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KTXL in Sacramento is toking tooting its own horn a bit this week, claiming that they are the first TV station in the US to air an ad for a medical marijuana dispensary.

The ad, for Sacramento-based organization CannaCare, never actually mentions the words “marijuana” or “pot,” though it does refer to the numerous medical uses for cannabis.

In a statement, KTXL’s general manager explains:

It is a matter of record within the medical community that medical marijuana can have positive results in helping relieve nausea and vomiting among cancer patients receiving chemotherapy and increasing appetites among AIDS patients… When viewers watch the [advertisement] on air, they can see it’s simply identifying this as an avenue to take if your doctor thinks it will help you feel better.

The general manager says that, at least through yesterday, he hadn’t heard of any negative response to the spot.

After all, having to explain to your children about medical marijuana can’t be any stranger than explaining why Jimmy Johnson is shilling for Extenze or why Jamie Lee Curtis wants women to keep video diaries of how Activia yogurt makes them poop more regularly.

KTXL Airs What’s Said To Be First-Ever Pot Spot [BroadcastingCable.com]

Thanks to Klay for the tip!

Say you’re shopping at Walmart and decide you want to pick up Barack Obama’s book The Audacity of Hope or maybe you’re an Indianapolis Colts fan and want to hear what Super Bowl winning coach Tony Dungy has to say in his book The Mentor Leader. But you can’t find either book in the Biography section… Oh, maybe you should look in those unmarked shelves that make up the “black” section of Walmart’s book selection.

Bob Dyer, a columnist at the Beacon Journal in Ohio checked out the book sections at two area Walmarts and found that, regardless of topic, if the author is black, the book gets lumped in with all the other books by black authors.

Writes Dyer:

The ”black section” contains everything written by and about blacks: romance novels, self-help books, religion, sports, even an autobiography by the current president of the United States….

At the Walmart in Montrose, Storm Warning, by hugely popular white pastor Billy Graham, can be found in the religion section. But Life Overflowing, by hugely popular black pastor T.D. Jakes, is in the black section, along with Dungy and Obama and Sister Souljah and Adrienne Byrd and all those other people whom Walmart believes are pretty much the same.

Dyer contacted Walmart and asked why, when all the other books are so carefully meted out into specific sections, did the store lump together a section where you can find a tome on faith butting up against something called The Hot Box.

Walmart responded by saying they are just meeting the demands of the local customers:

The book sections in our stores are designed to meet customer demand and feedback at the local level… Like many national bookstores, and book sections at retailers across the country, some of our stores have a section for African-American-focused books, while a store in a different area of the country might have a large science-fiction section or Western section….

Additionally, our books are separated into hardcover bestsellers, paperback bestsellers and other categories and it’s possible that titles could be moved to different areas of the book section based on demand or interest for that particular merchandise.

We know that some of you are current or former Walmart employees. Can anyone shed some light on how the individual stores set up their book selections? Is that left up to the local manager or is it something that comes down from the oracles in Arkansas?

Racial divide shows up on Walmart book shelves [Ohio.com]

Thanks to Bruce and Kyle for the tip!

Nothing makes a monotonous soccer game more difficult to watch than several hours of the monotone bleating of vuvuzelas, the plastic horns that drove many World Cup viewers to hit the mute button. Thankfully, the Union of European Football (don’t call it soccer) Associations has decided to ban the noisemakers.

Quoth the UEFA:

European football’s governing body has informed its 53 member associations that it has taken the move for reasons related to Europe’s football culture and tradition, saying that the atmosphere at matches would be changed by the sound of the vuvuzela…

The World Cup was characterized by the vuvuzela’s widespread and permanent use in the stands. In the specific context of South Africa, the vuvuzela adds a touch of local flavor and folklore, but UEFA feels that the instrument’s widespread use would not be appropriate in Europe, where a continuous loud background noise would be emphasized.

The magic of football consists of the two-way exchange of emotions between the pitch and the stands, where the public can transmit a full range of feelings to the players.

However, UEFA is of the view that the vuvuzelas would completely change the atmosphere, drowning supporter emotions and detracting from the experience of the game.

To avoid the risk of these negative effects in the stadiums where UEFA competitions are played and to protect the culture and tradition of football in Europe — singing, chanting etc — UEFA has decided with immediate effect that vuvuzelas will not be allowed in the stadiums where UEFA competitions matches are played.

As we reported a month ago, vuvuzelas have already been silenced at the World Basketball Championships.

Vuvuzelas banned from European soccer competition [Reuters]

PREVIOUSLY:
Basketball Championships To Be Vuvuzela-Free
KFC Hates Vuvuzelas Too; Will Give You A Free Doublicious For Yours
BP Offices To Be Serenaded By Orchestra Of Vuvuzelas
Free Anti-Vuvuzela Software To Stop Your Ears From Bleeding

Frugal matrimony? Shelf-stocker falls for assistant manager? They met as their hands simultaneously clasped over the last of the same everyday-low-priced item? Possibilities, endless. I wonder if their marriage license got checked at the door.

Save Money, Live Better. Marry at Wal-Mart [Wedinator]

If you live on a military base and really want to buy the new Electronic Arts military shoot-em-up Medal of Honor, which has stirred up controversy by allowing players to play as Taliban members, you’re going to be out of luck shopping at the GameStop on the base.

According to our game-loving former stepbrother Kotaku, as of noon today all GameStop stores located on military bases will no longer be advertising or selling copies of Medal of Honor.

Kotaku obtained a copy of a message sent to all GameStop employees about the decision:

GameStop has agreed out of respect for our past and present men and women in uniform we will not carry Medal of Honor in any of our AAFES based stores… As such, GameStop agreed to have all marketing material pulled by noon today and to stop taking reservations. Customers who enter our AAFES stores and wish to reserve Medal of Honor can and should be directed to the nearest GameStop location off base.

GameStop fully supports AAFES in this endeavor and is sensitive to the fact that in multiplayer mode one side will assume the role of Taliban fighter.

EA Games president Frank Gibeau has previously come out in defense of the game, saying that video games are judged unfairly when compared to other creative endeavors:

At EA we passionately believe games are an artform, and I don’t know why films and books set in Afghanistan don’t get flack, yet [games] do. Whether it’s Red Badge Of Courage or The Hurt Locker, the media of its time can be a platform for the people who wish to tell their stories. Games are becoming that platform.

What do you think: Did GameStop make the right move? Does EA have a point? You make the call…

GameStop Pulls Video Game From Military Stores Over Taliban Inclusion [Kotaku]

EA Standing Up To Medal Of Honor Pressure [Kotaku]

Chuck enjoyed Pizza Hut’s supreme pizza, especially via its $10-a-pie promotion. But a new advertising campaign, in which the mega-chain claims to be slashing prices on all its pizzas, has made his supreme cost $12 instead of $10 because it surpasses the new three-topping threshold.

He writes:

Pizza Hut’s latest advertising claim is “every pizza price slashed.” It’s on their website, it’s in their TV ads.

Here’s what I want to know: Without commenting on the wisdom of consuming Pizza Hut pizza (their pan pizza is a guilty pleasure), under their previous promotion (any pizza, any size, $10), I was getting a large Supreme for $10 (minus mushrooms, of course). That same pizza will now cost me $12. So how is a price increase of $2 “slashed?”

(There are probably other menu items where the price went up under this promotion, but I know of only this one because it’s the only one I ever ordered.)

Has the price-”slashing” affected your go-to Pizza Hut order for the better or worse?

Previously: Pizza Hut Charged Us $11 For Its $10 Offer

An analysis of executive pay found that CEOs of the 50 firms that laid off the most workers since the beginning of the economic meltdown earned 42% more than the average pay for an S&P 500 company. Correlation doesn’t imply causation, but it’s food for thought, especially for those in the bread line.

CEOs that lay off workers earn more: study [MarketWatch]

Henry has done seemingly everything possible to get Neiman Marcus to take him off its email list, but after several clicks on the “unsubscribe” link and a call to customer service, he’s still getting bombarded with useless emails.

He writes:

This is not egregious, but extremely annoying, especially considering the fact that this is a “high end” retailer. I signed up for the Neiman Marcus mailing list earlier this summer, but their email comes way too often and are mostly useless to me (they keep sending me emails about products for women and children). I then tried to unsubscribe — a total of 3 times using their “unsubscribe” link in the email. Finally, I called them and spoke to a nice gentleman who said I would now be off the email, but to give them a couple of days. It’s been two weeks and the emails are just as frequent. I’ve resorted to filtering their address, but a customer shouldn’t have to do that to stop getting emails.

There’s always the option of spam blocker programs, but those can work too well, requiring friends and other important contacts to jump through hoops just to be able to send you messages.

What do you do to shield yourself from unwanted emails?

Previously: Are Retailers Suddenly Burying You In E-Mail?

Consumerist reader Silver and his wife made a trip to their local Quiznos in Ft. Worth the other day and came face to face with an employee who may have taken the whole “bring your child to work day” thing too seriously.

According to Silver, when he and his wife arrived at the Quiznos, they noticed a bunch of children playing around in the front of the store. But when they went to the counter, so did one of the kids.

He’ll take it from here:

Just then, one of the kids who was playing in the front earlier ran behind the counter and started clinging on to legs of the employee who was taking our order.

The employee then asked what kind of veggies my wife wanted and she said “First of all, I don’t think that kid has washed his hands, is an employee, or should be standing next to a 450˚ open oven.”

The employee just stared at my wife, and — get this — lowered the sandwich to the kid, maybe 4 years old, who then grabbed one of the containers of oregano and started to dress my wife’s sandwich.

I yelled at the woman that I thought that it was unsanitary, a child has no business being back there with you, and this has to be some kind of Health Code violation. She just stared at me plainly, said nothing and tossed the sandwich in the trash can.

The kid then rested both of his forearms on the cutting board, while another child ran behind the counter to join him.

She simply would not address us and completely ignored the fact that her child was running rampant through the store near open ovens.

We called Quiznos’ 1-800 line several days ago and have yet to receive a response from them. I also have been trying to contact them via their website, but it keeps timing out.

You might also want to try Quiznos Twitter account, which appears to be active.

Of course, after looking at these pics from earlier today, you might just want to give up on Quiznos.

For a guide to simplifying your life, this 7-step, multi-bulleted guide looks a little complex. So pick one tip to get inspired by, like getting some unnecessary possessions out of the house. Feeling overwhelmed is a catalyst for emotional spending and other unwise activities, and the little things building up can be little seeds of unraveling. Sometimes the best way to take care of frayed ends is to snip them.

How to Simplify Your Life [WikiHow]