Petey's Pipeline E-zine

Issue #34

July 3, 2006

Business First Global Warming Behind Editorial Meltdown
Random Ramblings & Miscellaneous Musings The Case for Hemp Legalization: Food & Medicine
Write Thinking Formatting Basics

Business First (Editorial)

Global Warming Behind Editorial Meltdown

It was a really weird week. With record high temperatures in the West and record rainfall in the East, global climate change made its presence felt at opposite ends of the country. I'm just thankful that global climate change is a figment of environmentalists' collective imagination.

Temperatures exceeding 100 degrees (anything over 85 degrees gives my computer heat stroke) shut down operations entirely for a couple of days and temperatures over 90 degrees forced early shutdowns on a couple of others, events that disrupted schedules and wreaked havoc with deadlines. Therefore, in the interests of getting this issue out on time, I'm going to forego a lengthy editorial and use the space, instead, to wish you a very happy—and safe—4th of July.

This column returns on July 17th.

• • •

For an occasional fix of insight and opinion, read Petey's Pipeline Blog. Check it out at http://peteys-pipeline.blogspot.com/.

Feel free to respond to blog postings at any time. Whether you agree or disagree, your thoughtful, carefully considered comments are welcome. However, anything suggestive of a temper tantrum, psychotic episode or hysteria will be deleted.

Running a spelling check on your text before making posts is strongly encouraged. Perfect Text, Petey's Pipeline E-zine and Petey's Pipeline Blog exist, in part, to make all of us better writers. Let's not defeat that purpose by being hasty or becoming careless.

Random Ramblings & Miscellaneous Musings

The Case for Hemp Legalization: Food & Medicine
by Phil Hanson

Research conducted between 1966 and 1976, by American and Canadian universities—some 10,000 studies in all—proved unequivocally that cannabis has well defined medicinal properties. Of the handful of studies (about a dozen) that failed to return a positive finding of medicinal benefits, none could be replicated in subsequent studies using the same test criteria.

Indeed, cannabis was one of the best known and most widely used medicinal plants, in many parts of the world, for more than 3500 years. In U.S. pharmacopoeia, cannabis was the primary medicine prescribed to treat more than 100 illnesses or diseases until 1937, when growing hemp in the U.S. was effectively banned.

Among the therapeutic uses of cannabis are treatments for asthma, glaucoma, epilepsy, nausea, multiple sclerosis, tumors, arthritis, rheumatism, cystic fibrosis, herpes, back pain, muscle spasms, insomnia, stress, migraine headaches, anorexia, depression, and many others.

A healthy diet equates to a healthy immune system. Were hemp seed, a highly nutritious and easily digestible source of protein, essential amino acids and omega-3 fatty acids incorporated into the typical diet, the number of occurrences of the aforementioned illnesses and diseases would plummet.

Be advised that cannabis is not a panacea. Different people sometime obtain different results and a small percentage experience allergic reactions. People who experience adverse reactions shouldn't use cannabis, but that's not to say that no one should use it. Lots of people are allergic to some things, some people are allergic to lots of things, but it just doesn't follow that because a small percentage of people are allergic to peanuts or hemp, peanuts and hemp should be off-limits to everyone.

It's worth noting that adverse reactions to cannabis are generally mild and no known deaths have occurred due to liver or kidney failure, or to overdose. If only the same could be said for aspirin and Tylenol.

The U.S. Government continues to spread misinformation, disinformation, negative propaganda and outright undisguised lies about cannabis hemp to the citizens it governs. It's a thinly veiled ploy to maintain hemp's illegal status for the benefit of vested pharmaceutical interests at the expense of the people who could most benefit from easy access to legalized hemp and its many medicinal and nutritional properties.

In 1937, the year that cannabis became illegal, one ounce of medicinal cannabis sold for $1 at local pharmacies all across the nation. Today, one ounce of kick-ass bud typically sells for $300 – $400 on the black market, no prescription needed. Obviously, legalized hemp would lower the cost of most other therapeutic drugs, and go a long way toward making healthcare affordable for everyone.

Anti-marijuana forces have used specious, disingenuous arguments to make their case against marijuana since day one. When one weighs all the facts about cannabis honestly, the moral and ethical concerns of marijuana legalization line up on the side of legalization.

When people finally shed their fear and ignorance of cannabis, they will vote to legalize it. When they finally see and experience the benefits to be had, they will wonder why it took so long.

Why, indeed!

When the people lead, politicians will follow.

Write Thinking

Formatting Basics

Some of the most common problems showing up in Web page, blog, and e-zine text relate to formatting errors, which in turn affect visual appeal and/or readability. Fortunately, the fixes are easy, and only become tedious and time consuming if you built a multipage Web site without benefit of Cascading Style Sheets (CSS).

Here are the basics for creating readable Web pages:

Screen Resolution

A majority (60% last I heard) of computer monitors are set at 1028 x 768 screen resolution. This means that if you optimized your Web pages at 800 x 600 pixels and display a light blue #2-size serif font against a dark blue background, most of the people who visit your site won't be able to read it. If people can't read the text on your Web pages the first time they visit, there's little incentive for them to return.

Text & Background Colors

Black on white works best, as it offers the most contrast. If you must use colors of lower contrast, increase the font size to compensate.

Font Style

A sans serif font (Geneva, Verdana, Arial, Helvetica) is easier to read onscreen than a serif font (Georgia, Times New Roman).

Font Size

#3 or larger. In cases where it's desirable to use a smaller font size, #2 bolded is easier to read than unbolded text of the same size.

Justification

Center titles, headings and sub-headings only. Resist the impulse to center large blocks of text. Left justified body text with a ragged right edge works best for most applications.

Spacing

When text appears in adjoining table cells or next to a clearly defined border be sure to add a few pixels of cell padding. Two-to-six pixels works very well in most cases, but let your overall site design dictate how much you should use. Good separation between blocks of text minimizes confusion and maximizes readability.

Spacing between sentence-closing punctuation and the beginning of the following sentence is important, too. Those of us who learned to type on a manual typewriter are prone to putting an extra space between sentences, i.e., hitting the space bar twice. Mono-spaced typewriters required a double space between sentences to maintain proper spacing, but it's not necessary to add an extra space when typing in a word processor. One space is sufficient for the software to maintain the proper space interval; anything more is redundant. Don't try to second-guess the technology. Let it work for you.

Paragraphs

Long paragraphs tend to lose a reader's eye, and this is especially true when long paragraphs are read onscreen. Vary sentence length, and vary the number of lines in a paragraph, but don't let either one get too long. Block paragraphs, like those used in this e-zine, are ideal for Web pages. The empty line space between paragraphs provides a handy reference point for the reader's eye and keeps the body text from appearing too "busy."

By adhering to these formatting basics, you'll make a better presentation of your written material and give your readers a better reading experience. Your message won't get lost because you keep your readers engaged. Isn't that why you write?

Disclaimer

The articles appearing in Petey's Pipeline E-zine are based on information believed to be true at the time of publication. Neither Perfecttext.com, Petey's Pipeline E-zine nor their publisher assume any liability or responsibility as to the accuracy or efficacy of any information, products or services that are submitted, advertised or rendered by contributors to Petey's Pipeline E-zine. While we make every effort to screen out scam artists and bogus offers, you should still do your homework. Caveat emptor!

Top of Page

E-zine Archive

Proofreading • Editing • Freelance Writing
www.perfecttext.com