The pros would be stopping the growing of marijuana in national parks and to deminish the Mexican mafia trafficking of marijuana, and also it would be beneficial for medical marijuana. The negative may be that the people not paying taxes would now have to.
Bevin Bischoff
Santa Cruz | Student
There are many events this week following last week’s Full moon festival of Sag/Gemini (goals brought forth for humanity and Earth’s well-being). The Parliament of World Religions & Women at the Parliament in Melbourne, Australia, Dec. 3-9; Copenhagen Climate Change Conference Dec. 7-18; Santa Cruz UNA (United Nations Association) Human Rights Fair (after downtown parade), Saturday, Dec. 5, noon to 9 p.m. at Louden Nelson. Sunday is the second Sunday of Advent (“something’s coming”) and feast day of St. Nicholas (the real Santa Claus).
We’re in Sag now, sign of food, music, the photographer, adventurer, professor and philosopher. In the Bhagavad-Gita Krishna (divine driver of warrior Arjuna’s chariot) says, “I am the month of Sagittarius.” Artemis/Diana are the female Sagittarian deities. Sag’s center of attention, when not seeking the arrows of intuition scattered everywhere, is always upon the Capricorn mountaintop. Sagittarius nobly holds high aspirations (aspiration of the Soul) to return to the Father, humanity’s origins (we are starlight). Sag is energetically a “beam of focused light.” No wonder Sag is the photographer. Sag’s focus brings forth expanded awareness and consciousness through Jupiter, planet of great generosity and love (Ray 2) leading to wisdom. The Tibetan says, “Jupiter brings together and binds in friendliness.” Thus, in the season of giving (through Jan. 6, Feast of the Three Kings), let us be generous with our light, our money, our gifts, our love, our goodness and our wisdom.
Plus Letters to Good Times...
H1N1 Debates
Beyond Paper and Plastic
HOLIDAY DEADLINES
Leave it to good old Bookshop Santa Cruz to offer some levity as we speed closer to a new decade and, perhaps, a brand new era. The revered Downtown Santa Cruz bookseller, known for its long history of commenting on politics and political books, is now offering an "essential" item as a companion to Sarah Palin's new book, “Going Rogue.” For every book sold, the bookstore will give the buyer a free bag of walnuts dubbed: "Sarah Palin's Just Plain Nutz." The bag is also available solo for just under $4 for those, the bookshop says, "who can stomach a 1-ounce bag of walnuts, but can't stomach 432 pages of Sarah Palin's writing."
I think it's disgusting but wonderful.
I want more.
Anna Baker
Santa Cruz | Caterer
Maybe it doesn’t get noticed as much as Time magazine’s “Person of the Year,” but for my money, the best yearly honor comes out in November from the New Oxford American Dictionary. It’s the lexicographers’ “word of the year.”
Of course 2009 is the year of social media, so it stands to reason that it would come from there. And it does. The word? “Unfriend.”
How beautiful. An antisocial term in a world of social media. Here’s the explanation from the dictionary’s blog: “UNFRIEND – verb – To remove someone as a ‘friend’ on a social site such as Facebook. As in – “I decided to unfriend my roommate on Facebook after we had a fight.”
We begin the week Thursday with Thanksgiving. Unfortunately the entire day is v/c, which means making contact can be difficult unless there is an earnest intention to do so. Holidays that fall on v/c (moon making no contact with planets, therefore we don’t make contact with each other, events, feelings, food, etc.) days can be stressful unless we are aware of the withdrawn energies of the moon, which rules our emotions, family, contact and comfort. Therefore, during this Thanksgiving let us have the conscious intention to make contact with each other, aware that we must work a bit harder for that contact to occur. We remember, “making contact releases love.” And in this solar system (the second of three) “love is all there is.”
To assist us with that contact and with giving thanks for everything small to large and everything in between, here’s some music from David Lowe’s Dreamcatcher album, track title “Seventh Heaven”. The accompanying film on the animal kingdom is beautiful and especially good for children. Playing this music over and over elevates the heart and frees the mind.
Plus Letters to Good Times...
Sounding Off About H1N1
Fire in ‘Flex’
HOLIDAY DEADLINES
Crime is on everybody’s mind lately, especially in Santa Cruz, which has seen a curious wave of short-lived criminal activity. But overall, is crime up—or down? It’s one of the things discussed in this week’s main news story. Here, writer Anna Merlan reports on a recent Santa Cruz City Council meeting where the issue of crime was the main agenda. Actually, it may have been more of a empowering session of healthy venting. Locals weighed in on their concerns and new actions were taken to increase crime watch locally.
Yes. I think that more safe bike routes across town will make biking easier and so then more people will do it. There will be less traffic on the roads. It will be nicer for people who are driving.
Jake Thomas
Santa Cruz | Graduate student
If memory serves, this country’s political process was the result of an impersonation of Jimmy Carter. A civic-minded seventh-grade teacher asked for three students to prepare a speech that reflected the views and politics of three presidential candidates—Jon Anderson, Jimmy Carter and Ronald Reagan. After the speeches, we were told we would debate each other and the students would vote for the candidate of their choosing. This had to be 1980; I must have been 12 years old.Saturday Sun enters Sagittarius. The energies shift from Scorpio’s deep and transformative waters onto the “plains of Sagittarius”. Sag is the rider on a white horse, eyes focused entirely upon the mountain peaks of Capricorn (Initiation) ahead. Like Scorpio, Sagittarius is a “disciple.” Adventure, luck and optimism, joy and the beginnings of gratitude are the hallmarks of Sagittarius. 
