State Raids Southern California Medical Marijuana Dispensaries

   Man, medical marijuana is in the news alot these days.  Last week I read an article in the SDUT about the boom in "medical marijuana law."  From my perspective as a criminal defense lawyer, that looks like a lot of show boating to me.  I wouldn't want to be in the paper as a medical marijuana specialist in the same way that I wouldn't want to be known as a dui specialist.  DUI specialists are not who you want to handle your DUI, trust me.

   But uh... the medical marijuana practice seems kind of um.. tenuous?  Like the Los Angeles County Bureau of Narcotics raids five medical marijuana dispensaries.  Hey- you don't think all the guys who have been busting up marijuana distribution rings for the last fifty years just disappeared, do you?  They are just re-loading their weapons.  Don't get too comfortable out there, medical marijuana fans.

Rock and Roll is a Romantic Fantasy

BOOK REVIEW

The Triumph of Vulgarity
Rock Music in the Mirror of Romanticism
by Robert Pattison

     I've come to the conclusion that is pretty cheap to blame "major labels" and "technology" for the decline in music sales.  I think a more accurate observation is that the forms in which artists sell music to audiences have become obsolete, in the same way that the rolls that powered player pianos became obsolete when people stopped buying player pianos.  Blaming the institutions that mediate the artist/audience relationship for a decline in audience support is like blaming the mayonnaise because your mayonnaise and broken glass sandwich cut your mouth up.

     I've come to the conclusion that the failure lays jointly with artist and audience, and that the specific failure involved is an artistic analogue to shitty parenting.  In other words, contemporary artists and audiences interested in popular music have absorbed the artistic equivalents of ignorance and laziness from their artistic idols.  Those attitudes have in turn been transmitted from artists to their audiences (and back to the artists) in a  feedback loop whose end result is contemporary popular music culture.
 
  But what attitudes, specifically?  What is the original sin that can explain the triumph of youth oriented popular music in the late 1950s all the way to it's present, oft maligned state?  That is the subject of this book, Robert Pattison's The Triumph of Vulgarity: Rock Music in the Mirror of Romanticism, published in 1987.

    In Pattison's opinion, the original sin in rock music, and all music derived from rock music since, is the projection of contemporary middle class fantasies about Romanticism and its idols onto African American artists who played blues and jazz in the United States in the early part of the 20th century.  Although written in 1987, what Pattison says about rock can be equally applied to any popular music artist today.  Pattison is also arguing against people who deny the validity of rock music as an artistic form worthy of appreciation.  Surely, it is this part of the argument which sounds stale.  It's hard to say that rock music is less

    To really understand what Pattison is talking about you need to understand the influence of romantic poetry from the 19th century on British and American rock musicians of the 60s and 70s.  You also need to understand that there was a time before which popular music wasn't treated seriously by academics, so that an entire book written on this rather obvious subject was not written until the mid 1980s, and by an assistant professor at Long Island University at that- it was published by Oxford University Press, so that tells you something, too.

     Artists quite consciously address the themes of the romantic tradition via their lyrics.  One of the most winning aspects of the Triumph of Vulgarity is the author's recognition of the Ramones as one of rock's greatest bands.  That reminded me of the recent musical history of New York where the author claimed that the Ramones initial performances at CBGB's were perceived as "performance art."

         The most significant aspect of this book is its winning refutation of the "don't talk/write about music- just experience it." school of artist/intellectual.  Pattison points out that rock and roll wouldn't exist without a self conscious emulation of 18th century and 19th century poets, coupled with an appreciation for American musical forms.  Rock music and its descendants: punk, new wave, heavy metal, indie, emo, etc etc etc could not exist without both influences.  Furthermore, starting with the Rolling Stones, such attitudes fully dominated artists and audiences for 20 years, only to be usurped by punk/new wavers who were even MORE obsessed with the same subjects.

     Without the self awareness inherent in any modern revival of 18th century poetry, rock music would not exist.  Therefore, any discussion of popular music possessing some inherent authenticity beyond the revival of romantic fantasies is tainted by conceptual failure.  Pattison also points out that rock lyrics are not poetry, and the power of rock lyrics lies in the accompaniment by music, rather then as having any independent worth.  To me, good popular song lyrics are like haiku, so I'm not sure I agree with him about that.

3 Tips for Avoiding DUI Arrests in San Diego

    
        When I'm not posting five times a day, it typically means I'm busy being a criminal defense lawyer.  That includes handling dui's.  Let's face it:  Anyone who wants to go out for a drink in San Diego is at risk for a DUI.  The legal limit for driving under the influence is .08.  I'm sorry, but you can't go to a bar without getting a .10: that's two drinks at some local watering holes.

     That means I talk to a lot of people who are arrested for dui in san diego.  Some of them hire me, many of them don't, but I hear all the stories, and here are some tips I have distilled for people interested in the subject:

   1.  Be Aware of the Time and the Place:  People don't give the modern police force enough credit.  Using techniques of community policing and tools like maps and junk, the San Diego Police Department and the San Diego Sherif's department focus on places and times when they are likely to encounter people driving under the influence.  Then they sent out their youngest officers and tell them to be aggressive in stopping people.  In other words, if you are driving in and around Mission Beach, Pacific Beach or North Park at two in the morning, expect to get stopped.  Maybe you are completely sober, but any time you get behind the wheel and you are at a time and place where Police are out hunting DUI's, you are liable to be arrested.


   2.  After a Police Officer Stops You, Chill Out:  The time for vigilance is before the Officer pulls you over, not after.  Once a traffic stop is initiated, it's the beginning, but not the end of getting arrested for a DUI in San Diego.  There is a long way to go between you being pulled over and you going to jail for the night- don't blow it in the first 30 seconds.  One of the consequences of tip #1 is that you are dealing with Police who are young and pulling you over for marginal traffic violations,  so they don't really know if you are driving under the influence.  You should visualize a traffic stop in this situation to gauge how you would react, and then think about handling it better.

  3.  Understand the Importance of the Breath Test:  99% of people don't get arrested for a dui UNTIL they blow over .08 on the on-scene breathalyzer.  After that: You are going downtown and have been arrested.  Anything that happens up to the administration of that on scene breath test is window dressing.  Thus, as soon as #2 happens, you should be focused on the eventual breathalyzer reading.  The on scene breath test isn't your official blood alcohol level, but it's what the Police use to justify arresting you.  If you have legitimate asthma you want to get an attack right before the test is administered- asthmatic attacks mean you can't "blow hard enough."  The administering officer is also supposed to observe you for 15 minutes before the test to make sure you aren't burping or anything.  You aren't supposed to be chewing gum- etc.  Always ask the officer what you blew- you are going to want to know that reading.

   If you are arrested- relax.  Enjoy the night in jail, make sure you can bail out if you don't get released the next day.  It's not the end of times.

Movie Reviews: Teenage Paparazzo and War Don Don (HBO Docs)

Movie Reviews

Teenage Paprarazzo (2010)
d. Adrian Grenier

War Don Don (2010)
d. Rebecca Richman Cohen


     These are both documentaries currently airing on HBO (and on indemand.)  Teenage Paparazzo is directed by Entourage star Adrian Greiner and it's about adorable teenage paparazzo Austin Visschedyk.  War Don Don is about the war crimes tribunal that was set up in Sierra Leone after their brutal decade long civil war to prosecute members and associates of the Revolutionary United Front.  Both movies are profoundly interesting in their own way, though the cross over between the two...is limited.

   If you had told me before last night (when I watched Teenage Paparazzo) that I would have respect for Adrian Grenier as a human being after watching the movie he made about a 14 year old celebrity chasing paparazzi, I would have told you to go fly a kite.  Teenage Pararazzo starts out as a light hearted (more or less) investigation of the paparazzi life style as exemplified by it's most unusual participant- a 14 year old boy named Austin Visschedyk.  Grenier was actually Visschedyk's first target, and through that encounter Grenier decided to make a documentary about him: exploring his motiviation, etc,  However, as the film progresses Grenier's ubiquitous presence around Visschedyk results in the kid becoming a celebrity in his own right (this all happened back in 2007-2008), and that leads to an interesting film, as Grenier copes with the fact that he has created a monster.  Grenier has made a thoughtful, insightful film, and I personally hope that he will continue along this line, because no matter how famous it makes him, Entourage is now a heaping pile of dog shit.

  In stark contrast, War Don Don (meaning "War Done" in pidgin Sierra Leonian) is about the United Nations sponsored war crimes tribunal set up in the decade long aftermath of the Sierra Leonian civil war between the government and the "Revolutionary United Front."  Created by Foday Sankoh, and nurtured by Liberian war lord/former President Charles Taylor, the RUF was a particularly nasty group of rebels who delighted in child soldiers, rape, forced labor AND hacking off the limbs of non-combatants to inspire cooperation.  As multiple participants in the film reflect, it is hard to justify a war of liberation when you are hacking the arms off the people you are supposed to be liberating.  Unlike many other war crimes tribunals, the Sierra Leonian tribunal was set up inside Sierra Leone itself, but almost all of the lawyers involved are either Americans (prosecutors) or Brits (defense attorneys)

  War Don Don is particularly interesting because the main RUF figure, Issa Sesay, actually ENDED THE WAR after Sankoh died in custody.  He successfully persuaded his still armed comrades to lay down their weapons.  For this, he was tried for war crimes.  It's sort of fucked up, if you think about it.  The defense theory of the case was that Sesay didn't really control the groups of RUF fighters who committed most of the atrocities.  Obviously, this didn't carry the day- Sesay is convicted and given 55 years in prison (he gets 8 years off for stopping the fighting.)

  What appears to be a straight forward morality tale is in fact much more complicated and interesting, and like Teenage Paparazzo, War Don Don inspires deep reflection on a contemporary issue.  Well done, HBO documentary films.

California Police Reaction to Changes in Marijuana Law are Hilarious

      But legalizing marijuana would open up another can of legal worms, regarding regulation and monitoring. For instance, marijuana isn't a tobacco product, so current law wouldn't prohibit legal use on or near school grounds.

     And unlike prescription medications or alcohol -- which are legal but can be used illegally -- people often cultivate their own marijuana.

     "Who's going to monitor strength of prescription?" Sgt. Nino Amirfar, a spokesman for the Turlock Police Department.

      Amirfar said. "Nobody's even addressed that." (THE MODESTO BEE)

      WHO IS GOING TO MONITOR THE STRENGTH OF THE PRESCRIPTION????  I HAD NEVER THOUGHT OF THAT BEFORE!!!

Casino Fraud Indictment in Alabama

                                          MILTON MCGREGOR

 Eleven people — including four state senators, VictoryLand owner Milton McGregor, Country Crossing developer Ronnie Gilley and lobbyists — were indicted Monday morning on charges of alleged vote buying related to a casino bill, according to a press release from the U.S. Department of Justice.

    The state senators are Republicans Harri Anne Smith of Slocumb and James Prueitt of Talladega and Democrats Larry Means of Attalla and Quinton Ross Jr. of Montgomery. (ANDALUSIA STAR NEWS)