I have been blogging online since before there were blogs. I began on a listserve at Marist University called QC-L back in the late 1990s. That evolved into a Blogger account I had at RadicalRuss.net during the George W. Bush Administration. From there, I joined the acclaimed LGBT blog Pam's House Blend as a guest blogger, leading to my accreditation to cover the 2008 Democratic National Convention nominating Barack Obama in Denver. During my career in marijuana legalization, I wrote numerous articles online and in print on the subject. I continue blogging from time to time on various subjects here and as much of my past blogging as I've been able to recover is found here as well.
I know all y’all don’t see how the pendulum could ever swing back now on marijuana legalization. But I have very good friends in marijuana legalization who were certain it would be legal by 1980. I also remember well how ubiquitous cigarette smoking used to be, and not a single cigarette smoker was arrested to make it the huge taboo it is today.
This year, Warren Zevon, Iron Maiden, and Soundgarden (all rockers) were nominated, all with years of eligibility (25 years after first release, which was 1969, 1980, & 1988, respectively), but first-time nominee Missy Elliott (not a rocker) is inducted, her debut being in 1997.
Not only is the public prohibition of showing female breasts antiquated and downright Puritan by European standards, (especially at a swimming pool), it’s sexist. That trans man lifeguard with the exposed boobies would probably rescue someday a fat-ass male with bigger boobies than he.
“Sadly, I have to say, that no one really has covered it well, the insurrection. Because they only say that they were wrong, they have to go to jail, we have to punish them and all that stuff. But no one really has gotten into why was it that way? What powers do people have that have really upset and angry at government?”
The self-driving future has arrived in San Francisco. And, increasingly and all too often, it looks like a confounded cop, road flare in hand, commanding a wayward autonomous vehicle as if it were a misbehaving, two-ton puppy.
That’s why the police reaction was so slow. “A guy with an AR-15? You’ll need to give us more. He’s firing it in his yard? Yeah, go on. At night, sure. But he’s in his own yard? Well, ma’am, you need to explain how there’s a crime being committed. All you’re telling me is there’s a good guy with a gun blowing off steam. Oh, sure, we’ll have someone stop by…”
Maybe Mr. Garcia should’ve told them he found a massive pot grow. Texas police react really quickly when there’s a big asset forfeiture possible. They’d even bring out the shiny new MRAP and have their full array of battlefield rifles and body armor ready to go.
“My understanding is that the victims, they came over to the fence and said ’Hey could [you not do your] shooting out in the yard? We have a young baby that’s trying to go to sleep,” and he had been drinking and he says ’I’ll do what I want to in my front yard,’” Capers told KTRK. The shooter was known to shoot his AR-15 style rifle in his front yard.
his week the Grim Reaper has collected two nonagenarian jazzmen and one pop singer, a trio of singers from Asia, and musicians England, Croatia, Brazil, and Italy. Our Headliner this week is the great jazz pianist Ahmad Jamal.
Back when marijuana was strictly illegal, when the mere smell of it would draw police attention, when simply being caught in possession of it meant immediate arrest, there was a proliferation of illegal weed stores in New York City. But now, when the smell and possession of weed is legal, law enforcement’s going to really crack down.
There is a small list of things that, as Red State Refugee, I prefer about Idaho to Oregon. Better license plates (7 letters over 6). College football (go Big Blue!). Street addressing (seriously, Medford, what’s with the hidden houses in people’s backyards?). But high on the list is Boise’s approach to homelessness.
This week features a Scottish songwriter, a Brazilian singer, a German pianist, an American double-bassist, and the passing of our Headliner, Mark Sheehan of the Irish band, The Script.
I used to be a Twitter power user (22K followers), but since Elon Musk turned it into a Nazi pub, I then migrated to Threads, until Mark Zuckerberg began throttling political speech and forced me off that, Facebook, and Instagram. Then TikTok went and kissed the Felon’s ring, so bye bye, there, too. You can find me primarily now on BlueSky, where I’m verified as @RadicalRuss.com. I’m also on Mastodon, kinda, and YouTube with our live stream and video archive.
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