I hardly watch any broadcast TV and didn't see the Emmys. A funny, but I'm a bit disappointed in the execution. A pitch (im)perfect BLOTUS but where is the Melania FLOTUS? The NYC accent blocks the metaphor...or maybe the meme. :)

I can imagine a revisit of the old Green Acres sitcom. A big city lawyer and his glamorous Slovenian wife leave NYC for rural Ohio to grow marijuana and hemp related byproducts. Pity Donald and Melania Trump are busy, they'd be perfect in the lead roles.

I liked your link a lot, but I readily confess that when I clicked upon it, I was actually expecting to see this:

https://youtu.be/sy0KoDvvhF4?t=10s

:)

I can imagine a revisit of the old Green Acres sitcom. A big city lawyer and his glamorous Slovenian wife leave NYC for rural Ohio to grow marijuana and hemp related byproducts. Pity Donald and Melania Trump are busy, they'd be perfect in the lead roles.

I liked your link a lot, but I readily confess that when I clicked upon it, I was actually expecting to see this:

https://youtu.be/sy0KoDvvhF4?t=10s

:)

I relocated my proposed remake to Ohio in homage to Bellbrook Ohio. I grew up about 4 miles due west in the 1960s. The sets of Green Acres closely resembled some of the abandoned farms and farm machinery surrounding Bellbrook at the time. This was noticed by wise asses such as myself and my school friends. And my father, who would hum the GH theme on certain county roads.

In addition, Jonathan Winters was from Bellbrook and based many of his surreal running characters on his neighbors. Winters' popular characters were very much like the ones on Green Acres.

Finally, GreenAcres or Greenacres is a common place or trade name in Ohio. A golf course, road, canoe livery, truck garage, a charitable foundation and a bar all bear one or the other variant.

The BellBrook area has gentrified and is very nice these days.

1. It is political theater

2. Congress in 2014 stepped in to deny funding for prosecutions of state-legal drug activities., commonly referred to as the Rohrbacher-Farr Amendment.

3. Federal prosecutions against state-legal marijuana producers were already fading away before the instructions from the DOJ that Sessions recinded. We were reaching the point where juries couldn’t be bothered to care about these activities and politicians were intervening with more and more force to thwart federal prosecutors.

You might want to read the whole post:

https://www.politicalorphans.com/dont-let-sessions-harsh-your-buzz/

Actually, it was written by "Sublime", but the most well-known version of it was by the Toyes. Tune in to KFOG radio (San Francisco) each and every Friday at 5:00 PM, they've been welcoming in the weekend with it for decades, now...

Favorite line:

"Would you rather smoke two joints or do your homework? / I knew you were going to say that!"

Heh.

-CW

"how influential is the CA machine in a world with social media and media bubbles?"

That is also a good point.

Judging from all the movie & TV references I see on social media, I think the CA entertainment machine is still very influential. Social media seems to me more like a filter and amplifier of traditional film and video content. Not that the filter/amp isn't influential, (It enabled Trump) but it needs capital and talent intensive content to feed on. Which is a fancy way of opining social media is a bottom feeder in the information food chain.

Bashi-32

You also raise good point. There is plenty of ad and data mining money to be made supporting the vast network of bottom feeding social media contributors living in the internet.

"I can imagine a revisit of the old Green Acres sitcom. A big city lawyer and his glamorous Slovenian wife leave NYC for rural Ohio to grow marijuana and hemp related byproducts."

Fun fact. Actually it was either rural northern Arkansas, possibly southeastern Oklahoma, or most probably rural southern Missouri. Green Acres, and Petticoat Junction took place in the same state, and The Beverly Hillbillies moved to California from the same area, which we explicitly know was stated to be from the Ozarks, along with Granny being originally from Tennessee.

Where is all that social media framework being built, designed and run from?

Good point, although how influential is the CA machine in a world with social media and media bubbles?

"The other is cultural"

Nothing affects US culture more quickly than mass entertainment, which is largely written, produced, and marketed to everybody else from California. Writers tend to write about what they see (or think they see). How did teenage kids in the 60s and 70s find out about hippies? Mostly TV & movies.

I expect an avalanche of electronic entertainment (comedy, drama and documentary) flowing from CA and focusing on the new and exiting medical/recreational cannabis industry. Sitcoms, dramas and documentaries.

I can imagine a revisit of the old Green Acres sitcom. A big city lawyer and his glamorous Slovenian wife leave NYC for rural Ohio to grow marijuana and hemp related byproducts. Pity Donald and Melania Trump are busy, they'd be perfect in the lead roles.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wzT1kO_-xbQ

"neilm
8

I mean, can you imagine the electoral carnage if Sessions opens the door on marijuana as a political hot button before November?

OMG... It just got a whole lot easier to imagine.

[21] neilm

I can't believe even Sessions is this dumb. Talk about handing the Democrats a gift. Will they have the cahones to use it?"

Sessions is that stupid. Sessions just announced he is rescinding all 4 Obama era memos regarding enforcing federal laws in states that legalized marijuana. One wonders if he even consulted Trump who had argued in favor of a states rights position on the subject.

WASHINGTON ? Attorney General Jeff Sessions, a vocal and longtime opponent of marijuana, will allow the nation’s top federal prosecutors to decide how to handle marijuana cases in states where the drug has been legalized.

The Justice Department decision, announced on Thursday, immediately caused chaos in an industry that has been growing in recent years as some states have embraced marijuana legalization, and sent stock prices of large cannabis companies nosediving as much as 35 percent. It will likely leave those in legal marijuana businesses uncertain whether the U.S. attorney in their district will resume enforcing federal law, which still regards marijuana as illegal.

Sessions rescinded four memos issued during the Obama administration that outlined guidelines to help federal prosecutors decide whether to enforce laws against marijuana growers and sellers in states where the drug is legal. The guidance effectively discouraged federal prosecution of those who were following state laws.

“It is the mission of the Department of Justice to enforce the laws of the United States, and the previous issuance of guidance undermines the rule of law and the ability of our local, state, tribal, and federal law enforcement partners to carry out this mission,” said Sessions. “Therefore, today’s memo on federal marijuana enforcement simply directs all U.S. attorneys to use previously established prosecutorial principles that provide them all the necessary tools to disrupt criminal organizations, tackle the growing drug crisis, and thwart violent crime across our country.”

One Justice Department official called Sessions’s decision a “return to the rule of law.” But DOJ officials struggled to explain the implications of the policy in a background briefing with reporters on Thursday. A senior department official said Sessions’ new memo removes the “de-facto safe harbor” that existed under Obama policy.

translation: '..don't hold me to this, but I might have forgotten to tell him...'

When Sessions is lying, his sentence construction becomes very formal. Call it the Southern strategy. The time to be most skeptical of Sessions is when he sounds like an antebellum stereotype.

I can't believe even Sessions is this dumb. Talk about handing the Democrats a gift. Will they have the cahones to use it?

Si, tener cojones... or at the very least "man up" using a 50-state strategy.

Oh, and Sessions is that stupid. He "forgot" but now remembers attending a meeting at which George Papadopoulos stated he could help arrange a meeting between the campaign and Putin. He "had no recollection" of the meeting until the indictment of George Papadopoulos was unsealed and the plea agreement revealed.

"I do now recall the March 2016 meeting at Trump Hotel that Mr. Papadopoulos attended, but I have no clear recollection of the details of what he said during that meeting. After reading his account, and to the best of my recollection, I believe that I wanted to make clear to him that he was not authorized to represent the campaign with the Russian government, or any other foreign government, for that matter."

Perhaps in his advanced state of age, Jefferson has simply forgotten the 10th Amendment... you know... of the Constitution of the United States. :)

Some states likely, but when CA says 'up', my state says 'down'

I think there are two types of influence that CA can have on the rest of the U.S.

One is economic - if CA adopts a regulation or standard then product producers tend to adopt those regulations and other states, and sometimes countries, "inherit" these regulations/standards because it is often cheaper for the producer to have a single offering.

The other is cultural - CA has had a reputation since the late 1960s as being "out there" - a bunch of crazy hippies that don't understand the real world, etc. This means adoption by CA can initially be a negative influence on some other states.

I'd say that, as time goes on, CA is either ahead of the pack (e.g. gay rights, marijuana), off in la-la-land (e.g. gas formulations) or so far undecided (e.g. immigration policy).

With marijuana, I think Sessions' move will escalate this to a national level discussion and I think, given current polls, this will accelerate Federal level acceptance of marijuana and impose a decision on the rest of the states. Personally I expect a lowering of the schedule and widespread acceptance over the next 10 years.

I smoke two joints in time of peace,
And two in time of war.
I smoke two joints
Before I smoke two joints,
And then I smoke two more.

"When CA talks, the other states listen."

Some states likely, but when CA says 'up', my state says 'down', when CA says 'black;, my state says 'white', etc. Around here, we refer to anything out of CA (except non-resident hunting license fees), as "Californication". My state will be the last one to go, if indeed it ever does. Right now, we're having a great time with other peoples'marijuana. We're a little island of illegality in a sea of legality, so our cops are making big $ grabbing stuff in transit along the freeways.

OMG... It just got a whole lot easier to imagine.

I can't believe even Sessions is this dumb. Talk about handing the Democrats a gift. Will they have the cahones to use it?

Supposedly Wolfe has recordings to back up his book. Apparently he really was a fly on the wall and no one there understood what that could lead to. Amazing.

I mean, can you imagine the electoral carnage if Sessions opens the door on marijuana as a political hot button before November?

OMG... It just got a whole lot easier to imagine.

https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/michael-wolff-my-insane-year-inside-trumps-white-house-1071504

Yes, there are risks to recreational pot - but the benefits seem much greater. See alcohol, prohibition.

This day will be celebrated by countless little bonfires and feeble red illuminaions.

"What about the hard drugs like cocaine and heroin?

The so-called war on those drugs is also a failure for reasons that are well understood.

Or does the slippery slope plateau with marijuana?"

I think the "crucial" difference there is that most Americans have come to see marijuana like tobacco or alcohol for adults, a personal choice, and that unlike cocaine or heroin, or even tobacco and alcohol, it has never been proven that anyone has ever become addicted to marijuana or died from an excess of marijuana. We tend to draw legal lines for the most part at things with proven harm to people.

1.) Senator Orrin Hatch of Utah joined the growing list of Republicans retiring. Most likely to be replaced by the never Trumper critic Mitt Romney.

2.) Trump abruptly cancelled and dismissed his whole inquiry into voter fraud panel, with the instructions to hold onto their documentation because they were all facing multiple lawsuits.

TL;DR.

And if you find this remark puzzling, then I'll just say that I am a mathematician by training and inclination, and I'm thinking in terms of set theory.

The Breiter vs. the Tweeter in the battle of the 21st Century media platforms.

My money is on the Democrats.

Pass the popcorn.

I wonder if his fanboys will also give up the fantasy that there were millions of illegal voters.

I mean, can you imagine the electoral carnage if Sessions opens the door on marijuana as a political hot button before November? He must know that any aggressive actions on his part will meet with howls of protests, and CW will get his long awaited resolve from Democrats "protecting the freedom of people to enjoy an adult pastime without jackbooted government agents attacking them".

He must also know that if, as is considered highly possible, there is a big swing in November and he has stirred up the pot (sorry, couldn't resist), then 45 and the rest of the remaining Republicans will throw him out pronto.

Frankly, his hands seem tied, and he looks like a rather pathetic character at the moment, so I don't think he is even interested in a fight, no matter how many times he watches "Reefer Madness" to get himself jacked up.

I would point out that any place the military is visiting I.E. Fleet Week, an airshow, or any other place the military is having a "meet and greet" is considered to be a temporary military base and as such also falls under federal law.

While there have only been a few cases of arrest at these public oriented events (mostly due to a person being an asshat about it) it is important to remember that the little shelf elf Sessions wants to treat us all like Pokemon and has "gotta get us all". As such, awareness of ones place in reality is always good to note.

I think no good piece on doing the right thing when it comes to the simple herb should go without also mentioning that basic good manners and basic awareness of where one wants to consume is required.

Afterall, with great freedom, comes great sociological responsibility.

I got my hydroponic equipment directly from Santa Claus himself so I ain't the least bit worried... because I'm growing lettuce in it. ;)

I completely agree that it makes so much more sense to treat the use of these drugs and addiction to them as a medical issue.

Did you happen to see the original British version of the film Traffik. That movie made these arguments very effectively.

Maybe the changing attitudes about marijuana will help pave the way toward changing the thinking about all drugs ...

Honestly, we’d be better off if we didn’t outlaw cocaine and heroin, but regulated their production and distribution. Make using and addiction a medical issue instead of a legal issue and you would save countless lives. The war on drugs had nothing to do with protecting the lives of Americans from the effects of drug addiction. It was a political move to scare the populace and keep our focus off of what our government was doing.

I grow Japanese maples as a hobby. I cannot imagine being threatened with prison time because of a plant I want to grow in my home. How can we outlaw something that occurs naturally in our world. Meth requires a chemistry set to create, and the by-products from making it are extremely dangerous to be around. Plus, not all hemp is good for smoking, so outlawing all strains has only hurt us financially.

The fact that our government has continued to display extreme ignorance by claiming pot should be classified as a Schedule I drug should embarrass us all. Then again, we have a Vice President that doesn’t believe cigarettes cause cancer, so maybe I shouldn’t be too shocked by such displays of asshattery.

The so-called war on those drugs is also a failure for reasons that are well understood.

Or does the slippery slope plateau with marijuana?