You know you’re old when you
purposely turn the radio to the news stations and actually listen. I have been
listening to it on and off for the past year and more so in the past few months
because of the increase of commute time to work. Surprisingly it’s not as
boring as I used to think it was.
For instance there was a story on
this morning about a marketing ploy called “Pink-washing.” Because October is
breast cancer awareness month there is pink everything, ribbons, clothes, even
sports teams are sporting the color all in efforts to raise money for research
of breast cancer. Now here comes the dirty, is the money really going to
research or is it just a marketing scam. A lady on the radio this morning was
quoting numbers (dollar amounts, mortality rate, remission rates, etc.) and the
jist of it is that besides the dollars presumably being raised each year the
mortality/remission rates haven’t changed dramatically in the past thirty years
which raises the question is the money really going towards research? Now I
don’t remember all the numbers but I do know the dollar amounts were huge and
maybe all the money is really going to research and everyone is really being
honest, but with all the money it only makes one think that shouldn’t there
have been some improvement or huge breakthrough by now?
Another
headliner that has caught my attention is Colorado being the first state to legalize
marijuana for recreational use. This law will create so much revenue for not
just for the government but for small and big businesses so it will be a huge
benefit for the economy. With such a huge population of smokers in the USA there is no
way it can’t bring in money. Less money would be spent fighting drug wars and
more money will be brought in by import/export revenue. Taxes alone on selling,
harvesting, shipping, packaging, etc. of the plants will increase the
government revenue maybe even enough to prevent things like a government shut
down. It’s like a new cash crop such as tobacco was when it was first
harvested. Farmers, vendors, and, indirectly, food vendors would all turn
profits. But marijuana is a mind altering drug, like alcohol, that’s why there
are limitations. The first is that a person may have no more than an ounce on
them at one time, no one under 21 can buy it, marketers can’t market towards
minors, and a person can grow their own but not have more than six plants in
their residence (only three can be flowering) and driving while high will earn
you time in jail just like driving drunk as it should.
These are just a couple of stories that make
news radio interesting between the less entertaining and depressing stories of
politics and terrorism. Now don’t think I'm listening to one station, I listen
to them all so when I do have to sit through a political rant I get both sides.
Occasionally I have also listened to catholic radio and other religious
stations, but that’s a whole other story for another day.
“Go to Heaven for the climate, Hell for the company.” -Mark Twain
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