hans solo is an interesting choice. and, i actually give him credit for not forcing his kids into a wookie, r2d2 and cp-30. but, i think the key is that dressing as luke would have raised some eyebrows regarding his perception of his father. wise choice, sir.

i apologize; clearly, an important piece like this should have provided for a more serious and insightful commentary.

www.cbc.ca/news/politics/trick-trudeau-halloween-1.3298754

Don McIsaac
"and create new, stronger laws to punish more severely those who provide it to minors, those who operate a motor vehicle while under its influence and those who sell it outside of the new regulatory framework."
Great, but the "world-class marijuana framework" is producing marijuana far more expensive than the street price of the "illegally grown" types. I'm certainly not going to pay $15-$25/gram plus tax no matter who grows it or says it's the legal stuff. I usually pay around $5.75/gram when purchasing a "half ounce" or 14 grams from people who have been growing it for decades. See the problem? We are at risk of a "two tier" system that will do NOTHING to stem marijuana distribution by gangs or syndicates. Only by making the "legal" stuff the same price or cheaper will you have any effect on an already established grow and distribution system. Think your kids will buy the legal stuff? Hell no they'll get it off the existing dealers at far less. Think this through Mr Trudeau, and do it the right way.

jessica amber murray
i think you have to begin with the understanding that the bc pot industry is the largest industry in bc, by gdp. the capacity already exists, it's just a question of grow-ops coming out of the shadows.

the challenges have more to do with changes in labour codes. currently, dealers take a cut that they determine. legalization means that these will need to be converted into salaried workers, probably with benefits. that is necessarily going to increase costs, as it converts dealing out of something done part time for extra cash (or even just to supply friends) and into an actual job. you also have to work in the costs of running a business.

for that reason, it's basically impossible to undercut the black market. the black market will always be able to offer it cheaper because it's not paying salaries and storefronts. so, it's a little bit different than converting a speakeasy (which already paid salaries and store costs) into a bar.

there's consequently two necessary things that need to be taken on for this to work:

1) they have to shut down the black market. that's a short term policing cost, but it can also be done by getting the producers a higher profit margin. it's true that the black market can always undercut the state (unless the state takes a loss, which would defeat much of the point of this), but that assumes equivalent profit margins for producers. if the state offers incentives for producers to do this legally, it dries up the bulk of the supply.

2) we have to collectively agree to do this - to accept that a higher price is a valid offset for not having to worry about it anymore.

www.huffingtonpost.ca/2015/10/28/trudeau-marijuana-legalization_n_8409710.html

let's be careful, here.

while i am not particularly fond of textspeak, and acknowledge that spelling can be important to avoid miscommunication (it's important to have two p's in rapping, for example), i feel it is equally important to reject centralized grammar authorities and am exceedingly apprehensive about allowing this unelected body to dictate the rules of discourse.

from where does this body claim it's authority to police free expression?

jessica
+falconpO8 mockery is what sociologists call an informal social control mechanism.

Space Dwarf
+jessica haha you use big words. You funny

jessica
+Space Dwarf this is actually a very serious concern. whomsoever controls our language controls our thoughts. this has been understood for centuries, but expresses itself in it's most known contemporary form in the writings of george orwell.

for an actual historical example, you want to look at french. we think of french as a derivative of latin. the actual truth is that french was something that was invented by french intellectuals around the time of the french revolution, and forced on the people of france (who spoke languages such as occitan). the language was written in such a way as to uphold certain hierarchical relationships, the most obvious being the way it approaches gender.

in english, the most obvious way that language is used as a means of control is in the use of capitalization to cement deference to authority.

the idea of policing language is one that should never be taken lightly.

Ruben Gz
+jessica We're good! Until they make a United Channels of Youtube, we'll be fine! Toast: to policing and exploiting grammar discrepancies, here here!

jessica
+Ruben Gz see, i must dissent out of principle and maintain my grammar anti-authoritarianism in the face of such an affront on personal liberty. hold to your individuality, people. do not be coerced into conformity,

MrQuelquDeux
+jessica You are either the biggest troll I've seen, or you absolutely missed the point (to avoid calling you a total idiot).

Please, go away if you're not here to have fun.

Space Dwarf
+MrQuelquDeux How dare you! She is trying to protect us from this oppression and conformity! Check your privilege!

jessica
+MrQuelquDeux i'm sorry - what point have i missed? do you not see how this kind of creeping totalitarianism is a threat on our grammatical freedom?

it starts with the grammar nazis in their brownshirts floating around making examples of people, and it escalates from there. soon, we'll be dealing with public executions for not capitalizing "ceo".

but, i suppose you think it can't happen here? oh, it can. and, it is. wake up! sheeple!

FilthyScooter
+jessica I hope you don't mind me point in out that this series started as a way to "troll the trolls" or to make fun of people who purposely use incorrect grammar. Which in fact, is annoying. We aren't forcing correct grammar unto people, but instead pointing out those who flat-out ignore it.

jessica
+FilthyScooter i think this is some a-level rationalizing.

Seamus Spike
+jessica Goodness me, I don't believe I have ever seen someone express anarchist ideals both through and about language. The frivolity of your language is comparable to a Russell Brand with actual ideals. Are you an anarchist? I personally believe that it is one of the only ways to truly allow the human race to evolve and reach a new plain of understanding, simply due to the fact that people would have the opportunity to truly fulfil their true creative and cognitive potential! 

jessica
+Seamus Spike an anarchist, i am. although, i dispute that my language is frivolous.

i do feel that abolishing the enforcement of grammatical conventions in favour of cultivating individual grammatical expression would be a positive change in the educational system. i'm not really against spelling - as mentioned, it is necessary to avoid misunderstanding. but, beating all these rules into kids just teaches deference to authority, while stamping out the individual spirit of expression. i think this is an especially important consideration when it comes to language, because it doesn't just frame the way we type, it also frames the way we think.

i mean, you can just imagine some grade three teacher sorting through poe and marking red xes all over it. that makes me frown.

_ninjaflower_
Uhh.... Okay I think you were saying that this whole thing is insulting? Idk. The obly thing that is insulting is the fact that u r saying we beed to be individual and everybody makes mistakes, and yet u r using perfact grammer!

jessica
+_ninjaflower_ i think, if you look a little more carefully, you'll realize that i put my anti-capitalism on full display.

in fact, i would make any linguist trying to analyze my writing very angry, you're just not aware of the reasons why.

i was in ottawa (which is eventually going to merge with montreal into a megacity) until a few years ago, and it seemed clear that grimes was trying very hard to market herself to an industrial-listening audience, which really made no sense to me. i remember hearing her last album and thinking "this sounds like madonna. it could be successful. but, why is it marketing itself to the underground? i'm never going to listen to this....".

i realize that this is going to confuse some people that bought her last record, but it really makes sense and isn't striking me as very surprising. she's made a career of watering down old ideas in a way that the younger generation can connect to, via the rose-tinted sunglasses of retro culture. this could easily be a ministry side project released c. 1989. but, realize that these ideas were released as side projects because they were failed tracks, despite becoming holy grails for record collectors.

she still has an opportunity to try and take her influences and mould them into something modern and forward thinking. and, she's still young. but, she's running out of time. and, by the standards of the genre she's ripping ideas out of, this is - predictably - trash.

i guarantee you that there's a stack of demos in the garage at wax trax! that never got listened to that are far more interesting than this.

YioMech
It's been over 4 years, get on that knee Roman!

jessica
+YioMech
i understand why you're posting this, but you should really question the logic of it. a ring isn't meant to be the key to a cage. that's both a shitty way to think and a tactic that doesn't work in the long run.

also, i've pointed this out before....

not getting married is not going to avoid a financial settlement. this is not the roman atwood vlog. this is the roman atwood & britney whatever vlog. any court will rule that she's entitled to a substantial amount of video revenue, by nature of being massively involved in the videos. that's in addition to helping run the merch sales.

i don't get the perspective that she has any malicious thoughts, and i don't even get the perspective that she particularly wants out. i do get the perspective that her physical attraction to roman may be a little weak, but that's up to them to work out.

nonetheless, if she wanted to, she could walk out of this tomorrow and get nearly half of what is listed under roman's name. and, no fair-minded person would argue she doesn't deserve it, either.

i check these bands out when i'm going through the show listings in detroit, and it's really remarkable - every song from every band is exactly the same. and, the basic formula they're all using is pretty much trash to begin with.

i know i'm not the first person to point this out. but, it's really remarkably frustrating. i should at least have a passing interest in the modern equivalent of alternative/prog rock, and i know that there are interesting things being produced, but what the labels are throwing out there and sending out on the tour circuit is just the same boring thing over and over again, trying to cash in on this stagnant late teen market that seems uninterested in defining itself.

this kind of commodification is what destroys art forms. i know - i'm twenty years too late for this rant. but, dammit rise and the rest of you medium sized indies, can you try to focus at least a little bit on getting some creative acts some exposure? relapse seems to be taking some chances, at least - what they're doing is picking up alternative acts that have established markets, but at least they're doing something to break the monotony..