In Minnesota, What Were Once Vices Might Soon Be Habits

Electronic Cigarette Model (Photo credit: planetc1)

The Minnesota Legislature is mercifully brief this year, having started its session in late February and is mandated to close by mid-May.  With an election year looming and the state's improving economy creating a budget surplus, the Democratic-controlled House and Senate have been figuring out ways to spend it, which includes the possibility of a tax cut or rebate.

But there are always the headline-grabbers that usually dominate every Legislative session, and this year is no exception.  It was a Vikings stadium one year, gay marriage the next.

This year, there are three issues reflecting Minnesota's changing attitudes on drugs, smoking and alcohol:  medical marijuana, e-cigarettes and liquor sales on Sunday.  It's also possible that things haven't changed all that much, depending on whether the Legislature votes up or down on these issues.  The rundown:

Medical Marijuana

In 20 states, it is now possible for a doctor to prescribe marijuana for treating such diseases as cancer and glaucoma.  In others, you can now smoke weed out in the open while the state rakes in millions in tax revenues.  Never mind that marijuana still has a shady reputation, iffy health claims and a federal law that bans it.  But that hasn't stopped people from growing and bringing it into the country, and the U.S. government fighting a losing battle against it.


So the questions are these:  Do you deny life-saving treatment like medical marijuana to patients who think they have no other option?  What's to stop those who fake their diseases for the purpose of getting high?  Do you really want to see drug violence overtake Minnesota?  Is medical marijuana  worth it?

As of this writing (March 11), it looks like medical marijuana has gone up in smoke for this session.  A bill to legalize it has been pulled by its sponsor after law enforcement refused to back it.  And Governor Mark Dayton has said he would not sign such a bill without law enforcement's seal of approval, which wasn't likely in any case.  So, plane tickets to Denver, anyone?

Electronic Cigarettes

To those who can't (or won't) give up cigarette smoking--and new research claims to show that it's responsible for a lot more diseases than it used to be--electronic cigarettes have become a popular alternative.  Not a lot is known about it, except that instead of puffing out tobacco smoke, you're using a battery-operated device to 'vapor' chemically-enhanced flavors to go along with your nicotine.
Well, it still looks like smoking to most people, and that's why several states and municipalities have restricted the use of e-cigs to the same places traditional smokes have been banished to--outdoors and out of sight.  The dangers of secondhand smoke also seem to extend to those who are perfume-averse.

So at least until more is known about e-cigarettes (which the Food and Drug Administration has yet to weigh in on), the Legislature should put them on a par with tobacco--restrict its use and tax it to the heavens.  Anything to pay for that football stadium.

Sunday Liquor Sales

Minnesota is one of the last states in America where you can't buy booze seven days a week.  It's been that way since at least Prohibition and the temperance movement (you can look it up) in the early 20th century.  It's also become a problem as people flock across the border on Sundays to get their six pack, putting a dent in state tax revenues.  Well, maybe not to the liquor store owners who'd rather give their employees Sundays off than risk going out of business by staying open all week for competitive reasons, especially if their store is not city-owned or part of a national chain.


If buying liquor on Sunday is a matter of convenience, then what about the other six days of the week?  Not that we care whether liquor stores are open on Sundays or not.  But if you really need to buy booze on that day, then you need more help than we can give you here.

Once these three issues have been decided one way or another, then the Legislature can get back to the business of what they're really good at--running for re-election.  Remember, November is only nine months away.

Ukraine: Divide and Conquer

Ukraine Demo (Photo credit: blu-news.org)

In 1986, the Chernobyl nuclear plant in what is now Ukraine suffered a devastating meltdown that killed 31 people, sickened thousands more and ruined all life in the area for years to come.  It was, and still is, the world's worst nuclear disaster.

Right now the Ukrainian government hopes to avoid a similar fate, only no nukes are involved.

Joined together as an independent nation following the Soviet Union's demise, the country is now at odds with itself between people in the East who believe they should follow Mother Russia, and those in the West who prefer European ideals.  One casualty so far has been President Viktor Yanukovych, who was overthrown in a popular uprising for his pro-Russian views and replaced by an interim pro-Western government, pending new elections.

Taking advantage of this political instability is Russian President Vladimir Putin, just returned from charming the world at the Sochi Winter Olympics.  He has sent troops into the Crimean peninsula, an area that's been no stranger to occupation, which has not been part of Russia since 1954.  The explanation is that many Ukrainians of Russian descent live there, and that the area is important to Russian security because it has the industrial areas and access to the Black Sea that the west lacks.  It might not stop there, because it is reported that Putin has designs on occupying eastern Ukraine.

It's easy to think that, if the Ukrainians really wanted to split, then let them.  Adolf Hitler had much the same idea back in the 1930s.  Believing that Germans stuck in areas created by boundaries set up after World War I should come back into the fold, he invaded Austria and the Sudeten land in what was then Czechoslovakia.  The European powers let Hitler get away with it just to keep the peace.  But only for so long before Poland was invaded, and World War II began.

There are diplomatic efforts going on to help defuse this crisis, but in truth there is little the United States and its allies can do besides imposing economic sanctions or boycotting summits.  All that would do is to send the price of Ukraine's greatest assets--oil and wheat--skyrocketing, and no one wants that.  Nor do they want a military confrontation.  Putin doesn't seem to want one either, but he's holding the cards right now.

If Ukraine's new government can somehow keep its citizens from splitting apart and send the Russians home, then it has a good chance at survival.  If not, a civil war might erupt and Putin might be tempted to take over the whole country while the West watches helplessly.  This might not be the start of a new Cold War, but the forecast is for cooler temperatures.

An Oscar With Everything On It

Best Actress Academy Awards (Photo credit: cliff1066™)

After sitting through three hours of the 86th Academy Awards, you'd be forgiven for thinking that (A) it was a pretty dull show, enlivened only by host Ellen DeGeneres hobnobbing with the stars and even ordering pizza for them, or (B) "Gravity" is having a big night, based on all the craft awards they've won.  But then the final half hour came, and everyone who was predicted to take home the golden statue, did.  Unless your name was Jennifer Lawrence.  The only upset among the major nominees came when Lupita Nyong'o, not Lawrence, won for best supporting actress for her work in "12 Years a Slave".

Otherwise, it went like this:  Jared Leto for Best Supporting Actor in "Dallas Buyers Club", Cate Blanchett for Best Actress in "Blue Jasmine", Matthew McConaughey for Best Actor in "DBC", and Alfonso Cuaron for Best Director in "Gravity".  "American Hustle" got nada.

"Twelve Years a Slave", this century's version of "Roots", won best picture.  This, too, was fairly predictable given the fact that the movie's subject was slavery in the 19th century, and that the reason the film won can be summed up in two words:  white guilt.  It also continues Oscar's longstanding tradition of awarding films with a message, even if few care to hear what that message is amid the blockbusters and sequels.

"Twelve Years a Slave", or even "Dallas Buyers Club", may not be the type of films that goes down well with sausage and pepperoni.  But everything else on the Oscar telecast may have made viewers wish they had ordered pizza too.  It would have made the time pass much quicker.

Comcast-TWC: The Next Communications Dynasty?

Logo of Comcast Latina: Insigne Comcast (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Reports of the death of cable TV may have been exaggerated, as Mark Twain might have put it.  Comcast and Time Warner Cable are proposing merger, bringing together the two biggest cable and Internet providers in America in a reported $45 billion deal.  They are also two of the least liked companies in terms of customer service.  If the deal passes federal regulators, the new company would have more than 30 million subscribers.

Comcast owns cable systems in major cities such as Philadelphia, Chicago, Minneapolis-St. Paul and San Francisco.  They also own NBC, a movie studio and assorted other TV channels.  TWC, which used to be part of Time Warner, owns cable systems in New York, Los Angeles and Dallas. 

This is what has Congress and others who care about the free (and affordable) flow of information deeply concerned.  Not only would the merged company exert control over what viewers can watch over the big screen, but also what goes into the Internet.  Whether you subscribe to cable or not.

Cable has been losing customers to so-called "cord cutting" because of the high cost, and because of all the alternatives available through their computer and their Netflix subscription.  That's not going to be so easy as long as cable controls the Internet.  And prices aren't going down because of the cumulative effect of passing along the cost of past mergers to consumers.

Programmers already face the possibility of showdowns with cable and satellite providers over retransmission fees.  The proposed merger of Comcast and TWC and others would give them the clout to set their own rates, and make them like it.  This has already resulted in providers removing certain channels during contract disputes, such as TWC taking off CBS or DirecTV removing the Weather Channel, leaving thousands of angry customers who didn't get what they paid for.

If a federal judge hadn't already done it, the issue of "net neutrality" (which means that providers couldn't slow down or charge higher fees to competing Internet content-makers) is pretty much dead in the water with Netflix making a deal with Comcast for better access in streaming movies for its customers.  This could open the floodgates to other companies making their own deals with Internet providers just to stay competitive, while consumers try to figure out what happened to some of their favorite websites.

The merger of Comcast and Time Warner Cable should eventually be approved by federal regulators, but not without some major strings attached.  Among other things, they must offer their services to other providers.  And they may have to give up some of the assets they already have, such as NBC and its movie studio.

Oh, and as long as the proposed new Comcast is going to control a good chunk of the cable and Internet market, they could also promise a significant upgrade in its customer service.  Couldn't hurt.

Shirley Temple Black (1928-2014): Child Star, Diplomat

English: Shirley Temple Black in Prague in 1990, Czechoslovakia. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

At six years old, Shirley Temple sang and danced her way into the hearts of Depression-era Americans in the movies.

As an adult, Shirley Temple Black reinvented herself as a diplomat who served under Republican administrations.

Today's child stars could have taken lessons from Temple on how to survive life after stardom--and how to make a lasting name for themselves.

Temple was the top Hollywood box office draw in the mid-1930s, hoofing and pouting her way through such films as "Bright Eyes", "Curly Top", "Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm" and "Captain January".  She outdrew such future film legends as Clark Gable, Joan Crawford and Gary Cooper, and almost singlehandedly saved the 20th Century Fox studio from bankruptcy.

Then a terrible thing happened.  Shirley Temple grew up.  After a few adult roles in films such as "The Bachelor and the Bobby-Soxer", she retired at the ripe old age of 22.  It's tough to make a living as an actor when America only remembers you as a little girl.

So Temple moved into a political and diplomatic career.  She ran for Congress as a Republican in 1967.  She served under President Richard Nixon as a U.S. delegate to the United Nations General Assembly.  She would later become the American ambassador to Ghana under Gerald Ford, and to what was Czechoslovakia before the Iron Curtain came down under George H.W. Bush.

Meanwhile, generations of Hollywood child stars would come and go, perhaps inspired by watching Temple sing and dance whenever one of her old movies shows up on TV.  Some made the transition to adult acting careers, others lived tabloid-worthy lives of drugs, drink and bizarre behavior.  Some of them even died young.

Shirley Temple Black died Monday at age 85.  She was not the first child star Hollywood had ever produced--just the best known.  And she still will be long after sailing off on the Good Ship Lollipop.

The Beatles: Was It Really Only "Yesterday"?

English: Photograph of The Beatles as they arrive in New York City in 1964 Français : Photographie de The Beatles, lors de leur arrivée à New York City en 1964 Italiano: Fotografia dei Beatles al loro arrivo a New York City nel 1964 (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Fifty years ago--February 9, 1964--an audience of around 72 million tuned to CBS to watch four young men from Liverpool, England perform on "The Ed Sullivan Show".  The Beatles sang "All My Loving", "I Want to Hold Your Hand" and "I Saw Her Standing There" while the studio audience, made up mostly of teenage girls, screamed so much that they couldn't hear the music.  It only stopped when Sullivan introduced the plate-spinners and nightclub comedians who also appeared on stage during the show.

The Beatles changed a lot of lives that night.  Any kid who was watching the show with their parents were either (A) smitten with John, Paul, George and Ringo, (B) grew their hair long and wanted to form a band of their own, or both.

Music would never be the same.  In the weeks following the death of President John F. Kennedy, the biggest selling records in America were "Dominique" by The Singing Nun and "There! I've Said It Again" by Bobby Vinton.  After the Beatles' initial "Sullivan" appearance, their singles would top the American record charts for the next 14 weeks.  Their success prompted other British acts to jump the pond:  The Rolling Stones, The Kinks, The Who, Freddie & The Dreamers, Gerry & The Pacemakers, Petula Clark, Herman's Hermits, Tom Jones and so many others.

John, Paul, George and Ringo became almost immediate worldwide cultural icons, creating debates about their music and their lifestyles.  That only intensified as the years went by and the music changed, as they got more involved in spiritual and political pursuits.

In the spring of 1970, it was announced that the Beatles had broken up.  Some said it was because of internal and artistic differences.  Others blamed John's wife Yoko Ono.  Whatever the case, the Beatles left behind a higher standard of music and songwriting that has stood the test of time.

In 2014, the theater where the Beatles once played on "The Ed Sullivan Show" is now home to "The Late Show with David Letterman".  John and George are gone, but Paul and Ringo are still around.  Beatles music is still everywhere whether it's on the radio, your portable music device, or performed by someone else.  And it will be heard centuries from now, long after most forms of music had been forgotten.

But then, nobody could have foreseen this in 1964.  Not even John, Paul, George or Ringo.

Sochi 2014: Welcome to Putin Land

English: GUATEMALA. Visit to Russia House in Guatemala City after Sochi\'s presentation as a potential host for the 2014 Winter Olympic Games. Русский: ГВАТЕМАЛА. Посещение «Русского дома» в Гватемала-Сити после завершения презентации Сочи – города-кандидата на проведение XXII зимних Олимпийских игр 2014 года. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The Winter Olympic Games will soon begin in Sochi, Russia.  More athletes from more nations (88) than in previous Games will attend, and more money will be spent to put these on than ever before.  Russia and its president, Vladimir Putin, is ready for their closeup.

This time, however, these Olympics are not about the athletes or the competitions.  It's about Putin and the very real possibility that violence and protest might disrupt the Games, to the point where the safety of athletes and spectators are being imperiled.  Some American athletes (who are most likely high-value targets) have even told their friends and relatives to stay home.  There won't be much of an American contingent in Sochi anyway, given the cost and how long it takes to get there.

Despite the Russian government's assurances that Sochi will be the safest place in the world, Islamic terrorists from the nearby Caucuses mountains have reportedly infiltrated the so-called ring of security.  You see, they have had a long-running beef with the Putin regime over independence for Chechnya and have vowed revenge.  Recently, a bombing in the city of Volgograd killed 34 people.  Just in case, President Barack Obama has ordered U.S. warships to stand ready in the Black Sea to evacuate whatever Americans are left after an attack.

The other issue which got major play in the run-up to the Olympics before security concerns took over is Putin's crackdown on gays and lesbians.  The Russian government has made it a crime to promote homosexuality, presumably punishable by a one-way ticket to Siberia.  To that end, the International Olympic Committee has itself cracked down on athletes (some of whom are gay and lesbian) who try to make statements of any kind on the matter.  Some countries, such as the United States, have sent delegations of retired gay athletes instead of the usual government poohbas to make their own point.

There are some people who wish that the IOC would have awarded these Winter Games to Salzburg, Austria instead of falling for Putin's sales pitch.  Instead of terrorism and gays, we'd be talking about Austria's past ties to Adolf Hitler.  Or, in the case of South Korea (which is hosting the 2018 Games), North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un could use the occasion to launch missiles at his southern neighbor.

For the Sochi Games to succeed, Putin has to be on his best behavior.  Since becoming Russia's president, Putin has positioned himself as one of those leaders who think he's the answer to the country's problems.  The Russians seem to love his swagger and 'take charge' attitude, even if it comes at the expense of some of the freedoms they gained after the Soviet Union came crashing down.  Putin has even demonstrated some of those qualities on the world stage, much to the irritation of the United States, for whom the Russian leader has sometimes beaten at their own diplomatic game.

The modern Olympic Games have survived many things.  Two world wars, a Great Depression, terrorist attacks, boycotts, doping scandals, being seen as showcases for dictatorships, abandoning amateurism for professionalism, etc.  Let's see how they survive this one.