May
San Francisco's Hemp Center Is the Latest Target in Federal Marijuana Crackdown
The Hemp Center…has been in business for nearly 14 years and has been in its current location for 11. Its landlords recently received a letter from U.S. Attorney Melinda Haag. The letter warned of property seizures and prison sentences if the dispensary was not shut down, according to dispensary operator Kathleen Capetti.Similar letters, which claim the clubs are too close to parks or schools, have been responsible for the closure of eight San Francisco dispensaries since Oct. 2011 — many of them longstanding, respected operations…
[…]
The letters are what the Obama Administration’s Justice Department has done to “crack down” on California’s burgeoning but federally illegal medical cannabis industry. In Oct. 2011, the four United States Attorneys for the state announced a coordinated effort that led to the closure of “hundreds” of dispensaries across the state, according to an estimate by Americans for Safe Access, a medical marijuana patients’ advocacy group.
“I would not have the Justice Department prosecuting and raiding medical marijuana users. It’s not a good use of our resources.” — Barack Obama, August 21, 2007, in Nashua, New Hampshire
Apr
Tripoli book fair sells previously banned books
Last week, Tripoli hosted the city’s largest ever secondhand book sale, offering books that had previously been forbidden during Muammar Gaddafi’s regime. Held in Martyrs Square, book stands with academic books, books of poetry, and novels, as well as Western books offered a range of choices to the bustling crowds…
Funds from the three-day fair will go towards building a mobile library that will visit schools.
The range of books available at the book fair contributed to the popularity of the event. Western books sold out on the first day, and some attendees were annoyed to see publications from Gaddafi’s regime.
Apr
A couple serving probation for the death of their toddler after they turned to prayer instead of a doctor could face new charges now that another son has died.
Herbert and Catherine Schaible belong to a fundamentalist Christian church that believes in faith healing. They lost their 8-month-old son, Brandon, last week after he suffered from diarrhea and breathing problems for at least a week, and stopped eating. Four years ago, another son died from bacterial pneumonia.
Apr
Congressional analysis upholds states' right to legalize marijuana
Today, Congressman Jared Polis (D-CO) shared a new legal analysis, prepared by the Congressional Research Service, the nonpartisan research agency supporting the United States Congress, which finds that the federal government cannot compel states to prohibit marijuana use within their borders.
More specifically, the Congressional Research Service (CRS) writes that:
“Although the federal government may use its power of the purse to encourage states to adopt certain criminal laws, the federal government is limited in its ability to directly influence state policy by the Tenth Amendment, which prevents the federal government from directing states to enact specific legislation, or requiring state officials to enforce federal law. As such, the fact that the federal government has criminalized conduct does not mean that the state, in turn, must also criminalize or prosecute that same conduct.”
Congressman Polis responded, stating, “I’ve long believed that Colorado, Washington and other states that have decriminalized or legalized marijuana for personal or medical use have acted within the legal bounds of the law. I am pleased to see that Congress’s research agency has interpreted the law the same way. With a majority of Americans now supporting marijuana legalization, and more states acknowledging every election cycle that the War on Drugs has failed, I hope that the Department of Justice will conduct and release a legal analysis that is as thorough as that done by CRS. If they do, they are sure to reach the same conclusion: it is perfectly legal for states to regulate marijuana as they see fit.”
Apr
In cases where the religious affiliation of terrorism casualties could be determined, Muslims suffered between 82 and 97 percent of terrorism-related fatalities over the past five years.
Of the 13,288 people killed by terrorist attacks last year, seventeen were private U.S. citizens, or .001 percent.
Apr
Apr
A Yemeni youth activist has been tweeting his reactions to his village being struck by a U.S. drone. Amazing.
Apr
New Jersey woman near finish line recounts 'complete chaos'
My cousin describes the Boston Marathon attack for Philly.com.
Glad she’s OK.
Apr
Why was the Gosnell story ignored when feminists wrote about it years ago?
Journalist Rebecca Traister pointed out via Twitter that the Dr. Gosnell case, which only recently caught the mainstream media’s attention, was covered by feminist writers back in January 2011. Michelle Goldberg wrote about it for The Daily Beast and Katha Pollitt covered Gosnell’s crimes for The Nation. It’s interesting to consider why pro-lifers succeeded in highlighting a story that feminists addressed long ago. As Traister asked, “Why did this story not register AT ALL when feminist journalists were telling it, but provokes anguish when antiabortion forces blow it up?” Good question.
Apr
Why Dr. Gosnell's Trial Should Be a Front-Page Story
This isn’t solely a story about babies having their heads severed, though it is that. It is also a story about a place where, according to the grand jury, women were sent to give birth into toilets; where a doctor casually spread gonorrhea and chlamydiae to unsuspecting women through the reuse of cheap, disposable instruments; an office where a 15-year-old administered anesthesia; an office where former workers admit to playing games when giving patients powerful narcotics; an office where white women were attended to by a doctor and black women were pawned off on clueless untrained staffers.
[…]
But it isn’t even solely a story of a rogue clinic that’s awful in all sorts of sensational ways either. Multiple local and state agencies are implicated in an oversight failure that is epic in proportions!
This is rather obviously an important story with vast political implications. The opportunistic pro-lifers whining about the mainstream media’s ineptness shouldn’t deter the public from following this trial.
Update: It seems important to note that The Nation wrote about Gosnell back in 2011. Pro-lifers have no right to claim this story as their own.
Apr
Women's basketball star might play with Dallas Mavericks
Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban would be willing to give Baylor women’s star Brittney Griner the opportunity to prove she could play in the NBA.
Griner dominated women’s college basketball with her size and athleticism, scoring 3,283 points and blocking 748 shots in her career. She also had 18 dunks, including 11 her senior season.
Griner would love the opportunity. “I would hold my own! Lets do it.” she wrote on Twitter on Tuesday night in response to Cuban.
A woman trying out for an NBA team is not unprecedented. Former UCLA star Ann Meyers tried out for the Indiana Pacers in 1979.
This must happen.
Mar
Senators who voted against the Defense of Marriage Act in 1996
Daniel Akaka (Democrat - Hawaii)
Barbara Boxer (Democrat - California)
Russ Feingold (Democrat - Wisconsin)
Dianne Feinstein (Democrat - California)
Daniel Inouye (Democrat - Hawaii)
Ted Kennedy (Democrat - Massachusetts)
Bob Kerrey (Democrat - Nebraska)
John Kerry (Democrat - Massachusetts)
Carol Moseley Braun (Democrat - Illinois)
Daniel Patrick Moynihan (Democrat - New York)
Claiborne Pell (Democrat - Rhode Island)
Chuck Robb (Democrat - Virginia)
Paul Simon (Democrat - Illinois)
Ron Wyden (Democrat - Oregon)
Mar
New York state assemblyman who voted against medical marijuana busted on pot charge
Assemblyman Steve Katz, 59, a conservative Republican from the Hudson Valley, was pulled over on the state Thruway for going 80 miles an hour in a 65 mph zone when a trooper detected a “slight odor” of marijuana, state police spokesman Sgt. Don Baker said.
The trooper asked Katz if there was any pot in the car - and the assemblyman said “yes” and handed over a small bag that contained less than 25 ounces, Baker said.
[…]
As as assemblyman, Katz last year voted against a bill to legalize medicinal marijuana.
In a mailer to his constituents, he talked about how “our community has been stricken with an increase in drug use and drunk driving by our youngest citizens.”
And on March 8, he put out a statement decrying his community’s “struggle against illegal drug culture and the abuse of narcotics.”
Mar
I have deep concerns with the Obama Administration’s continuation of Bush-era policies related to warrantless wiretapping and the collection of electronic records pertaining to the activities of ordinary citizens. I have concerns about policies that allow the administration to strip due process rights from Americans it chooses to deem enemy combatants. Those lost rights constitute core Constitutional values including the requirement to show cause for detaining a citizen, the right to a public trial, and the right to confront those who bear evidence against you. I am also deeply concerned about the implications of the administration’s policy on drone strikes. And I am troubled that so much of the legal justification for these policies remains secret, preventing Congress, let alone the American people, from weighing the trade-offs.
We can and should protect America from our enemies without compromising the very essence of American freedom and rule of law. We need someone at the CIA who will lead us towards counterterrorism policies that reflect and respect Americans’ deep faith in our Constitution. I don’t believe John Brennan is the right person for that challenge.
Mar
Rand Paul is now applying the lessons of “Alice in Wonderland” to Obama’s drone policy
This is a ridiculously entertaining filibuster.
