Photo
January 29, 2012
159 notes
fuckyeahdrugpolicy: The White House’s attempt to censor popular questions about marijuana policy was foiled. Obama’s Opportunity: Will the White House Snub Marijuana Yet Again? | NORML Last week, the White House launched the next in its long line of social media engagement initiatives, this one entitled “Your Interview With the President.” The concept was simple, anyone could upload their question to the President on YouTube, others would vote on them, and the highest rated ones would be posed to the Commander in Chief in a Google+ Hangout on January 30th. This seemed to be a logical opportunity to ask the administration about marijuana legalization. Last Tuesday, I posted NORML’s question to the White House YouTube page for consideration. We asked, “With over 850,000 Americans arrested in 2010, on marijuana charges alone, and tens of billions of tax dollars being spent locking up marijuana users, isn’t it time to regulate and tax marijuana?” The reception was overwhelmingly positive, in just several hours the question received over 4,000 “thumbs up” votes and was one of, if not the, most popular question on the service. Then a peculiar thing happened, the question was removed. After becoming the most positively voted upon question in less than a day, the White House removed the question, deeming it “inappropriate.” We informed our audience of the censorship and encouraged them to engage the White House on their own, using our question or a one of their own choosing. Over the next several days the program was inundated with marijuana law reform questions. At first, many met the same fate as our original question and were removed from the site. It seems our persistence ended up paying off and the page administrator finally gave up trying to censor the incoming questions and most marijuana inquiries have remained up since. Voting closed last night at midnight and I made some rough calculations of the final results to see how we performed. Of the top 160 questions asked, marijuana reform questions accounted for 105 of them. Reposts of our question brought in an estimated 17,524 up-votes in addition to the 4,028 the original received before being removed. Combined, that is over 21,000 votes for one question, which is 5 times as many votes as any other question on the page. The 105 marijuana reform questions in the top 160 brought in over 74,000 votes, dwarfing any other topic. Our friends at LEAP posted a question as well and it ended as one of the top rated questions. You can read their coverage here. Now, we wait. “Your Interview With the President” is scheduled to take place tomorrow, January 30th. Considering this is the same individual who previously stated that, “we need to rethink and decriminalize our marijuana laws” and that legalization is a “perfectly legitimate topic for debate,” maybe he will take this opportunity to address the issue seriously for once. In an election year, this could go a long way towards winning back those who feel disenfranchised with the administration over a perceived lack of progress on the issue and amped up raids on medical programs in states such as California and Colorado. The American people are ready for our debate Mr. President, are you?

fuckyeahdrugpolicy:

The White House’s attempt to censor popular questions about marijuana policy was foiled.

Obama’s Opportunity: Will the White House Snub Marijuana Yet Again? | NORML

Last week, the White House launched the next in its long line of social media engagement initiatives, this one entitled “Your Interview With the President.” The concept was simple, anyone could upload their question to the President on YouTube, others would vote on them, and the highest rated ones would be posed to the Commander in Chief in a Google+ Hangout on January 30th.

This seemed to be a logical opportunity to ask the administration about marijuana legalization. Last Tuesday, I posted NORML’s question to the White House YouTube page for consideration. We asked, “With over 850,000 Americans arrested in 2010, on marijuana charges alone, and tens of billions of tax dollars being spent locking up marijuana users, isn’t it time to regulate and tax marijuana?”

The reception was overwhelmingly positive, in just several hours the question received over 4,000 “thumbs up” votes and was one of, if not the, most popular question on the service. Then a peculiar thing happened, the question was removed. After becoming the most positively voted upon question in less than a day, the White House removed the question, deeming it “inappropriate.”

We informed our audience of the censorship and encouraged them to engage the White House on their own, using our question or a one of their own choosing. Over the next several days the program was inundated with marijuana law reform questions. At first, many met the same fate as our original question and were removed from the site. It seems our persistence ended up paying off and the page administrator finally gave up trying to censor the incoming questions and most marijuana inquiries have remained up since.

Voting closed last night at midnight and I made some rough calculations of the final results to see how we performed. Of the top 160 questions asked, marijuana reform questions accounted for 105 of them. Reposts of our question brought in an estimated 17,524 up-votes in addition to the 4,028 the original received before being removed. Combined, that is over 21,000 votes for one question, which is 5 times as many votes as any other question on the page. The 105 marijuana reform questions in the top 160 brought in over 74,000 votes, dwarfing any other topic. Our friends at LEAP posted a question as well and it ended as one of the top rated questions. You can read their coverage here.

Now, we wait. “Your Interview With the President” is scheduled to take place tomorrow, January 30th. Considering this is the same individual who previously stated that, “we need to rethink and decriminalize our marijuana laws” and that legalization is a “perfectly legitimate topic for debate,” maybe he will take this opportunity to address the issue seriously for once. In an election year, this could go a long way towards winning back those who feel disenfranchised with the administration over a perceived lack of progress on the issue and amped up raids on medical programs in states such as California and Colorado.

The American people are ready for our debate Mr. President, are you?

(via ikenbot)

Photo
January 29, 2012
378 notes

(Source: kuhnitsofmeasurement, via gardenofmouthings)

Photo
January 28, 2012
1 note
More IDS12…

More IDS12…

Photo
January 28, 2012
4 notes
“End Grain Wall” at IDS12, Toronto

“End Grain Wall” at IDS12, Toronto

Link
January 28, 2012
4 notes
Read My E-mail? Get a Warrant

Law-enforcement agencies have been making active use of all the new data these technologies generate. Google reports that U.S. government agencies send it nearly 1,000 requests for user information every month; the company complied with 93 percent of them between January and June of last year (the most recent period for which statistics are available). Verizon executives told Congress in 2007 that law-enforcement agencies send the company 90,000 requests for user details a year, including information on the specific locations of cell-phone customers.

In part because of this deluge, a broad coalition of technology companies, think tanks and privacy advocates called Digital Due Process has formed to ask Congress to update the ECPA for the modern age. Its demand is simple enough: if a law-enforcement agency wants to look at private user data—whether e-mails, documents or cell-phone location information—it needs a warrant. This reasonable demand for clarity is fully in keeping with the spirit of the original ECPA, as well as the Fourth Amendment of the Constitution’s prohibition “against unreasonable searches and seizures.” Indeed, the Digital Due Process coalition has brought together some uncommon allies—the American Civil Liberties Union, the Competitive Enterprise Institute, Amazon, Americans for Tax Reform and AT&T, to name just a few near the top of the alphabet. It deserves support from all members of Congress, too.

Quote
January 27, 2012
34 notes
"This topic brings me to that worst outcrop of herd life, the military system, which I abhor… This plague-spot of civilization ought to be abolished with all possible speed. Heroism on command, senseless violence, and all the loathsome nonsense that goes by the name of patriotism — how passionately I hate them!"

— Albert Einstein (via stillmindstillcosmos)

(Source: haereticum, via stillmindstillcosmos)

Photoset
January 27, 2012
78 notes

afro-art-chick:

“It is easy to be independent when you’ve got money. But to be independent when you haven’t got a thing, that’s the Lord’s test.”

“I close my eyes when I sing so I can feel the song better.”

“You’re blessed if you have the strength to work.”

“When you sing gospel you have a feeling there is a cure for what’s wrong.”

“Blues are the songs of despair, but gospel songs are the songs of hope.”

“Faith and prayer are the vitamins of the soul; man cannot live in health without them.”

 

 In Memoriam of the “Queen of Gospel” Mahalia Jackson ( b. October 26, 1911– January 27, 1972)

Photo
January 27, 2012
667 notes
fuckyeahdrugpolicy: How Legal Pot Could Save Thousands of Lives? Hint: Stop Feeding the Mexican Death Cartels | AlterNet What is plain as day is the fact that the demand for cannabis sativa is responsible for more deaths in Mexico than anything else—and after half a decade of unrelenting bloodshed—the body count just recently surpassed the 50,000 mark. Personally, that’s a bitter pill to swallow considering 50 percent of Americans now believe marijuana should be outright legalized, according to Gallup’s most recent poll from October 2011. For over forty years, ganja has been the steadiest and most reliable source of income for Mexican traffickers, and it’s still the primary substance that lures most wannabe sicarios into the drug running game. Most green-horn dope peddlers don’t get their start by transporting tons of coke at a time; rather, they have to earn their stripes by moving up the marijuana food chain—and many don’t make it past that point in their careers to begin with. Most followers tuned in to the legalization debate are already well aware of weed’s contribution to the chaos, yet there are still millions of unaware Americans who automatically assume it’s the costlier drugs at the heart of the violence. Obviously heroin, meth, and cocaine are significant players in their own right, but by they’re nowhere near the bread and butter that pot is to the cartels. This is further illustrated by the fact that the U.N. Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) has consistently reported a drop in cocaine shipments from Mexico, and additional studies have shown that the use of the three aforementioned drugs is on the decline in the United States (meanwhile, marijuana consumption continues to rise).  Having worked extensively along the border as a special agent for the Department of Homeland Security (Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s office of Homeland Security Investigations, or ICE HSI, to be exact), I know firsthand the futility behind continuing to wage an all-out war against a plant, especially one that American consumers are demanding more than ever. Realistically, when it comes to the sheer volume of weed arriving daily from Mexico, the entire border from Brownsville to San Diego is like a full-time smuggling feeding frenzy, with DHS personnel practically cross-trained as factory workers in light of the constant pot seizures and undercover controlled deliveries. Lord knows my former brothers would be helping the U.S. more by making better use of their time, like dismantling human trafficking networks for example. These cells are active all across the country, and they’re responsible for numerous deaths—like the gruesome slaying recently of Carina Saunders outside of Oklahoma City. + Jamie Haase, a speaker for Law Enforcement Against Prohibition, served as a special agent with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

fuckyeahdrugpolicy:

How Legal Pot Could Save Thousands of Lives? Hint: Stop Feeding the Mexican Death Cartels | AlterNet

What is plain as day is the fact that the demand for cannabis sativa is responsible for more deaths in Mexico than anything else—and after half a decade of unrelenting bloodshed—the body count just recently surpassed the 50,000 mark. Personally, that’s a bitter pill to swallow considering 50 percent of Americans now believe marijuana should be outright legalized, according to Gallup’s most recent poll from October 2011.

For over forty years, ganja has been the steadiest and most reliable source of income for Mexican traffickers, and it’s still the primary substance that lures most wannabe sicarios into the drug running game. Most green-horn dope peddlers don’t get their start by transporting tons of coke at a time; rather, they have to earn their stripes by moving up the marijuana food chain—and many don’t make it past that point in their careers to begin with.

Most followers tuned in to the legalization debate are already well aware of weed’s contribution to the chaos, yet there are still millions of unaware Americans who automatically assume it’s the costlier drugs at the heart of the violence. Obviously heroin, meth, and cocaine are significant players in their own right, but by they’re nowhere near the bread and butter that pot is to the cartels. This is further illustrated by the fact that the U.N. Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) has consistently reported a drop in cocaine shipments from Mexico, and additional studies have shown that the use of the three aforementioned drugs is on the decline in the United States (meanwhile, marijuana consumption continues to rise). 

Having worked extensively along the border as a special agent for the Department of Homeland Security (Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s office of Homeland Security Investigations, or ICE HSI, to be exact), I know firsthand the futility behind continuing to wage an all-out war against a plant, especially one that American consumers are demanding more than ever. Realistically, when it comes to the sheer volume of weed arriving daily from Mexico, the entire border from Brownsville to San Diego is like a full-time smuggling feeding frenzy, with DHS personnel practically cross-trained as factory workers in light of the constant pot seizures and undercover controlled deliveries. Lord knows my former brothers would be helping the U.S. more by making better use of their time, like dismantling human trafficking networks for example. These cells are active all across the country, and they’re responsible for numerous deaths—like the gruesome slaying recently of Carina Saunders outside of Oklahoma City. +

Jamie Haase, a speaker for Law Enforcement Against Prohibition, served as a special agent with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

Link
January 24, 2012
13 notes
S.F. Starts Back Issuing Medical Marijuana Dispensary Permits

giantboombastic:

weedporndaily:

​San Francisco has started back issuing medical marijuana dispensary permits again, after a recent California Supreme Court decision allowing the shops to stay open — for now.

 The city’s permitting process had been on hold for a few months after the state appeals court ruling in Pack v. Long Beach, reports Chris Roberts at the SF Weekly. That ruling — which held that cities and counties can’t regulate marijuana, since it’s against federal law — led local governments throughout the state to suspend, repeal, or reconsider their dispensary regulations.

Since the state Supreme Court agreed to hear an appeal, the lower court’s ruling has become invalidated, according to a spokesman for San Francisco City Attorney Dennis Herrera’s office. So the S.F. Department of Health’s medical marijuana dispensary permitting process can start back as normal, and several proposed shops which had been put on hold can finally receive the go-ahead to open their doors.

San Francisco will “continue processing permits under the City ordinance, pending a decision by the Supreme Court,” according to City Attorney spokesman Jack Song. “Department of Public health has resumed its processing of permits.”

I haven’t visited dispensaries in San Francisco since 2010. Sounds like alot has happened since.

Video
January 24, 2012
3 notes

galaxiesofgrace:

where ma punjabi people at ?

go baagi baagi

Quote
January 24, 2012
278 notes
"

Right now, we’re poised to spend nearly one trillion dollars more on what was supposed to be a temporary tax break for the wealthiest two percent of Americans. Right now, because of loopholes and shelters in the tax code, a quarter of all millionaires pay lower tax rates than millions of middle-class households. Right now, Warren Buffett pays a lower tax rate than his secretary.

Do we want to keep these tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans, or do we want to keep our investments in everything else? Like education and medical research? A strong military and care for our veterans? Because if we’re serious about paying down our debt, we can’t do both.

The American people know what the right choice is: so do I. As I told the Speaker this summer, I’m prepared to make more reforms that rein in the long-term costs of Medicare and Medicaid, and strengthen Social Security, so long as those programs remain a guarantee of security for seniors. But in return, we need to change our tax code so that people like me — and an awful lot of members of Congress — pay our fair share of taxes. Tax reform should follow the ‘Buffett Rule’: if you make more than a million dollars a year, you should not pay less than 30 percent in taxes.

"

— President BARACK OBAMA (via inothernews)

Photoset
January 24, 2012
515 notes

poptech:

The Biodiversity Project by Joels Sartore

For many of Earth’s creatures, time is running out. Half of the world’s plant and animal species will soon be threatened with extinction. The goal of the Biodiversity Project is simple: to show what’s at stake, and to get people to care, while there’s still time to save them.  More than 1,800 species have been photographed to date, with more to come.

(via NPR’s Morning Edition)

(via scinerds)

Photo
January 23, 2012
52 notes
guardian: Photograph: Chris Mcgrath/Getty Images Happy year of the dragon everyone! More celebrations pictured in our gallery

guardian:

Photograph: Chris Mcgrath/Getty Images

Happy year of the dragon everyone! More celebrations pictured in our gallery

(Source: )

Link
January 23, 2012
20 notes
Virginia lawmakers urges study of marijuana sales at ABC stores

brosephstalin:

By Michael Felberbaum 

RICHMOND

A Virginia lawmaker wants to study the possibility of selling marijuana through state-run liquor stores.

Democratic Del. David Englin of Alexandria has filed a joint resolution to look at the potential revenue impact for such a proposal.

Under the resolution, eight members of the General Assembly would study the feasibility and practicality of selling pot at the more than 330 ABC stores in Virginia. Findings would be due by the first day of the 2013 legislative session.

Englin also has filed a resolution asking the governor to petition the federal Drug Enforcement Agency to move marijuana from a Schedule I drug to Schedule II.

He cites states with medical marijuana laws and societal changes for the proposals.

The resolutions have been referred to the House Rules Committee.

(via wespeakfortheearth)

Photo
January 23, 2012
359 notes

(Source: yotta1000, via cooljeweledmoon)