Massachusetts: Help monitor local implementation of Question 2

It seems some anti-pot smoking repubs want to make an additional fine for smoking marijuana in public!  Since passage of the Question 2 law, there hasn’t been a problem with people smoking pot in public! I live in Mass. and I would’ve heard about it! Many feel that it would be asking for $100 fine and who needs another expense?

No more fines Massachusetts!  Let’s make it profitable for the state tax coiffeurs!  Make it legal!  Then you can tax it!  Consumers can buy marijuana knowing that is 100% cannabis and not laced with something they never wanted to try or use! 

Anyway, let’s make it legal and make a profit!  Please try to help by attending a meeting and standing up for what you believe in.  I’m going to try to attend.  I hope you will too!

Peace

Marijuana Policy Project Alert
January 29, 2009

Mass.: Help monitor local implementation of Question 2

Dear Pamela:

Now that Question 2 is law, some localities are considering whether to create an additional penalty for the public use of marijuana. Methuen, Quincy, Everett, Springfield, and Braintree are all expected to discuss and possibly vote on this issue next week.

Question 2 made the penalty for possessing up to an ounce of marijuana in Massachusetts a $100 civil fine, but left it up to localities to decide whether or not to create an additional penalty for smoking marijuana in public. Despite the fact that there haven't been reports of widespread public marijuana smoking, and that Question 2's $100 fine and seizure of marijuana is already an effective deterrent, several localities across the state are scheduling public meetings on the issue of public use.

If you hear about such a meeting where you live, we encourage you take part in the democratic process and attend. Please let us know when you learn of a meeting by sending details (including date and time) to nmiller@mpp.org.

The Attorney General has provided a sample ordinance that localities can use if they decide to spend their time and energy on this non-issue. The Attorney General's sample ordinance clearly states that towns may go the route of "noncriminal disposition pursuant to G.L. c. 40, § 21D." The sample ordinance suggests a $300 fine for using marijuana in a public place, which is significantly higher than most cities' penalties for drinking alcohol in public.

Unlike a criminal disposition, a noncriminal disposition for public marijuana use under Massachusetts law would not require an arrest or any other interaction with the court system unless an individual contests the citation or fails to pay the fine on time. As is, Question 2 means that law enforcement, judicial, and correctional resources will not be wasted on what is essentially a public nuisance offense.

Local and state officials should give Question 2 time to work before jumping the gun and passing more laws on top of a new voter-approved law that a few naysayers have already claimed is too hard for them to understand. This is only an issue in the minds of a few drug warriors who wish to impose their beliefs at the local level after suffering an embarrassing loss at the state level.

Local leaders considering public use ordinances should be reminded that one of the main reasons 65% of Massachusetts voters approved Question 2 is because it is estimated to save taxpayers approximately $29.5 million a year in law enforcement resources alone. If they are considering imposing criminal penalties, they should be told that making the public use of marijuana an arrestable offense would involve every level of the criminal justice system, thereby undermining one of the very purposes of Question 2. Local leaders should also be reminded that nearly 2 million Massachusetts voters supported the general intent of Question 2, which was to keep marijuana users out of jail.

Chances are, you live in a place that voted overwhelmingly in favor of Question 2. To find out what percentage of voters from your district approved Question 2, click here and scroll over the area of the map where you live — you might see a number that should be brought to the attention of your local leaders.

If you attend one of these public meetings, we'd love to hear how it went. Please send us any feedback, comments, or concerns you have regarding how your community is implementing Question 2.

Thank you for supporting the Marijuana Policy Project and all of our allies. Please share this alert with others in your area who may be interested in getting more involved with making sure Question 2 is implemented in a manner consistent with the intent of Question 2 and the will of the voters.

Sincerely,

Nathan Miller
Legislative Analyst
Marijuana Policy Project

 

Technorati Tags: marijuana,marijuana legalization,cannabis,Question 2,Marijuana Policy Project,activism,actions,laws

Welcome to Hell: Gaza's Unending Misery

The Israelis are stepping up their assaults. Meanwhile the Palestinian death toll has exceeded 800; the Israelis' 15. Hundreds of children have been murdered. With nowhere to go, the people in Gaza await their execution. Most have no food, water, electricity and a 75 acre lagoon containing 450 million gallons of human waste is about to break.Israeli forces yesterday pounded dozens of targets in the Gaza Strip and dropped leaflets warning of an escalation in attacks, as southern Israel came under renewed Palestinian rocket fire. Last night, as flames and smoke rose over Gaza City, speculation grew that Israel was about to launch the so-called third stage of its offensive: the forcible entry into Gaza City by thousands of troops.

In response, Hamas said that the Gaza offensive had “killed the last chance for settlement and negotiation with Israel”. Earlier yesterday, Israeli aircraft attacked more than 40 targets throughout Gaza, striking 10 rocket-launching sites, weapons-storage facilities, smuggling tunnels, an anti-aircraft missile launcher and gunmen. And civilians. In the day’s bloodiest incident, an Israeli tank shell landed outside a home in the northern Gaza town of Jabaliya, killing nine people as they sat in their garden. They were all from the same clan, and, said health administrator Adham Hakim, their bodies were so mangled they were brought to hospital in the boot of a civilian car. Two were women and two were children.

read more | digg story

Police confirm Huffington Post writer killed partner

A Huffington Post election contributor stabbed and killed her former partner in their shared home before shooting herself, Florida police confirmed late last night.Police said 57-year-old Carol Burger attacked Jessica Kalish, 57, in the garage of their house in Boynton on October 22, inflicting 222 stab wounds with a screwdriver.

read more | digg story

Amy Wilentz: Benazir Bhutto: A Killing and Three Funerals

"Death is a proof of sincerity," Graham Greene wrote in The Comedians. That holds true here.

As for the motivations of the killers. Their real targets were secular liberalism, the Bhutto dynasty, and the U.S. What they feared was a Bhutto premiership, beginning in about ten days, when the elections were to take place. Whoever they are exactly, they see an opening to power and control now, and they would not permit Benazir to stand in their way.

LA Times: The Benazir I Knew

Amy's profile of Benazir Bhutto appears in the December/January issue of More magazine.

Read more reactions from HuffPost bloggers on Benazir Bhutto's assassination

read more digg story

TomPaine.com - The Tip Of The Iceberg

I agree wholeheartedly with this oped piece. I feel for those that have served our country and come home to substandard conditions at Walter Reed. But, being in low income housing myself I know that we live in the same, if not worse conditions in our own homes. The apartment that I share with my wife and son has mice, mold, and since we live on the first floor, the water that contiously floods our basement is no help either. All three of us suffer continously due to the mold. We are all allergic to mold as well. Typically, I'm not a whiner but when you pay 650 a month rent and you can't find anything better than what we're currently living in, what are we supposed to do?

John Bartlett

March 30, 2007

John Bartlett is director of the Metropolitan Tenants Organization. His email address is johnb@tenants-rights.org

Outrage has grown—as it should—over the mold, roaches, mice and poor living conditions found in Walter Reed Army Hospital. According to Rep. Harry Waxman, D-Calif., the chairman of the House government oversight committee, "This may be just the tip of the iceberg."

Congressman Waxman is correct, perhaps more than he realizes. The scandal of poor living conditions at the Army hospital is representative of a much larger problem facing hundreds of thousands of this nation's low- and moderate-income residents—they are living in substandard housing conditions, including mold, roaches and mice, that are causing or triggering serious and preventable illnesses.

In the same way that everyone expects hospitals to be a "clean and safe" place, we have that expectation of our homes. Yet housing is often overlooked as a hidden determinant to health. Substandard housing in particular can cause significant public health problems. An increasing body of evidence has shown strong associations between housing conditions and health.

For example, children are still being poisoned by lead paint—a neurotoxin that damages a child's developing brain resulting in irreversible brain damage, lower IQs and juvenile delinquency—almost 30 years after lead in paint was banned. According to the Centers for Disease Control, 310,000 children in 2002 were poisoned by lead; in 2005, 3,500 children were poisoned in Chicago alone. In over 90 percent of the cases, the lead dust was found in the home. According to Ralph Scott at the Alliance for Healthy Homes, "The real shame is that lead poisoning is entirely preventable. We can make homes lead safe."

The CDC estimates that annually 14,000 people die from radon-related cancer, 500 from carbon monoxide poisoning and 3,000 from house fires. These numbers don't begin to reflect the health care costs, lost work and missed school due to illness.
Another growing illness with links to the home is asthma. Airborne particles containing rodent feces, mold and other irritants in the home are known to be major contributors to asthma. The American Lung Association of Metropolitan Chicago reports that asthma attacks send some 70,000 Chicagoans to the emergency room every year. One recent study showed that the prevalence of asthma is as high as 30 percent in some low-income minority neighborhoods. Many of these neighborhoods have high concentrations of older housing stock that is badly in need of maintenance—even more so than Walter Reed Hospital.

The solutions to this kind of neglect are fairly straightforward. A recent study in Harlem, New York, found that an ambitious program in which health care workers collaborated with housing advocates was able to virtually eliminate the need for overnight hospitalization due to asthma attacks. The public health nurses educated residents about the proper use of medicines to manage the illness and housing advocates worked to rid the homes of rats, roaches, mold and other asthma triggers. The study found that while there is no cure for asthma, the disease could be controlled through a combination of medicine and improved environmental conditions.

In the same way that there is no reason for wounded vets to live in substandard conditions, there is no reason that our children should be getting sick in their homes. We can do something about it, but it takes investing in maintaining our housing stock. Despite this growing body of evidence linking health and homes, the president's budget for fiscal 2008 contains a decrease in funding for the Healthy Homes Program. If anything, we should be increasing our investment and making sure that no one lives in a home that makes them sick.

So, the neglect of Walter Reed Army Hospital is just the tip of an iceberg of general neglect of our housing stock, especially for low- and moderate-income people, that will cost our nation dearly in the long run.

Source: TomPaine.com - The Tip Of The Iceberg

Technorati tags: Tom Paine, opinion, Walter Reed Army Hospital

"Faggot" is dangerous

To my 14 y/o son the term "faggot" is dangerous because he has 2 Mom's. Since he is in middle school many of his peers like to tease him about this fact. It pains him because no one understands that his Moms love him very much and as he says, "you're not faggots, gay, or anything but my Moms."

Posted by Pam Spaulding at 8:26 AM on March 6, 2007.

When someone hurls the new F-bomb at you, what do you think it's referring to? Ann doesn't think it has anything to do with sexual orientation. On Faux News last night (she appeared on there rather than debate John Aravosis on CNN), she also bleated that "It isn't offensive to gays. It has nothing to do with gays."

Faggot. (Kevin Aviance brutally gay-bashed in East Village)

Well, now I guess the conservative movement has to make a choice, and it'll probably be the wrong one -- it will continue to love Coulter because she represents The Base. This is who they are, despite the efforts of a few bloggers who were at that meeting and were offended enough to publish an open letter telling people to stop giving Coulter a public platform.

According to Think Progress, David Keene, president of the American Conservative Union (a co-sponsor of the CPAC), has he not said whether she'll be invited back again. Andrew Sullivan received this terse email from ACU:

ACU and CPAC leave it to our audience to determine whether comments are appropriate or not. "Ann Coulter is known for comments that can be both provocative and outrageous. That was certainly the case in her 2007 CPAC appearance and previous ones as well. But as a point of clarification, let me make it clear that ACU and CPAC do not condone or endorse the use of hate speech," said David A. Keene, ACU Chairman.

Faggot. (Gay Bashing Victim Dies After Family Removes Life Support)

At least some companies know what the word "faggot" means -- Verizon, Sallie Mae and Georgia-based NetBank have pulled ads from Coulter's web site. A NetBank rep said: Coulter's web page "is not the kind of site we want to be on." Verizon: "This one could be considered an extreme political Web site, should be off the list, and now it is off the list."

Again, this is less about Coulter than it is about the fact that...

... she is a proponent of homophobia (and clearly schoolyard bullying) if she is going to spew it's a harmless word without a specific and well-known meaning.

People die, lose their jobs, are beaten and harassed because of homophobia. Is this what the GOP and the conservative movement stands for? That's fine with me, just don't try to pretend that's not what Coulter is saying.

Faggot. (72-year-old disabled gay man killed)

History has shown that the party of Bush has gone out of its way to be hostile toward gays and lesbians, its leaders pushing legislation to restrict and deny civil rights solely because of someone's orientation.

The GOP has been taken over by extremists and what we are looking at is a fight between the gay-baiting Base and the social moderates who have been silenced and out in the wilderness for years.

The party can choose its path, but the homophobes in the party aren't going down easily. Those in their movement need to step up and not just talk about Coulter, but about why too many conservatives and the GOP feel the need to rely on bashing LGBT citizens to make a point.

Faggot. (Hockey Coach Charged In Brutal Gay Bashing)

H/t, Joe.

Pam Spaulding blogs at Pam's House Blend.

Source: AlterNet: Blogs: PEEK: "Faggot" is dangerous

Technorati tags: news, opinion, Anne Coulter, blog, LBGT

Bush Calls for Propaganda Surge...

Posted by Evan Derkacz at 6:06 AM on February 9, 2007.

Tim Karr: Slashes PBS

This post comes from Tim Karr.

The latest twist of Bush's budgetary knife lays bare the White House's information priority: Fake news trumps real reporting.

George W. Bush is trying—yet again—to smother NPR, PBS and other public broadcasting while at the same forcing an escalation (sorry "surge') in funding for propaganda.

The president's proposed fiscal year 2008 budget for "U.S. international broadcasting" calls for an overall increase of 3.8% from the last year's recommendation.

All told the budget calls for $668.2 million for the Broadcasting Board of Governors (BBG), the federal agency that supervises all US government non-military propaganda.

Slash and Burn

At the same time Bush's budget proposes steep cuts to federal funds for public broadcasting by nearly 25%. According to the Association of Public Television Stations, the Bush budget would cut up to $145 million from the $460 million proposed FY 2008 budget for the Corporation of Public Broadcasting.

The amount allocated to the BBG is a 3.8 percent increase from the agency's 2007 budget with monies specifically "targeted to the war on terror." These tax dollars would flow to government mouthpieces including the Voice of America, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, the Middle East Broadcasting Networks, Alhurra, Radio Free Asia, and the Office of Cuba Broadcasting.

According to a BBG release: "The budget also fully funds initiatives … to critical Muslim audiences. These include the expansion of VOA television to Iran to a 12 hour stream, VOA Pashto radio programming to the Afghanistan/Pakistan border region, television programs to Afghanistan and Pakistan and Alhurra Europe, the 24/7 service to Arabic speakers in Europe."

Taxpayer money well spent?

Measure the overwhelming public support for funding of public broadcasting against their growing dissatisfaction with the war effort. According to a 2005 Roper poll, 82% of Americans believe that taxpayer funding given to PBS is "money well spent". A recent AP-Ipsos poll counts 62% of Americans who now think that going to war in Iraq was a mistake.

Bush proposed cuts to public broadcasting will have "Sesame Street" and other ad-free kids' shows are under the knife. So is the watchdog journalism, critical voices and diverse fare that PBS, NPR and other public media offer. The cuts continue the partisan war on journalism once led by the ex-chair of public broadcasting, Ken Tomlinson (remember him).

It's now up to Congress to set the budget right and restore funding to media that more accurately represents the public's priorities. You can help.

Source: AlterNet: Blogs: PEEK: Bush Calls for Propaganda Surge...

Technorati tags: pbs, news, media, Bush, propaganda, government

AMERICAblog: Tuesday Morning Thread

Well, the Republican Senators got their wish yesterday. They stopped the Iraq debate. The very Senators who've enabled Bush's war won't even discuss it on the floor of the Senate -- they won't even allow a debate on a non-binding resolution.
They have to pay a price in 2008. (And, note to Norm Coleman and Susan Collins: you might have voted the right way for a change. But your GOP leaders shut down the debate. You're not off the hook.)

Source: AMERICAblog: A blog for a great nation that deserves the truth

Technorati tags: AMERICAblog, blogs, republicans, senate, Iraq war, Iraq

Gay Leaders Call For Hilton Apology After Slur-Filled Video

Gay Leaders Call For Hilton Apology After Slur-Filled Video

• The Huffington Post Raw Feed
• By The Huffington Post
• 2/5/2007 18:22 PM

Gay rights leaders in Los Angeles are calling on Paris Hilton to explain herself after making a series of anti-gay and racial slurs in a video that began circulating in cyberspace last week.

The video, which appears to have been taken by an amateur videographer at a private party, shows Hilton referring to someone using the derogatory 'f' word and describes herself and sister Nicky as "n**gas."

Source: Gay Leaders Call For Hilton Apology After Slur-Filled Video

Technorati tags: human rights, GLBT, LGBT, politics, news, activism

****updated - 'Snickers pulled the Web site'

UPDATE: Snickers pulled the Web site containing the homophobic ads and commentary. Still no word from Snickers about the entire affair.

Source: AMERICAblog: A blog for a great nation that deserves the truth

Technorati tags: human rights, Snickers Petition, Snickers, petition

"Tell Snickers To End Homophobic Advertisements Now!" Petition

Snickers has launched several advertisements that portray and encourage violence towards those who are gay and those who defy society’s rigid standards of behavior for men and women. In one advertisement a man is encouraged to do something manly after being kissed by another man. In return he beats the guy up. To learn more and see the other ads visit queertoday.com or snickers.com.
What we want:
- Admit wrongdonig and apologize to the LGBT Community
- Pull all advertisements, print, and media in relation to this campaign

Click here to sign the "Tell Snickers to End Homophobic Advertisements Now!" Petition

Source: Tell Snickers To End Homophobic Advertisements Now! Petition

Technorati tags: human rights, Snickers Petition, petition, opinion

I had a dream...

that the weight of the entire world on his shoulders finally got to him and he developed a heart...

but, it was just a dream...

Military, media divide grows

While I was waiting to manifest on the flight to Fallujah, CNN played a news segment of President Bush announcing there would be no "graceful exit" from Iraq and that we'd stay until the mission was complete. Two sergeants in the room cheered. Loudly. They then scoffed at the reports from Baghdad, and jeered the balcony reporting.

In nearly every conversation, the soldiers, Marines and contractors expressed that they were upset with the coverage of the war in Iraq in general and the public perception of the daily situation on the ground. They felt the media was there to sensationalize the news, and several stated some reporters were only interested in "blood and guts."

Yet, they freely admitted the obstacles in front of them in Iraq.

Most recognized that while we are winning the war on the battlefield, albeit with difficulties in some areas, we are losing the information war. They felt the media had abandoned them.

During each conversation, I was left in the awkward situation of having to explain that while, yes, I am wearing a press badge--I'm not "one of them." I used descriptions like "independent journalist" or "blogger"--in an attempt to separate myself from the pack.

This isn't the first time I've encountered this sentiment from the troops. I experienced this attitude from the Marines while I was in western Iraq last year, and the soldiers in the Canadian Army in Afghanistan also expressed frustration with the media's presentation of the war.

I've always said that the hardest thing about embedding (besides leaving my family) is wearing the badge that says "PRESS." That hasn't changed. I hide the badge whenever I can get away with it.

Bill is currently embedded in Iraq and writes at billroggio.com

Source: The Raw Story Raw introduces Iraq correspondent as military, media divide grows

Technorati tags: Iraq, Iraq war, blogs, bloggers, news, opinion

Bloggers in Print

For bloggers who yearn to see their words printed offline, Adam Bellow, a 20-year book publishing veteran (and son of novelist Saul Bellow), is now giving them the chance. Bellow's new project, the New Pamphleteer (TNP), aspires to be the publisher of choice for online pundits. The company doesn't intend to simply recycle old blog posts, but will also commission new work from popular bloggers that is not available online. For now, the print runs are small, in the hundreds, but Bellow hopes it's only the beginning.

Bellow and his business partner, David Bernstein, also an experienced publishing hand, are betting that these bite-sized books are the perfect way to capture the best voices of the blogosphere in an easy-to-read format. Says Bellow: "Pamphlets are the ideal form for the needs of the intelligent reader in our fast-paced, media-saturated, ADD culture." The average TNP pamphlet averages 40 to 80 pages. Small enough to cart around easily (4x6 inches), they run $4 apiece on TNP's website.

But who will read them? "The community of people who blog and read blogs, in specific areas of interest ranging from politics to food and from fashion to philosophy," says Bellow. "Beyond that, I have in mind the much larger audience of people who know that blogs exist but lack the time or inclination to sift through the enormous flow of verbiage to find the best that has been thought and said online."

Source: Bloggers in Print -- Wednesday, Jan. 24, 2007 -- Page 1 -- TIME

Technorati tags: blogs, bloggers, media, publishing

I can finally use the 'new' Blogger...

I've been dying to use the 'new' Blogger for ages and finally today Blogger let my blog ::uncomfortably numb:: transition to it's new version. I like it alot...so far. But, that is going to mean alot of reconstruction for me.
So we're under construction for a tiny bit as we adjust...