Today's Topics?

I listened to the radio for much of my driving today.  That's unusual, but I guess I just wanted to listen.  I switched between three or four stations and there were similar topics, between stations and between hosts.

One was medical marijuana.  Prescribed marijuana is now legal or will soon be in several states.  I'm not sure I agree.  Intuitively, I find something wrong with prescribing "smoking" for someone's condition.  I thought smoking is bad, no matter what the substance is.  So, then, how is prescribing "smoke" good?  I'm also under the impression that the chemicals in marijuana have been linked to genetic mutations.  I might be wrong, but I think I remember reading that in several places, although it was a while ago (years) and I'm not certain where.  It may be anecdotal, but it also seems pretty clear that there is a connection between habitual marijuana use and sloth, a lack of incentive.  What message(s) are we sending to our children?  That marijuana is still illegal for minors doesn't build confidence--so are alcohol and tobacco.  The argument that other drugs, namely alcohol and tobacco, are legal, so should marijuana rings very hollow.  That reminds me of the private sector workers who are opposed to teacher tenure saying, "Why should teachers be protected from vindictive or stupid bosses when we aren't?"  Boy, that sounds as stupid now as it ever did.  And I'd bet the chemicals in marijuana that are supposedly beneficial can be extracted and put into pill or capsule form.  It sure seems to me that this medical marijuana movement is just an attempt to get the drug fully legalized through the back door.

Another topic was interesting, one that addressed a tangential question I've had.  Why do we have this rash of shootings--at malls, at schools, at theaters, etc.?  One suggestion, on at least two of the radio shows today, was that the anti-depression drugs have an opposite and polar effect.  I'm not an expert on this and, frankly, know little about it.  I am of the belief that we prescribe far too many drugs, esp for kids.  How much is prescribed because the kids are antsy, acting like, well, kids?  I don't know.

I caught the tail end of a discussion of the Bridgegate scandal with Chris Christie.  The gist of the discussion, from what I gathered, was what I've been asking for the past week or more.  Why is there so much national attention to this esp relative to the quiet of the NSA, IRS, FBI, etc. scandals?  And I can't imagine such silence had these illegal and unconstitutional actions had been done under the aegis/orders of a Republican, say Nixon, administration.

And I wonder if some newspaper folks read this blog??????  I doubt it, but I do find some of my ideas, posted here, showing up in op-ed pieces.  Today there was something about the minimum wage/unequal income issue.  Doesn't this, from such an op-ed, ring familiar?  "The next time someone rises to support arbitrary government wage-setting [that is, a minimum wage], they [sic] should be asked what they are doing personally to help the economically disadvantaged?"  Yep......