Halloween Memories

Every once in a while, a spurt of brilliance pops out of my head; this story is one of them and deserves a rerun for your pleasure.

It is especially important as we have again arrived at Halloween. Please enjoy this recycled example of truth and brilliance.

We’ll return next week with a brand-new story for your enjoyment. Until then, Happy Halloween, and thanks for reading! 

  A recent shopping adventure made me smile because of all the Christmas trees, bins full of wrapping paper, and toys.  This prominent display of holiday retail revelry got me to think: Wow!  We’re just two weeks away from Halloween.

 

Indeed, Halloween is approaching and will likely arrive before Thanksgiving and Christmas, unless Congress, who changed the time, declares otherwise.  They have the power and ultimate last word in everything else so, why not?

 

Oddly enough, this evident calendar faux pas presented another great law of unintended consequences – lots more candy is suddenly available, and in spades!

 

While perusing the confectionary aisle I recalled days of yore when times were different, and I once again mustered a masked smile.

 

Years ago, one never knew how many trick-or-treaters would stop by to raid the candy bowl, or if they would even show up to beg or threaten for goodies.  After all, America is still recovering from the COVID-19 pandemic, finding themselves in need of a respite.

 

Some years seemingly countless rug rats would envelop the street in a mob-like scenario dressed in a varying array of costumes ranging from the latest television characters and movie heroes to the old standby hobos and witches.

 

Of course, there were some disguises that appeared professional while others seemed to reflect a last-minute, poorly executed attempt at candy pillaging.

 

Not to be left out, a few late stragglers sporting 4-day beard growths and smoking Marlboros invariably would show up in a weak effort to snag some free stuff.  Unfortunately, those tired ploys rarely worked on me.  Get a job, I say.

 

It was during some social awareness campaigns that the number of trick-or-treaters dramatically dwindled, though.  Parents fearing for their children’s safety kept many of the masquerading kids home, on some occasions, while other years introduced community gatherings that were controlled and managed by neighborhood parents and housing organizations.

 

These feel-good efforts resulted in fewer kids marching from house-to-house-to-house to bang on doors demanding extorted goods by yelling, “Trick-or-treat.”  And it usually worked. Except for the stingy neighbors, that is.

 

Yes, you know who you are.  That is why your house is annually subjected to a good toilet papering or a thorough egging.  But you asked for it.

 

Unfortunately, those safety-concerned awareness campaigns not only kept the kids off the streets and away from front porches, but they also created a supply and demand imbalance, resulting in people buying less goodies for next year’s Halloween go-around.

 

Because of the season change and waning daylight, wee children and pre-K tots normally made their rounds early – just after Mom and Dad returned home from work, about five PM.

 

Some kids were carried, others were dragged around by their hands, and some arrived sleeping in their strollers.  But all were adorable and deserved a prize.

 

We’ve had bumble bees, elephants, princesses, clowns, science fiction characters, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, and soldiers darken our doorway.  Firemen, nurses, policemen, chefs, and politicians also stopped by to join the All Hallows Eve fun.

 

But it was the early comers that scored tens on the give-away scale.  After a few consecutive years of slacking visitors, we cut back on the candy and opted for something healthier and more appealing to my sainted wife and me.

 

Our modified giveaways consisted of pre-packaged pretzels and cheese crackers.  Once again, because we wanted fewer leftovers, we bought less.  And that was when the panic began.

 

Our pretzel and cracker bags were purchased in boxes of 48; we bought 2 boxes.  That was the year we received 122 ghoulish trick-or-treaters.

 

It was at this moment that I recalled my own trick-or-treat adventures back in the 1950's and 1960’s.  Then, the elderly neighborhood widows passed out homemade popcorn balls, caramel apples, and candied apples; labor intensive, but made with love.

 

It was when their supplies dwindled, they began passing out wooden pencils, loose change, and individual cough drops, all in the spirit of the moment.

 

Not to disappoint due to lack of preparedness, we contemplated passing out “thoughtful” treats along those lines and eventually resorted to turning off the lights in lieu of handing out sugar packets, cat treats, a handful of grapes, ice cubes, or Post-it Notes.  I think that was a wise choice.  And notation made for next Halloween.

 

On the other hand, a roll of toilet paper, paper towels, gas cards, or hand sanitizer might just appear overly generous and thoughtful in today’s climate.

 

In any case, Happy Halloween!

 

Living in the Past

 Let’s all climb aboard the WABAC Machine. If you’re unfamiliar with WABAC, it is an abbreviation for Wormhole Activating and Bridging Automatic Computer: a fictitious invention of cartoon inventor Dr. Peabody.

The WABAC was capable of transporting people to and fro historic periods in order to provide background to stories of yore that were pertinent to today, sort of a time machine.

Entering the WABAC and setting the date for 2017, we quickly approach a time when women and men both rallied around a concerted effort to chastise and harangue a very successful film producer, Harvey Weinstein, whose 38-year long career suddenly stopped due to allegations of sexual harassment.

It seems as though Weinstein was so successful with his movies, his approach to casting for them was deemed coercive, to the point of being criminal according to the legal system.

Long-time actresses who gleefully starred in his films during those four-decades suddenly felt the need to exit the proverbial ‘closet of shame,’ to share their stories about how Weinstein used them for his own desires, climbing onto the sexual abuse bandwagon to exact revenge as well as see justice served.

This concerted effort was all part of something called the “Me Too” movement, “a global, survivor-led movement against sexual violence, we are dedicated to creating pathways for healing, justice, action and leadership,” states metoomvmt.org.

Soon, airwaves of radio and television, as well as the internet, were flooded with complaints by women who refused to be left out of this groundswell directed toward a therapeutic conclusion of a longstanding, often ignored newly discovered problem: the mistreatment of women by powerful men.

Weinstein, as of this writing, is serving prison time in California, to be followed by his sentence in New York State for sexual abuse charges.

As is evident, the WABAC machine has thus far served us well. Now to the present.

In early October 2023, Hamas attacked – without warning – its neighbor, Israel.

By way of background, Hamas is a terrorist organization, officially the Islamic Resistance Movement, in the Gaza Strip of the Palestinian territories.

Climbing back into the WABAC, Hamas was formed in 1987 at the start of the first Palestinian uprising, or intifada, against Israel. It is an offshoot of the Muslim Brotherhood, a transnational Sunni Islamist group that first formed in Egypt. It rejects any peace deal with Israel, which it refuses to recognize.

Throughout the following decades, Hamas has wreaked havoc upon innocent civilians by indiscriminately bombing, shooting, stabbing, and lobbing missiles into Israel largely due to their hate for anyone related to Judaism as well as those non-Islam believers: infidels.

Hamas exercise in peace

Exiting the WABAC, we hear constant air raid sirens in the background of the on-the-ground TV reporters currently broadcasting the mayhem Hamas is creating in the Middle East against Israel. Those reporters are wearing flak jackets and helmets to protect themselves from shrapnel – the result of Hamas’ rockets targeting Israel.

Part of those early news reports have been centered around the absolute horror inflicted upon the innocent Israeli populace. Reports of kidnappings to acquire hostages, a bombing of an outdoor concert, snatching babies to later behead them, and cutting infants from the wombs of pregnant women are examples of the unthinkable horror being exhibited on Israeli Jews.

There appears to be no end in sight to this clear exertion of terror.

But here’s the rub.

All those women who stood loudly and proudly against a movie mogul who traded sex for roles cheered while they safely pointed fingers of blame at Harvey Weinstein, and continue to do so until today, albeit safely, are nowhere to be found.

Yet, no one from that global Me Too group is rallying against Hamas and its ardent attempt at genocide of women.

Rather, college-aged women, television news readers, even the deranged Congressional Squad members: AOC, Tlaib, Omar, and Pressley, are actually siding with Hamas and its antics of sordid killings and hate. College and university personnel are publicly siding with greasy Hamas, too.

Clearly these phony “women’s rights” supporters are showing their true allegiances by standing with sub-humans who are inflicting atrocities on innocent people while picking the low-hanging fruit of notoriety.

It’s time to make note of whose side on which everyone is gathering. And all those standing with the guilty side of this incursion should be permanently marked for exclusion in any job, housing, or other societal inclusion because of their clearly demonstrated bigotry that isn’t tolerated elsewhere in civil order.

You cannot stand for peace and simultaneously back Hamas and Palestine. But I’m afraid this is not the end, rather it is only the beginning.

We Pay These Clowns

 Too often we forget public servants, also known as: politicians, cops, firefighters, teachers, DMV employees, street sweepers, building inspectors, game wardens, and snow plowers, are all either part of the solution or part of the problem.

Solution? Problem?

Indeed. Each one of these public servants have proven themselves to behaving in a pleasant or evil way over time. And there’s little in the way of recourse we – as a society – can do to rectify wrongs.

Being caught-up in seemingly endless traffic jams, arguing with the school board about sordid curricula, delayed building inspections, false accusations, denied services, and basic incompetency, create an elementary path to what amounts to theft through taxes.

We regularly hear about living in “the land of the free,” and “freedom,” but rarely experience those freedoms in these modern times. Since 1788 The United States of America has been living under The Constitution, written by a bunch of foreign transplants who had a vision – a vision that still exists, albeit on brittle, shaky ground.

Righting wrongs with civil servants has, as of late, proven to be arduous inasmuch as ‘where the buck typically stops’ is suddenly an ivory tower. Most complaints about making first graders read smut in school or dealing with surly DMV representatives go unheeded while some are even met with arrest.

Politicians who are usually the last resort when attempting to rectify a problem no longer remember why they were elected in the first place.

Congressfolk who feel civilians stepping foot inside The Capitol warrants a five-year prison sentence are not living up to their moniker ‘Representative.’ If they feel trespassing is a more heinous crime than arson, they need to tidy up their résumés.

Too often these Congressmen, Senators mayors, county board members, aldermen, governors, and so on, wind up growing deep roots – too deep to sometimes remove – not unlike annoying, pesky weeds.

In fact, Chicago former Mayor Lori Lightfoot, while in office, proudly made a public statement that she would no longer give interviews to White folk. Only POC need to inquire. Divisive? Sure, but she’s somehow the victim in her own puny mind. Thank goodness she’s now gone.

Not to be outdone in the Everyone-is-Deprived-Except-White-People department, DC shadow Senator Eleanor Holmes Norton (D), clearly has too much time on her hands, and too few brain cells.

Where could this deep thinker begin to rectify societal wrongs? Of course, crash test dummies. Of course.

Yep, those plastic mannequins used in measuring safety of vehicles and airplanes, has suddenly caught her attention similar to shiny beads and laser lights to a cat.

St. Norton talking while still saying nothing

Not unlike a squirrel crossing a busy road, Norton, out of the blue, realized crash test dummies have male features. I’ll repeat that so you won’t think my fingers stuttered while typing. Norton, out of the blue, realized crash test dummies have male features.

Of course, a sane person would ask the question just how sexually bigoted Norton is by attempting to identify and then summarily placing those individuals into arbitrary categories.

In an ardent effort of exercising equity and fairness, Norton introduced a bill to use crash test dummies that represent gender equality. No lie. Sure it’s a big deal. No it’s not.

But Norton somehow demonstrated how ignorant she really is, and why the District of Columbia is not a state, nor should be. Just wait until she realizes there are no dummies of color (DOC). I’ll wager that will be her next windmill to chase.

Speaking of chasing windmills, the Quixotic effort to fund America’s new war, President Joseph Robinette Biden, Jr., dragged us onto, we are quickly sinking into the cesspool of another never-ending war.

Remember Afghanistan? That is the place the United States fought a half-hearted war following the 9/11/2001 terrorist attacks on our country. Spending between 2 and 6 trillion dollars on that debacle, Biden felt it important to end that war immediately. Immediately!

He hastily withdrew American troops leaving many allies behind, and placing numerous aides’ lives in jeopardy all for a photo opportunity while bragging about his leadership abilities. He conveniently forgot about the troops killed by a terrorist bombing during our exit. He claimed we were fighting a senseless conflict with no end in sight. Thank him.

It didn’t take long for President Quixote to find another quagmire for us, though. Ukraine! Within the last year and a half, we’re in to Ukraine for $116,000,000,000, with no end in sight. Can you say “quagmire?”

We’re just beginning to make Ukraine our 51^st state and are desperately trying to totally immerse our nation into a war in the Middle East. By way of background, Palestine’s Hamas lobbed rockets into Israel during their ground attack.

That incursion included killing innocent women, babies in their wombs, beheading children, and capturing elderly Jews – all the while live streaming their horrific mayhem on the internet. This appears to be leading into another endless war. But this time it’s different.

Our military is understaffed, most of our arms and munitions are either in Ukraine or were left in Afghanistan, our bank has no money, and those $84,000,000,000 in arms we left in Afghanistan are now showing up in our newest conflict with Palestine.

Politicians, along with civil servants, are like baby diapers – they’re full of poop and need to be changed often. Fortunately, politicians are subject to regular elections, which are akin to performance appraisals in the private sector.

Quickly upcoming is the time for constituents to exercise their right to vote in order to express a satisfactory or ‘beat-it’ verdict for the job auditions during their tenure in office.

All you civil servants please remember: I’m going to miss you.

Biden Lies

 As a presidential candidate in 2020, Joseph Robinette Biden, Jr., promised “No one making under $400,000 per year would see their federal taxes go up a single penny.”

Following Biden’s election, Danny Werfel, Internal Revenue Service (IRS) Commissioner, then announced he had hired 3,700 new employees to audit all those wealthy miscreant taxpayers not paying their “fair share.”

Say what?

According to American Insider, “‘These new employees will be focused on higher-income and complex tax areas like partnerships, not taxpayers making less than $400,000,’ Werfel said.”

You bet. Increasing guvment spending by $7,000,000,000 in two-years won’t need any additional funding. No rise in taxes, no additional audits – just pure magic will produce all those trillions of dollars for American coffers as well as our 51^st state, Ukraine.

Not unlike most politicians who feel it their civil duty to ignore campaign trail promises, Biden has taken this business-as-usual behavior to a whole new level.

It’s clear Biden was lying with verve when he made that tax promise promise three-years ago. Unfortunately, those lies began in 1973 when he discovered he possessed no real abilities outside of sucking on the guvment teat; his skill-less career has continued since, driving the U.S. further into bankruptcy.

The Fabricator-in-Chief telling another lie

All the while, the complicit mainstream media (MSM) along with other sycophants allowed and even encouraged the fabrications to continue, unchecked.

Among those fictional tales told by this career politician were centered around his brilliant résumé include his “plagiarism in his campaign speeches and in a law school paper, admitted yesterday that some of his boasts about his college academic achievements were untrue, including the claim that he had finished in the top half of his class in law school,” Mother Jones News continued.

Biden claimed that he had attended law school at Syracuse University on a full academic scholarship, that he had been named the outstanding student in the political science department as an undergraduate at the University of Delaware, and that he had graduated from Delaware with three undergraduate degrees.

In a statement yesterday responding to a story in the current issue of Newsweek magazine, Biden admitted that these claims were "inaccurate," The Washington Post reported in September 1987.

Well, well, well. As luck has it, the newspaper whose slogan is “Democracy Dies in Darkness,” found it important to add, “As the complete record of my law school career indicates, which I released to the press last week, I did not graduate in the top half of my class at law school and my recollection on this was inaccurate," Biden said. "With regard to my being the outstanding student in the political science department, my name was put up for that award by Prof. David Ingersoll, who is still at the University of Delaware."

Biden's records indicate he attended law school on a half-time scholarship based on financial need and that he graduated 76th out of a law school class of 85. His undergraduate academic records show that he graduated from Delaware 506th in a class of 688 with a "C" average and that he got his undergraduate degree with a dual major in history and political science.

Those numbers don’t appear to support Biden’s contention of his stellar academic achievements.

“‘I did receive a scholarship based in part on academics from the Syracuse University College of Law and a grant from the Higher Education Scholarship Fund of the state of Delaware,’ Biden said. ‘In addition, the law school arranged for my first year's room and board, placing me as an assistant resident adviser in the undergraduate school.’ The records indicate that he had an $800 scholarship in law school against a tuition of $1,620 and that the residence adviser job paid $1,000,’” The Post continued.

Not being familiar with humility or honesty, Biden said that his reference to three degrees was intended to refer not to actual degrees but to his dual major. "I said three and I should have said two."

The Post article continued, “In response to some suggestions that the Delaware bar might not have admitted him to practice in 1968 had it known of the first-year law school disciplinary action, Biden said that when he applied for admission the dean of the Syracuse Law School wrote to Delaware authorities that his ‘records reflect nothing whatsoever of a derogatory nature’ that called into question his integrity or ability.”

How soon we forget. Just a few short years later, Biden exhumed these blatant fabrications about his skills and abilities. Unfortunately for him, video and print records still exist to remind society about attempts to rewrite history.

Continuing with those contrivances, here’s an abbreviated list of other words falling out of President Biden’s mouth:

• “Bidenomics,” Biden’s gaslighting grift is working with simpletons

• Inflation is down

• Food prices are low

• Gasoline prices are the lowest since he took office

• Housing prices are dropping

• Home energy costs have fallen

• Tuitions are down

• Vehicles are now more affordable

• Son, Hunter, never spoke to him about his business dealings

• He only had six grandchildren

• Never took classified documents out of the office

• More jobs created than than any other president – ever. EVER!

• Kept the Southern border closed

• “I’m one of the poorest members Congress”

• Didn’t err when ordering troops out of Afghanistan

• He broke the record riding the train to and from Delaware

• Refused to get COVID vaccination because of President Trump

• “I’ve already declared a climate emergency”

• “The average tax on billionaires is 3%”

• Claims he’s been to Afghanistan and Iraq twice as president

• Price of gas is “down from over $5 when I took office”

• Student loan forgiveness is passed

• The “average federal income tax” paid by the richest Americans is 8%

• Gun manufacturers are “the only industry in the country” that have immunity from lawsuits

• When he took office there was no vaccine available

• You couldn’t buy a cannon when the Second Amendment passed

• “I’ve been in and out of Afghanistan over 40 times”

• As a youth “I got arrested protesting for civil rights”

• He was against the war in Afghanistan since the very beginning

• Trump’s administration ruined the Southern border by opening it up to everyone

• He used to drive a tractor trailer...only for part of a summer, though

• Was raised in a Puerto Rican community

• Was also raised in a Jewish community

• Had no intention of outlawing firearms

• Rich people aren’t paying their fair share

• Is a practicing Catholic

• He took credit for remote (stay-at-home) jobs during COVID situation

• Oil companies are intentionally not drilling wells in order to create a shortage

• He fixed the broken border

• Only mothers with children are allowed across the Southern border

• The Southern border is still closed

• “There will not be another foot of wall built under my administration”

• “We are a nation of laws!” (Except when Biden illegally panders for college kids’ votes with tuitions)

• “No Lie”

• “I’m not kidding”

It seems as though one of the few lies President Biden hasn’t told was, “I’ll still respect you in the morning.” Of course he will.

Don't Breathe

A beautiful blue sky met me as I was drinking my morning coffee on my deck. The air was beginning to nudge toward cool autumn temps almost demanding a light sweater until the bright sun coaxed me into a lighter t-shirt.

Glancing about the yard, I noticed the falling leaves gathering around fading green bushes and piles of mulch surrounding my fig trees. I knew they would soon need attention in order to convert the decaying leaves into compost to augment next years’ garden soil.

It was a routine that annually began roughly the time college football returned to the radio; those broadcasts were important because it permitted my time to be better used for time management allowing raking, mulching, pruning, wrapping, as well as catching-up on collegiate athletics, simultaneously.

Meantime, my sainted wife was indoors gathering and purging stuff we haven’t used – or even seen – for years. “Downsizing” is the appropriate term for ridding oneself of treasures.

Hours later, we met up in the garage to commiserate. While listening to her tales of woe, I was combing through her boxes of exiting goodies. There were precious hats, old kitchen spatulas and tongs, various flatware, along with a handful of cookbooks.

The next box contained VHS tapes, two cigar cutters, three ashtrays, a couple of Zippo lighters, plus a silver plated cigarette case. It was at this point my mind wandered away to days of yore – times when everything was different. Sane. Simple.

Years ago, commercial airlines permitted smoking cigarettes, cigars, and pipes on all flights. No kidding.

And smoking was also allowed in grocery stores, hospitals, malls, on buses, trains, and sidewalks. “Sidewalks,” you say?

Sidewalks. Office buildings had open cigarette smoking policies, too. That was until some whiner insisted everybody cater to them and their whims. Push back was fierce because then, just as now, tobacco products are subject to something called a “sin tax.”

Sin tax: Palm grease for politicians

Sin tax is a tax applied to anything that appeals to morally suspect, harmful, or costly to society products. Included in this list are gambling, smoking, and alcohol. Since we’re talking about cigarette smoking, this is the fork in the literary road we’ll take.

I smoked ciggies since I was in my teens. Quitting was the hardest thing I ever did in my life, and I’m old. In fact, I’m old enough to remember when the Dead Sea was just sick. Now that’s old.

Throughout the years I was able to smoke anywhere because of the sleazy relationship between the anti-smokers and the guvment. Anti-smokers hated anyone puffing on a cigarette, while the guvment loved anyone buying tobacco products.

Anti-smokers delight in making smoker’s lives miserable; they encouraged statutes to penalize smoking indoors within offices, businesses, or anywhere that was previously a sanctuary to smoke. Airports used to accommodate smokers in ‘smoking lounges,’ until the antis felt unable to use that space to conjure up new ways to ruin smoker’s lives.

Suddenly, no smoking signs were erected near offices, airports, in airplanes, and stores. Seems pretty complete, right?

Wrong.

To further exercise their newfound muscle, anti-smokers ‘allowed’ smokers to puff outdoors but in all weather – inclement conditions such as excessive heat, cold, wind, and pestilence included – but 50-feet away from the entrance doors.

It didn’t take long to realize the smokers were on the ropes in this fight. Soon thereafter, that fifty-foot range was increased to 500 feet; a sleazy ploy to make going outside to smoke an opportunity to punish smokers into taking vacation time to get their smoking fix.

You see, smoking is an addiction – not unlike the addiction associated with ‘protected’ addicts now wrestling with cocaine, heroin, and methamphetamines – all of which are now guvment-approved addictions subject to special protection against discrimination.

The glee from the anti’s incremental victories to summarily punish anyone with a tobacco product in their pocket was clear. And this crusade was just the beginning.

Realizing the power of whining, in conjunction with the media, these self-anointed do-gooders turned a simple complaint into a cottage industry. Witness the climate change fictionalization.

All these efforts created a giant chasm in society. If someone disliked the words “Merry Christmas,” they could be outlawed. “Columbus Day” was equally spited, as was the definition of specific sexes.

But rather than having a sensible discussion about things, agendas, ideas, or beliefs, a knee-jerk response seemed in order to demean others not aligned with the cause du jour.

Under the smokescreen of personally-perceived pain and suffering from any- and everything, the legalization of tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), aka.: marijuana, weed, reefer, Mary Jane, among others, was implemented in many states and municipalities.

Hyping the recreational and medicinal benefits of marijuana with the complicity of the media created an avenue virtually guaranteed to shoe-in the decriminalization and eventual legalization of this drug. Touting the additional bonus of adding more sin tax monies to the coffers encouraged greedy politicians to approve any pro-weed legislation.

Soon, weed shops were popping up everywhere like, uh, weeds; how appropriate. Those guvment run or regulated businesses were gleefully opened, albeit with caveats. Some of the more “fair” and “equitable” municipalities were quick to offer marijuana vendor licenses to only minorities. No discrimination there.

Of course once open, many of these guvment regulated dispensaries became targets for thieves in the form of armed robberies, and smash and grab capers, largely because drug users are unable to carry firearms to protect themselves. Can you say, “Gun-free Zone?”

The good news, though, is that a variety of these newly-created sin tax collectors were found to be unable to sell enough product to make good on their promises of additional revenue and the elimination of illicit street sales.

It seems as though once again, guvment greed forced its way to the consumers. “The multitude of approaches makes any apples-to-apples rate comparison difficult. New York and Connecticut are the first states to implement a potency-based tax per milligram of THC. But most states levy an ad valorem tax on the retail sales price of cannabis sales – ranging from 6 percent in Missouri up to 37 percent in Washington,” according to taxfoundation.org.

There’s an old saying from Milton Friedman about the guvment’s ability to handle money: If you put the federal government in charge of the Sahara Desert, in 5 years there’d be a shortage of sand.

Because of the dollar sign tax greed, guvment-approved cannabis operation is clearly unable to compete with illicit street corner sales making turning a profit for the dispensaries and guvment unlikely. Underground sales, on the other hand, appear to be vigorous.

But how are these drugs – legal or otherwise – being used?

I’m glad you asked.

Largely smoking them. Rolling papers, pipes, hollowed-out cigars, and hookahs are all ways folks ingest weed. More industrious pot users chemically transform their products into edibles that take the form of gummies, brownies, and cookies – all are efficient means of getting a buzz.

Remember the cigarette smoking from the first part of this essay? Countless people were treated as lepers who, overnight, became banes of society because the smoke encroached on the fresh air space of others.

Whether on the street or in an apartment building, cigarette smoking was summarily outlawed because of the health and feelings of our fellow humans.

Why is cannabis smoking seemingly exempt?

You know the answer.

Taxes.