If there were ever a doubt about whether the editor-in-chief of WikiLeaks, Julian Assange, is a journalist, recent events erase all those doubts and put him at the forefront of a movement to democratize journalism and empower people.
Month: February 2011
Charges dropped against medical MJ patient due to NJ delay
The Coalition for Medical Marijuana New Jersey (CMMNJ) www.cmmnj.org Following the prosecutor’s recommendation a judge has dismissed minor marijuana possession charges against a resident waiting to register for the medical cannabis program. David Barnes has his doctor’s support in explaining to law enforcement that his cannabis use was for legitimate medical purposes. Authorities agreed to […]
Why aren’t more meltdown moguls indicted?
From USA TODAY: Nearly a decade ago, responding to a raft of financial scandals at Enron, WorldCom and other companies, the Justice Department sent dozens of executives to prison and even put a major accounting firm out of business. Now, after a far larger economic meltdown, it looks increasingly likely that no big name will be criminally prosecuted.
Specialty courts: It’s easy to make a case for them
From the PATRIOT-NEWS: An idea such as the one allowing district judges to also hear driving-under-the-influence cases from Cumberland County court makes sense for three reasons. First, it streamlines due process, cuts costs and reduces paperwork for first-time offenders who opt in. As many as 500 cases could be heard in Cumberland County each year […]
Union-busting Koch brothers heading our way
From the INQUIRER: The political movement spearheaded by the increasingly in-the-news billionaire Koch brothers – libertarians who spend vast amounts fighting against unions, government regulation, global warming and other liberal causes – is stepping up its efforts here in Pennsylvania. Last week, the president of a tea-party-linked political group heavily funded by the Koch oil-and-gas […]
Gates’s warning: Avoid land war in Asia, Middle East, and Africa
“Any future defense secretary who advises the president to again send a big American land army into Asia or into the Middle East or Africa should ‘have his head examined,’ as General [Douglas] MacArthur so delicately put it.”
European governments send rescue missions to Libyan desert
From CNN — British Prime Minister David Cameron says a military-led rescue mission into the Libyan desert was “the right thing to do,” despite the fact that U.K. planes didn’t have permission to enter Libyan airspace. Three Royal Air Force C-130 Hercules aircraft successfully evacuated some 150 civilians of multiple nationalities from eastern Libya, according […]
U.S. health care law target of Idaho nullification attempt
From USA TODAY: The doctrine of nullification has deep roots in U.S. history. Thomas Jefferson in 1798 first outlined the notion that states have the right to void federal laws that they perceive run contrary to the U.S. Constitution when he argued against Congress’ passage of the Alien and Sedition Acts. The Idaho Senate State […]
3M chief warns Obama over business regulation
From the FINANCIAL TIMES: The head of one of the US’s biggest industrial groups has launched a scathing attack on Barack Obama’s attempts to repair relations with companies, dubbing him “anti-business”. Manufacturers could shift production out of the US to Canada or Mexico as a result, warned George Buckley, chief executive and chairman of 3M. […]
Annals of Culpable Ignorance, Denial, & Human Folly
Although Harry Anslinger isn’t as well known to Americans as he once was, his place in history seems secure: he was the federal bureaucrat behind the clumsy “Reefer Madness” campaign that added the Marijuana Tax Act of 1937 to the Harrison Act of 1914, thus compounding the modern drug war’s burden of credibility and testing […]
SUNDAY NEWS
Editor Marv Adams in his weekly column argues: “Pro football players are paid well for their risks, you say? What is the going rate for risking dementia? No, they don’t have to play pro football. Neither do coal miners have to be coal miners. This one is all about the greed of owners, who all […]
Arab world takes back wealth from West
From ALJAZEERA: The Arab world has awakened to take back all its wealth and rights plundered by the West and its current embattled dictatorial regimes, a political analyst says. It is the West and these regimes that prevented the development of these people and took away their wealth,â American University of Beirut professor Ahmad Musalli […]
Unfit for Democracy?
By NICHOLAS D. KRISTOF From the NEW YORK TIMES: … “Before the revolution, we were slaves, and now we are the slaves of former slaves,” Lu Xun, the great Chinese writer, declared after the toppling of the Qing dynasty. Is that the future of the Middle East?… The record is that after some missteps, countries […]
Police: Wisconsin protest Saturday ‘one of largest’
From USA TODAY: Madison Police Department spokesman Joel DeSpain said police figure the crowd of protesters Saturday in downtown Madison, Wis., exceeded last week’s Saturday protest, which was estimated at 70,000 people and included a small counter-demonstration by supporters of Gov. Scott Walker. The crowd could have numbered as high as 100,000, but counting it […]