in-progress documentary by prizewinning local filmmaker Judith Ehrlich. Producer Christopher Colorado Jones writes: "We still need over $200K to finish by September when we can apply to Sundance, which would take the resistance story to a world stage. About $147K of that is for video, photo and music rights and permissions . . . . While it is daunting to raise all these funds, overall, we are fashioning a wonderful film with 1,300 different archival segments woven together." 

Volunteer Sara Wood Smith provides addional background on the lingering question: "Why is the film taking so long to complete?" She writes: 

The initial goal was modest: to preserve video interviews from a draft resistance reunion in 2013. But the film team realized that no film portrayed this historic and powerful resistance movement, and its profound impacts. So, it was agreed to create the current version—a 90-minute documentary of the highest quality for TV broadcast, festivals, community screenings and classrooms. That meant also finding and purchasing the rights to essential archival footage, over 1,300 clips and images, as well as to music of the era. 

The scope of the film has expanded at least twice to make it a more inclusive, stronger film—now including draft resistance on the East Coast and in the African-American community. These additions . . . required new interviews and new archival footage, and additional edit time . . . . 

BOYS! is a true grass-roots effort, a labor of love, with no big studio behind it. Our film has blossomed because of our donors—more than 1,400 individual donations from twelve countries—who know resistance is relevant to today. 

According to Jones: "Our fiscal sponsor is the Eschaton Foundation, so donations are tax-deductible." If you would like to become a funding angel, here's the link to the films "magic donation portal." 

The Boys team has provided this three-minute trailer: 

Film Clip #10 “BWSN 3min Tease” from Boys Who Said NO! on Vimeo. 

A Carmody of Errors 

I'm a reporter and a First Amendment absolutist and I condemn the SF cops for requesting a warrant as a prelude to busting into Bryan Carmody's apartment. But I can't support the argument that the incident was a focused attack on the Free Press. 

Let's be clear: In this instance, what Carmody was doing was not journalism. He was apparently engaged in trafficking purloined goods for profit. 

Journalists report the truth. Reporters reveal secrets to the public. Reporters don't sell juicy stories to the highest bidder. That's not the job description of a "freelancer." (In Carmody's case, he actually sold the same story to several bidders—for a reported $2,500 each. That's worse than "simultaneous submissions," another journalistic no-no.) 

Consider Julian Assange. He posted his trove of purloined data online at Wikileaks for all to see. He didn't offer to auction his archives to the National Enquirer or Democracy Now! He even exercised discretion on deciding what not to release. Dan Ellsberg didn't demand a six-figure check from the Washington Post in exchange for access to the Pentagon Papers. 

Perhaps the best part of this story involves the surveillance video of the police "break-in." It shows a team of three cops trying to "storm" a suspect's apartment. But the storm proves to be a sprinkle. The police spend more than two minutes unsuccessfully pounding and twisting the metal door with an oversized crowbar. (At one point—about 45 seconds into the video—an officer becomes so frustrated with his failed attempts that he appears to pause and push the door buzzer.) When that fails, they bring in a sledgehammer. Which also fails to breach the gate. 

The following video clip is best viewed with a piano-playing soundtrack from a Keystone Kops episode. 

Consider the Options 

Last week I received an email solicitation to purchase a life insurance policy. In addition to the opening pitch, I was invited to "consider these alternative options." Sorry, but I prefer to consider my optional alternatives.