NYS Cannabis Board Does a Hand to Hand
and - Supreme Court (and fellow inmates) stab Chauvin in the back
New York State’s Cannabis Board Does a Hand to Hand Deal
The number of licensed cannabis retailers in New York State is still stuck at 27. It has been there for the better part of a year. The New York cannabis legalization program, which makes the Hindenburg disaster look like a Girl Scout campfire, is in its third year of operation.
New York’s Cannabis Control Board announced this week that they have reached an agreement on a lawsuit that has held up the program’s expansion. Disabled veterans had sued the state arguing that the provision in the licensing law that gives preference to business owners convicted of marijuana crimes was not fair.
A judge had put a moratorium on the granting of more licenses until the suit is settled. And now it is. The Cannabis Control Board reached a deal, a drug deal as it were, with the two parties suing for equal access to the legal weed system. The details of the agreement were not for public consumption apparently, but we would bet it cost the taxpayers a pretty penny. As soon as the agreement is approved by the judge in the case, the grateful citizens of New York will quickly be able to pay taxes on their marijuana purchases.
Governor Hochul was very excited about the fact that the legal drugging of the New York voting base could move forward. Hochul said the settlement “will allow us to move toward this worthy goal, expanding the number of legal cannabis retailers as we continue our significant efforts to shut down illegal storefronts.” She also perhaps noted that only people high on marijuana would vote for her. Dumbing down the average voter is a goal of terrible politicians everywhere.
New York’s Cannabis Control Board is led by the seemingly inept Chris Alexander. He was paid $190,480 last year for this mismanaged smoke job. Alexander was a former lobbyist for large marijuana legalization interest. Talk about corruption! His other primary qualifications are that he is, “A long-time advocate for social justice, racial equity, and civic engagement”. Thank God! We are in good hands. Now that the current legal issue appears to be in the rear view, lets see how Mr. Alexander administers this program.
We do have a question about the Cannabis Control Board and marijuana legalization in general. This venture, which obviously has a deleterious effect on the health of New Yorkers, was sold as a tax generator for a state in financial difficulties. Last year the 146 employees of the Board made salaries that added up to $11,133,061 and zero cents. Can the state open the books on the net tax revenue from the marijuana program? We are willing to bet that we will never see that math. We are sure it makes zero sense.
Supreme Court (and fellow inmates) Stab Chauvin in the Back
Last week the disgraced former Minneapolis cop, Derek Chauvin, was dealt two painful blows. On Monday, the US Supreme Court denied his appeal after all Minnesota courts refused to entertain his appeal of his 2021 conviction. Chauvin had argued that his request for a change of venue should have been granted.
That request should certainly have been approved in the initial trial. The Minneapolis courthouse where his trial was held was turned into a veritable fortress to prevent the crowds, egged on by California Congresswoman Maxine Waters, from taking over the courthouse like they did to the Minneapolis Police Department’s 3rd Precinct (which is still not rebuilt).
This no doubt alarmed the jurors within and affected the fairness of the trial. The city had been burnt and looted for weeks on end the prior summer. Activists like Waters demanded a guilty verdict on penalty of more confrontation and disorder. I’m sure the riots of the year before and the recollection of the LA Riots around the Rodney King assault (which Maxine Waters was there to remind everyone of) was in the back, if not the front, of the jurors’ minds.
The Chauvin trial was not fairly handled on a number of fronts. The venue was just the tip of the iceberg. Perhaps Chauvin would have been convicted regardless of the legal deck being stacked against him. The Supreme Court had the chance to ensure that justice was truly carried out in a fair and unbiased way. Sham trials delegitimize the justice system in this country. That is in the interest of the highest court. Derek Chauvin’s mother put it succinctly when she gave her opinion of American Justice, “there isn’t any. I don’t believe in the justice system anymore”. Unfortunately, this is the perception of an increasing number of Americans. The Supreme Court had a chance to lend more credibility to the system. They chose not to.
Hours after Chauvin got this bad news from the Supreme Court, he suffered an assault in the Tucson Federal Prison where he will be spending most of the rest of his life. We don’t know the extent of the assault other than that Chauvin was stabbed. We don’t know the extent of Chauvin’s injuries. We don’t know who committed the stabbing. We don’t know if an arrest was made or anticipated. We don’t know how this was allowed to happen.
It appears that Chauvin’s family wasn’t even notified that the assault took place. This is a serious dereliction of the public trust by the Federal Bureau of Prisons. They have issued no statements, answered no questions, and provided no information on the assault of one of America’s most infamous prisoners. One who had a petition in front of the Supreme Court and a movie released on his case.
This is a point of public concern and public interest. It seems the BOP is falling in step with the rest of the executive branch of our government and refusing to answer any questions at all. The public wants answers as to what happened to Chauvin. They also want more information about how Whitey Bulger, and David Epstein died. But don’t hold your breath. The concept of government accountability seems to be a thing of the past.
3 Palestinians Shot in Vermont
A seemingly mentally ill man shot 3 Palestinian students in Vermont last week. The three men, all college students at some elite schools including Brown University, were all shot at close range with a pistol. They were speaking Arabic and were wearing Palestinian keffiyeh scarves.
Police did some good work and identified the shooter. He is 48-year-old Jason Eaton, a native of New York. There doesn’t appear to be any motive for the shooting, so a hate crime is suspected. And it very well might be the reason. Eaton was also dealing with apparent mental illness.
He was a part time farmer and held several jobs in the financial industry. He had recently been fired. Friends described him as a “hippie” and was part of a progressive farming community. He volunteered for the Boy Scouts with a charity for disabled children. Not exactly the resume for a hate filled mass shooter. One must assume that mental illness played a significant role.
But one thing is certain. Whether hatred or mental illness was the reason for the shooting, the current state of public discourse in this country is not helping. One polarizing issue after another is being pushed by the media. Extremists on both sides enflame issues to the point where reasonable discussion of differing points of view can rarely be found. This environment antagonizes both the haters and the mentally ill alike. It is time for responsible leaders to step forward and lower the temperature in this country.
Don’t hold your breath.
Thanks for reading The Ops Desk!
 | A guest post by
|