Smile Jamaica much prefers Collie-rado’s Inversion Galore to Utah’s Winter Smog. 4 down, 46 to go!
Greetings,
<Inversion Galore. Surviving Utah’s Winter Smog>
Settling into Jah-nuary. Middle of winter. The two month period of hibernation between the Green Bud Bowl Packers last game and opening Season for my beloved San Francisco, Giants baseball.
Weeping and Wailing and gnashing of teeth 😦
Green Bud Bowl Packers legendary collapse. Dread only had to do one thing and one thing only: catch the effing ball. Game over. Super Bowl 49. Fiyah bun!
<Green Bud Bowl Packers epic collapse against Seapukes: No Superbowl for I ‘n’ I; 17 sec.>
***
Grinding it out at work trying to avoid the flu and the colds brought about by Utah’s chunky air. Flu shot was a dud. Everyone in my family except me got it. Praise Jah! One of my best friends had to go to the emergency room with fluid in her lungs. Utah from November to March great for skiiers. Not so much for those with ashthma.
So playing rope a dope in cutting through the Post Holiday blah’s with the Kool Roots of Reggae ‘n’ Dubwize.
High-lights of the Smile Jamaica Ark-Ives: Jah-nuary 24, 2015; 64 sec.
Wailers Family Tree: Bob & Peter Live in Leeds UK; Tosh live acoustic radio performance; Bunny chants down Botha and Apartheid South Africa, Marcia Griffiths – Steppin’ ’79
Dub Album of the Week: Aba-Shanti Ites. Mutant dub instrumentals
Soundtracks: Reggae on celluloid
Best of Smile Jamaica 25 Years: Marcia G, Prince Lincoln UFOria, Dillinger PSA on STD’s
Vinyl is V-Ital: Roots Dawtas: lovers rock, deejay Seven Leaf, dub poet
Mutant Dub: UFO skywatching soundtrack
<Songs to watch the sky for UFO’s. They are out there. Do not scoff!; 8 sec.>
bless, robt
Galaxy poll on the Terrestrial Drug War
Smile Jamaica Playlist: Jah-nuary 24, 2015:
Set 1:
Kojak – Glory to Jah; Chant Down Babylon (Gorgon) JA vinyl
Aba-Shanti-I &the Shanti-Ites – Tower of Bable (sic); Verse III (Falasha) ’99; Dub Album of the Week: mutant dub style
Black Slate – Mozart in Trenchtown; World Citizen (Unit 8) 2014 UK roots reunion
<Black Slate: UK Roots Reunion; 29 sec.>
Akabu – Fate of the World; Warrior Queen (ON U Sound) ’95 UK female roots group
African Brothers – Gimme Gimme African Love; 10” (Main Line) ’77, Tony Tuff Sugar Minott group
Iba – Babylon Don’t Like; Many Lives (Mt. Nebo) 2006; 4:20 Cannabis Service Announcement
<4 down, 46 to go!; 7 sec.>
Big Youth – Honesty; Screaming Target (Trojan) ’72; on Slaving riddim
UK Roots Reunion. One of Smile Jamaica’s Best of 2014
Set 2:
The Wailers – Stop That Train; Burnin’ (Deluxe Edition) (Tuff Gong); Live at Leeds UK; 11/23/73
Cedric ‘Im Brooks – Jah Light It Right; Light of Saba (Honest Jon’s) ’76 horn jazz + nyahbinghi instrumental
Dennis Brown – Give a Helping Hand; 10” (Observer Gold)
Rhoda Dakar – 007; Cleaning in Another Woman’s Kitchen (Moon Ska) 2007; singer in Special AKA, Bodysnatchers ska covers Desmond Dekker
2 Tone Ska-stress: Bodysnatchers, Special AKA, sang a song about date rape that is brilliant and harrowing “The Boiler”
Set 3: Reggae tunes on Soundtracks
Lee “Scratch” Perry – Dreadlocks in Moonlight; Countryman Soundtrack (Mango) ‘82
Western Roots – Rockers Galore; Babylon Central Soundtrack (ESL) 2010 mutant dub
Hemp, Hemp, Hooray! Seven Leaf on the rise in the USA!
Greetings,
Nov. 3, 2014: Two down, 48 to go!
Hey Democrats? How’s that lesser of two evils strategy working out? Now we all get to work until the age of 70. If we can find work at all…
A pity you donkeys didn’t go with Single Payer. All of this could have been avoided. Coulda, woulda, shoulda
On the other hand:
Very good day for the Marijuana Vote. 3 out of the 4 entities on the ballot won. (Florida needed 60% and got 57%; which is encouraging if they try for outright legalization rather than medical MJ in 2016).
My friends call me Nelstradamus* because my political predictions tend to come true. I predicted Obama would be the guy back when it Hillary and the Seven Dwarfs in 2008. I predicted Ukraine and Cold War II before the Winter Russian Olympics. No I will not pick your lottery numbers!
*Last name is Nelson
Let’s seehow Smile Jamaica did on his Marijuana Picks: 3 out of 4.
<Smile Jamaica On Air Pot Prediction Nov. 1, 2014: #1>
<Smile Jamaica On Air Pot Prediction Nov. 1, 2014: #2>
Nov. 4: 2014:
1. Florida Medical Marijuana vote (Amendment 2); FAILED
However, because of the nature of the vote as a Constitutional Amendment it needed 60%. Sheldon Adelson, Las Vegas casino magnate, bankrolled the “no’s”. Ironically, the elderly, who could benefit the most from the therapeutic usages of the Seven Leaf, broke no. The usual shibboleth of “medical mj is just a scam to get stoned” kept the measure from crossing the barrier.
Not sure what is next, but if they can finesse a statewide, full on legalization referendum that might only need 50% + 1, it could pass handily. Plus 15% (yes minus no) is encouraging for 2016: where higher (ha hah) turnout will bring more groups that sat out the mid terms: blacks, Hispanics, women, millennials and pretty much everyone else sick of Tweedledum vs. Tweedle Dee
Here is what I said the day before the vote regarding Florida:
Florida. Amendment 2. Medical Marijuana. Smile Jamaica says: No Chance. Needs 60% to pass. Peaked at 57% and has been trending further down.
Close but no blunt. Go for the touchdown in 2016: Full Legalization and hope Obama’s lead weight anchor doesn’t kill the turnout. Good prospects in 2 years.
A much better managed campaign as opposed to the failed vote in 2012. It is encouraging that a mid term vote can be so successful, with a ten point spread. Full out Collie-rado/Washington style legalization, taxation and regulation. Treat it just like alcohol. Result exceeded the polls even with core pro pot constituencies highly (no pun) disengaged by this midterm election.
Here is what I wrote prior to the vote:
Jah-regon: Measure 91. Legalization a la Collie-rado and Washington State. Smile Jamaica says: Most likely going to win. Latest polls are encouraging because of the gap between Yes (52%) and No (41%). Could be hurt if disaffected millennials don’t turn up for the midterm vote. Looks promising but not a lock per DC.
Hey Jah-regon. Peter said to Legalize It so I could advertise it! Great job
70% yes; 30% no. Emphatic yes. Now you can legally possess up to 2 ounces of cannabis and grow 3 plants. Will be interesting to see how the Feds try to keep it clamped down. But two thirds approval is hard to tamp down (pun intended) if we are still a citizen democracy.
Washington DC: Not full legalization as in #1 and #2 but you can possess up to 2 ounces of cured bud and be able to grow six plants. Huge YES. Will probably cross over 60% yes. But it’s gonna be a nightmare.
So much of surrounding DC is federal jurisdiction. You don’t want to get busted with a stalk of sensi on Fedland. You’re gonna be under Heavy Manners. Plus in a likely ascendant Republican Congress, DC is going to probably face Congressional roadblocks to any semi-legalimplementation.
Finally living up to its founder’s “sage” advice to separate the male from the female hemp plants. George “Hemp Daddy” Washington.
Jah-laska: Ballot Measure 2. Legalization a la Collie-rado and Washington State. Smile Jamaica says: Most likely not going to win
Here I what I said before the vote:
I have seen too many negative polls and only one outlier pro pot result that seemed too good to be true, so it seems suspect. 52% No to 48% Yes, but if millennials don’t show up for the midterm vote it will fall short. Should have waited until 2016 with more robust youth and libertarian turn out. Hope I’m wrong!
I was wrong! Way to go Jah-laska. Legal couch lock is better than booze during those long cold winters.
I assumed (you know what they say about assume? Makes an ass out of you and me) that a demoralized Progressive libertarian turnout combined with a grumpy motivated Tea Party libertarianism would make the YES come up just short. Nice little upset there!
Jah-laskan Campfire: Canadian whiskey in your coffee and two legal spliffs to watch the Aurora Borealis
A local Guamanian (?) government commission is now obligated to set up a program to administer and implement the medical marijuana apparatus for dispensaries and cards for those seeking relief from debilitating diseases like cancer, AIDS and glaucoma.
here’s what I said on this blog the day before the vote about Guam:
Guam: Joaquin (KC) Concepcion II Compassionate Cannabis Use Act of 2013. Medical Marijuana and the creation of legal dispensaries. Vote would ratify the legislation. Smile Jamaica says: I can’t find any reliable polls but its dependency to Federal jurisdiction makes any implementation difficult.
Island living just got a little bit better. The future Smile Jamaica Retirement Ark-Ive. Pain relief for neck arthritis playing high school football
2016 Legalization Predictions.
Nelstradamus Predicts:
What happens the next two years: Obama is a lame duck. The Republicans will rage about a thousand year majority. We 1%ers are about to get what they call in Reggae: Heavy Manners. We the sheeple are gonna be pissed off like 2008.
More and more of the elderly will be funneled into their mandated Obamacare Death Panels. Those who grew up thinking marijuana was the gate way drug to get white girls to sleep with minorities are going off to the next world in incrementally higher numbers from a diet too rich in cat food.
Osterity: What you can afford after Grand Bargain cuts to Social Security, 2017
New voters who have no problem with weed whatsoever gonna start taking their place. Ryan and Jennifer are gonna be much more kind (pun intended) to the Seven Leaf than Fred and Ethel
The demographics should be ripe for a full court Legalization press.
These states should be able to successfully get full Collierado style legalization going. Let’s quit pussyfooting around with medical marijuana. Legalization, regulation and taxation. Once the government gets a tax in place, they get hooked on the green. Kasheesh. In the same way states never drop or lower their Sales Tax. O-sterity ahead. No stone (pun intended) left unturned as states scrounge for funds to try and make up the short fall.
Expect thin gruel from the feds in the next two years. States budgets are going to be meager. Marijuana sales receipts and cannabis tourism can make up for the Neoliberal beatdown coming our way.
West:
Collie-fornya is the big prize considering the success of Washington and Oregon. The 9th biggest economy in the World. If California legalizes the collie weed, it’s game over. Might as well just put forward a Federal Legalization bill.
Jah-waii: More lucrative potential than coffee. Imagine the tourism opportunities. Guam style mid 50’s yes
Arizona and New Mexico. Libertarian Arizona and more progressive New Mexico are prime states for building organic, local grass roots legalization. Both would be difficult but not impossible. New Mexico the more likely.
Jah-vada: I know that the casinos, who call the shots in a one industry state, hate the idea of legalization. They don’t want people flying in to Vegas, getting a $30 a night smoking hotel room so they can burn weed all weekend instead of hitting the strip clubs or slot machines. Rural areas should be encouraged by the hemp products potential.
Jah-tana. My home state with its libertarian bent is a long shot, but there is some energy building. Grassroots (pun intended) shoe leather via the college towns like Missoula and Bozeman would be the center of the effort. But you have to get Billings and the rural communities in the Eastern two thirds of the state. My mom would vote yes. My dad? As long as you don’t tax his Olympia Beer to pay for legalization, I could lobby him for a yes.
If those states voted yes, that would leave only the Mormon Triangle states of Utah, Wyoming and Idaho as bastions of No. I’m waiting to see what Colorado’s ski industry gains from legalization at the expense of Utah’s “stone age” (pun intended) mentality.
Smile Jamaica’s Christmas/Solstice/Birthday Gift: 2016 Montana Legalizes It. From the Big Sky state to the Big High State. Selah!
Midwest:
The legalization movement has to branch out from the West. These states should have the mechanism to pass legalization
Wisconsin and Michigan should be successful with a well funded and articulated campaign. Illinois too. Lots of rural areas in these states but working the issues could overcome provincial prejudices.
Ohio and Minnesota have potential but need to start right now on the campaign.
Michigan go for the Legalize It in 2016?
Northeast:
I fully expect these states to say yes to legalization: New Hempshire, Vermont and Maine. (I mean, Vermont means green for Jah’s sake!).Piggy back those efforts to rope in Delaware and Rhode Island.
If you can get New York, New Jah-sey and Jah-sylvania. It’s game over. Might as well make it easy on all 50 states.
New Hempshire Legalize It in 2016?
South:
I full expect the South to successfully secede from the Union in the next two years. So why bother.
Will the New Confederacy legalize the Collie when they secede in 2017?
So November 2016, I want to be able to say: 16 down, 34 to go!
<Greetings: This week on Smile Jamaica: 55 sec. intro>
Jump straight to the Smile Jamaica Ark-Ive Jah-tober 11, 2014: Stream. Below is the Annotated Playlist with photos and captions and soundbites
Reggae History Lessons: Robert Palmer Meets Scratch; When Doves Cry; Hooters Reggae, Jamaican minorities in the music business
Tributes: Malala Yousafzai Nobel Peace Prize Winner, Primal Scream
Fire and Brimstone: France’s war on the Seven Leaf
Back from two weeks of Radiothon: raising cash to keep Smile Jamaica commercial free. No Walmart for I ‘n’ I. Selah!
Getting into the Halloween, I mean Jah-loween, uh…spirit! The Island of Jamaica. Out of many one is the national motto.
Much like I have in excess of 800 4/20 Seven Leaf Reggae and Dub jams, I probably have 666 or so Reggae Jah-loween gems.
Superstition plus the evil metaphor of the living dead sucking the blood of the righteous, makes Reggae well attuned to the undead or Un-Dread.
Michael Rose of Black Uhuru: “I n I are the Living Dread Inna dis ya Dawn of the Living Dead!”
Black African folk tradition plus British concepts of spooks and spirits. Immigrant communities from Syria, India, China add their traditions of the Evil Eye into the stew.
Plenty of Reggae tunes devoted to witches, vampires, ghouls/duppies, zombies, mummies, werewolves and other assorted witchcraft and soul theft.
The French law on drug use is severe: every use, no matter the circumstances, is liable to penalty. The maximum penalties for cannabis use are a sentence from two months up to a year and/or a fine from 500 Euros to 25,000 Euros. ($636 – $31,815)
In what would be one of the more aberrant recent decisions of the French justice system, two pro-pot activists risk spending a year in jail for wearing T-shirts emblazoned with a picture of a cannabis leaf.
A zealous public prosecutor this week demanded 12-month prison terms for Jean-Pierre Galland, president of the Cannabis Information and Research Collective, and Laurence Duffy, head of the campaign group’s Lyon branch, for contravening article 630 of the French public health regulations.
The law bans French citizens from “portraying in a favourable light and promoting or inciting the consumption of any product classed as a banned substance”. The pair are also accused of selling CDs bearing the deeply suspect title of “A little piece of hemp music”.
This shirt could get you a year in jail in France. Liberte, Egalite, Fraternite….Bullshit all the way!
Set 2:
Aisha – Evil Spirits; High Priestess (Ariwa) ’88 female; Mad Prof. prod’n*
Culture – We Deh Yah Still; Lion Rock (Heartbeat) ‘88
4th Street Orchestra – One Life to Live; (Scientific) Higher Ranking Dubb (Rama) ’77 UK, Dennis Bovell
Junior X – Legalize It; 7” (Dollar Production); Tosh cover; Request
Smile Jamaica Ark-Ives: One of the earliest and still most beloved female Roots Reggae offering in the Ark-Ives
Set 3: Rockers do Reggae
Robert Palmer – Love Can Run Faster; From the Heart of the Congo (RUNNetherlands) ’78; Lee Perry prod’n
<Love Can Run Faster; 29 sec.>
Lee “Scratch” Perry Black Ark gem
Primal Scream – Higher Than the Sun (A Dub Symphony in Two Parts); Screamadelica (Sire) ’91 UK
Prince wrote and composed “When Doves Cry” after all the other tracks on Purple Rain were complete. In addition to vocals, he played all instruments on the track. The song’s texture is remarkably stark. There is no bass line, which is very unusual for a dance song; Prince has said that there originally was a bass line, but decided, after a conversation with singer Jill Jones, that the song was too conventional with it intact.[4] During live performances of the song on the Purple Rain Tour, Brown Mark, Prince’s then-bass player, added bass lines in this song and other songs without a bass line.
Out of Denver, Collie-rado. Prince’s original was bass free. WTF?
The Hooters – All You Zombies; Nervous Night (CBS) ‘85*
The Hooters were formed in 1980 and played their first show on July 4 of that year. They took their name from a nickname for the melodica,[1] a type of keyboard harmonica which is German in origin and created by Hohner after a friend of Eric Bazilian lent Rob Hyman a Hohner model Piano-36 which was used on their recordings and never returned to the friend.[That same year, Bazilian and Hyman were asked to write, arrange and perform on the debut album of a relatively unknown singer named Cyndi Lauper, She’s So Unusual, which was being produced by their former producer and friend, Rick Chertoff. Hyman co-wrote the song “Time After Time” (and also performed the distinctive harmony vocals during the chorus), which would go on to hit Number 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 Singles Chart and was subsequently nominated for a Grammy Award for Song of the Year.
Smile Jamaica Jah-loween Extravaganza: Sat. Oct. 25, 2014 (4-7 PM). All treats, no tricks!
Smile Jamaica is hosted by Robert Nelson on 90.9 FM KRCL in Salt Lake City, Utah (Saturdays, 4-7 p.m. MT). Ark-ives available weekly here at the Smile Jamaica blog.
Smile Jamaica 