A school principal was busted for allegedly possessing pot and everybody's shocked, which is reasonable. More than a role model, this principal is a community leader. Even more shocking to me is that his career may be over because he was foolish enough to get caught with a bag of vegetation. The definition of criminal behavior should be aggressive antisocial activity that damages the social and/or commercial body. It shouldn't be conceptual. The idea of law shouldn't be to make our lives more difficult because of arbitrary designations. Marijuana being illegal has criminalized a large group of users who are in most other ways fine citizens. Twenty-five years ago back in Vermont we used to buy pot from a local deputy, and the stories a friend told about attending the Republican National Convention were unbelievable ... Republicans! I could go on and on, but both statistical studies and anecdotal evidence suggest widespread, cross-class usage. The political will for legalization isn't there, but the political appetite for usage certainly is. Marijuana is a problem because it is illegal. This is a very stupid, very expensive law -- expensive in tax revenue lost, in cost of enforcement, and especially because it turns honest citizens into criminals. When I hear a news story about someone busted for possession and/or growing, I shake my head. It's like having your career impacted not because of the quality of your work or your behavior but because you had a bottle of scotch in the cupboard, a pack of cigarettes by the bed, or a pint of unusually rich chocolate ice cream in the freezer.
Speaking of expensive, the Austin Independent School District funding wars have turned ugly over Forgione's proposal for a traditional seven- period day. I'm not taking sides on this one; I don't know enough. Still, one of the truisms I've developed over the years is that it's always easy to cut the other guy's budget. Trim the fat is the first demand, though one person's fat is almost always another person's bread and butter. The next thing to trim is upper and middle management, which is almost always a good idea -- but how much can you trim? Remember also that you are talking about people and their careers. When you're not actually responsible for making a system work and the lives of the people who work for you, it's easy to trim -- just take 5% here and a million there. When you look at the hard numbers against the brutal realities of running the operation, it's another trip. Again, no sides, but Forgione is between a rock and a hard place, and cutting his budget is a job everyone is going to find easier than he will.
The Chronicle volleyball league continues into the second week with the Krabs surprising all with their undefeated meanness. 
