Greg Cravens
On the cover story, “Bad Behavior” …
“Strip clubs, porn, booze, weed, guns”
What are things found on Bruce’s monthly expense report?
Charlie Eppes
Q: “Did you expense the lap dances?”
A: “I did the job I was hired to do!”
Q: “Did you expense the lap dances?”
A: “YOU’RE GODDAMNED RIGHT I DID!!!!”
Packrat
On Toby Sells’ News Blog post, “Marijuana Law Passes First Hurdle in Council” …
Of course, Director Rallings is against decriminalization of small amounts of marijuana — petty, nonviolent, drug arrests make the city quite a fair bit of revenue. The surprising thing, to me, is that for someone who is supposedly so “in tune” with the plight of our city, he sure is okay with sending a lot of otherwise innocent young black men to jail. This not only removes their opportunity to be active members in their homes and communities but further hampers their chances for future gainful employment by putting a mark on their record. Hmmmmm. I wish the local BLM chapter (or whoever the recent protesters claim affiliation to) had been more educated on his stance before they championed him so intensely. Memphis has so many other things we need to be focusing on rather than petty, nonviolent, plant-based offenses. Maybe the officers that aren’t arresting people for marijuana could focus on the giant (not so) underground heroin epidemic instead?
R.K. Ford
From Bruce Van Wyngarden’s Letter from the Editor, “Common Sense Pot Policy” …
I recall the alcohol debates in Mississippi when preachers and bootleggers joined together to oppose legalization.
CL Mullins
Purely from an economic standpoint, it makes tons of sense. How much of our public resources are dedicated to pot “criminals”? How many people are we paying to incarcerate due to breaking marijuana laws?
If it’s legal, instead of paying all these prices, you can regulate and tax the product. You create legal industries, where the businesses, employees, and consumers all pay taxes on the transaction. Today, those transactions are all tax-free. Also, by not loading up the population with criminal records, you make people more employable, which is a good thing for the economy as a whole.
I’ll also add that the advent of synthetic marijuana and the continual chase to ban new strains of that is a spin-off of having marijuana be illegal. If marijuana is legal, people don’t need to seek a “legal” alternative substance. Those synthetic marijuanas are getting more and more dangerous the more that they keep banning the new combinations used.
CL, I like your reference to the Baptists and the bootleggers. In this case it’s the Baptists and the pharmaceutical lobbyists.
GroveReb84
On Bianca Phillips’ News Blog Post, “Coalition of Concerned Citizens Plans Legal Action After Graceland Protest” …
I’m still kinda foggy on why they were protesting Elvis fans. I guess they have some kind of logic in there, but to me, it seems like an incongruous venue to be protesting against. Was Graceland doing something wrong that they needed to protest?
If they are upset about police behavior, maybe protest at a government facility? Maybe City Hall? Or MPD headquarters? Graceland seems like an innocent victim in all this mess.
OakTree
On Toby Sells’ News Blog post, “Boyd Threatens Overton Park Conservancy Funding Over Greensward Suit” …
Sick to death of all of them, especially Allan Wade. Self-righteous blowhards! Yeah … let’s pull the upteen millions allotted to the zoo chumps! They filed the first lawsuit against the City and the City Council! AND … THEY VIOLATED THE SUNSHINE LAW, with their March 1, 2016 shenanigans! They think their seats are safe on election day … think again! The citizens won’t forget.
pdp