Noah Annes’ Post

Credit where credit is due- HIGH TIMES has shown more love to the triangle of late. Maybe it’s the leadership of Ellen Holland, maybe it’s farmers finally getting comfortable with the attention, either way I like it. I haven’t been shy about criticizing cannabis media, HT has been the target more than once, and not acknowledging some of the great stories they’re sharing would be pretty crappy, and I try not to be. Shout out to Jason Gellman for the amazing piece about Ridgeline Farms by Jimi Devine. (Linked) If you aren’t familiar with Ridgeline or their award winning work please give it a read. Then go buy the weed. I also wanna bring attention to a story by Lindsay MaHarry about Wildland Farms- a craft farm in Covelo known for some of the sweetest terps in the triangle. (Link in comments) Giving these small operators a platform the world has access to is a huge deal. Empowering story tellers to write authentically about people they believe in is…refreshing? I don’t know, but it’s good. I trust consumers to chose the right companies to support but only if they have the opportunity to learn about them. This is a step in the right direction for High Times and cannabis media in general. Do you think it’ll resonate with readers and customers? Why or why not? Cause if it doesn’t…how does “the culture” survive let alone thrive? https://lnkd.in/g4waHPqk

While SAG-AFTRA is on strike, actors do not perform in or promote struck work. While the union has granted waivers to non-AMPTP projects, the usual star-studded red carpets at fall festivals have been considerably less crowded, and some movies (such as Dune: Part Two) have moved out of the fall schedule altogether. Until SAG-AFTRA and the AMPTP come to an agreement, things are at a relative standstill. Yet, like the WGA — which won nearly everything it asked for after the second-longest strike in its history — SAG-AFTRA says that this is an existential moment for their profession, an inflection point in determining whether acting will be a profession going forward. If the writers strike demonstrates anything, this may, in the end, be a waiting game.

In the last six weeks or so, the issue of crime in stores has become a frontline political and public issue - the Co-op Group has been at the forefront of this. In my role I have done 60-70 broadcast interviews including this morning on Radio 5 Live which is at the link below (1:37:41 to 1:47:00). This interview is a good example of where the discourse has got to. We have won the argument that says this is a problem. We have won the argument that it impacts colleagues, stores and the communities they both serve. We have won the argument that says the police response is inadequate. Where we are now is what the solution is and we are rightly being held to account for what we - and other retailers are doing - but also being asked what our solution is. We are clear that the answer is co-operation between business and police to target prolific and persistent offenders so they can face both appropriate sanction and get any support they need. No one player can fix this but working together - as we have done in Sussex, Nottinghamshire - can get us a long way forward to the solution. In co-operation Paul https://lnkd.in/eRa2NsiD

Yay! The Daily Sentinel, Colorado’s 7th largest newspaper, published my letter in today’s print edition about a few conflicting bills moving through our state legislature that I’ve been tracking. Last month Denver Post ran one of my letters and now this one, so yes, feeling a wee bit of hope in getting heard. It’s not much, but we take ‘em where we can get ‘em! The photo of the crumpled paper is hard to read, so here is the full text: Hypocrisy Rules State Government The Colorado Attorney General has asked the taxpayers via our elected representatives to give his office $150,000 to be the disinformation czar with Colorado Senate Bill 24-084, while his and the governor’s Working Group to Transform Criminal & Juvenile Justice, a policy monopoly, removed the words “truth” and “responsibility” from their stated duties (March 7) with the intention of the commission being made permanent in law (currrently in draft bill stage), complete with taxpayer paid staff. Yet, We the People, must “swear to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth, so help us GOD.’ The government wants to be the disinformation police for the public while they themselves are exempt from truth and responsibility? Um, no. If it looks and sounds like a caste system, it is quite likely a caste system. But wait, there’s more. Cigar festivals are now included as an amendment to HB24-1156, a bill intended to promote “wine walk festivals,” while SB24-022 gives authority to local districts to ban the sales of menthol cigarettes, flavored chew tobacco and vapes. Our state is exempting and enshrining cigars and cigar festivals while allowing for the ban of flavored tobaccos and vapes. More caste classifications. Cigars are elite and exempt, while the others are criminalized. It is not difficult to see why they don’t want us poking around their their Open Meetings Laws SB24-157, which they tightened up and moved throught the legislative process like it was on rails, already signed by the governor. Their privileges and exemptions are part of the caste system playbook, baked into our infrastructures like hot apple pie. And they wonder why so many people are upset and don’t “trust” them. Maybe it is the hypocrisy, elitism and caste-ing without explanation or reconciliation of conflicting legislation that so many affected citizens are tired of?

Thank you to Lance Kistler and Catherine Campion🗣️for a thought-provoking and enlightening conversation last week about the current state of SAG-AFTRA/WGA strikes. One of the interesting things I learned about from Lance is the ABC test, performed to determine if a worker is an independent contractor. (The application of the ABC test—or its common law test alternative—varies by state). If all 3 questions below are not answered in the affirmative, a worker is not an independent contractor and is considered a (W2) employee: -- The worker is free from the control and direction of the hiring entity in connection with the work's performance, both under the contract for the performance of the work and in fact. -- The worker performs work that is outside the usual course of the hiring entity's business. -- The worker is customarily engaged in an independently established trade, occupation, or business of the same nature as the work performed. For context: In September 2020, California Governor Gavin Newsom signed AB 2257. The legislation's main purpose was to expand the types of workers who were exempt from the ABC test. Under AB 2257, many entertainers, including musicians, comedians, and magicians, and associated professionals, like songwriters, promoters, and publicists, are now considered to be contractors. #wga #wgastrike #sagaftra #sagaftrastrike #entertainmentindustry #voiceover #filmproduction #writingcommunity #actors #actorsstrike

Take a look at it from this instance... What's your take on jungle justice? Mr. A stole from a popular provision shop, he was caught and was beaten with different things they could lay their hands on. He pleaded for his life, but the continuous beat of the sticks never stopped. They stopped by the time the man died. Everyone tried to walk away and the passer-by shared their condolences. “He stole just a loaf of bread, they should at least hear him out” Those are the words muttered after the death of the man. The lifeless body on the floor and the uncontrollable eyeballs of the people filled with pity meet frequently. The police came and everyone ran for their dear life. The scenario shows the unappealing attitude of people towards a thief. What he has done was a very bad act and against the normal principles of morality. But, what should we say the people have done? Do you think they did the right thing by taking the laws into their own hands after all the man was guilty. In a normal society, they have done a wrong. It is an improper attitude to take the laws into their hands. If so, are they saying the bench of judges did not know the right punishment to give? Or the appropriate authorities are just toothless watchdogs? In no manner, do I give the suspect a backing to continue the acts. In a manner, I only write that the judiciary knows the law better and not the people. People only take out their annoyance, anger, and pain over a common thief. It breaks my heart to see the same people clamor for a better society each day. We need to see the better side of taking issues to the appropriate authority. It is not left to our hands to administer justice. Meanwhile, a change will begin with you. #itsday25ofmywritingchallenge🎉

Deadpoolline day How relaxed are you today? We have 38 submission deadlines over two days for 16 clients and 2 publishers and we’re taking time to post this and take the dogs for a walk. We will have completed almost 1,000 lawyer’s submissions and referees and are now relaxing playing Candy Crush (who doesn’t have a childish vice?). Why not make your team’s life easier and use handyside.legal? daniel@handyside.legal              07973721346   #legaldirectories #legalmarketing #marketingthebar #marketingbarristers #marketinglawyers #legal500 #chambersandpartners

The ongoing strike in Hollywood is a reminder of the importance of protecting people who are too busy working to fend for themselves. No matter which side you're on, one must acknowledge the effectiveness of pooling together resources and assigning someone to seek the best interest of the collective. That's why we need to have a more comprehensive conversation about content creators in the Caribbean. The internet has created access to an audience once shielded by traditional media. At the same time, who is looking out for the interest of the 20-year-old who doesn't have a college degree, yet has created a massive online following? I don't have the answers, but it's worth discussing. #contentcreators #caribbean

The challenges we are seeing to freedom of the press, in various different guises, may very well be one of the biggest threats to democracy today.

Quashed convictions? Exoneration? Justice for those whose lives were ruined by a government institution? No, nothing to do with the cannabis industry: this is how the Post Office scandal – that’s rocking the UK – is shaking out. (TL;DR – a faulty computer system used by Post Offices across the UK falsely incriminated hundreds of sub-postmasters of fraudulent accounting and theft) Stranger still is that this has been going on for nearly 25 years, but until recently NOTHING was being done to rectify the situation. So what changed? A frickin’ TV drama (!) Yes, it took a one-off, Holidays-broadcast, middlebrow, ITV drama – 'Mr Bates vs the Post Office' which delved deep into the scandal – to get the British government to take notice, admit accountability, and address these injustices. The lesson here? Storytelling works. And it will keep working if we keep doing it. Sure, news informs us... but stories engage us. And that's why they're so powerful. So despair not, cannabis industry. Keep the narrative rolling. And don't just speak truth to power; speak it creatively. https://lnkd.in/eK7D-PGS