MAPTalk-Digest Friday, December 26 2003 Volume 03 : Number 290
001 MSNBC dumps Jess Ventura
From: "kim hanna" <>
002 RE: MSNBC dumps Jess Ventura
From: "Jim White" <>
003 CBC: opinions wanted on marijuana laws
From: Tim Meehan <>
004 Re: MSNBC dumps Jess Ventura
From: "Elmer Elevator" <>
005 Re: MAP: CBC: opinions wanted on marijuana laws
From: Rick Steeb <>
006 Re: MAP: MSNBC dumps Jess Ventura
From: "Jack R. Lebowitz" <>
007 Pot club owner to fight drug charges
From: Rick Steeb <>
008 Re: MAP: MSNBC dumps Jess Ventura
From: "kim hanna" <>
009 Re: MSNBC dumps Jess Ventura
From: Tim Meehan <>
010 Brain Rewards Us for Laughing: Study
From: "Jim White" <>
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Subj: 001 MSNBC dumps Jess Ventura
From: "kim hanna" <>
Date: Fri, 26 Dec 2003 13:25:28 -0500
MSNBC dumps the controversial Jess Ventura show (started Oct).
No doubt the thrashing Jesse gave the ONDCP guy contributed to his quick
exit. That kind of WORD travels fast.
No way will they let that kind of Jesse talk abound.
Have fun customizing MSN Messenger — learn how here!
http://www.msnmessenger-download.com/tracking/reach_customize
------------------------------
Subj: 002 RE: MSNBC dumps Jess Ventura
From: "Jim White" <>
Date: Fri, 26 Dec 2003 13:44:37 -0500
It'd be interesting to see the ratings for his show.
> -----Original Message-----
> From:
> [] On Behalf Of kim hanna
> Sent: Friday, December 26, 2003 1:25 PM
> To:
> Subject: MAP: MSNBC dumps Jess Ventura
>
>
> MSNBC dumps the controversial Jess Ventura show (started Oct).
>
> No doubt the thrashing Jesse gave the ONDCP guy contributed
> to his quick
> exit. That kind of WORD travels fast.
>
> No way will they let that kind of Jesse talk abound.
>
> > Have fun customizing MSN Messenger - learn how here!
> http://www.msnmessenger-download.com/tracking/reach_customize
>
------------------------------
Subj: 003 CBC: opinions wanted on marijuana laws
From: Tim Meehan <>
Date: Fri, 26 Dec 2003 14:05:13 -0500
Canada's laws making the possession of small amounts of marijuana illegal do not
violate the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, Canada's top court has ruled.
The Supreme Court of Canada ruled 6-3 Tuesday that jailing someone with small
amounts is constitutional and that any changes to the law must be made by
Parliament.
"We conclude that it is within Parliament's legislative jurisdiction to
criminalize the possession of marijuana, should it choose to do so," said the
judgment, co-written by justices Charles Gonthier and Ian Binnie.
The decision comes as Ottawa prepares to reintroduce legislation that would
decriminalize the possession of marijuana in small amounts.
Three B.C. marijuana users had challenged sections of the country's Narcotics
Act that makes possession a criminal offence.
But lawyers for the federal government countered that the law should be upheld
and that Parliament should set drug policy for the country.
Prime Minister Paul Martin said last week that the government will reintroduce a
marijuana bill that died in November when Parliament was prorogued.
The bill would decriminalize the activity, which means people caught with small
amounts would face fines rather than prison.
Share your thoughts on the Supreme Court's ruling.
------------------------------
Subj: 004 Re: MSNBC dumps Jess Ventura
From: "Elmer Elevator" <>
Date: Fri, 26 Dec 2003 14:12:32 -0500
Well grumble gripe this is what happens when the USA and North American
media collapse into being owned by maybe four or five megacorporations.
Ultimately everything we see, hear and read gets monitored and approved by
four or five megalomaniacal superrich white men -- Eisner, Murdoch, Mr.
Clear Channel, Bill Gates, Mr. Viacom, etc.
This isn't a classic Conspiracy Theory, where a bunch of Secret Evil Men got
together in a secret room to try to do a specific Evil Thing.
It's a collapse of the old widely-held political notion in the USA (dating
from the original "Trust Buster," the Republican Teddy Roosevelt) that
corporate and industrial power should not be allowed to be monopolized in a
very few hands.
I haven't heard a politician shriek bloody murder about the danger of trusts
or monoplies in the last twenty years. Democrats and Republicans alike have
just all gone into a coma about the unrestricted concentration of corporate
and industrial power.
I'm sorry, did I say they went into a coma? No, these politicians were paid
huge sums of money to fall asleep on issues of monopoly and trusts and
concentration of wealth and power.
In the media it has a direct and profoundly cancerous consequence: The
shrinking of idea diversity.
If I hear one more CNN news story which ends, "We're obligated to state that
the subject of this story is, like CNN, owned by AOL Time Warner," I'm gonna
hurl.
It's a poor Consolation Prize, but thank fuckin' God for the Internet, where
meme diversity still thrives and celebrates and dances weird forbidden
dances in the noooooooood!
Elmer
P.S. To all this wonderful community, belated Ramadan Kareem, Happy
Solstice, Happy Hannukah, Merry Christmas, and an ass-kickin Boxing Day!
- -----Original Message-----
From: kim hanna <>
To: <>
Date: Friday, December 26, 2003 1:27 PM
Subject: MAP: MSNBC dumps Jess Ventura
>MSNBC dumps the controversial Jess Ventura show (started Oct).
>
>No doubt the thrashing Jesse gave the ONDCP guy contributed to his quick
>exit. That kind of WORD travels fast.
>
>No way will they let that kind of Jesse talk abound.
------------------------------
Subj: 005 Re: MAP: CBC: opinions wanted on marijuana laws
From: Rick Steeb <>
Date: Fri, 26 Dec 2003 11:34:57 -0800 (PST)
<>
CBC Message Boards A-Z National News Marijuana laws
Canada's laws making the possession of small amounts of marijuana
illegal do not violate the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, Canada's top
court has ruled.
The Supreme Court of Canada ruled 6-3 Tuesday that jailing someone with
small amounts is constitutional and that any changes to the law must be
made by Parliament.
"We conclude that it is within Parliament's legislative jurisdiction to
criminalize the possession of marijuana, should it choose to do so,"
said the judgment, co-written by justices Charles Gonthier and Ian
Binnie.
The decision comes as Ottawa prepares to reintroduce legislation that
would decriminalize the possession of marijuana in small amounts.
Three B.C. marijuana users had challenged sections of the country's
Narcotics Act that makes possession a criminal offence.
But lawyers for the federal government countered that the law should be
upheld and that Parliament should set drug policy for the country.
Prime Minister Paul Martin said last week that the government will
reintroduce a marijuana bill that died in November when Parliament was
prorogued.
The bill would decriminalize the activity, which means people caught
with small amounts would face fines rather than prison.
Share your thoughts on the Supreme Court's ruling.
CBC News Online: Pot laws don't violate charter: Canada's top court
CBC News Online: PM says pot soon to be decriminalized
- -----------------------------------------------------------
(5025 previous messages)
- -----------------------------------------------------------
PoliticallyIncorrect - Dec 26, 2003 2:13 pm (#5026 Total: 5027)
To the pothead parents or parents wannabees who seem to advocate that
sitting around smoking a joint with your kid is a good thing--well,
thats like sitting around and watching Daddy and Mommy get drunk and
wasted. The effects are long term. I suggest you act responsibly if you
want your kids to do the same. Otherwise you really are not fit to have
kids!
- -----------------------------------------------------------------------
Richard Steeb - Dec 26, 2003 2:16 pm (#5027 Total: 5027)
Anyone of room-temperature IQ can grasp the law of supply and demand.
Choice cannabis bud already exceeds gold in price. The inevitable
effects of more supply-side interdiction while liberalizing simple
possession? -- You do the math!
Who profits from cannabis prohibition? Besides the individual and
organized-crime grow-ops and dealers, there's the competition: alcohol,
meth, cocaine, Big Pharma, heroin, tobacco... and, of course, the
lucrative prohibition industry.
The criminalization of an herb less toxic than coffee must end, for the
sake of humanity!
====
Marijuana in its natural form is one of the safest
therapeutically active substances known to man."
--DEA Administrative Law Judge Francis J Young, Sept 6, 1988
"When Tyranny is abroad, SUBMISSION is the crime."
-- Rev. Andrew Eliot, May 29, 1765
"Any Questions?"
------------------------------
Subj: 006 Re: MAP: MSNBC dumps Jess Ventura
From: "Jack R. Lebowitz" <>
Date: Fri, 26 Dec 2003 14:31 -0500
Shouldn't we be writing MSNBC in protest that viewers don't want to TV and
radio to be entirely dominated by doctrinaire right-wing blowhards (Fox,
Limbaugh)? And that it appears Ventura was axed in large part because he
had the balls to take on one of politicans' most sacred cows, the WoUSD?
Kim, do you have an e-mail addy we can write to protest?
J
------------------------------
Subj: 007 Pot club owner to fight drug charges
From: Rick Steeb <>
Date: Fri, 26 Dec 2003 15:17:55 -0800 (PST)
<http://www.trivalleyherald.com/Stories/0,1413,86~10669~1853727,00.html>
Hempery proprieter booked for possession, transport, intent to sell
By Michelle Meyers, STAFF WRITER
A Hayward medical marijuana dispensary owner plans to defend herself
against felony drug possession charges in a case that could be one of
the first tests of a related new state law.
Cheryl Adams, who owns the Hayward Hempery and its Hayward Patient
Group, was arrested at 12:20 a.m. on Dec. 12 in front of the TownPlace
Suites hotel at 39802 Cedar Blvd., Newark, where she had been living.
She allegedly was driving with 5.32 pounds of marijuana in 29 separate
small plastic bags, said Newark police Sgt. Fred Zachau.
Adams was on her way home from work after picking up her 7-year-old son
from a baby sitter, she said. She brought her product home because her
on-site safe isn't working and her facility was burglarized recently,
she said.
Adams was charged and arraigned on felony counts of possession of
marijuana for sale, transportation of drugs, and possession of a
cannabis concentrate, or hash, said Alameda County Assistant District
Attorney Richard Klemmer.
She also was arrested on misdemeanor counts of driving under the
influence, being under the influence of a drug, and possession of drug
paraphernalia, Zachau said. But the district attorney is only pursuing
the felony counts.
Adams, who was bailed out of Santa Rita jail after one night, said she
plans to fight the charges on behalf of herself and the patients who
choose a "more natural pain relief."
"I want to stand up for patients' rights," she said, adding that some
of her colleagues are trying to get together a legal fund. "If I just
get off, they'll keep doing this to people."
"We may have the first real show trial of SB 420," said Oakland
Cannabis Buyers' Cooperative Executive Director Jeff Jones.
Senate Bill 420, signed into law in October by former Gov. Gray Davis,
not only established a state photo identification card registry for
medical marijuana patients, it also recognizes collective groups for
patients and caregivers.
But the law doesn't specifically define those collectives and it's
unclear whether Adams' patient group would qualify as one.
Also, the law doesn't go into effect until Jan. 1 and might not be
applicable retroactively.
In addition, the state laws allowing the use of marijuana for medical
reasons are still in conflict with federal law, which bans marijuana
entirely. That poses a quandary for police and local prosecutors, among
others.
Adams, who is in the process of changing lawyers, said she told police
about her dispensary and showed them records to prove what she does and
her own status as a medical marijuana patient.
"They didn't hear it," she said. "They were so cold-hearted."
Adams challenged the police calculation of how much pot she possessed.
She counted more like four pounds, she said, adding that she didn't
have any cannabis concentrate.
Her concerns about her arrest go beyond the drug charges. She questions
whether she was set up because police pulled her over for a burned-out
license plate light, something she had just changed, she said.
Adams said she wanted to leave her son with her boyfriend while she
went to jail. But when police learned her boyfriend was on parole, they
proceeded to break down the hotel room door to do a search, Adams and
police said. She ended up getting kicked out of the hotel and had to
pay for the broken door.
Her boyfriend wasn't there, so her son went to stay with her mother in
Hayward, she said.
"It was like a bad dream," she said. "They never should have pulled me
over to begin with."
Adams' arraignment on Dec. 16 took place just as she was scheduled to
meet with City Manager Jesus Armas to sign a document as part of a
grand-fathering agreement for her dispensary and two others downtown.
The dispensaries, which are operating against the city's zoning law,
can exist for a limited amount of time under certain conditions, such
as limiting the amount of product on site to 3 pounds.
Adams, who ended up signing the agreement at a later meeting with
Armas, said she averages about three pounds, but it's a difficult
restriction to abide by when she first gets the product delivered.
Her dispensary would be taken out of the agreement if police, who can
randomly inspect the facility, discover she's violating the limit or
other conditions.
Michelle Meyers covers Hayward, Cherryland and Fairview. Call her at
(510) 293-2463 or e-mail .
------------------------------
Subj: 008 Re: MAP: MSNBC dumps Jess Ventura
From: "kim hanna" <>
Date: Fri, 26 Dec 2003 18:28:49 -0500
Erik Sorenson, President and General Manager, MSNBC
<<<<>>>>>>>>>
MSNBC is rebranding itself as the cable news network that goes beyond the
day’s headlines to provide fiercely independent analysis of the news. The
network features a lineup of news programs with smart anchors, including
political analyst Chris Matthews, Keith Olbermann, former Congressman Joe
Scarborough, and former governor Jesse Ventura.
Launch Date: MSNBC andMSNBC.com launched Monday, July 15, 1996.
Distribution: MSNBC, a 24-hour cable news network, is available in more than
76 million cable households (as of July 2002). Select MSNBC programming is
also seen internationally through National Geographic in Asia and is
available in Canada, Germany, Spain and Portugal.MSNBC.com is accessible
through any computer with Internet access on the World Wide Web at
http://www.msnbc.com. The service is free to computer users.
Satellite: Galaxy IR, Transponder 10, VC2 encrypted.
Management: Under the joint venture agreement of NBC and Microsoft, NBC News
maintains editorial control over the content of both MSNBC TV and MSNBC on
the Internet. NBC News manages MSNBC TV; Microsoft and NBC jointly manage
MSNBC on the Internet.
Media Relations:
Jeremy Gaines, Vice President, Communications, MSNBC
201/583-5362
Paulette Song, Director, Media Relations
201/583-5010
Alana Russo, Publicist, Media Relations
201/583-5013
MSNBC Viewer Services: 201/583-4385
MSNBC.com: Kelly Collis, 703-548-5553 x208;
=======
© 2003 MSNBC Interactive
- ----Original Message Follows----
From: "Jack R. Lebowitz" <>
To: "kim hanna" <>
CC:
Subject: Re: MAP: MSNBC dumps Jess Ventura
Date: Fri, 26 Dec 2003 14:31 -0500
Shouldn't we be writing MSNBC in protest that viewers don't want to TV and
radio to be entirely dominated by doctrinaire right-wing blowhards (Fox,
Limbaugh)? And that it appears Ventura was axed in large part because he
had the balls to take on one of politicans' most sacred cows, the WoUSD?
Kim, do you have an e-mail addy we can write to protest?
J
Take advantage of our limited-time introductory offer for dial-up Internet
access. http://join.msn.com/?page=dept/dialup
------------------------------
Subj: 009 Re: MSNBC dumps Jess Ventura
From: Tim Meehan <>
Date: Fri, 26 Dec 2003 22:30:22 -0500
Elmer Elevator said:
>It's a poor Consolation Prize, but thank fuckin' God for the Internet, where
>meme diversity still thrives and celebrates and dances weird forbidden
>dances in the noooooooood!
I recieved "Dude, Where's My Country" for Xmas. It's almost redundant. I knew
98% of that stuff already...however, now that it has the Michael Moore brand and
it's in dead tree form, people might actually pay attention.
He mentions that you get a better worldly prespective from foreign state or
public broacasters. (I thought, well, no shit, Sherlock...)
Because of the Supreme Court ruling this week, I did two interviews (one for
the public broadcaster CBC and the private, (IBOC[1]-owned, the IBOC being Bell
Canada) private CTV network.
The styles and differences were very dramatic.
At the CBC, they actually enjoyed what I was saying and let me expand on it
dramatically (about 7 minutes rather than alloted 4 minutes I was told would be
the allotted time).
At CTV (well, actually, from the Globe and Mail newsroom, which is also owned by
Bell) I was told, in as many words, my piece would be filler (I was replaced
after two newscycles -- this is a headline news service -- by infamous MP Dan
McTeague, who plotted with Barry Crane from the ONDCP to overturn the pot law.
The odd part that I was greeted very warmly by techs and hosts at both networks.
Even had a grow tip coversation with one cameraman... :) A producer also
mentioned to me that she remembered me from crashing former Health min's Anne
McLellan's press conference. (It appears Chad, Steven and myself are regarded
as folk heroes among the press corps fot not taking shit from elected officials.
Personally, I think that says more about the established media than us...)
- -Tim
[1] Incumbent Bell Operating Company. Not a true comparision when referring to
Canadian phone companies, but the same idea, considering I'm writing for an
American audience -- who probably has a few phone geeks out there who get what
I'm saying.
------------------------------
Subj: 010 Brain Rewards Us for Laughing: Study
From: "Jim White" <>
Date: Fri, 26 Dec 2003 23:17:40 -0500
I didn't hawk this but someone may wish too....
It sounds like these researchers might actually catch on to why people
use
drugs..... because the brain rewards them for doing so...
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=3Dstory&cid=3D594&e=3D4&u=3D/nm/
31226/hl_nm
/brain_laughing_dc
Brain Rewards Us for Laughing: Study
Fri Dec 26, 2:53 PM ET
By Merritt McKinney
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - They say laughter is the best medicine, and
a
new study may help explain how laughter makes us feel good.
Researchers report that humor seems to activate brain networks that are
involved in rewards.
Humor is no laughing matter, according to Dr. Allan L. Reiss of Stanford
University in California, who led the research.
"Humor has significant ramifications for our psychological and physical
health," he told Reuters Health. Our sense of humor, he said, "often
dictates if, how and with whom we establish friendships and even
long-lasting romantic relationships." Humor is also a "universal coping
mechanism" for dealing with stress, Reiss added.
Despite the importance of humor, Reiss said that little is known about
the
brain mechanisms that underlie humor.
The Stanford researcher noted that most people are drawn to humor and
that
it makes people feel good. "We seem to feel rewarded" by humor, he said.
Now, Reiss and his colleagues report that they have zeroed in on the
brain's
reward system for humor.
In the study, volunteers had their brain activity monitored as they read
a
series of cartoons. Some of the cartoons were supposed to be funny, but
others had the funny cues omitted.
After viewing each strip, participants pushed a button if they thought
the
comic was funny.
Researchers found that when a cartoon made a person laugh, a brain
network
that is known to be involved in reward was activated. In fact, the areas
activated by humor have been shown previously to be activated by
amphetamines and cocaine, according to a report in the December 4th
issue of
the journal Neuron.
"I believe that understanding humor is fundamental to understanding many
aspects of 'normal' human social behavior," Reiss said.
Learning more about the brain mechanisms that underlie humor may also
help
scientists who study depression, according to Reiss. He noted that the
loss
of the ability to appreciate humor is a common symptom of depression.
"We believe that utilizing studies such as this may be one way to more
specifically identify individuals at risk for depressive disorders,"
Reiss
said. The research may also be useful in measuring a person's response
to
treatment for depression, according to Reiss. The humor reward system in
the
brain may come "on line" even before symptoms of depression change, he
said.
The research may also help explain "humorless" people, who, Reiss noted,
may
have serious problems in relationships.
"Perhaps they are missing this reward link in their circuitry," he said.
Finally, humor is known to play a role in the sleeping disorder
narcolepsy
and other conditions, Reiss said.
SOURCE: Neuron, December 4, 2003.
------------------------------
End of MAPTalk-Digest V03 #290
******************************
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