It’s Capitalism, Baby!

As of today, November 12, 2020, the average price per gram of medical marijuana in Colorado is between $10 and $12 per gram. As near as I can determine, the same amount of “street” marijuana here in be York State is around half of that, or roughly $6.00 per gram. And while medical marijuana is available here, the State still hasn’t worked out the logistics needed for the system to work.

Regardless (sorry, Merriam-Webster: I’m still not on board with “irregardless” as a legitimate word) of what system gets put in place for medical marijuana, it will fail for one simple reason: capitalism. …

And A Workaround

The Problem

As many of you know, I do about 75% of my writing on my iPhone. The other 25% is divided between my iPad and my PC, with the lion’s share of that going to the iPad.

This is true for all of my writing, not just here on Medium.

You also know of my frustration and dissatisfaction with the Medium mobile app. As I’ve already listed the reasons on other posts I won’t bore you by repeating them here.

But I will tell you of the latest problem: for the past week, I’ve been unable to create a new story or series on either of my mobile devices. …

The 1950s Were Only The Beginning

“The Blob.” “It: The Terror From Beyond Space.” “The Crawling Eye” (original title: “The Trollenberg Terror.”) These were only some of the movies that kept me awake at night, baseball bat next to my bed, one eye fixed on the closet door, ready to leap out and defend myself against whatever creature went bump in the night.

One benefit I didn’t come to realize until many years later was the fact that most, if not all, of these movies were shot on black and white film.

Why was that a benefit? Because unlike today’s horror and Sci-fi offerings, the movie had to rely on storyline and plot, as opposed to blood and gore, to hold the audience’s interest. …

And Why Does It Have To Be Explained?

Growing up in an evangelical Christian household — my father was a Lutheran pastor — I was aware of two editions of the Bible: the King James Version and the Revised Standard Version.

My father’s home office held both. It also held dozens of other books explicating and analyzing them.

I could never understand why, if the Bible was meant to be, in essence, an operating manual for life, it needed so many other books in order to understand it.

My father studied Greek, both in college as a history major and after that in seminary. At the time (1950), in the Lutheran church held a college degree as a prerequisite for seminary. …

Clearing Up A Few Misunderstandings

The dictionary defines “cultural appropriation” as “the adoption of an element or elements of one culture or identity by members of another culture or identity.” (Wikipedia)

Cultural misappropriation, is similar, but with the added caveat that “[t]his can be controversial when members of a dominant culture appropriate from disadvantaged minority cultures.” (Also Wikipedia)

Okay, store that information in your short-term memory and let’s move on to a different but related topic.

White Pride/White Supremacy

I happen to be part of the social group called “White.” Why this is so I have no idea, since my skin color is closer to peach.

Regardless, I have no pride over that fact for the simple reason that there is nothing to be proud of in an accident of birth. It would be just as silly to be proud of having blue eyes, brown hair, or any other trait over which I have no control. …

Does Clapping Help Your Metrics?

Or am I wasting my time? Does Medium use the number of claps a story gets for anything? And if not, why can we still do it?

Is there a difference between giving a story one clap and giving it fifty claps?

My usual practice with clapping is simple: the more I like a story, the more I clap for it. I do this in the (possibly mistaken) belief that more claps will make your story more visible. The more I like it, the more I want other people to read it, too.

But I really don’t know. And so I ask, does clapping accomplish anything? If so, what? And if not, why is it still an option>

Here’s Why

First, some background. I hate the term “I identify as a whatever.” My replacement? I am a transgender lesbian.” I was raised in a devout evangelical Christian home. My late father was a Lutheran minister for over 50 years. Later, after I reached the age of reason, I left that faith and, much like the ball in a pinball machine, I bounced all over, from Zen Buddhism, Hinduism, Judaism, the Baha’i Faith, and finally into Humanism.

The Baha'i Faith

It is a very logical and rational religion. There is no priesthood. …

Yes, It’s Yet Another Story About Tea

For those of you who have recently joined Medium, I drink tea. A lot of tea. Sometimes as many as 7 or 8 cups a day. And 5 or 6 days of the week I start my day with a cup of tea.

Two cups, in fact, on some days.

The first is to wake me up. I toss 2 or 3 tea bags (usually Earl Grey) into my cup or mug (2 for the cup, 3 for the mug), add boiling water, and drink it down.

Oh, but then the second cup! …