That is the law...but so is that...and they don't mix
It is now legal to smoke marijuana in the state of Colorado on a recreational basis. No need for a prescription. Just be 21 and abide by the new rules of usage and you're fine. Or are you?
Colorado is a state that has strong labor laws. Unlike some other states, in Colorado, you can't be fired for engaging in lawful activity while not working. Assuming of course that your lawful activity off of the job doesn't impair your ability to do your job. You can drink all the alcohol you want when not working, but if you show up for work drunk, you can be fired. The problem is that using marijuana under any circumstance is a violation of federal law. Therefore, it is not a "lawful activity" and as such, can be used as cause to fire an employee.
Imagine applying that situation to any other legal substance. Drinking, prescription medications, smoking cigarettes, and so on. At the moment, 29 states and the District of Columbia have laws on the books that prevent employers from discriminating against employees who smoke cigarettes off the job, and off-site.
So now that recreational pot use is legal, someone who isn't violating state law can be fired for doing what's supposed to be legal.
Doesn't seem fair.
* * *
Watergate. Whitewatergate. Nipplegate. Hackgate (aka Murdochgate). Memogate. Billygate. Maybe members of the media should be paying royalties to the venerable Washington, D.C. hotel that gave us the gate suffix as a scandal label.
Now we have "Bridgegate" and it's very much like the original, Watergate. The big question being "what did he know and when did he know it?" That was the big question while the investigation into the break-in at the Watergate Hotel was going on. Did President Nixon order the break-in? When did he learn of it and what was his role in the attempt to cover it up?
We all know that it was that scandal that led to President Nixon becoming the first, and thus far only, president to resign while in office. Is this going to get that bad for NJ governor Chris Christie? The jury will be out on this for awhile. His press conference this morning was a good first step toward damage control. I suspect he will survive and that he did not order this petty attempt at political retribution. He's smarter than that. We can't say the same for the people he chose to employ to work in his administration.
I'm sure it is possible he knew about this lane closure well before yesterday, and who knows, maybe he was the one who ordered it. I don't think he did, but there is little proof of anything, save the emails and texts that were released yesterday
Let's see where the investigation goes.
* * *
Random Ponderings:
A 14 year old boy in Pakistan died stopping a suicide bomber from entering the campus where he attended school, saving a large number of his fellow students. Aitazaz Hassan Bangash stepped up and acted without regard for his own safety. Proves once again that there is hope yet for our species.
Did a paparazzo really get a shot of Glenn Frey buying a skin mag in Brentwood? Dude, you can get that stuff online for free. Well, mostly free.
I'm still wondering why Dennis Rodman didn't dress up as Marilyn Monroe to sing Happy Birthday to North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un. Maybe he didn't pack a dress.
Using the tragedy of Jahi McMath to fundraise for a political purpose is gross and disgusting.
So did the Indian consular officer who was arrested and strip-searched leave the U.S. or not? She's been declared persona non grata by our government, but India claims she's still here.
Budget cuts at the IRS caused nearly 40% of those attempting to call a person at the IRS to fail to get through to one. Of those who did get through to a real person, the average wait on hold was more than 17 minutes. That's just too long.
E-cigarettes should be subjected to the same "sin" taxes as regular cigarettes.
A story ran recently in the Philadelphia Inquirer about a homeless veteran caught my eye. He's a retired Air Force colonel who earns a pension of more than $40,000 annually, currently living out of a van. He's got two sons in college. Call me crazy, but if he can't keep a roof over his head, maybe his kids should get student loans.
There is no good reason to be re-making "Point Break" but it will be remade and probably bomb at the box office.
There is no denying that Governor Chris Christie is a bully in his interpersonal communications with reporters and hecklers.
The woman from Canada who found a scorpion in her luggage when she returned from South Africa is going to keep it. Why in the world would you keep a scorpion?
Marty Noble of MLB.com is an idiot. Okay, that's too harsh. His argument attempting to justify his votes in the most recent Baseball Hall of Fame voting was completely idiotic. He's just a moron.
Wonder who convinced Yasiel Puig to hire a full-time driver? Whoever did it did him a favor.
Leave poor Bruce Jenner and his ponytail alone.
Being nominated for a Golden Globe award is a great thing for a movie, but it isn't a "win" of anything.
* * *
January 9th in History:
475 – Byzantine Emperor Zeno is forced to flee his capital at Constantinople, and his general, Basiliscus gains control of the empire.
681 – Twelfth Council of Toledo: King Erwig of the Visigoths initiates a council in which he implements diverse measures against the Jews in Spain.
1127 – Invading Jurchen soldiers from the Jin Dynasty besiege and sack Bianjing (Kaifeng), the capital of the Song Dynasty of China, and abduct Emperor Qinzong and others, ending the Northern Song Dynasty.
1150 – Prince Hailing of Jin and other court officials murder Emperor Xizong of Jin. Hailing succeeds him as emperor.
1349 – The Jewish population of Basel, Switzerland, believed by the residents to be the cause of the ongoing Black Death, is rounded up and incinerated.
1431 – Judges' investigations for the trial of Joan of Arc begin in Rouen, France, the seat of the English occupation government.
1760 – Afghans defeat Marathas in the Battle of Barari Ghat.
1788 – Connecticut becomes the fifth state to be admitted to the United States.
1793 – Jean-Pierre Blanchard becomes the first person to fly in a balloon in the United States.
1799 – British Prime Minister William Pitt the Younger introduces an income tax of two shillings to the pound to raise funds for Great Britain's war effort in the Napoleonic Wars.
1806 – Admiral Horatio Lord Nelson receives a state funeral and is interred in St Paul's Cathedral.
1816 – Sir Humphry Davy tests his safety lamp for miners at Hebburn Colliery.
1822 – The Portuguese prince Pedro I of Brazil decides to stay in Brazil against the orders of the Portuguese King João VI, beginning the Brazilian independence process.
1839 – The French Academy of Sciences announces the Daguerreotype photography process.
1857 – The Fort Tejon earthquake strikes California, registering an estimated magnitude of 7.9.
1858 – Anson Jones, the last President of the Republic of Texas, commits suicide.
1861 – American Civil War: The "Star of the West" incident occurs near Charleston, South Carolina. It is considered by some historians to be the "First Shots of the American Civil War".
1861 – Mississippi becomes the second state to secede from the Union before the outbreak of the American Civil War.
1863 – American Civil War: the Battle of Fort Hindman begins in Arkansas.
1878 – Umberto I becomes King of Italy.
1880 – The Great Gale of 1880 devastates parts of Oregon and Washington with high winds and heavy snow.
1894 – New England Telephone and Telegraph installs the first battery-operated telephone switchboard in Lexington, Massachusetts.
1903 – Hallam Tennyson, 2nd Baron Tennyson, son of the poet Alfred Tennyson, becomes the second Governor-General of Australia.
1909 – Ernest Shackleton, leading the Nimrod Expedition to the South Pole, plants the British flag 97 nautical miles (180 km; 112 mi) from the South Pole, the farthest anyone had ever reached at that time.
1914 – Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity Inc., the first historically black intercollegiate Greek-letter fraternity to be officially recognized at Howard University, is founded.
1916 – World War I: The Battle of Gallipoli concludes with an Ottoman Empire victory when the last Allied forces are evacuated from the peninsula.
1917 – World War I: the Battle of Rafa is fought near the Egyptian border with Palestine.
1918 – Battle of Bear Valley: The last battle of the American Indian Wars.
1921 – Greco-Turkish War: The First Battle of İnönü, the first battle of the war, begins near Eskişehir in Anatolia.
1923 – Juan de la Cierva makes the first autogyro flight.
1923 – Lithuanian residents of the Memel Territory rebel against the League of Nations' decision to leave the area as a mandated region under French control.
1927 – A fire at the Laurier Palace movie theatre in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, kills 78 children.
1941 – World War II: First flight of the Avro Lancaster.
1941 – World War II: The Greek Triton (Y-5) sinks the Italian submarine Neghelli in Otranto.
1945 – World War II: The United States invades Luzon in the Philippines.
1947 – Elizabeth "Betty" Short, the Black Dahlia, is last seen alive.
1960 – President of Egypt Gamal Abdel Nasser opens construction on the Aswan Dam by detonating ten tons of dynamite to demolish twenty tons of granite on the east bank of the Nile.
1964 – Martyrs' Day: Several Panamanian youths try to raise the Panamanian flag on the U.S.-controlled Panama Canal Zone, leading to fighting between U.S. military and Panamanian civilians.
1965 – The Mirzapur Cadet College formally opens for academic activities in East Pakistan (now Bangladesh).
1991 – Representatives from the United States and Iraq meet at the Geneva Peace Conference to try to find a peaceful resolution to the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait.
1992 – The Assembly of the Serb People in Bosnia and Herzegovina proclaims the creation of Republika Srpska, a new state within Yugoslavia.
1996 – First Chechen War: Chechen separatists launch a raid against the helicopter airfield and later a civilian hospital in the city of Kizlyar in the neighboring Dagestan, which turns into a massive hostage crisis involving thousands of civilians.
2004 – An inflatable boat carrying illegal Albanian emigrants stalls near the Karaburun Peninsula while on the way to Brindisi, Italy; exposure to the elements kills 28.
2005 – Mahmoud Abbas wins the election to replace Yasser Arafat as President of the Palestinian National Authority. He replaces interim president Rawhi Fattouh.
2005 – The Sudan People's Liberation Movement and the Government of Sudan sign the Comprehensive Peace Agreement to end the Second Sudanese Civil War.
2007 – Apple CEO Steve Jobs unveils the first iPhone.
2011 – Iran Air Flight 277 crashes near Orumiyeh in the northeast of the country, killing 77 people.
2013 – A SeaStreak ferry travelling to lower Manhattan, New York City, crashes into the dock, injuring 85 people.
Famous Folk Born on January 9th:
Empress Meisho of Japan
Pope Gregory XV
Caleb Strong
Joseph Strauss
Karel Capek
Richard Halliburton
Rudolf Bing
Simone de Beauvoir
Gypsy Rose Lee
Richard Nixon
Fernando Lamas
Vic Mizzy (this theme song was his creation http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FYFVlVVOC6I)
Lee Van Cleef (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DAZp_wbv0h4)
Judith Krantz
Dorothea Puente
Bart Starr
Bob Denver
Dick Enberg
Susannah York
K Callan
Jimmy Page
Bill Cowsill
Crystal Gayle
J. K. Simmons (I think he's a great actor, his talents are underrated)
Joey Lauren Adams
Nina Dobrev
Movie quotes today come from "Big Daddy" as the lovely Joey Lauren Adams was in it:
Julian: But after my nap I always watch the Kangaroo Song.
Sonny: It's overtime right now and there's a penalty shot about to take place. This happens about once every ten years so...
Julian: Kangaroo song, kangaroo song, kangaroo song, KANGAROO SONG!
Sonny: ALLLRRIIIGGGHTT! God you were normal yesterday!
#2
[Discussing Vanessa's new senior citizen boyfriend]
Vanessa: He has a five year plan.
Sonny: What is it? "Don't die"?
#3
Layla: So two guys you were best friends with in law school fell in love with each other?
Sonny: Yeah.
Layla: Is that strange for you?
Sonny: Uh, nothing changed really. They watch a different kind of porno now.
#4
Sonny: Congratulations! You and "Big Boobs" McGee are gonna get along just fine.
Kevin: Don't call her "Big Boobs" McGee.
Sonny: You're going to explain to your kids that you met their mother while she was waitressing at Hooters?
Kevin: Sonny that was five years ago! She's a doctor now, and my fiance. So from now on, Dr. "Big Boobs" McGee.
Colorado is a state that has strong labor laws. Unlike some other states, in Colorado, you can't be fired for engaging in lawful activity while not working. Assuming of course that your lawful activity off of the job doesn't impair your ability to do your job. You can drink all the alcohol you want when not working, but if you show up for work drunk, you can be fired. The problem is that using marijuana under any circumstance is a violation of federal law. Therefore, it is not a "lawful activity" and as such, can be used as cause to fire an employee.
Imagine applying that situation to any other legal substance. Drinking, prescription medications, smoking cigarettes, and so on. At the moment, 29 states and the District of Columbia have laws on the books that prevent employers from discriminating against employees who smoke cigarettes off the job, and off-site.
So now that recreational pot use is legal, someone who isn't violating state law can be fired for doing what's supposed to be legal.
Doesn't seem fair.
* * *
Watergate. Whitewatergate. Nipplegate. Hackgate (aka Murdochgate). Memogate. Billygate. Maybe members of the media should be paying royalties to the venerable Washington, D.C. hotel that gave us the gate suffix as a scandal label.
Now we have "Bridgegate" and it's very much like the original, Watergate. The big question being "what did he know and when did he know it?" That was the big question while the investigation into the break-in at the Watergate Hotel was going on. Did President Nixon order the break-in? When did he learn of it and what was his role in the attempt to cover it up?
We all know that it was that scandal that led to President Nixon becoming the first, and thus far only, president to resign while in office. Is this going to get that bad for NJ governor Chris Christie? The jury will be out on this for awhile. His press conference this morning was a good first step toward damage control. I suspect he will survive and that he did not order this petty attempt at political retribution. He's smarter than that. We can't say the same for the people he chose to employ to work in his administration.
I'm sure it is possible he knew about this lane closure well before yesterday, and who knows, maybe he was the one who ordered it. I don't think he did, but there is little proof of anything, save the emails and texts that were released yesterday
Let's see where the investigation goes.
* * *
Random Ponderings:
A 14 year old boy in Pakistan died stopping a suicide bomber from entering the campus where he attended school, saving a large number of his fellow students. Aitazaz Hassan Bangash stepped up and acted without regard for his own safety. Proves once again that there is hope yet for our species.
Did a paparazzo really get a shot of Glenn Frey buying a skin mag in Brentwood? Dude, you can get that stuff online for free. Well, mostly free.
I'm still wondering why Dennis Rodman didn't dress up as Marilyn Monroe to sing Happy Birthday to North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un. Maybe he didn't pack a dress.
Using the tragedy of Jahi McMath to fundraise for a political purpose is gross and disgusting.
So did the Indian consular officer who was arrested and strip-searched leave the U.S. or not? She's been declared persona non grata by our government, but India claims she's still here.
Budget cuts at the IRS caused nearly 40% of those attempting to call a person at the IRS to fail to get through to one. Of those who did get through to a real person, the average wait on hold was more than 17 minutes. That's just too long.
E-cigarettes should be subjected to the same "sin" taxes as regular cigarettes.
A story ran recently in the Philadelphia Inquirer about a homeless veteran caught my eye. He's a retired Air Force colonel who earns a pension of more than $40,000 annually, currently living out of a van. He's got two sons in college. Call me crazy, but if he can't keep a roof over his head, maybe his kids should get student loans.
There is no good reason to be re-making "Point Break" but it will be remade and probably bomb at the box office.
There is no denying that Governor Chris Christie is a bully in his interpersonal communications with reporters and hecklers.
The woman from Canada who found a scorpion in her luggage when she returned from South Africa is going to keep it. Why in the world would you keep a scorpion?
Marty Noble of MLB.com is an idiot. Okay, that's too harsh. His argument attempting to justify his votes in the most recent Baseball Hall of Fame voting was completely idiotic. He's just a moron.
Wonder who convinced Yasiel Puig to hire a full-time driver? Whoever did it did him a favor.
Leave poor Bruce Jenner and his ponytail alone.
Being nominated for a Golden Globe award is a great thing for a movie, but it isn't a "win" of anything.
* * *
January 9th in History:
475 – Byzantine Emperor Zeno is forced to flee his capital at Constantinople, and his general, Basiliscus gains control of the empire.
681 – Twelfth Council of Toledo: King Erwig of the Visigoths initiates a council in which he implements diverse measures against the Jews in Spain.
1127 – Invading Jurchen soldiers from the Jin Dynasty besiege and sack Bianjing (Kaifeng), the capital of the Song Dynasty of China, and abduct Emperor Qinzong and others, ending the Northern Song Dynasty.
1150 – Prince Hailing of Jin and other court officials murder Emperor Xizong of Jin. Hailing succeeds him as emperor.
1349 – The Jewish population of Basel, Switzerland, believed by the residents to be the cause of the ongoing Black Death, is rounded up and incinerated.
1431 – Judges' investigations for the trial of Joan of Arc begin in Rouen, France, the seat of the English occupation government.
1760 – Afghans defeat Marathas in the Battle of Barari Ghat.
1788 – Connecticut becomes the fifth state to be admitted to the United States.
1793 – Jean-Pierre Blanchard becomes the first person to fly in a balloon in the United States.
1799 – British Prime Minister William Pitt the Younger introduces an income tax of two shillings to the pound to raise funds for Great Britain's war effort in the Napoleonic Wars.
1806 – Admiral Horatio Lord Nelson receives a state funeral and is interred in St Paul's Cathedral.
1816 – Sir Humphry Davy tests his safety lamp for miners at Hebburn Colliery.
1822 – The Portuguese prince Pedro I of Brazil decides to stay in Brazil against the orders of the Portuguese King João VI, beginning the Brazilian independence process.
1839 – The French Academy of Sciences announces the Daguerreotype photography process.
1857 – The Fort Tejon earthquake strikes California, registering an estimated magnitude of 7.9.
1858 – Anson Jones, the last President of the Republic of Texas, commits suicide.
1861 – American Civil War: The "Star of the West" incident occurs near Charleston, South Carolina. It is considered by some historians to be the "First Shots of the American Civil War".
1861 – Mississippi becomes the second state to secede from the Union before the outbreak of the American Civil War.
1863 – American Civil War: the Battle of Fort Hindman begins in Arkansas.
1878 – Umberto I becomes King of Italy.
1880 – The Great Gale of 1880 devastates parts of Oregon and Washington with high winds and heavy snow.
1894 – New England Telephone and Telegraph installs the first battery-operated telephone switchboard in Lexington, Massachusetts.
1903 – Hallam Tennyson, 2nd Baron Tennyson, son of the poet Alfred Tennyson, becomes the second Governor-General of Australia.
1909 – Ernest Shackleton, leading the Nimrod Expedition to the South Pole, plants the British flag 97 nautical miles (180 km; 112 mi) from the South Pole, the farthest anyone had ever reached at that time.
1914 – Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity Inc., the first historically black intercollegiate Greek-letter fraternity to be officially recognized at Howard University, is founded.
1916 – World War I: The Battle of Gallipoli concludes with an Ottoman Empire victory when the last Allied forces are evacuated from the peninsula.
1917 – World War I: the Battle of Rafa is fought near the Egyptian border with Palestine.
1918 – Battle of Bear Valley: The last battle of the American Indian Wars.
1921 – Greco-Turkish War: The First Battle of İnönü, the first battle of the war, begins near Eskişehir in Anatolia.
1923 – Juan de la Cierva makes the first autogyro flight.
1923 – Lithuanian residents of the Memel Territory rebel against the League of Nations' decision to leave the area as a mandated region under French control.
1927 – A fire at the Laurier Palace movie theatre in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, kills 78 children.
1941 – World War II: First flight of the Avro Lancaster.
1941 – World War II: The Greek Triton (Y-5) sinks the Italian submarine Neghelli in Otranto.
1945 – World War II: The United States invades Luzon in the Philippines.
1947 – Elizabeth "Betty" Short, the Black Dahlia, is last seen alive.
1960 – President of Egypt Gamal Abdel Nasser opens construction on the Aswan Dam by detonating ten tons of dynamite to demolish twenty tons of granite on the east bank of the Nile.
1964 – Martyrs' Day: Several Panamanian youths try to raise the Panamanian flag on the U.S.-controlled Panama Canal Zone, leading to fighting between U.S. military and Panamanian civilians.
1965 – The Mirzapur Cadet College formally opens for academic activities in East Pakistan (now Bangladesh).
1991 – Representatives from the United States and Iraq meet at the Geneva Peace Conference to try to find a peaceful resolution to the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait.
1992 – The Assembly of the Serb People in Bosnia and Herzegovina proclaims the creation of Republika Srpska, a new state within Yugoslavia.
1996 – First Chechen War: Chechen separatists launch a raid against the helicopter airfield and later a civilian hospital in the city of Kizlyar in the neighboring Dagestan, which turns into a massive hostage crisis involving thousands of civilians.
2004 – An inflatable boat carrying illegal Albanian emigrants stalls near the Karaburun Peninsula while on the way to Brindisi, Italy; exposure to the elements kills 28.
2005 – Mahmoud Abbas wins the election to replace Yasser Arafat as President of the Palestinian National Authority. He replaces interim president Rawhi Fattouh.
2005 – The Sudan People's Liberation Movement and the Government of Sudan sign the Comprehensive Peace Agreement to end the Second Sudanese Civil War.
2007 – Apple CEO Steve Jobs unveils the first iPhone.
2011 – Iran Air Flight 277 crashes near Orumiyeh in the northeast of the country, killing 77 people.
2013 – A SeaStreak ferry travelling to lower Manhattan, New York City, crashes into the dock, injuring 85 people.
Famous Folk Born on January 9th:
Empress Meisho of Japan
Pope Gregory XV
Caleb Strong
Joseph Strauss
Karel Capek
Richard Halliburton
Rudolf Bing
Simone de Beauvoir
Gypsy Rose Lee
Richard Nixon
Fernando Lamas
Vic Mizzy (this theme song was his creation http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FYFVlVVOC6I)
Lee Van Cleef (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DAZp_wbv0h4)
Judith Krantz
Dorothea Puente
Bart Starr
Bob Denver
Dick Enberg
Susannah York
K Callan
Jimmy Page
Bill Cowsill
Crystal Gayle
J. K. Simmons (I think he's a great actor, his talents are underrated)
Joey Lauren Adams
Nina Dobrev
Movie quotes today come from "Big Daddy" as the lovely Joey Lauren Adams was in it:
Julian: But after my nap I always watch the Kangaroo Song.
Sonny: It's overtime right now and there's a penalty shot about to take place. This happens about once every ten years so...
Julian: Kangaroo song, kangaroo song, kangaroo song, KANGAROO SONG!
Sonny: ALLLRRIIIGGGHTT! God you were normal yesterday!
#2
[Discussing Vanessa's new senior citizen boyfriend]
Vanessa: He has a five year plan.
Sonny: What is it? "Don't die"?
#3
Layla: So two guys you were best friends with in law school fell in love with each other?
Sonny: Yeah.
Layla: Is that strange for you?
Sonny: Uh, nothing changed really. They watch a different kind of porno now.
#4
Sonny: Congratulations! You and "Big Boobs" McGee are gonna get along just fine.
Kevin: Don't call her "Big Boobs" McGee.
Sonny: You're going to explain to your kids that you met their mother while she was waitressing at Hooters?
Kevin: Sonny that was five years ago! She's a doctor now, and my fiance. So from now on, Dr. "Big Boobs" McGee.
posted by me at 7:32 PM
<< Home