REALITY - MOVIES AND TELEVISION, SEX AND OTHER HISTORIAL INUENDO...

Society is so complex. It's said "you're simply a cog in a giant machine".

So imagine; you've finished work for the day and you're home. Maybe you have family, maybe not - so maybe you're home alone (with animal companion [?]). Depending on your mood and habits, maybe you sit down to watch some TV, or Netflix, or any number of other mediums out there.

I'm the "home alone type with companion cat" and the first thing I do after greeting my companion is to break open a beer. I hop online and respond to and write e-mails, read suggested links and then maybe watch a movie or TV series. I used to play video games alot, but have gotten side-tracked by the excellent productions in TV and Movies out there and available, often streaming which means hardly any wait time.

There are many Wow's in my garden of favorite shows. I like Sci-Fi, Historic stuff, Detective stuff, Mysteries... sometimes one has to let go of one's resistance to perceived reality to enjoy the show. Other times the show is mystical but believable.

But imagine you start to see a pattern. An unrealistic pattern. That's what this post is about.

Most like a good James Bond thriller. It's action packed, thrilling, on the edge of the chair or wishing the sex scene involved you.  The odd thing is, without even being aware of it, James Bond is, based on studies, an alcoholic which by realistic interpretation should be dead by age 56 based upon alcohol consumption and least of all, able to pull off the action hero he portrays. USA TODAY - James Bond - Dead at 56.

Or NY POST - Cover Story - Bond an Alcoholic

James Bond is not alone and worse, how realistic are the movies and TV we watch?

Many of us, at least those over 40 or 50 have heard comical (now) stories about censorship on TV and in movies. How in "I Dream of Jeannie", 1965 - 1970, censor originally place strong limits on her costume which involved no showing of her navel.

Or "Leave It To Beaver", 1957 -1963. In the first ever series premier it appears filmmakers already ran into censorship problems. According to recent news, The Beaver and his bother Wally decide to buy a pet alligator. They plan to keep it in the toilet, yes, rather odd; the problem is it was against Public Broadcasting rules to show a toilet, let alone a bathroom in film! A compromise was established where the scene would be allowed if shot from behind the toilet facing out of the bathroom.

There are many odd, moralistic and seemingly unrealistic rules out there with regards to TV and movies. Whole books have most likely been published by that alone.

Considering how disgusted my grandmother was of Beatle's music, and the fact that many books by famous authors were banned for sale in the US from the early 1920's because of articulated sex scenes until about 1964, it is not surprising there were strict laws or regulations imposed upon words, actors and substance - meaning the story.

Rarely was it "all the truth, nothing but the truth..." except in courts. Those that watched shows like "I Dream of Jeannie", "Leave It To Beaver", "Lassie", or "Gun Smoke", were literally smoked. With the invention of wireless radio, came the invention of "doctored media" called censorship.

Censorship has been broadly discussed in topics regarding the original Star Trek TV series, or "The Fugitive" Starring David Janssen - 1963 to 1967. The guilty party could never escape Justice, and the fugitive endured 4 years of TV wandering until the final episode where he was able to prove his innocence. I myself watched the entire 4 years live, as in waiting each week for a new episode. It seems like along time ago. Based on a true story, the real Dr, Rich Kimble didn't have such a successful conclusion.

Times have changed, haven't they? We can see nudity in movies and more. But oddly, rules still apply based on a report I read from a mainstream cable movie icon that the amount of nakedness exposure in movies or TV need be limited to 5 seconds, as any longer and the general population gets distressed.

Now where are the rules more complicated when it comes to drug use?

Yes, there are some movies where drug use is prevalent, but when narrowing this drug use down to the 3 most popular recreational forms of drug use an odd picture emerges. The top three recreational drugs based on current research are alcohol, tobacco and marijuana.

Alcohol Use: The number One drug of choice on TV or in movies. It's use is so common as to make it insidious when considering research conducted using (previous discussed) studies based upon James Bond movies.

But sadly, my two most popular modern TV shows that I loved have one big flaw. Use of alcohol is beyond human endurance... the amounts of alcohol consumed are beyond comprehension.

Understand, the following shows are great entertainment and fun to watch:

1) Battlestar Galactica; 2003 - 2009
2) Saving Grace; 2007 - 2010
3) Lost Girl; 2010 - PRESENT

However, the alcohol consumed is totally unrealistic!. It's actually treated like it's water, which in the show it probably is, but seriously, there is a limit!

Tobacco use used to be common in TV and in Movies; but for the past 20 years far less common, if not missing entirely. Oddly, public use although it's said public use has declined, it appears to me to be as common as it ever was. Perhaps the survey's are flawed.


Marijuana use virtually was non-existent in mainstream TV and movies unless used to denote a questionable character, often a disturbed character, and generally a teenager. The exceptions began in the 1960's and especially 1970's.Movies like Weeds, Cheech and Chong, Omar and Kumar.

In virtually every other TV or movie out there the use of marijuana is marginalized to include characters with emotional or psychological problems, or at risk teens. Almost never does one see marijuana being used in an everyday setting, during a friendly party, a wedding reception, or a casual everyday sit down among friends. Yet everyday, all across America, 25 million casual users sit down, talk while routinely enjoying the marijuana experience. The unfortunate reality is that there is very scant existence of that in TV or Movies.

Everything on TV is assumed to be based on reality, yet not. It's exactly what entertainment was designed to be, with some real good and many others are plain old bad.

THE HISTORY OF DRUGS OF ABUSE IN AMERICA REVISITED

IT'S been said that "crime in America is a sty in everyone's eye". Politicians, for that reason, like to make a case for election or reelection based upon their stance of "being tough on crime!"

It's not easy for a politician to stand up in front of a crowd shouting, "I will assure you, when I'm elected there will be no rapes, no murders, no kidnappings... I will stamp out crime!" The reason it's not easy for a politician to say this is it's a given. These are crimes against humanity; it's expected laws against these types of deviant behavior will be swift and sure.

What a politician needs is a crime that's tangible, one not cast in stone. A crime that has a basis in morality, or principal. A crime such as a poor individual stealing food to feed his family. A crime where public opinion matters. A crime like reading books deemed immoral and dirty. A crime like "using illegal drugs". The former was a crime in America until 1964. The latter crime, use of "illegal drugs", took hold early in the twentieth century. It began with unprecedented legislation called the "Pure Food and Drug Act of 1906", in which all ingredients in a pharmacological mixture as well as food, must be identified and reported on the label. The obvious target of this legislation were "snake-oil cures", which often contained high levels of narcotics, alcohol or WKW (who knew what? snake venom, dung, toe jam, etc).

Narcotics; is a modern day term generally used to denote drugs based upon opiates. The list includes opium, morphine, codeine, as well as coca based extracts such as cocaine.

Opium was once a commonly used "recreational" drug in the old world. The Chinese had the biggest export market on for it. It was as lucrative as oil is today. It could be bought anywhere without question. Another more common name for it was laudanum.

It was actually another pseudo-narcotic that tipped the tide in favor of federal regulation of "drugs" and that was cocaine. The father of all modern "Drug Dealers" could be said to be John Pemberton, the inventor of Coca Cola in the late 1800's. Originally, as many are aware, Pemberton's Coca Cola contained high amounts of cocaine. Until the invention of Coke, coca and cocaine were simply another natural drug available at any store that sold extracts and herbs as medicine. The original Coca Cola soda drink was developed as yet another plant extract elixir, one promising to promote general overall health and a sense of well-being.

"Drug Stores" back in the late 1800's were also the neighborhood soda joint... where one could get a milkshake or ice-cream cone along with whatever medicinal supplies a person or family might need. The pharmacist was also the soda jerk. Unfortunately, Coca Cola proved to be very addictive, much like tobacco is today. John Pemberton himself succumbed to the effects of cocaine addiction and died in 1888 of the complications of cocaine addiction. He wasn't alone. Many died; this was the Industrial Revolution, people worked long hard hours.Unwinding at the end of the day, well just imagine what that must have been like?

Consider our current drudge of a 40-hour work week, with generally fair wages and benefits, though that is up for debate. In the 1880's, according to this research authored by Jeremy Atack and Fred Bateman, the Journal of Economic History, 1992, the average work-week was 60 hours, 10 hours a day, six days a week. One might consider the work environment back then also. The 1800's saw an end to a mostly agricultural society and a certain inseparable connection with nature. It saw a mass migration to an urban lifestyle for jobs, becoming city-dwellers. Sure, many of us know of those times as the Civil War era, the Wild West, Indian Wars, the Gold rush and Global Conquest. However, let's not forget the millions flocking to factory jobs in the cities often with unhealthy working environments and little in the way of regulations.

The result of the Civil War alone left a federal government shaken, and President Lincoln's passage of the Emancipation Proclamation further angered many people, which upset many a politician.

Now, brokering for power, politicians begin to see a hole in the "fabric of society and politics". A lot in this hole is truthfully disturbing, as in not knowing what's in that drug you're taking, or the food you're eating. But it's as if the Pure Food and Drug Act was simply a precursor to what would follow. The fact that the Chinese had taken over San Francisco and made it into an opium den, the fact that people were consuming colas and dying; those and other obvious problems prompted passage of the Harrison Narcotics Act, of 1914, which placed federal control over any drug deemed a narcotic, including opium and cocaine.

Marijuana, then called cannabis or ganja, was not included in this act. It remained legal and was a useful, commonly prescribed drug by a family physician. The most important goal of the Harrison Narcotics Act was to close all Chinese opium dens in America and end the Chinese monopoly on the market. It accomplished both goals.

Considering the "dangers of unregulated use of narcotics", one would think the government got it right for a change. This type of legislation and control of natural medicines was unprecedented in American or any society around the world. And around the world it went, eventually eliminating anything designated as a narcotic from public access, without a doctor's prescription.

Who knows what might have been, if we'd stopped there. But in 1920 alcohol production was made illegal under the 18th Amendment to the US Constitution. On the surface alcohol prohibition may seem today like it was out-right wrong, foolhardy and unwarranted. However quite the opposite is actually the truth. 

We've all heard, I think, about the Women's Temperance Movement.

Beginning in the 1820's prohibition of alcohol was being advocated. Hard liquor mostly, but the movement grew. Some of the rationale was moral, in fact a lot of the movement was held on moral grounds; but there were many women admitting their husbands would abuse them when using alcohol.

The Eighteenth Amendment was inevitable, but short-lived. It was rooted in history, slowed by the Civil War when alcohol saw a huge boost in use and acceptance. Prohibition taught us about the human psyche and freedom. The violence that occurred as a result of prohibition was unprecedented. The ingenuity of people to smuggle and distill their own alcohol was astonishing. Despite the hundred year fight by prohibitionists to ban alcohol, in 1933 the Twenty-First Amendment repealed alcohol prohibition.

However, the truth of the matter is, actually, it wasn't the violence during Prohibition that changed the collective mind in Washington, it was the need for money, for taxes. Washington was broke, the Great Depression was ravaging the US. Something had to give. That something was alcohol and taxes. And "getting rid of Mexican immigrants" taking jobs from Americans, and Blacks, who it was determined, being empowered by their new-found "freedom", had decided to take an interest in White girls. This was the early 1900's.

It might have been said then in 1937 with passage of the Marihuana Tax Act, that more taxes were on the same collective mind in Washington. But sadly, this wouldn't be true. A new kind of politics was in America... with a new Federal Bureau of Narcotics headed by the infamous Harry Anslinger - Devil's Weed (or here for the Wiki Link).Marijuana was treated like a machine gun, a "danger to youth", and the tax required growing the plant first, then claiming it in person, product at hand, only to be charged with growing cannabis without a tax stamp. It was expensive, a stamp, and it created "prohibition" as a catch-22 that wasn't found to be Unconstitutional until the 1960's. It was an experiment by governments to see what their limitations were in violating civil rights.

Next up on the chopping block: How Popular is Alcohol anyways??? The Reality of Alcohol and TV, Movies and Real Life Along Side the reality of Marijuana... Add to that 5 seconds of "sex", like a nude body and research indicates, any more than that and Americans start freaking out... okay. So maybe next time I'll spend an hour talking about baseball instead of marijuana or sex... depends upon my audience and my mood.

HOW WE CAN "STOP THE HURT" - THINKING LIKE SHERLOCK HOLMES

I know I haven't written anything new for awhile. Part of that is simply taking time watching "things" move and change. Part of that is new medications, of which I am subject, which affects the way I interact with people.

It's "interaction" within society that is the key to how society exists. And right now society is in crisis.

To understand why this is, that requires a lot of research. I will try to insert as many links as possible to conduct that research within this post. "Knowledge is power..." well in theory.

We begin with, I present, a new writer/author, Maria Konnikova

I've ordered the book...

Wish I'd written the book myself, as I already think like Holmes. 

Stopping the Hurt! That's what this is all about.

So where to begin? 

Obviously "We The People" have a Say... however, how much when it comes to foreign policy (Ukraine, Iran, Afghanistan, North Korea, Syria)? Not really, do you think? What about "Obamacare"? America's new version of socialized medicine? No. Not really. Okay, Child-protection? No, but...

Wow is that a wide open subject. 

A child is a human-being aged 00.1 - 20.99 years of age, with exceptions for the right to vote at age 18, smoke tobacco and join the military, age 18.

Given what we can change, what is a single-most subject of contention that American's can voice an opinion on and bring about change?

Is it our 2nd Amendment rights? Or is it marijuana prohibition? 

There's not much I can do to add to our resolve to protect our 2nd Amendment rights. However on the subject of marijuana prohibition, I have a say.

I've watched as Colorado legalized and provided legal marijuana beginning January 01, 2014. 

Washington State is soon to follow.

Many states still working on passing medical marijuana bills. 

So what exactly is happening?

There are many Americans for whom marijuana legalization is plain wrong. They feel they have justification. 

"Reefer Madness" - isn't a phrase or event that a lot of Americans are familiar with. Reefer Madness refers to a docu-drama filmed and aired in 1937 proclaiming the ultimate evil and danger that marijuana presented to our society. A film that today is viewed as a joke, if viewed at all. By the 1940's and the advent of WWII, Reefer madness was forgotten. 

Ask someone over age 70 if they've heard about it and the answer is likely, "No".

Ask them what they think about marijuana and the response is likely to be "it's wrong". 

IT'S WRONG! Period.

Or "it's dangerous..."

As in, "marijuana is a dangerous drug".

Federal Law views marijuana as a Schedule 1 drug. A S1 drug being one with ZERO Medicinal value and a very high proclivity for abuse. WIKI - SCHEDULE ONE DRUGS

So what's odd about marijuana being a Schedule One (dangerous) drug? Maybe the fact that 20 States have legalized marijuana for medical usage? Two states and a city have legalized marijuana to be regulated like alcohol... the city is Portland, ME. How can a plant deemed MOST DANGEROUS, be legal for use... ?

Obviously Federal Law is wrong. And it influences state's laws, as in the following response to a citizen of NH received from an aide to Gov. Hassan:

 Notice how the emphasis is on children and youth, not adults for which the issue is most pressing. 

The Governor of NH is opposed to legalization of marijuana... and why?

Because it would harm our young people. Nothing at all to do with freeing adults. Apparently there are no adults in NH. Rather makes the Governor of NH a Kindergarten teacher, wouldn't you maybe agree? 

Yet, our young people are already being harmed by tanning salons, tobacco, scorched meat, energy drinks, fast food, alcohol and poverty... how much more harm can marijuana cause? That is the question.

It turns out marijuana can cause a lot more harm as it's illegal and in most states seriously prosecuted... and this means SWAT TEAMS bursting into a house where marijuana is being used and machine guns pointed at a child's parent's head. Seizure of property. Loss of liberty. All because of a plant with beneficial properties. 

It's said marijuana is illegal because of the tobacco industry, Big pharma, the paper industry and chemical synthetic industries like DuPont? Okay, maybe true.

But what's really at stake here is Holmes logic and our freedom as adults to use a plant. This isn't Rocket Science or America's Most Wanted... this is about a beneficial plant, nothing more, and all the frenzy surrounding this plant. 

Hopefully the following links will enlighten/aid in your education:

The Only Cannabis Deaths Come from the U.S. Drug War

The Unbearable Whiteness of Marijuana Legalization

It's Getting Harder For the Feds To Lie About Marijuana and Get Away With It

DEA Chief Faces Backlash for Criticizing Obama's Marijuana Remarks

Reefer Madness Continues: Can Marijuana Kill You?

MARIJUANA AND NEW HAMPSHIRE GOVERNOR, MAGGIE HASSAN

Updated January 16, 2014; 8:30 PM; Jan. 17, 2014, 9:30 PM

Yes, I live in New Hampshire. Always loved the motto, "Live Free or Die." I've been here since 1988. I am familiar with the state and it's politics, but in no way do I understand politicians. My impression when I moved here after 7 years living in Boston was that people in NH were staunch believers in not treading on others. "Mind our own business", a Ben Franklin quote, if I'm correct. Conservative state that respected individual rights and liberty.

In the news:

Correction: Initially I wrote the next paragraph, and thought I had my facts straight...  I never said I knew the political system, in fact, it's quite intimidating in my opinion. Anyway the following mistakenly says the House voted; It wasn't the House, but rather it was a branch or another group within NH government, perhaps a committee. The actual House of Representatives (the Lower House to be specific) yesterday voted 170 to 162 in favor to legalize cannabis for adult use, for those over age 21 as we can do now with alcohol.

The New Hampshire House is voting once again to legalize marijuana. Tomorrow, January 15, 2014. If voting goes as it did the last time, what? Two years ago? It will pass with an overwhelming vote. As I recall it was something like 21 to 3. The House has passed a measure 4 times. Governor Lynch was in office I think the whole time, and every time it came up for vote, the governor would vow to veto legalization, but never had to as the senate never approved it.

That was then, this is now. We have a new governor, Maggie Hassan (who I did vote for). Last year she signed a bill into law legalizing medical marijuana and this includes five, state of the art facilities to grow the marijuana. NH became the 20th or 21st state to legalize medical marijuana. There are problems with the arrangements however. Governor Hassan refused to sin the bill into law if allowing patients to grow their own was included, or patients suffering from PTSD - most common with military combat soldiers and veterans, though equally prevalent among your citizen population. The regulatory requirements would make one think they're applying for level 3 clearance into the Pentagon. At best, in my opinion it's a compromise.

Since then, two states and one city have legalized "recreation " marijuana, and in Colorado, one of those states, adults 21 and older can now purchase at a cannabis outlet their marijuana and legally smoke it at home. They can grow it. Washington state is soon to follow; marijuana is legal there as of a year or two ago, but their state stores haven't opened yet. The city is Portland Maine.  They legalized it last year - no word on the details yet, but I was told it went into effect December 30, 2013, no plans for outlets to purchase it, possession of two ounces permitted by law. It's been widely reported Maine will be another state in 2014 that legalizes "recreational" marijuana.

There is a reason I put "recreational" in quotes. When it comes to cannabis/marijuana, the media loves to spin words, meanings, phrases and quotes... The following Top News stories from WMUR, Channel 9 in NH caught my attention. I believe they fairly portrayed both sides, gave the governor her say and day.

1) "Governor says she would veto marijuana legalization. 
Hassan says legalization would send wrong message. "

Published  6:30 PM EST Jan 13, 2014 By Josh McElveen, Political Director/News Anchor/Rep

2) "Marijuana debate heats up in NH House; House votes on (the) bill Wednesday."

UPDATED 6:24 AM EST Jan 13, 2014 By Jennifer Gannon, News Reporter

Nothing wrong with a good debate. Problem is Governor Maggie Hassan isn't willing to participate or listen. She's vowed to veto the bill if by some slim chance it passes the senate which has always voted these bills down. In the second newscast, an officer John Tholl is interviewed. A statement he made brought back memories. "Marijuana is a gateway drug. It contributes to a lot of crimes. The problem with marijuana is after awhile it's not enough. The person moves onto harder drugs. Harder crimes."

Hardly true as it's a generalization, a stereotype, hearsay. That's my opinion. Most marijuana crimes occur as for the fact marijuana is illegal. It's like when "dirty books" - Henry Miller, James Joyce, Norman Mailer were the kingpins of "dirty books", and such books reputably would corrupt and sinfully tempt the reader. Or when sex was illegal; you didn't know sex was ever illegal? It was, and still is in many countries, and extremely in-tolerated. In the US it wasn't until the early 1970's M-F sex was "legalized".

Most marijuana users are quite content with their marijuana. That's not to say human-beings don't like experimenting. They do! What it means is to draw a connection between use of marijuana and escalation to hard drugs and crime is quite a stretch - as this essentially says that marijuana users become psychotic and lose their minds. It's why often I refer to stoners as zombies... and the law enforcement experts Governor Hassan refers to must think of marijuana users exactly like they are zombies, without a living mind.

The biggest, most serious concern proponents of legalization are trying to make is, "where does the marijuana come from? Who profits from the sale? Is it untainted by chemicals, fungus, bacteria? And these to me are sound concerns. When Governor Hassan says "legalization sends the wrong message to children", we forget that it isn't about children at all. It's about adults. Liberty and freedom. Just as adults that can legally choose to buy and use all the alcohol and tobacco they want. And often, it is a major cause to health concerns. Marijuana is unique in that it can be used quite safely, and can often be very beneficial. And people are thrown in prisons for that, their lives ruined by an arrest record, for even the smallest amounts, or simply a pipe.

If it was true at all, what officer Tholl says, I'd certainly be concerned too. But I'm not. I'm more concerned about decades of lies, propaganda and deceit. But that's his opinion. I listened. That is the start of communication. However when a governor refuses to listen, that's not being a Representative of the People. And she won't get my vote a second time.

Let's voice our support and legalize marijuana in New Hampshire.

Stop The Hurt!