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Pot's stigma going up in smoke
These are high times for pop culture.
With record numbers of Americans supporting the legalization of marijuana, the drug’s stigma has been fading.
Actors puff pot regularly in films, openly discuss it on TV and even our governor, mayor and last three presidents all have taken a toke or two.
“People are bolder about their use today,” said Calvina Fay, executive director of the Drug Free America Foundation. “A number of celebrities are talking about it, there are a number of shows that glorify drug use.”
The recent wave of pot use on TV started with “That ’70s Show,” carried on to “Six Feet Under” and “Weeds” and regularly is referred to on shows such as “Family Guy” and “Bored to Death.”
Weed also has wafted onto network shows like “Parks and Recreation” and “Accidentally on Purpose.”On the big screen, stoner flicks such as “Harold and “Kumar Go to White Castle” and “Pineapple Express” attract huge, usually young, audiences.
Pot has even graduated to Hollywood’s biggest night when Neil Patrick Harris sang “Why does Harold call Kumar when he scores dope?” on last week’s Oscars.
Robert Thompson, pop culture professor at Syracuse University, said depictions of marijuana use on TV are “definitely” on the rise.“It's a similar kind of feel that used to have that drinking in previous generations,” Thompson said. “Like those shows when Dean Martin would come out and act like he was drunk — and he probably was. There was that sense that this was fun and funny. We are seeing that much less with alcohol and more with marijuana.
Melissa Henson, communications director of the Parents Television Council, said that a boost in pot smoking on shows that youths watch is bothersome.
“The most concerning to me is ‘American Dad,’ ‘The Cleveland Show,’ ‘Family Guy,’ ‘Glee’ and ‘Gossip Girl.’ The danger, Henson said, is that many depictions treat it as if “not a big deal.”
But Fey said the negative effects of using the drug are too often ignored.
The biggest “offender” on TV, though, was Jay Leno, who made 21 pot references on his shows last year.
Harry Levine, a Queens College sociology professor who’s done a major study on marijuana arrests, disagrees that there’s more pot use depicted in the media — with one big exception.
“What’s changed is people are willing to say in all kinds of places they think marijuana should be legalized and sold like liquor is,” he said. “They’ll say that to their families on Thanksgiving, they’ll say that to neighbors …and if you put a microphone in front of them, they’ll say that on national television.For example, last August Brad Pitt said on the “Today” show that if he ever ran for public office, part of his platform would be “the legalization and taxation of marijuana.”
Other young celebs who have admitted to smoking pot include Natalie Portman, Kirsten Dunst and Seth Rogen, who seems to not talk about anything else.
Ethan Nadelmann of the Drug Policy Alliance said among the reasons people are more open about pot includes: the legalization of medical marijuana in 14 states; the fact that 44 percent of Americans in a Gallup Poll said pot should be legal; and the generation of Americans whose parents more likely than not have smoked pot.
But despite those factors, marijuana arrests are at an all-time high, he notes.
“We’ve gone from 400,000 arrests a year in the mid-80s to 800,000 now,” he said. “Marijuana arrests are now 40 percent of all the drug arrests in the country.”
One New Yorker said he’s noticed pot isn’t only shown in positive light on TV.
“On a show like ‘Law and Order’ they would charge people for smoking weed or for selling it,” said Eugene Paus, 23, of Washington Heights. “But in a comedy it’s all good, and everyone thinks it’s cool.”While President Barack Obama said he won’t legalize marijuana, he admitted: “As a kid, I inhaled. That was the whole point.”
It’s hard to imagine Richard Nixon saying that in the ’60s, when the hippie movement was the center of the drug culture.
(Julia Borovskaya contributed to this story)
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Cuomo hands over gov probe to former judge
Under increasing public pressure, Attorney General Andrew Cuomo recused himself Thursday from a two-week-old investigation into Gov. David Paterson and appointed a well-regarded former judge to oversee the probe.Cuomo, a Democrat who is expected to run for governor, chose former state Chief Juge Judith Kaye as independent counsel.
“It is incredibly important to all of us that the public has 100 percent confidence that this investigation is done properly,” Cuomo told reporters Thursday. “I want to make sure that this is an investigation that is as free from political influence as possible.”
Polls show Cuomo’s popularity has dipped since he began the investigation, and a majority of New Yorkers in a recent survey said he should appoint an independent prosecutor.
Cuomo’s expected Republican opponent in November, Rick Lazio, said the move was overdue.
“It should not have required two weeks and a drop in the polls for Andrew Cuomo to recognize what he should have instinctively known from the beginning,” Lazio said.
City Councilman Charles Barron (D-Brooklyn) accused Cuomo of leading a “politicized” investigation and said he believes public pressure caused the attorney general to step aside.
Cuomo said on Thursday that polls did not impact his decision and that there so far has been no “technical conflict.”
He would not confirm any plans for a gubernatorial run.
Paterson is being investigated over charges he called a woman who was seeking an order of protection against a top aide and that members of his State Police detail visited her. The woman, Sherr-una Booker, never pressed charges. The governor, who is not seeking election in November, is also being probed for accepting free Yankees World Series tickets.
“There are credible issues that need to be resolved,” Cuomo said.
Reports Thursday, citing unnamed sources, said investigators had found little evidence to support a witness tampering case against Paterson.
Paterson’s attorney, Theodore Wells, said in a written statement that he respects Cuomo’s decision and looks forward to “a prompt and favorable conclusion to both investigations.”
Staff members who had been working on the case will continue, under the supervision of Kaye, Cuomo said.“I promise that the public will have a full, fair and independent accounting of the facts,” Kaye, who was the longest-serving and only female chief judge, said in a statement.
Newsday contributed to this story.
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TV makers embrace 3-D technology, but most video game makers do not
TV makers are hoping that 3-D at home will be the next big thing in their business, with consumers readily dropping almost $1,000 more to take in three dimensions of movies and TV. But it doesn’t appear as if the video game industry, whose customers are notorious early adopters of new tech, is ready to take the dive.
Gamers helped push forward the defeat of HD DVD by the hands of Sony’s Blu-ray with purchases of the PlayStation 3. And, like sports fans, they are willing to get bigger and better televisions and sound systems. They’re also willing to wear big headsets for multiplayer games.
Both Samsung and Panasonic will start selling 3-D-capable TVs this week, despite the lack of 3-D content available now. And although there have been some moves toward 3-D in gaming, most of the industry seems pretty hesitant to make the leap.
“We’re committed to evolving that technology as consumer demand evolves,” Microsoft said in a statement. “But the spotlight for Xbox 360 and the industry is focused on creating breakthrough social experiences that everyone can enjoy together,” an apparent shot at the need for 3-D TV watchers to wear special glasses.
Nintendo president Satoru Iwata has dismissed gaming in 3-D. “I have doubts whether people will be wearing glasses to play games at home,” he said. “How is that going to look to other people [watching the game]?”
Sony, however, is taking 3-D very seriously. The company, which will introduce 3-D TV sets in June, announced that it will issue free updates to its PlayStation 3 to make some games and Blu-ray discs 3-D compatible.
Sony is not alone. The first mainstream 3-D game was an adaptation of James Cameron’s 3-D blockbuster “Avatar.” The game didn’t sell too well — only 430,000 copies on all systems, according to the analysis firm NPD Group — but it shows an early interest by developers in this new dimension.
“Three-D is to pictures what Dolby Stereo was to sound,” Yannis Mallat, chief executive of the Montreal subsidiary of Ubisoft, told the Financial Post. “No one wants to go back to mono.”Tags: 3-D, 3D, video games, sony, playstation, microsoft, xbox, nintendo, wii
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Former New York Rep. Eric Massa's mess
(Photo: AP)
Former New York Rep. Eric Massa’s mess just keeps getting dirtier. A House vote Thursday referred a probe into whether Democrats covered up Massa’s allegedly lewd behavior — which the married, ex-upstate lawmaker wrote off as tickle fights — to an ethics committee.
It remains to be seen whether the investigation will go forward, but 50-year-old Massa can’t escape scrutiny as lurid reports of his kinky behavior piles up. Here’s a look at Massa’ strange saga:
* The Corning Democrat resigned last Monday amid allegations he made unwanted sexual advances toward a male aide. In an interview with Glenn Beck, Massa claimed it was nothing more than “salty” language and “tickling.”
* A man who served with Massa in the Navy told Atlantic Monthly the ex-Congressman tried to undo the pants of a sleeping shipmate and “snorkel” him, a sexual act. He said Massa imposed his “Massa massages” on subordinates.
* Five young male staffers reportedly were forced to bunk with Massa in his Capitol Hill rowhouse. Massa hired a large number of young gay aides, according to the Daily News, and paid some such paltry salaries that they were forced to live with him in the frat-like atmosphere.
Tags: Eric Massa, Washington, politics
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Tiger Woods to make comeback at Masters, sources say
Tiger Woods at the 2002 Masters tournament. (Photo: AP)
Tiger Woods will get back into the swing of things next month with the prestigious Masters tournament, sources told The Associated Press.
He’ll have a little help from ex-President George W. Bush’s trusted former flack, who will keep the focus on the golf legend’s game, not his adulterous rep, according to a published report.
Until the Augusta, Ga., tourney begins on April 5, however, Woods won’t compete on the green, sources said. There had been reports that Woods would play in either the Tavistock Cup or the Arnold Palmer Invitational, both later this month.
Ari Fleischer, Bush’s former press secretary, will be there to guide the embattled athlete, the New York Post reported. Fleischer, who also aided in cleaning up baseball player Mark McGwire’s image post-steroid scandal, declined to comment on whether he was working with Tiger.
Woods, 34, has been practicing in Isleworth, Fla., not too far from the playboy’s mansion, according to the Post.
He last played competitively on Nov. 15, winning the Australian Masters. A fateful car crash two weeks later set off a stream of allegations that Woods is an adulterer.
(With AP)
Tags: Tiger Woods
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A 96-team NCAA basketball tournament wouldn't be excessive in the grand scheme of things
Greg Monroe and his Georgetown Hoyas improved their NCAA tournament standing via Thursday's upset of Syracuse. (Getty Images)
Jim Boeheim got us thinking.
Speaking in support of the NCAA tournament’s rumored expansion from 65 to 96 teams, the Syracuse coach told CNN this month: “There are 350 teams overall, so 96 is only a little over 25 percent.”
It turns out the actual proportion, 27.7 percent, is only slightly higher that baseball’s stingy postseason qualification (eight out of 30, or 26.7 percent), and about half of the percentages in the NHL and NBA (53.3 each). (See Triviality at right.)
(See Triviality No. 44 below.)
As Selection Sunday approaches, arguments against tournament expansion are numerous and legitimate: The NCAA just wants a more lucrative TV deal; expansion would remove major programs’ motivation to schedule tough regular-season opponents; the change would lengthen the tournament by a week and doom the NCAA-owned, tradition-rich NIT; mediocre major-conference teams, not deserving mid-major teams, would receive the extra bids.
But for a tournament that grew from eight teams in 1950 to 64 in 1984, the proportional argument is persuasive.
Boeheim again: “We had 250 teams when we expanded [from 48] to 64.” Now there are 347 Division I men’s basketball programs. The numbers don’t lie.
Max J. Dickstein is amNewYork’s sports editor.
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amNY Triviality: Percentage of teams or players that qualify for major playoff tournaments
(No. 44 in an occasional series; compiled by Justin Davidson and Max J. Dickstein)
15.7% FIFA World Cup (soccer) 32/204
16.1% NCAA Division I football championship: 20/124 (1)
18.7% NCAA men’s Division I basketball tournament: 65/347 (2)
20.1% NCAA women’s Division I basketball tournament: 65/324
21.4% Chase for the Sprint Cup (Nascar): 12/56 (3)
26.7% MLB postseason: 8/30
30.2% UEFA European Football Championship: 16/53 (4)
37.5% NFL playoffs: 12/32
41.6% UEFA Champions League: 32/77
50% Playoffs for the FedEx Cup (PGA): 125/250 (5)
50% MLS playoffs: 8/16
53.3% NBA playoffs: 16/30
53.3% NHL Stanley Cup playoffs: 16/30Notes
(1) Known as NCAA Division I-AA football championship until 2006. The Football Championship Subdivision’s playoff tournament expands from 16 to 20 teams next season.
(2) A rumored expansion of the NCAA men’s tournament to 96 teams would result in a qualifying percentage of 27.7 (96/347).
(3) Nascar instituted the Chase in 2004 and expanded it from 10 to 12 drivers in 2007. Total Sprint Cup field varies.
(4) Euro 2016 will feature 24 teams.
(5) About 250 PGA Tour members accumulate FedEx Cup points during the course of a season (255 did so in 2009).Tags: Syracuse, Georgetown, Jim Boeheim, Triviality, Sports, FIFA World Cup, NCAA Division I football championship, NCAA men’s Division I basketball tournament, NCAA women’s Division I basketball tournament, Nascar Chase for the Sprint Cup, MLB, UEFA European Football Championship, NFL, UEFA Champions League, PGA Tour Playoffs for the FedEx Cup, MLS, NBA playoffs, NHL Stanley Cup playoffs
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MTA backs off on pay cuts for administrators
The cash-strapped MTA has found enough money to avoid the 10 percent pay cut that was slated for administrators. According to letters sent Thursday, officials cut expenses to avoid the $49 million pay reduction. Last year, officials agreed to slash pay to help fill a massive budget gap.
Union officials, who are protesting hundreds of layoffs to station agents, didn’t take kindly to the news.
“It’s another magic trick by the MTA. They are always finding money at the last minutes,” said Israel Rivera, secretary treasurer of the transit union.
An MTA spokesman said the agency is cutting 680 administrators to save $65 million a year, and still might slash salaries later this year.
Tags: mta, new york city, transit
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Homeland security top brass question station agent layoffs
The MTA’s decision to dismiss hundreds of station agents will leave the subways more vulnerable to terrorism, three prominent members of the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Homeland Security warned the agency Thursday in a letter obtained by amNewYork.
“Reducing front-line personnel should be a last resort budget saving measure,” according to the letter sent to MTA CEO Jay Walder on Thursday. “We strongly urge you to re-evaluate.”
The cash-strapped agency will lay off 600 station agents on May 7 to save $21 million a year. That number, more than the previously announced 450, is higher because 150 agents will be able to reapply for positions as stations cleaners, MTA spokesman Aaron Donovan said.
The red-vested workers provide information and help customers navigate the system, but transit advocates also contend that they deter crime and safeguard the system. Station workers pressed emergency buttons equipped in station booths 171,370 times in 2008, according to agency figures.
“These cuts may create gaps in the layered infrastructure of local stations,” wrote U.S. Rep. Bennie Thompson, (D-Miss.), chairman of the homeland security committee, along with U.S. Rep. Yvette Clarke, (D-Brooklyn), and Sheila Jackson Lee, (D–Texas). “A human presence is important for securing an open transit environment.”
Station agents also play a roll in discouraging terrorism in the subways, the letter stated.
MTA officials, who are desperately trying to fill a $750 million budgetary gap, emphasized that the system remains secure.“The subway system today is the safest it has been in many years,” Donovan said. “There will continue to be a strong human presence.”
Tags: mta, new york city, transit
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Pacquiao-Clottey match on Saturday puts legendary Bronx boxing gym in national spotlight
When the world’s most famous boxer chose Joshua Clottey, a New York welterweight, for this Saturday’s championship bout in Texas, Manny Pacquiao wasn’t just plucking a relative unknown out of obscurity — he was elevating a Bronx gym.
“This is the biggest fight out there right now in boxing, period,” said Gjin Gjini, the owner of Clottey’s stomping grounds, John’s Boxing Gym.
Since its founding 30 years ago, John’s Gym, on Westchester Avenue in Melrose, has seen its share of quality boxers — but few have gotten a shot to become world champ.
Not that many people outside the Bronx give Clottey much of a chance against his foe. But many of the gym’s trainers believe the Ghanaian native can help bring Bronx boxing back to its glory days.
“It’s a big deal. It’s great for Clottey, it’s great for the gym, and especially the young kids coming up, looking forward to a championship,” said Richard Jenkins, 64, a trainer at the gym for 16 years. “Just the other day, someone comes in and says, ‘Well how many champs you got here?’ and you just point up at the wall and there’s Josh Clottey. It’s really a big deal if the gym has a champ.”
Clottey, who is ranked fifth in the welterweight class (between 140 and 147 pounds), was an unlikely choice to fight the man whom Ring magazine ranks the No. 1 “pound for pound” boxer in the world.
But after a disagreement over the terms of pre-match drug testing led Pacquiao to call off his much anticipated fight with No. 2-ranked Floyd Mayweather Jr., Pacquiao was left scrambling to find a replacement.
While the betting odds are against Clottey, some at John’s Gym predicted the fighter could go the distance.
“For us, who are here, this means a lot. It’s like a family,” said Gjini.
Tags: boxing, Bronx, neighborhoods, John's Boxing Gym
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In public re-emergence, some wonder what's next for Spitzer
With Albany reeling from the chaos of a scandal-plagued governor and rising discontent with the current crop of politicians, New York has been hearing more from a ghost of scandals past: Eliot Spitzer.From his emotional appearance on the “Today” to his wonky Slate columns to his yukking it up with the likes of Stephen Colbert and Bill Maher, Spitzer has been parceling out appearances that seem orchestrated to restore his reputation.
“(His) public rehabilitation has unfolded like a superbly-run political campaign,” said Rogan Kersh, a political science professor at NYU. “I don't think you would see so many rumors about him running if he or someone close to him weren't putting them out there."
While it’s hard to imagine Spitzer, who resigned in disgrace two years ago after being caught with pricey call girls, running for office in the immediate future, the lure of the public stage appears strong.
Spitzer, who declined to be interviewed for this story, works mostly in his father’s real estate empire. He recently told Time magazine that a political bid would be “unbearable” for his family.
But with each public appearance, which usually involves a rehash of his sordid past, many wonder why he would endure the embarrassment if not for some larger goal.
“I watched him on Colbert and it was impressive the way he ate his spinach, got his point out and then moved on,” said former Public Advocate Mark Green. “There’s a long list of talented people who messed up but redeemed themselves by showing courage after humiliation.”
Rumors have the ex-governor eyeing a run for everything from state comptroller to U.S. Senator. And Green said he expects Spitzer, 50, to reassess the political field in four to six years.
“Eliot Spitzer understands that the American people have a great capacity for redemption – he told me that once,” said state Democratic Party Chairman Jay Jacobs. “He’s definitely not someone you discount.”
Others said if he has a second act, it’s more likely as a voice on certain issues, similar to the role disgraced politician, Gary Hart, assumed on foreign policy.
“This was a moral scar that’s hard to bounce back from,” said Lee Miringoff, director of polling at the Marist Institute, which conducted recent survey showing nearly 70 percent of people did not want Spitzer to run for office. “I’m not sure where he’ll be in five or 10 years but the asterisk will still be next to his name.”
