4/11/2002: Bloomberg enjoyed pot
 

http://cellar.org/2002/normlad.jpg

This ad, which ran in the NY Times, has been a remarkable example of how to get free press. It features NYC mayor Michael Bloomberg's response to a question asked of him during last year's campaign.

I know - strangely enough, to get free press, you have to buy an ad in the NY Times? OK, sure, so the first day of the campaign was very expensive. But since then, this ad has been endlessly reproduced and shown to people. During the day yesterday, CNN aired their report on it about 4 times. Other newspapers and broadcasts have picked it up.

It's even appeared on the Cellar IotD. So I would say this was a pretty awesome job by the NYC NORML folks, who are overacheiving despite likely being just a bunch of stoners.

Bloomberg noted that he wasn't happy about it, but that there was nothing he could do, since those were his words and the NORML folks can say whatever they like given the 1st amendment. That's more respect to the amendment than the previous mayor allowed, but hey.

The next question is: if there is no political fallout from this, will more politicians feel OK about admitting their own dips into the killer weed?

(PA Libertarian <a href="http://kenk.org">Ken Krawchuk</a> says: "Yes, I inhaled. <i>And I held it.</i>" Now THAT'S an honest politician.)

Word up. When I run for President, I'll be able to honestly say "Nope, I didn't. But I do enjoy a good steak. Mmmmmmmmmm, steak."

Steak is good.

That "Alfred E. Newman" look certainly suggests he had a toke just before the pic was taken. :-)

Man. I just read most of KenK.org and I must say... I'mma move to Pennsylvania and vote for that guy. He's spot-on on drugs, abortion and gun control. Amen.

Re: 4/11/2002: Bloomberg enjoyed pot
 

I just heard a NORML ad on the Yankee game. They named Pataki, Bloomberg, and Clarence Thomas as admitted smokers. They don't seem to have been harmed.

Lord, I hope so...

Or, even better, maybe we'll even reach the point where it won't occur to anyone even to ask the question?

I mean, does anyone really care anymore?

So, throwing caution to the wind and possibly ruining my chances of holding elected office in the future, I hereby freely admit to my own use of marijuana in the past. It was a youthful indiscretion... I was never a confirmed user... I merely experimented with it on four- or five-hundred separate occasions, before finally deciding that I didn't like it.

And, yes, I did inhale.

Q: what is NORML?

A: National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws

So does that mean we can start calling you Herbis Boy instead?

fark, 4 or 5 hundred?
over how long?
/me staying tight lipped ;)

Trying not to lose the toke? (watching that smilie to see if it turns blue) :-)

No...you DON'T want to move to Pennsylvania. :)

Sometimes, I miss pot.

I also freely admit to past use. I won't ever run for office, but if I did, and was asked, I'd admit it. If we don't have honesty, what do we have left?

Well, it's not like there's no pot in Pennsylvania. Or is that a non sequitor? :-)

So far the only complaints you've registered about Pennsylvania are that Frankford Hospital sucks (so why go there? Lots of other hospitals in town) and none of LadySyc's relatives live here....which you knew going-in but it didn't matter until you needed help taking care of her.

Pennsylvania rocks....and Northeast Philly is hardly representative of the whole state.

Hardly.

Me too. I'll be starting plants here pretty soon. It'd be pretty easy... Not a good idea this year though, it looks like PA taxpayers will be building me a million dollar driveway in exchange for a right of way for a State Police com. tower. Too many state employees hanging around this summer...

One thing that strikes me as strange is the way local pot busts are reported here(NY border). We've had, as always, a bunch of tiny busts measured in ounces but recently they also accidentally made a 1 ton bust (which is hilarious since several of the tiny busts were the result of "extensive" investigation). They are reported as equivalent. I'd prefer it were all legal but an obvious first step would be a personal use exemption eliminating these tiny busts... Even if you don't see prohibition as the cause of the violence you've got to see the difference in potential trouble between somebody with a baggie in their sock verses a garage full of pot.

Re: Re: 4/11/2002: Bloomberg enjoyed pot
 

REALLY??? Not harmed? Then how do you explain the fact that they (and almost every Pol out there) has no CLUE to what the limits of the powers are supposed to be per the Constitution?

Remember, we are talking about "King George" here

You are of course correct. I blame our education system for producing an electorate and a press which doesn't have the background or moral authority to recognize unconstitutional actions or expose hypocrisy.

I never have. Maybe I should run for office?

D. Ham and M. Russotto - President and Vice Presidential candidates for 2016. Yeah!

Sorry but you boys are unelectable. American voters prefer to elect people whose standards are lower than their own. It makes them feel better about themselves.

( insert 8th grade philosophical argument here: )

but..... if you smoked it..... and it was against the law..... doesn't that make you a dishonest person by default..?

Just because you don't think it should be illegal, doesn't mean its not illegal! ;)



(btw, i definately don't have anything against pot.. i'm from BC.. its like.. our 3rd largest industry up here!....HAH! )

I dunno. I think a lot of people want change. My agendas are:

1) Eliminate the War on Drugs
2) Eliminate big city problems like theft, poverty (see #1)
3) Work out an acceptable solution for the abortion debate
4) Do anything else that needs to be done

In no particular order, of course.

Baltimore is pathetic. It's just awful. Little kids talking about how their brother was killed down the street. You can't walk down MLK at night without feeling the threat of getting mugged. That needs to be changed.

The War on Drugs is silly. It's stupid. People know this. More people would realize it. They just need to be shown the evidence. They need someone to tell them that it's ridiculous.

I think the American public really would like to see an honest, high-standards President. I think they really want change. They just need to know that it's an option.

nd, it's not dishonesty, it's civil disobedience!

And that's my story and I'm stickin' to it!

And with forestry tanking 'cause of the bogus lumber tariffs being imposed by the US it could move up to number 2 ;)

Exactly. To quote the good Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.:
<i>"One has not only a legal but a moral responsibility to obey just laws. Conversely, one has a moral responsibility to disobey unjust laws."

I'm down with him, in fact I'm quite high right now and feeling very normal. Thanks for your time. :D

*reads Maggie's post*

Hmmm...a false statement...a few assumptions. Another classic Maggie post. :)

Well, you used to love Philly. Now you can't wait to leave, and continue to bad-mouth the place, as above. The big turning point seemed to be Frankford Hospital incidents.

They did sound like you got lousy care. There's *lots * of other hospitals in this town. I have no idea why you'd go back there.

I mostly get the impression that LadySyc just wants to go home to Baltimore. That's an assumption too, of course. But if you guys don't like the area anymore, for whatever reason, by all means please *go*, and quit complaining.

The bases of your past 2 posts toward me have been assumptions and falsehoods, as you committed another falsehood in your last post.

Your last post was another good one. Thanks for making me smile. :)

You two oughta get high together. I think it would solve things. If you want I can make my place available as a safe house. Kidney patients and any and all dykes are perfectly allowed to accompany.

Damn Tony...that was indeed funny. I almost spit my beer out.

While I appreciate the offer, I must decline. :)

I thought he was serious. :-)

That's dirty pool, Parm, unless you are willing to submit a photo of yourself.

Here's one of me for example.

OK, OK, I take it back. I'm having FAR FAR FAR too much fun on this thread! Still, Syc and I do resemble each other in too many ways. If you don't like him for his looks, don't leave me out of it! Hate me too!
http://cellar.org/2002/ut.jpg

Why don't you tell us about your hobbies, mouthbreather?

*brings on the memories*

Lawdhavemercy: All I can say is during 1993-1997, I was in a fog...literally.
:D

"Did you smoke pot in the past?"

*"I don't know...I was too stoned to remember..."
:eek:

Currently, I'm in the Frankford Hospital system regarding my dialysis. The center that I'm at now is great (after being in two other locales prior). I have a history with FH, so I'm going to stick with them...for now. In addition, it was only the TORRESDALE location that sucked major ass. The Bucks County locale was more pleasant. Too bad it's further away from the apt.



Well, I thought it was pretty admirable of him to think about MY needs regarding my health, something to which we BOTH agreed upon.



I don't recall anyone saying that it WAS. Admittedly, NE Philly is quite nice. IMO, our particular area could use a bit more..."culture" (and I KNOW I'll get in trouble with that, but oh well), but hey, we work with what we have.

*see post prior regarding explaination*

What's the problem? :confused: I'm sure that there are people who were actually BORN here that complain. Are you going to tell THEM to leave too?

I think we'll continue to exercise our right to complain, and by the way...turns out that we're NOT leaving after all (at least, not for a while...).

Thanks for the free publicity Parmenion. I'm always trying to get more people over to the site, so that might help.

I don't see it that way, but to each his own.

It's only one of several hobbies actually. You might have also noticed:

Listening to music
Writing
Playing sports games on PlayStation
Watching sports (particularly hockey)
Learning the intricacies of Philadelphia
Going on road trips
Websurfing
Building Sycamoreland
Walking
Enjoying beauty and nature in its simplest forms
Being me

And there are even more beyond that.

To quote you: "Man, that's some impressive flamebait there. Low-key, yet still insulting."

What's wrong? Do you fear my striking good looks? :)

Or, is it just the picture itself. Oh dear, I'm sorry. I can see how it might scare some folk...it might give off that "angry vibe." Here's what I would call a more "normal" pic, taken in Chicago in July 1998.

Now, run along and go back to lurking...

Look...I even smile in some pics!

Damn...that's scary! Heh. :)

Put Chris Simon of the Washington Capitals in, and we could possibly pass for triplets.

Yah, but the weird thing is, I don't look much like that. They say I look a little like that Michael Moore, is what they say. And that was before I put on some weight and started wearing ball caps everywhere. I guess I wanna be like Mike.

Michael Moore?

This guy:

http://cellar.org/2002/mmoore.jpg

Man you to a way...too similar. Syc loosk roughly how i expected (i think i may have seen a pic before) UT...i donno..*laughz

I'd post a pic of me but the only ones i have on the comp are incrimination ones from a formal afterparty and i'm posting those over my dead body.

Parmenion do you a fetish for baptisms of fire or are you just one of natures natural bitches?

If it's just an old-fashioned flame war you want, there's one thing I don't understand. How come your posts don't rhyme?

The "flame limerick" was explored by us here in about 1994. The concept: flame someone using wit, humor, and rhyme. Ordinary flames like the above don't really get it done, y'see. Everyone knows it's just ridiculous, empty nonsense. But put it into a limerick and it becomes a devastating blow. There's no responding to a limerick.

The fact that you started the account to flame is evidence: you have nothing to offer otherwise. You have nothing of substance to add. You read thoughtful interesting posts and did not reply. (I know: I checked the IP logs and your account looks unique. You aren't someone posting from a second account, unless you've gone to a lot of trouble to do it.)

Poking at people from behind anonymity is pathetic. Putting someone down for what they look like? Weak! Most people quit that kind of crap at some point during adolescence.

<i>the only way to deal with obnoxious jerks is to be one back at them</i>

If that's the only approach you understand, this speaks leagues about your own personality. For instance, I'm dealing with you an an entirely different way. And please don't leave me out of your mass replies; I don't want to feel left out.

Hmmm...troll...insecure individual...or poor misguided soul?

We may not know the answer, but I'll pray for him/her tonight. :)

Back to the topic...
 

Jay Leno had this on his show the other night. For his Thursday and Friday shows, he had "Mike Bloomberg's Pot-Smoking Tip of the Day."

Thursday's tip: During a drought, put a brick in your bong.

Flaming Flamer
 

After a little research, (I was actually looking for photo shop material ;) ) it appears that Parm thinks you are a gay baiter. He takes his name from a Macedonian general who "served" under PhilipII.

Re: Flaming Flamer
 

You beat me to it, Griff. :)

If this IS the case, they obviously never read my essay on gays and lesbians.

and that gives him a right to be rude after a few posts? is that all it takes... cool :)

YOU ALL SMELL!!! :P

Glad I got the rules straight before I did that :D now if only I could remember where I put my flamex suit as I think that I'm about to get a vaugely warm breeze aimed in my general direction... perhaps I should get the suntan lotion on instead ?

It's been unusually warm on the US East Coast this year. ;)

Re: Back to the topic...
 

(Maggie returns from a short trip out-of-town to Lisa's new place...nice)

Most of the bongs I've ever seen looked like they had a brick in them already...probably some sort of adobe.
And in fairness I have to say I don't recall syc's ever trolled me about being queer. Tony only mentioned dykes and kidney patients because my lifepartner's a dyke, and syc's has serious kidney problems. I took it as a quaint way of saying "you can each bring a date." :-) To flesh out some details, Gwenie and I are both bi. Some folks say that's "not lesbian"; go fiigure.

LadySyc's observations about the "limited" cultural opportunities in NE Philly are ponts well-taken. Goodness knows there are some places in Pennsylvania I wouldn't live in on a bet. There are entire other *states* I wouldn't live in on a bet either, like Texas, or New Jersey.

Parmenion i don't follwo you..what do you find so funny about syc's picture? Geez even your average troll can make *some* sense...
Where do you usually post, slashdot or something?

Re: Re: Back to the topic...
 

Never seen a brick in a bong, but I have seen smoldering charcoal keeping the "brick" of weed nice and toasty...;)

(ok, it was really an ounce, and not a true "brick") :p

*steps out of the confessional...*

quick pit check *sniff* oooohhhh my!
thanks fer the heads up, I'll get right on that. (checks homepage for weaknesses)
oh yah Land Rovers bite ;) I used have a CJ-7 my last made in USA vehicle, got it for $10,600 american back in '86 brand new :)are rovers as touchy on the highway?

hey each to their own....

not sure what you mean by "touchy", if you mean slow then yes...

then again mine was built ten or eleven years before I was ;)

*yawn*..

in my short (just over a year and some) time of lurking here, I think that we've had like... maybe ONE 4-page discussion that wasn't someone flaming someone else..

so lame.. I like undertony's idea of poetic flames...




pretty pictures sit
hidden in the background
as angry flamers flame


Little duckies climb.
Why so angry Parmenion?
Do you need a hug?



or something.



btw, that one actual 'discussion' that comes to my mind is the one about that taxidermist girl.... i don't even know why that sticks out.. tee hee.

The short wheelbase on those jeeps used to make them overly "responsive" on the highway, if you had to swerve or brake quickly you could flip it pretty easily. They were not geared that low (they have a low range for off road) so you could maintain highway speeds if you had a gentle touch. You could get the older smaller CJ-5s with an 8 cylinder engine, that must have been a scarey machine. I actually find the LRs to be pretty attractive machines but I had to flame something.

There once was a lurker named Parm
Who obviously went off his Pharm
He flamed Sycamore, and Hubris whats more
and done squandered all of his Kharm

I want to defecate in your mouth.