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Search RuthAndJohn.com NOTE: click on the link then put your search words inside the quotes on Google
John and I are starting our 7th year in France. Our family is happy and doing well. We hope you are as well.
The kitties got a new kitty tree and they love the new set up. They even spend a fair amount of time in the little cube "houses"
as well as on the platforms and in the beds. We are so very happy the kit kats came to live with us last year. We are pleased
with their personalities as they've grown. Everyone is affectionate. Everyone gets along.
Tommy's been ill off and on but the meds he takes are doing their job well. He still has kidney disease
but that situation has improved with meds. He still has heart troubles but most of the time when the kidney
disease is under control he is energetic and seems happy. He plays with the kit kats and he gets the kitty
crazies once or twice a week. The kit kats go crazy 2-4 times a week. Usually it's synchronized.
In preparation for the spooky season we ordered 2 new dolls for our window collection. Please welcome
Edgar Allen Poe and Edvard Munch's "The [screaming] Scream". Very soon I'll set up a spooky window scene
for Halloween.
I love Halloween. I love October. Here's a cool Autumn craft link for you and the kids in your life - Autumn and Halloween Crafts for Kids.
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| Uncle Tommy likes his new kitty tree. |
Charlie and Buster staking out their favorite spots. |
Charlie is always looking at the ceiling. He's our little astronomer. |
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Exhausted after a long day of exploring their new kitty tree. |
Another view. | Buster likes his little house. |
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We got 2 new dolls for the upcoming spooky season: Edgar Allen Poe (with a raven on his shoulder) and the screaming Scream by Edvard Munch. |
John and I saw a marijuana dispensary near our dentists' offices a few weeks ago. I was surprised to see a fixed
location public dispensary because marijuana isn't legal in France for either medical or personal use. Recently I learned
that there are a few thousand dispensaries in France (more than 2000 in the Paris area). Fines for marijuana use were
reduced to 200 euros recently and are rarely enforced. Same for sales. France is known for its liberal views, but that has
not extended to cannabis, where the restrictions are among the strictest in Europe. But that may soon change.
Is France Going to Legalize Le Cannabis in 2021?
Notwithstanding the government's opposition to legalizing marijuana France has the highest rate of cannabis use in Europe by far.
In 2016, 41% of French people aged 15 to 64 had consumed it at least once - compared to the European average of 18.9 %.
The public consultation refers to a method used by the
French government to ask questions directly to citizens
through questionnaires posted on a website. Most public consultations get about 30,000 responses. Within the
first week that the government posted the cannabis consultation on the internet, 175,000 people had responded.
Additionally,there are now "real life experiments" in progress for 3 categories of marijuana use:
Therapeutic cannabis; "Well-being" cannabis; and "Recreational" cannabis
On the subject of lessened enforcement of marijuana penalties, recently LA County moved to dismiss another 58,000 marijuana-related convictions.
Last year the DA dismissed 66,00 such convictions.
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An illegal recreational marijuana shop across the street from our dentist's office. |
#PuffSociety |
A student actor playing a protester (on the bus to a university) |
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The préfecture where we renewed our residency cards this month. |
The exterior of our apartment is still being renovated. |
A memorial near our doctor's office. |
I gave another presentation for the Oregon atheists' STEM group. This one was on maglev/super conducting maglev trains
and some info about various hyperloops in development and a brief intro to the Eastern France super bullet running with 2
high speed engines. The pdf for that presentation is linked here.
A lot of my tech interests these days concerns our climate emergencies. Southern Europe and Western US experienced extreme
fires these last few years. Many more places are flooding than did previously. Downpours of months' worth of rainfall in a
day or two are happening more often. Germany in July
and Italy this month
Suffering throughout the world is growing rapidly. We all need to share ideas, motivation and ACTIONS to reverse these disasters.
There is no time left to waste. The climate crisis is unbearable and becoming more so every day. We don't have until the end of the
century - not even 'til the end of the decade. Look it up.
A Few Thoughts of Autumn Pleasures
Anyone who thinks fallen leaves are dead has never watched them dancing on a windy day.
Shira Tamir
Winter is an etching, spring a watercolor, summer an oil painting, and autumn a mosaic of them all.
Stanley Horowitz
Some World News for September:
Social Democrats
narrowly topped Merkel's CDU in Germany Elections.
At least parts of Europe are moving leftward (no thanks to YOU Hungary
and Poland!!!).
September 28 is International Safe Abortion Day
California's vote by mail is now permanent
Housing justice advocates are celebrating after residents in Berlin, Germany - fed up with skyrocketing
rents driven in part by speculative investments in real estate markets - voted to socialize roughly 240,000
homes by expropriating apartments controlled by the city's biggest corporate landlords and
transferring them to public ownership.
By a margin of 56% to 39%, Berliners approved a referendum that instructs the municipal government to purchase housing from
mega-landlords, or private real estate companies that own more than 3,000 units. If implemented, the move would bring
approximately 240,000 homes, or about 15% of the city's stock, into public ownership.
"More people voted for our initiative than any single party in Berlin. We got support from every part of Berlin, and across the political spectrum."