MaxRedline

You Don't See Any Juul Ads Lately. Likely Because -

King County is taking its fight against teenage vaping straight to one of the country's largest producers.

The class action lawsuit filed against Juul Wednesday comes after the state banned flavored vaping products for 120 days. "Juul has compelled a generation of youth, who were never cigarette smokers, into nicotine addiction and put them at risk for severe lung injury or other health harms resulting from aerosol inhalation," the lawsuit says.

According to the lawsuit, between 2011 and 2015, e-cigarette use among high school and middle school students increased 900% nationally. Between 2017 and 2018, e-cigarette use increased 78% -- or 1.5 million -- among high school students. "In the largest school district in King County, Seattle Public Schools, 90% percent of tobacco and nicotine violations during the 2017-2018 school year were for vaping, and over 60% of those violations were for Juul use specifically," the lawsuit says.

It's a start, but they ought to be going after the flavor cartridge makers and others in the industry.

From what I've read, that's where the main problem lies - kids vaping THC and other compounds.

 

Sleepy Wood Village Isn't Sleepy Anymore

WOOD VILLAGE, Ore. (KPTV) -- A fight took place in an Oregon dispensary after a customer tried to return his pot, according to employees.

The incident was caught by surveillance cameras at NW Compassion Medical Center in Wood Village at around 5 p.m. Friday.

A cashier said the suspect, 30-year-old Daniel Applegate, tried to return a product saying he received less than he paid for. When workers told him they couldn’t accept the return, they said he became volatile.

Oh, if only there were something he could use to mellow himself out....

For all the pot-shop folks knew, the idiot might've been trying to "return" oregano. Maybe the shop should post a "no returns" sign.

Surveillance video shows the suspect reaching across the counter before fighting with employees and another customer.

In any case, he won't be patronizing pot shops for a while:

Multnomah County deputies said Applegate was later caught and arrested on charges of third-degree robbery, fourth-degree assault, criminal mischief and interfering with a police officer.

Workers said it was all over about $40 worth of marijuana.

Pot shops here always have heavy surveillance. He must not have known that.

 

Bow-Tie BlueManure Bitten

Provenance Hotels announced Saturday that it has filed a complaint with the Office of Congressional Ethics against Oregon Democratic U.S. Rep. Earl Blumenauer.

Blumenauer called for a boycott of the Portland-based hotel company Wednesday, due to its connection to Ambassador Gordon Sondland; Sondland is currently embroiled in the Ukraine controversy with President Donald Trump. He’s also the founder of Provenance Hotels.

Ellen Carmichael, spokeswoman for Provenance Hotels, said in postings on social media that Blumenauer’s call for a boycott is forbidden by the Office of Congressional Ethics. She said the specific rule Blumenauer allegedly violated states that members of Congress cannot threaten administrative officials over matters of disagreement. “We believe Congressman Blumenauer’s actions constitute a potentially serious violation of Congressional ethics as outlined in multiple sections of the House Ethics Manual,” Carmichael wrote.

Well, technically, Manure's an Oregon Representative, but in fact he's a Portland Democratic - and that's a big difference. Portland Democratics in general seem to believe that they can do anything they want, as Manure has demonstrated. Rules are for the deplorables.

In fact, the House Ethics Manual clearly indicates that Representatives are not to intervene in private matters, “specifically when it comes to attempts to pressure private actions".

In calling for a boycott, which would (if carried out) negatively impact hundreds of hotel workers - ostensibly his constituents - Manure's conduct can rightfully be viewed as outrageous.

 

PG&E Problem

Shares of California utility PG&E Corp. were slammed on Thursday, as the second day of power cuts left more than 1.5 million people in the northern part of the state in the dark, with a victory for bondholders in a bankruptcy ruling adding to the downdraft. PG&E shares have lost 67% of their value in 2019, while the S&P 500 SPX, +1.61%  has gained 17% and the Dow Jones Industrial Average DJIA, +1.60%  has gained 14%. 

Maybe they should have maintained their equipment. Pulling the plug, as they've chosen to do, simply antagonizes the ratepayers.

Meanwhile, parts of SoCal are engulfed in wildfire.

But stocks in solar companies are jumping in response to the mess.

 

Now They're Coming After Your Toilet Paper

More than 150 groups are pushing the maker of Charmin toiler paper and Bounty paper towels to use recycled materials in its products. "It's just unacceptable that a company like P&G is making toilet paper, a product that is used for seconds and flushed, from virgin pulp," said Shelley Vinyard, boreal corporate campaign manager for the Natural Resources Defense Council and one of several dozen protesters at P&G's annual shareholders meeting in Cincinnati, Ohio, on Tuesday. 

P&G offers a simple reason for not using recycled wood pulp: It doesn't make for good toilet paper.

Good point: there's no reason to produce a product that consumers don't like, and P&G's experience making recycled tissue products shows that "a significant amount of recycled fibers ends up as solid waste sludge going to landfill."

Reminds me of back when Sheryl Crow was recommending only using one square of toilet paper.

 

High Tech

It was just days ago that we reported that the NHTSA was opening an inquiry into the use of Tesla's "Smart Summon" feature. Then, just hours ago we followed up by reporting that a petition had been filed with the NHTSA claiming that Tesla was using over the air software updates to cover up dangerous battery issues. 

Today, we offer a stark reminder that just because the NHTSA has started to perk up its ears, doesn't mean that Teslas haven't stopped going up in flames all over the world. The most recent example comes from Austria, where after a Tesla was involved in an accident and caught fire, firefighters had to use a special container to transport the remains of the vehicle and the battery. 

Firefighters used 11 tons of water to douse the flames and then craned the wreck into the container to ensure the thing was fully extinguished.

Fire brigade spokesman Peter Hölzl warned that the car could still catch fire for up to three days after the initial fire. 

Hope Elon's rocket to Mars works better than his cars.

 

InDirect TV

SAN LORENZO, California -- Isabel Albright of San Lorenzo was among the oldest people in America - living through two world wars, 18 presidents and six moon landings.

She was born before television came into being. Yet, ironically, she didn't outlive her satellite TV contract. And that was a problem.

Albright died last December at the remarkable age of 102. The family has been repairing the house for sale, sifting through boxes, closing up a life that spanned a whole century. Which was why the last bill from DirecTV seemed so galling: Although she lived more than 100 years, Albright still received an "early termination fee'' from DirecTV.

"They told us... we're going to charge you $160 for an early termination fee,'' Manrique scoffed. "She's gone. Nobody's living (here). We're selling the house. You're going to tell us we have to keep the service at a house that's not ours?"

AT&T, which owns Direct TV, has since issued an apology and rescinded the charge.

 

 

California Shocker: Deriminalize Crime - Get More Crime

VACAVILLE (CBS13) — You’ve likely seen the videos on social media or the local news: groups of people rushing into a store, grabbing armfuls of merchandise. The brazen crimes are on the rise and CBS13 has learned, in most cases, the crooks get away from authorities. 

After searching police reports and arrest records, CBS13 found that while the rate of these grab and dash crimes is on the rise, the rate of arrest is down. We turned to law enforcement and the retail industry for answers. Both blame a California law intended to make “neighborhoods safe.”

The law of unintended consequences is hard at work.

They've since passed another law that makes organized grab and dash involvement a felony. There's just one problem:

cops have to be able to catch them.

 

Vapors

NBC News commissioned laboratory tests of knock-off marijuana vapes that found a pesticide linked to hydrogen cyanide in 10 out 10 products.

Some 12 people have died from mysterious lung illnesses linked to vape pens, and 805 others have been hospitalized in 46 states, according to federal health officials.

It's probably not a good idea to inhale cyanide.

The products all contained myclobutanil, a fungicide that can transform into hydrogen cyanide when burned.

Oregon's state health authorities put it bluntly:

"Public Health Warning: People should stop vaping immediately" reads the headline on a press release from the Oregon Health Authority, Oregon's top state governing body for a variety of health initiatives and programs.

At least two people have died in Oregon from vape-related illnesses, with a total of five vape-related illnesses reported throughout Oregon, with more reported throughout the nation, according to state officials.

“People should stop vaping immediately,” said Dean Sidelinger, MD, state health officer. “If you vape, whether it’s cannabis, nicotine or other products, please quit. These are addictive substances, and we encourage people to take advantage of free resources to help them quit.”

He added: “If you haven’t started vaping, don’t start.”

I don't know about the "free resources" part, but it seems reasonable to regard vaping with suspicion.

 

Hell Yes, I'll Take Your AR-15

Bobby O'Rourke's a little late to the party; Colt's announced it's suspending production for the civilian market.

Colt’s chief executive officer, Dennis Veilleux, says it is not permanently ending production but believes there is already an adequate supply of sporting rifles on the market. He said in a statement Thursday the company will concentrate on fulfilling military and law enforcement contracts with its rifle manufacturing.