Wednesday, May 28, 2008

Yes and No


I don't want to attract a lot of unwanted google search attention, so forgive me if I seem a bit cryptic in the text here. I'm trying to avoid the more obvious search terms. Many of you will already be aware that this county has a massive agricultural reputation for something other than grapes for wine. Contrary to laws on the national level, California has a small allowance for growing an herbal "remedy" that has an extremely high market value. A few years ago, this county experimented with passing a local law that more than quadrupled the allowed volume that the state permitted. Next week, the voters will decide whether or not to change that number back to the state allowed number. This is extremely contentious, and astronomical numbers of dollars are involved for some folks. Having something be simultaneously legal and illegal is a goldmine for whoever delivers that product. As straw polls go, I think what is now proposed will pass. I could find plenty of Yeses, and very few Noes to photograph. I suppose there are obvious reasons for that, but I think the writing is on the wall. Or not.

13 comments:

Dina said...

No kidding! I didn't know about that niche of agriculture. California certainly has a mind of its own, so to speak.
P.S. Destitute Rebel should return to Lahore soon http://lahoredailyphoto.blogspot.com/ after the wheat harvest on his farm.

Kim said...

Wow! What a decision to make. I remember my husband's admonition to stay on the trails so I wouldn't get shot when I'd go hiking in Mendo County. ;^) State law enforcement has just completed huge raids on indoor cash crop growers up here. Great post Elaine.
-Kim
Seattle Daily Photo

Profile Not Available said...

An extremely interesting debate! It would be interesting to hear the economic arguments posed by both sides.

Jim Klenke said...

So is yes a vote for the status quo or is no a vote to match the state limit? LOL

Knoxville Girl said...

E. TN grows a bumper crop in some counties, so you also have to watch where you hike. I often wonder about people who abscond with political signs - do they think they are influencing the vote, or perhaps are they just under the influence of the crop in question.

USelaine said...

Jim, a "yes" would return local limits back down to the state number. "No" would retain the status quo.

Petrea Burchard said...

Fascinating post, uselaine. It's going to be interesting to see what happens in so many ways on June 3rd.

Dreamlines, by the way, is something one should avoid while under the influence. Plugging one's own name into that site is spooky like looking up one's address on the "street view" version of Google Maps.

USelaine said...

Petrea, I'm glad you figured that out. 8^) It's probably much spookier for you than for most of us. It's based on the Google Images results for the search term. Head shots are so much more discernable than, say, "elevator" or "pajamas".

Petrea Burchard said...

Haha, yeah, and there are some ooold ones still up on the web haunting me.

Z said...

Nicely worded, to skirt around the popularly searched keywords!

Petrea Burchard said...

I was telling a friend about this post. It's a good example of what these City Daily Photo blogs are about, or at least what they can really do well--to tell people around the world what's happening in your local community in an appealing, visual way. What a great post.

USelaine said...

Thank you Petrea - and your posts always have me visiting Pasadena Daily Photo for more of what you offer each day.

Petrea Burchard said...

You're a nice person, missy.