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Bad Idea Factory
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UPDATE: This hearing has been cancelled. Oh well.
Press release just in from state Rep. Jennifer L. Mann, D-Lehigh:
Judiciary Committee Vote Wed., Sept. 15 on Mann's Bill to Ban Synthetic Marijuana
HARRISBURG, Sept. 14 â The House Judiciary Committee will vote tomorrow on HB 176, the Act to Ban Synthetic Marijuana, sponsored by Rep. Jennifer Mann, D-Lehigh.
The meeting will be held at 9 a.m. on Sept. 15 in Room 205 Ryan Office Bldg., State Capitol Complex, Harrisburg.
âI look forward to attending the Judiciary Committee meeting on my bill, and will urge the committee for a unanimous vote to send it to the full House for consideration,â Mann said.
âWe must enact legislation banning synthetic marijuana to protect our children and get this dangerous new drug off the streets. My bill will give the police the tools they need to prosecute people who sell or use synthetic marijuana,â Mann said.
Synthetic marijuana, the most common brand called âK2,â is a blend of herbs treated with chemicals to produce a marijuana-like high in users.
The bill would ban the sale or use of synthetic marijuana, a drug responsible for numerous emergency room visits by adults and children, and even linked to deaths nationwide. Mixes of synthetic marijuana sold on the street contain various dangerous chemicals which present real health risks to users.
Its use almost always causes unwanted and dangerous side effects in its users. Due to the fact it is not a controlled substance, it is sold openly on the internet and in head shops under the names âDemonâ and âHawaiian Haze.â
Emergency rooms across the Commonwealth and country have started seeing an influx of patients who are suffering the ill effects of synthetic marijuana use. Many of the users need heavy tranquilizing to calm down. The drug can cause symptoms such as fast heart rate, confusion, nausea, agitation, anxiety, elevated blood pressure, hallucinations, and seizures in its users.
I tend to be skeptical about these almost always overwrought âthink of the childrenâ anti-drug campaigns — Slate, for instance, has done a wondrous job knocking down those âpharma partyâ stories that seem to pop up every now and again — but hey, the Internets tell us this stuff is bad news, so let's just assume they're correct. According to CNN:
"K2" is a brand name for a dried herbal blend that can be smoked. It produces a high similar to that of marijuana but doesn't contain tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the psychoactive chemical in marijuana. Instead, K2 contains synthetic chemicals, known as JWH-018 and JWH-073, that mimic THC by acting on the cannabinoid receptors in the brain.
JWH-018 and JWH-073 are produced in China and unregulated in the United States. Similar products have been produced and marketed under names such as Spice, Genie, Blaze, Red X Dawn and Zohai. Since 2009, the Drug Enforcement Administration has been receiving reports of the abuse of these herbal products.
K2's key ingredients were invented by Dr. John Huffman at Clemson University in 1995 during medical research on the effects of cannabinoids on the brain. He found no medical benefits -- only negative side effects. Unfortunately, marijuana users reproduced the recipe, creating a legal alternative to marijuana.
According to the Times-News, those side effects include:
rapid heart rate, confusion, nausea, agitation, anxiety, elevated blood pressure, hallucinations, and seizures
You know what doesn't cause any of those things? Actual marijuana. Just saying.
[...] The state will now come after your fake weed. [...]
Paperboy can say whatever he wants, but our own A.D. Amorosi has been reporting the hell out of this Greenlee and Clarke-sponsored promoters bill since the very beginning (a story he broke in Icepack and A Million Stories). In this weeks AMS, for instance, A.D. reported on the proposed legislative changes that would make the bill significantly less draconian. This morning, A.D. sends over the text of proposed amendments, which I've copied and pasted below for you to peruse (and for PW to use as a tipsheet, natch).
SUMMARY OF PROPOSED AMENDMENT TO BILL NO. 100267
ELIMINATE THE REQUIREMENT FOR A PERMIT PRIOR TO EVERY PROMOTED EVENT
The amendment will eliminate the requirement that promoters must apply for a permit from the police 30 days in advance of each event. The police will no longer have any power to approve or deny any promoted indoor event which features live entertainment
ALL PROMOTERS MUST BE REGISTERED WITH THE CITY AND HAVE A BUSINESS PRIVILEGE LICENSE
The amendment will require promoters of live entertainment to register with the Managing Directors Office and to obtain a business privilege license. Registration should be at no cost or minimal cost and can be completed online. Registration must include full legal name, current address of record, current telephone number, current email address, current website and the promoters business privilege license number.
The amendment will prohibit Special Assembly Occupancy licensees from entering into contracts with unregistered promoters.
IN GENERAL, THERE WILL BE NO REQUIREMENT FOR A VENUE TO PROVIDE ADVANCE NOTICE OF PROMOTED EVENTS TO THE POLICE UNLESS A VENUE PLANS TO TURN OVER OPERATIONAL CONTROL TO AN OUTSIDE PROMOTER FOR A PARTICULAR EVENT
Whenever a venue plans to turn over operational control to an outside promoter for security, crowd control and maintaining the venues authorized capacity, the venue would be required to notify the police two weeks in advance so that the police will have sufficient time to redeploy its patrols.
In no case will promoters have any duty to provide any advance notice to the police.
ELIMINATE THE REQUIREMENT THAT THE VENUE AND PROMOTER PROVIDE A COPY OF A WRITTEN CONTRACT TO THE POLICE
Whenever a venue plans to turn over operational control to an outside promoter, the venue and promoter must complete a simple form which will list which party is responsible for security, operations management during the event, crowd control and maintaining the buildings capacity
AN OUTSIDE PROMOTER WOULD ONLY BE CONSIDERED A RESPONSIBLE PARTY SUBJECT TO PENALTIES IF THE PROMOTER HAS ASSUMED OPERATIONAL CONTROL OVER SECURITY, CROWD CONTROL AND MAINTAINING THE BUILDINGS CAPACITY
THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE LEGISLATION WILL BE DELAYED TO ALLOW SUFFICIENT TIME TO EDUCATE
Turned out even better than I thought or heard it was going to go.
Who or what body is responsible for these changes?
Sorry for not pointing this out earlier. These come from Greenlees office.
umm, it's kind of a stretch to say City Paper really broke this story. WHYY: http://whyy.org/cms/news/government-politics/2010/04/26/philadelphia-councilman-pushes-regulations-for-club-promoters/36666 Inq (see the bottom of the article): http://www.philly.com/philly/news/local/91889339.html Props, though, for jumping on the story, and putting the possible effects of the bill in context.
[...] a City Council first, revealed himself to be a reasonable human being), is now set to be amended. A memo from Greenlee’s office obtained by City Paper reveals the following bullet points/amendments to the bill:· ELIMINATE THE REQUIREMENT FOR A PERMIT PRIOR [...]
@philebrity - LOL, there are no hells angels in philly, they are ran away in 2005
So, hey JB what do you think of this - Nancy Pelosi Says She Has a Duty to Pursue Policies in Keeping With The Values of Jesus, 'The Word Made Flesh' http://cnsnews.com/news/article/66208 http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/5444310/nancy_pelosi_takes_on_jesus_christ.html
[...] the first major set of time and date stamped changes made by Greenlee that we revealed exclusively, under this amended version of the bill, special assembly occupancies will be responsible for [...]
[...] wants to charge bloggers $300 for making as much as $1. Council introduced a bill that threatened to put Philly’s nightlife scene in jeopardy. The Mayor signed an executive order banning bikes, cupcakes, skateboards and yarn bombing. Ok, [...]
[...] Promoters Bill 100267-A we told you about earlier this year? (Which was pretty terrible at first, but then admittedly got better?) It's been sitting on Mayor Nutter's desk for a signature since June 17. Council passed a [...]
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| maps.google.com |
| Where's Waldo? |
Sunday night at 8-ish, I drove around my East Passyunk neighborhood looking and looking and looking for a parking space and finally found one on the 900 block of teeny-tiny Fernon, between Tasker and Morris. This is not an unusual way to spend an evening.
The next morning, my car was gone — as were the rest of the vehicles on that block — replaced by monster street-destroying trucks, sitting there munching on the asphalt on which I'd treaded just 12 hours before.
Shit, the impound lot. I've seen Parking Wars. I don't want to go there.
So I called 311, our non-emergency info line. The busy, sorta annoyed 311 folks told me that sometimes the city "relocates" cars for paving purposes, and that if I called the Streets Department they could tell me where exactly my car was. They transferred me.
The Streets Department lady, while griping that the 311 people shouldn't have transferred me to her, was very helpful and looked up my plate number on various slow-moving computer screens till she eventually came to the conclusion that, since the relocation had just occurred, my plate probably wasn't in the system yet. I should poke around the neighborhood, and if I still can't find my car, call my local Police Department (holler, Fourth District).
So I poked. Up 10th street, down Ninth, in and out of the little streets I couldn't imagine a tow truck could even squeeze through. I even walked up and down the aisles of the Acme parking lot like a crazy person, but nada.
This morning I called the Fourth District, and the busy, sorta annoyed lady on the phone told me that the tow companies who relocate cars for paving don't record plate numbers, or where they put the cars. "It's probably in a five-block radius of where you parked it," she said. "Just look around for it, and if you don't find it, call 911."
Now, I don't really consider this an emergency emergency — I don't rely on my car, I just kinda want to, y'know, know where it is — so I'll be spending the evening combing the streets of South Philly, again, on what's starting to seem like a never-ending scavenger hunt for my silver Honda. (Which is, apparently, the same car everyone else in South Philly drives, too.)
Is this happening to other people? Is it taking you forever to actually find your relocated car? If the five-block-radius rule is true, then my car could be anywhere from Broad to Fourth, Federal to McKean. Wish me luck, and share your own relocation woes in the comments if you like.
[...] really. My South Philly-parked car was "relocated" for paving on Oct. 19. I freaked out, wrote a Clog post about the ordeal, looked for it, freaked out some more and finally found the damn thing a handful of days later, [...]
No doubt it will have several tickets on it and you will have to fight with the PPA next.
When my neighborhood organized a 5k, the police did move cars (they had been warned). But they just moved them about 4 blocks away, to Washington. No cost to relocate.
Although I feel for you and hope you get your car back ASAP, I have to say that there were signs posted all over Fernon St. about the Monday, 6am deadline to have cars moved off the street. I live on the next block and was actually annoyed at the overkill of signs about the construction. I was also annoyed at the 6:03am Monday morning wake up call of police sirens and megaphones announcing that cars were going to be towed.
@ Philly Chit Chat: Ugh. I hadn't even thought of that. @ Caroline: I don't mind the relocation so much as the lack of records ... but I am relieved that, unless my car's been stolen in the interim, I won't have to pay to get it back. @ St. Circumstance: There were signs at the other end of the block, which I saw the next morning, but none near my car. Seems like other folks on the block had missed the signs, too, since every other space was occupied. I hear you about the noise -- I heard it, too, and was annoyed. Now even more so!
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| adfreak.com |
| Coulda been worse? |
The text at top right reads: "The tsunami killed 100 times more people than 9/11. The planet is brutally powerful. Respect it. Preserve it." (Click here for a larger version.)
David Gianatasio at adfreak.com says of this award-winning World Wildlife Fund ad: "Unfortunately, respect is the main thing lacking here. Exploiting one tragedy to try to prevent another is just stupid and self-defeating, and will always backfire."
I agree. But what are your thoughts? With the eighth anniversary of 9/11 only a week away, is it still too soon to reference the tragedy in order to get us behind a pretty unrelated cause? Or do we need this level of shock value in order to really think about big, important issues? Holler in the comments.
[UPDATE, Wednesday, 8 a.m.]: Thanks for the updates, commenters. Looks like the WWF had nothing to do with this poster, and condemns the Brazilian ad agency that used the organization's logo without their permission. Here's the statement:
"WWF strongly condemns this offensive and tasteless ad and did not authorize its production or publication. It is our understanding that it was a concept offered by an outside advertising agency in Brazil. The concept was summarily rejected by WWF and should never have seen the light of day. It is an unauthorized use of our logo and we are aggressively pursuing action to have it removed from websites where it is being currently featured. We strongly condemn the messages and the images portrayed in this ad. On behalf of WWF, here in the US and around the world, we can promise you this ad does not in any way reflect the thoughts and feelings of the people of our organization."
That's a powerful image, I like it.
Some 40 years after seeing an image of a tear rolling down the face of an old Native American, who'd been canoeing through a trash strewn lake, and I still feel the emotion. Might even be why I never litter. Now, that's powerful creative. This? This is amateurish.... and yes, extremely tasteless. Don Draper would have taken a huge hit of bourbon, and sent these hacks back to the drawing board.
Please update this post. This is an unauthorized ad and WWF has issued a statement condemning it: http://www.worldwildlife.org/who/media/press/2009/WWFPresitem13540.html
Hey Carolyn! How about a little correction here??? http://www.worldwildlife.org/who/media/press/2009/WWFPresitem13540.html Almost every media outlet has updated this story. The WWF did NOT authorize this ad. It was a rejected spec that the ad agency submitted to a contest WITHOUT WWF's knowledge. And before people dumbly follow up with, well, it won an award! It won a MERIT RECOGNITION. One of seven in that subcategory alone. There were several hundred awards given out. Of course WWF wouldn't have found out immediately. Sheesh. Social media FAILURE. Can you imagine how much money they've lost on this?
Horrible. Disgusting.
This ad is NOT horrible or disgusting! Yes, 9/11 was horrible and sad! but were the lives lost by the tsunami any less important? a loss of a life is a loss of a life and no matter how it was taken, its terrible and sad! People need to stop taking things so offensively. This ad is just trying to show people how many people were killed.
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Damnit, UO. Now I can't buy your cute frocks. |
| Courtesy urbanoutfitters.com |
In days past, Urban Outfitter's catalogs were somewhat classy. Yes, almost every picture was of a half-stoned girl in an extremely elegant dress emerging out of the woods. But they were usually covered up and naturally pretty, and the graphic artists decorated the page with ink drawings of bird, trees and flowers. It was wonderfully whimsical, really.
All of that went to hell in the spring 2009 catalog. Philly-based UO have ditched their respectable advertising strategy and replaced it with American Apparel's. Which it to say, they're making porn now. The new catalog is full of side-boobs, side-bums and maybe even a little side-vagina. Yes, you read the last bit right. UO is so committed to emulating American Apparel that they've one-upped their rivals and invented a new way of showing someone's privates without, 'ya know, showing them completely. Also, all of the models look 15 years old, and their despondent expressions make them appear stoned — on H, not on weed.
This sucks, because I have to boycott you now, UO. I stopped walking into American Apparel because I felt like a perv, and now you've went and done the same thing. Good riddance, side boobs.
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