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Posts published in “Essays”

A Tale of Two Counties

There’s an educational study in contrasts between two-thirds of the Emerald Triangle when looking at their respective cannabis ordinances and the policies and actions relative to enforcement. The counties of Humboldt and Mendocino stand in…

Change

“Nature abhors a vacuum,” said someone once upon a time, and I’m inclined to think that it was someone with a cat named Nature. After cranking up the Electrolux one morning and watching Nature frantically…

Drug Regulation a Century Ago

Much consternation has arisen concerning the method of regulating marijuana production, now that its manufacture, sale, and consumption has been legalized in this state. Of course, on the federal level marijuana remains a Schedule 1…

Pot Laws 2018

A lot has changed pot-wise since my high school days when we sneaked off down trails deep into the woods, clutching our tiny matchboxes filled with low-octane marijuana. Alert to the tiniest forest sounds, it…

Blackkksploitation 2018

The critics are mostly raving about Spike Lee's latest movie, BlacKkKlansman. And, as usual, the critics are mostly wrong. Based on the autobiographical account of the first African American cop on the Colorado Springs police force, the film opens with the words: "Some fo real, fo real shit." It's the first clue that the film will be almost pure fiction, despite what the PR flackeys and media lackeys profess. And, just as advertised, Lee's fo real narrative resembles the true story as much as a McDonald's FishWich approximates a rock cod fillet.

Cops & Burritos

So I’m doing a little online shopping the other day, as I will during slack periods of my day—and let me tell you, I am just as pleased as plum pudding that the process has…

Robert & Nancy Darr

A little over a year ago this space covered the case of Harvey Mortier who was tried, convicted, and hanged for the murder of a young man named Richard Macpherson. The murder took place in…

World Napafication

Fly over Napa County, California, and what you see below are vineyards and industrial buildings for the mass production of wines. Roads crisscross the valley and climb into the hills and mountains. They also carry…

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