Earth Day and Hemp Awareness

Saturday’s Earth Day celebration at Sellwood Park, in southeast Portland, was about what I expected -- an eclectic mix of the curious and clueless, of passionate progressives and extreme environmentalists, of posturing politicos and crusading capitalists. Whether they came to learn or to teach, to share ideas, to promote public or private agendas, or just to enjoy fresh air and sunshine and music, everyone who showed had a personal reason for being there.

My own reason for showing up was straightforward, no less altruistic nor more selfish than any other. I wanted only to ask one question and gauge people’s response. The question, of course, is one that I’ve asked, in varying forms, for more than a decade. In essence, the question is this: Do you support the legalization of cannabis hemp, and if not, why not?

Responses varied from adamantly opposed to wildly enthusiastic. It’s not surprising that opponents outnumbered proponents by more than three to one, but it is discouraging. That so many people can remain ignorant in this age of computers and the Internet and Google searches and alternative media is truly mind-boggling.

In striking up a conversation with Jim Hill, democratic candidate for Oregon Governor, I asked, “Mr. Hill, if you’re elected governor, will you support the legalization of cannabis hemp?”

“Uhmm, no!” he replied, as if my question had triggered an automatic response. “With the medical marijuana laws we already have in place I don’t think we need to expand . . ..”

“But Mr. Hill, I wasn’t talking about marijuana, per se. I’m talking about cannabis hemp, about its industrial and commercial applications that go beyond what you’re likely to find in a sandwich bag.”

“Uh, oh, well . . ..”

Thus did Jim Hill reveal his ignorance. That someone who aspires to solve Oregon’s environmental, economic, educational, healthcare and energy crises, all of which loom large on the horizon, can remain so uninformed in a deluge of positive knowledge about something that can help achieve those worthy goals goes beyond belief. Ignorance of this magnitude strains credibility and speaks loudly of incompetence.

You can’t denounce hemp and save the planet at the same time, Mr. Hill. That’s being hypocritical. Especially on Earth Day.

To Jim Hill’s credit, he did indicate a willingness to reevaluate his position if presented with a suitable amount of credible evidence that hemp legalization would be a net gain for society. In which case I’ll have to reevaluate my decision not to vote for him.

Rethink marijuana policy!

Rep. Mark Souder, R-Ind., opposes medical marijuana initiatives because he thinks they're "a front" to legalize all uses of marijuana. Before I weigh in on the subject, let's define "marijuana."

Marijuana is a Mexican slang term that refers to the leaves and flower tops of cannabis sativa, the common hemp plant. The U.S. Government expanded its definition of marijuana to include stalks, branches, stems, seeds, roots, and root balls of both cannabis sativa and cannabis indica. Never mind that only the leaves and flower tops contain enough THC (the active ingredient in marijuana) to actually get someone high.

Rather than using lame-brained arguments to maintain a strict ban on marijuana, maybe we should more closely scrutinize the government's obsession with marijuana prohibition. And maybe we should try to figure out what constitutes "all uses" of marijuana. Does it mean that some people might smoke marijuana recreationally instead of medicinally? So what if they do? Or does it imply that marijuana -- more specifically, cannabis hemp -- has industrial uses that, if allowed free rein in a market-driven economy, would threaten to upset the status quo?

Stay tuned! I'll explore this issue in greater detail in an upcoming issue of Petey's Pipeline E-zine.

Gas prices heading north!

Back in mid-September of last year, in issue #15 of Petey’s Pipeline E-zine, I stated unequivocally that gasoline prices would turn upward in the spring of this year, eventually hitting $3.50 per gallon before Labor Day. How prophetic is that?

Yesterday, crude oil closed at a record high $74 per barrel, ratcheting gasoline prices closer toward $3.00 per gallon – to about where they were in the days immediately following Katrina. Last year, gas prices topped $3.00 per gallon before settling back into the $2.20—2.30 range. Now, prices are on the move again, and the direction they’re heading is north.

Not to worry, though. Summer is still two months off, and Labor Day nearly two-and-a-half months beyond that –- plenty of time for my prediction to come true.

In fact, I’m so confident about my gas price prediction that I’m going to make a couple more. Quite a few people are going to cancel or change vacation plans, this year, and quite a few are going to get reacquainted with walking and/or their bikes. But, hey! Walking isn’t so bad. After awhile, you get used to it. And bike riding? Well, that's just plain fun.

In case you’re wondering why I’m sounding so smug about this, it’s because I sold my car nearly five years ago. No more $300 per month car payments, no more $60 per month insurance payments, no more rush hour frustration, no more gas pump blues.

I’m feeling good about higher gas prices. Are you?

There's a good reason for . . .!

When I started Petey's Pipeline Blog, my intention was to post once or twice a week on topics that would later be explained in greater detail in a forthcoming issue of Petey's Pipeline E-zine. As you can see, it hasn't exactly turned out that way. So far, I've been compelled to post daily, largely because I find blogging to be more gratifying and satisfying, and certainly more exhilarating, than trying to meet a publication deadline for a bi-monthly e-zine. In short, the blog has turned into what Random Ramblings & Miscellaneous Musings (in the e-zine) was originally meant to be.

That’s not likely to change in the near future, especially because short opinion pieces, memoirs, and social and political commentary are particularly well-suited to subtle applications of irony and satire, with an occasional dash of sarcasm thrown in for effect.

There are different ways of perceiving reality, probably as many different ways as there are people. Most people see only a version of reality that, from their unique perspective, allows them to focus on comfortable fictions that obscure a grimmer reality behind a veil of glitz, glitter and hype. They're more concerned with the latest gossip about Brad and Jen or Tom and Katie -- or which NBA team is going to win the championship -- than they are about corporate or political malfeasance.

We live in unsettled times; global environments, global politics, and global economies are undergoing profound changes, but many people seem oblivious to the upheavals taking place all around them, blind to the changes yet to come. The raison d’être for Petey's Pipeline (both e-zine and blog) is to challenge popular perceptions of reality, to rouse people from their lethargic apathy, to encourage them to take off or shake off the blinders that confine them to a narrow world view. We are a society set to self-destruct, and each day brings us closer to that end.

We know who the "Hot Dogs" are; they occupy corporate boardrooms and political capitols everywhere. They've already exposed themselves and revealed, if obliquely, their scurrilous plans. Join me in turning up the heat. It's time we had ourselves a "weenie" roast.


Read the latest issue (#29) of Petey's Pipeline E-zine on-line.

Utopian dreams?

Pantisocracy is a term, coined by Samuel Taylor Coleridge, used by idealists to describe a classless utopian society in which all people have equal rights and all people rule. Is it possible to create such a society? Nah! Not even close.

In the first place, a pantisocracy implies that my 98-year old blind aunt has as much right to drive a Champ car or an Indy car as Catherine Legge or Danica Patrick. Actually, I don't see that happening anytime soon. There are just too many legitimate reasons why people can't, or shouldn't, be treated as equals, but that's not to say that people shouldn't be treated fairly.

In the second place, in order to establish a true pantisocracy, the privileged elite 1% of the population that hoards 80% of the nation's wealth would have to give up a significant portion of that wealth, and I don't see that happening anytime soon, either.

To round out the top three reasons why a pantisocracy won't soon replace our current arrangement, corporations would have to give up virtually all of the power they've managed to grab over the last 120 years or so. What are the chances of that happening? Jesus, I can hear them howling already.

No, I don't think we'll soon see our current form of government replaced by a pantisocracy. Too many people benefit from the kleptocracy that's already in place. And too many people are afraid to change the status quo.

Oxy-and other-morons

By definition, oxymorons are figures of speech in which apparently contradictory terms are combined to produce epigrammatic or paradoxical effects. For example, "government intelligence" is an oxymoron. I think this stems from the fact that more than a few people in government are morons, if not outright idiots. I'm not sure how "oxy" fits into the picture.

Want some more examples? Okay, how about "intelligent design" (at least in the way the term applies to our little dot on the Universal Star Chart)? The state of the world today argues more against the possibility of God's existence than it does for it. What God-fearing person of sound mind (wait, that's probably an oxymoron, too) would dare suggest that God had a hand in creating this mess we commonly refer to as "reality"?

If God did create this mess, then one must logically argue that the design is less than intelligent. Oh, you're arguing that God created mankind and that mankind is responsible for the mess. Excuse me? Doesn't that imply that God's design of mankind is faulty? Once again, the argument for intelligent design flunks the test.

But, I digress.

What other oxymorons can we come up with? How about "golf action"? That's certainly an oxymoron, and "baseball action" is borderline, at best. "Slow speed"? How much more contradictory can you get? "Working vacation"? I'll take a week off and get back to you.

There are many more oxymorons, I'm sure, but I just can't think of any, right now. Guess I've got a forgetful memory.

A Racing Legend

Stunned is the single word that best describes my feelings on that fateful Easter Sunday morning, 44 years ago, when I heard the news. Just hours earlier, at the Goodwood Racing Circuit in England, Stirling Moss had crashed his racing car (a Lotus Formula One car, if I remember correctly) head-on into a dirt embankment at 100 m.p.h., suffering life-threatening injuries in the accident.

Although Moss went on to recover from his injuries, his professional driving career, perhaps the most brilliant career in all of motor racing history, was over.

Stirling Moss' consummate driving skill made him the quintessential driver. Whether in an open-wheel or closed-wheel car, in open cockpit or closed, Moss excelled. His prowess at the "LeMans start" became legendary, and his unique "long arm" driving style made him the most recognizable driver on the track.

Unarguably, Moss was the greatest driver never to win the World Championship. During a career that spanned about 12 years, he racked up scores of victories, driving such cars as Jaguar, Maserati, Cooper, Lotus, Ferrari, Mercedes-Benz and Porsche, on the premier circuits of Europe and North America. His early victories in Cooper and, later, Lotus formula and sports racers helped ensure that rear-engine cars would become the norm, not the curious exception, at modern racing events.

Moss set yet another milestone when he became the first professional driver to earn more than $100,000 in a single year. Because driver salaries were notoriously low throughout the 1950's, Moss became one of motorsports' early pioneers of product endorsements.

Today, Sir Stirling Moss, nearing 80 years of age, continues to be a crowd pleaser. He still writes books, still does speaking and promotional tours, still inspires awe. Not too long ago, at Laguna Seca Raceway, he made what was to be the final run of the vintage Mercedes-Benz 300 SLR roadster that he drove to victory in the 1955 Mille Miglia. Jay Leno, comedian, late-night talk show host and avid car enthusiast, went along for the ride. And I am soooooooooooooo envious.

Thanks for the inspiration, Stirl. And thanks for the memories.