Sunday, February 22, 2009
40% Say Marijuana Should Be Legalized.....
The marijuana debate has come a long way since “Reefer Madness.” While the Michael Phelps incident has brought the recreational use of pot back into the spotlight, much of the news about the drug in recent years has focused on whether it should be legalized for medical purposes, primarily to reduce pain for cancer victims. In a new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey, Americans are closely divided on the question of whether marijuana should be legalized: 40% say it should be, while 46% disagree. Fourteen percent (14%) are not sure which course is better....Link
McDonald's has denied workers compensation.
Fast food giant McDonald's has denied workers compensation benefits to a minimum wage employee who was shot when he ejected a customer who had been beating a woman inside the restaurant.A representative of the administrator for McDonald's workers compensation plan explained that "we have denied this claim in its entirety as it is our opinion that Mr. Haskett's injuries did not arise out of or within the course and scope of his employment."...Link
Obama expanding military operations....
WASHINGTON (AFP) – US President Barack Obama's administration has broadened the number of radical groups targeted by the CIA inside Pakistan by attacking a militant network seeking to overthrow the Pakistani government, The New York Times reported Saturday. The newspaper said recent missile strikes on training camps run by Baitullah Mehsud represent a broadening of the US military campaign inside Pakistan, which has been carried out largely by drone aircraft. Under fromer president George W. Bush, the United States frequently attacked militants from Al-Qaeda and the Taliban but stopped short of targeting Mehsud and his followers....Link
Saturday, February 21, 2009
The Leaders misrepresent the people.........
The metal door to the synagogue swung open and a small boy skipped across the courtyard. He looked puzzled at the three people who stood before him, two of whom were clearly not Iranian. He led us up some steps to the temple, where I slipped a skullcap on to my head. A lady came towards us, smiling. “Are you Jewish?” she asked.
“No,” I replied. “Sorry.”
My friend Annette and I went inside anyway, past a table of food laid out for Passover, and sat at the back as an elderly man read from the Torah in front of eight others.
I'd never have guessed that my first time inside a synagogue would be in Tehran, but Iran is full of surprises. It has a fundamentalist leadership that many in the West believe to be as nutty as a box of pistachios. But it also has a population of 65 million, most born after the 1979 Islamic Revolution (which culminated in the return from exile of Ayatollah Khomeini 30 years ago this month), and far removed from the dour and menacing stereotype often portrayed on the 10 o'clock news. The ordinary Iranian people are by far the friendliest and most welcoming I've met in more than 20 years of travelling....Link
“No,” I replied. “Sorry.”
My friend Annette and I went inside anyway, past a table of food laid out for Passover, and sat at the back as an elderly man read from the Torah in front of eight others.
I'd never have guessed that my first time inside a synagogue would be in Tehran, but Iran is full of surprises. It has a fundamentalist leadership that many in the West believe to be as nutty as a box of pistachios. But it also has a population of 65 million, most born after the 1979 Islamic Revolution (which culminated in the return from exile of Ayatollah Khomeini 30 years ago this month), and far removed from the dour and menacing stereotype often portrayed on the 10 o'clock news. The ordinary Iranian people are by far the friendliest and most welcoming I've met in more than 20 years of travelling....Link
Obama Stays the Course on Bagram............
The Justice Department today said it would adhere to the Bush administration's position that detainees imprisoned at a U.S. air base in Afghanistan have no right to challenge their confinement in U.S. courts. Last month, U.S. District Judge John Bates gave the new administration an opportunity to refine its position in cases involving four detainees incarcerated at the Bagram prison, located on a converted Soviet base about 30 miles north of Kabul. They are seeking the same rights as prisoners held at the naval base in Guantánamo Bay, Cuba -- more than 200 of whom are challenging their detention in habeas proceedings in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia....Link
Friday, February 20, 2009
Turley 'skeptical' of Pelosi........
Does the Bush administration get a pass for alleged abuses of power? Or will a Congress that's been reticent to investigate finally reverse course? In a recent interview with Rolling Stone, Pelosi said she's supportive of contempt citations against several Bush administration officials, indicating that Karl Rove, President Bush's former political adviser, will likely be prosecuted. However, on Thursday night, Constitutional attorney Jonathan Turley took exception to Pelosi, saying he is "skeptical" of her sincerity....Link
Smoke This Recession.........
It is a time of strange bedfellows and bizarre contortions and extraordinary responses to extreme situations, all overslathered with gobs of panic and dread and oh my God, I might have to sell the Range Rover. In other words, it is a time -- like you don't already know -- of plentiful alarmist rhetoric, resulting in weird outbursts of ingenuity and wanton ethics-loosening, all in a desperate effort to suck up some much-needed cash. Translation: Money's tight, baby. City's in trouble. State's deep in the hole. Nation's broke....Link
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
