Here's a prediction: Pennsylvania and Philadelphia officials are going to race ahead of the rest of the nation in legalizing -- and regulating -- marijuana. Why? Because they're running out of other vices to tax middle-class people with.
First, about the Mary Jane Express -- don't you miss that train at the station:
Something is happening in our world. The masses of people are rising up. And wherever they are assembled today, whether they are in Johannesburg, South Africa; Nairobi, Kenya; Accra, Ghana; New York City; Atlanta, Georgia; Jackson, Mississippi; or Memphis, Tennessee -- the cry is always the same: "We want to be free."
And another reason that I'm happy to live in this period is that we have been forced to a point where we are going to have to grapple with the problems that men have been trying to grapple with through history, but the demands didn't force them to do it. Survival demands that we grapple with them. Men, for years now, have been talking about war and peace. But now, no longer can they just talk about it. It is no longer a choice between violence and nonviolence in this world; it's nonviolence or nonexistence. That is where we are today.
-- the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, the "Mountaintop" speech, April 3, 1968 (45 years ago tonight)
Yesterday, Rhode Island. Tomorrow, the world.
You might think the Gov. Corbett would be steering clear of industrialist and mega-campaign donor John Moran Jr., given the controversy over Moran's paying $1,422 for a 2011 Ocean State yachting vacation for the Corbetts at the same time that the state Department of Environmental Protection was looking into a fracking waste recycling site run by Moran's company. The July 4 weekend jaunt was arguably the most noteworthy of more than $11,000 in gifts that Corbett accepted from lobbyists and executives with state business in 2010 and 2011, as reported by the Daily News.
Last night I mentioned that at the same time as cheating scandals erupt in Atlanta and elsewhere, a rebellion is growing against excessive standardized testing of our schoolchildren, noting that some teachers in Seattle are refusing to administer the tests there. Tonight I came across a piece from right here in Pennsylvania (OK, it's western Pennsylvania...does that count?) that has gone viral, showing 26,000 "likes" on Facebook, which boggles the mind.
It's called "Why I won't let my son take the PSSA," although I especially like the sub-head, "The opt-out movement is growing because high-stakes tests are wrecking our schools." :Here's a particularly juicy snippet:
OK, everybody calmed down from that day when the ghost of Cesar Chavez strangled the Easter bunny on Google, or something? Good. So here's some new information for you: The Associated Press has decided to bar the use of the term "illegal immigrant":
A number of people felt that “illegal immigrant” was the best choice at the time. They also believed the always-evolving English language might soon yield a different choice and we should stay in the conversation.
UPDATE: An excellent Daily News editorial raises the question, "How many more people are in prison for crimes they didn't commit."
So what happened in Atlanta's public schools was this: The superintendent told the prinicipals (allegedly, allegedly) that they'd be fired if they didn't bring up test scores. So they all worked overtime to make the kids smarter and better prepared for the working world, overcoming indifferent parents and numbing poverty and cruel budget cuts and.....just kidding.
Last week, Attytood called on Pennsylvania Sen. Bob Casey to endorse same-sex marriage. Today, he knuckled under to the awesome pressure of this blog.*
* Sarcasm.
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