Free Speech, Media, Politics, Society

Washington Revises Marijuana Advertising Rules: What Were They Smoking?

By Darren Smith, Weekend Contributor

Entreating the GodfatherThe Washington State Liquor Control Board (LCB), charged with administering the state’s legalized marijuana industry, has shown once again its detachment from common sense and business acumen by increasing Initiative 502’s restrictions through crafting administrative rules that border on absurdity.

It is a small example of the duality of the LCB in how it proffers its desire to see windfalls of tax receipts for the state but acts to suppress the same industry it extracts these taxes from.

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Courts, Free Speech, Justice, Politics

Washington Legislature Snubs State Supreme Court By Refusing To Allow Chief Justice To Give State Of The Judiciary Address

By Darren Smith Weekend Contributor

Washington Chief Justice Barbara Madsen
Chief Justice Barbara Madsen

The intrigue after the fallout generated by State Supreme Court holding the state, and essentially the legislature, in contempt for failing to adequately address their constitutionally mandated funding of primary education, the legislature refused to allocate time to allow Barbara Madsen, the Chief Justice, to give the State of The Judiciary Address.

Legislators claimed, among other issues, it was due to the historical lack of attendance by members and not an insult directed at the Supreme Court.

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Bizarre, Criminal law

The New Year Brings New Accidental Shootings

220px-Criminologygunglock180px-San_Diego_FireworksA few days after the tragic shooting of a mother in Wal-Mart by her two-year-old son in Idaho, we have two additional negligent shooting in California and Georgia. These cases present differences how such shooting cases are handled. In California, a man was arrested after his girlfriend was hit by a celebratory New Year’s shot while in Georgia a wife was hit by a round fired by a local police chief. [Update: Sheriff McCollum now says that he was moving the gun while in bed when it discharged twice].

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Bizarre, Criminal law, International

Natural Self-Selection: New Year Brings Arrests Of The Criminally Challenged

170px-Charles_DarwinPrisonCellIf Darwin wanted proof of natural self-selection, he would would need to look no further than Darwin, Australia where two men broke into the restaurant and loaded up a wheelie trashcan with 151 bottles of booze and eight cases of beer. However, the men aged 33 and 44 decided to stop and have a few for the road. Police later found one of the men passed out in front of the store with empty bottles scattered around him. The other man was not hard to find: he left his backpack with his ID card inside the store. They have competition in any race for the bottom of the criminal evolutionary scale this week with two master criminals of our own.

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Uncategorized

Farewell To Mario Cuomo

220px-GovernorMarioCuomoFormer New York Gov. Mario Cuomo died Thursday at 82, just shortly after his son Andrew was sworn into his second term as Governor of New York. I can’t say that I knew Cuomo well, but I had the great pleasure of speaking with him a number of times over the years. I liked him a great deal and I always thought it was a terrible loss to the country when he stepped aside from a run for the White House — leaving the path clear to Bill Clinton to run. He was a deeply caring and intelligent man. While many picked up a genuine quality about him from television, it was even more evident in person where he would put people at ease and convey an honest interest in their views and concerns.

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Animals, Criminal law, International, Politics, Society

Chinese Man Sentenced After Organizing Trips To Kill and Eat Endangered Tigers

Tigress_at_Jim_Corbett_National_ParkThe appetite of Chinese consumers for endangered and threatened species is considered one of the greatest threats facing environmentalists and animal activists. Even Chinese diplomats have been accused of massive violations of laws protecting these species. As Chinese consumers acquire more disposable income, the demand for such products is increasing. The depth of this problem is illustrated in the recent prosecution of a wealthy real estate developer, identified only by his surname Xu, who (according to police) has “a special hobby of grilling tiger bones, boning tiger paws, storing tiger penis, eating tiger meat and drinking tiger blood alcohol.” He was convicted of killing and eating three rare tigers in the Chinese version of the Gourmet Club from The Freshman.
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Constitutional Law, Criminal law, Free Speech, International, Politics, Society

Make that 101: Chinese Filmmaker Does Documentary On China’s 100-Year Struggle For Constitutional Rule . . . China Sentences Him To One Year In Jail

130px-Mao_Zedong_portraitThe Chinese government again proved that little has changed in the People’s Republic in the denial of basic civil liberties and human rights. Filmmaker Shen Yongping has become the latest and more poignant example of the totalitarian regime’s continued crackdown on free speech. Shen produced a documentary on the 100-year struggle of the Chinese for constitutional government. Chinese officials responded by arresting him and now sentencing him to a year in jail. It appears that a sequel is in the making.

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Society

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Happy New Year to all of our blog community from around the world. The four kids made it to midnight again this year even though the parents were beginning to fade. This is a double celebration for me since it is also my 17th – or 25th if you count 8 years of dating as I do (over the objections of Leslie) anniversary. We eloped in Alexandria, Virginia on New Year’s Eve in 1997. With the start of 2015, I thought I would share a few of our annual statistics and successes on the blog.

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Congress, Politics, Society

Gruber In 2009 Warned That Obamacare Was Not Designed To Reduce Costs As Opposed To Guarantee Coverage

screen-shot-2014-11-13-at-8-45-49-amMIT professor Jonathan Gruber has produced a firestorm of controversy over remarks made in various settings about the Affordable Care Act (“Obamacare”) and how drafters like himself relied on the “stupidity” of voters in passing the legislation. It appears that the Gruber hits keep coming, even as he prepares for another round of questioning in Congress. The latest comments from 2009 reveal Gruber saying that Obamacare would not produce affordable health care for many citizens since its focus is coverage not costs. This statement made five months before the passage of the Act from a key architect is in stark contrast to President Obama’s repeated assertions that premiums would go down dramatically. The latest statement will fuel questioning before Congress on whether the White House knew that premiums were unlikely to do down and that people would not be able to keep their current policies as promised by President Obama in selling the program.

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Society

Idaho Women Killed At Wal-Mart After Her 2-Year-Old Son Pulls Gun From Her Purse And Shoots Her

veronica-jean-rutledgeAn Idaho nuclear research scientist, Veronica Rutledge, was killed Tuesday in a horrific accident where her 2-year-old son pulled a loaded handgun from her purse and shot her at a Wal-Mart. The gun was in the Christmas gift that Rutledge had received from her husband: a purse with a special pocket for a concealed weapon.

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Constitutional Law, International, Society

Delta Flight Delayed After Ultra Orthodox Jews Refuse To Take Off Until Women Are Removed From Their Rows

220px-2010-07-15_B767_Delta_N1611B_EDDF_04A Delta Airlines flight from New York’s JFK Airport to Israel was delayed by half an hour after a group of ultra-Orthodox Jewish men refused to sit next to female passengers. We discussed the same type of disruption on a flight in September by ultra-Orthodox travelers refusing to sit down until people moved around to accommodate their extreme religious views. What is astonishing is that the disruptive travelers faced no reported repercussions for delaying a flight or refusing to comply with the instruction of flight attendants.

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Constitutional Law, Courts, International, Politics, Religion

Egyptian Court Permanently Bans Jewish Celebration For “Moral Offenses”

ShowImage.ashxAn Egyptian court has permanently banned the three-day festival celebrating the birth of Rabbi Jacob Abu Hasira in Egypt’s Nile Delta region of Buheira. The judge cited unspecified “moral offenses” as the reason for the ban. It is the latest example of Egypt’s devolution from a secular to a sectarian legal system. While the Muslim Brotherhood and President Mohammed Morsi were ousted in 2013 after pushing the country toward an Islamic, sharia-based system, the country still has seen the steady erosion of secular values and the separation of religion and state.

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Bizarre, Criminal law, International, Media, Politics, Society

Is The “Dear One” The Innocent One?

Sony_Entertainment_Networkkim-jong-unNow this would make for a great movie (certainly better than “The Interview”). Here’s the plot. A reportedly awful movie is produced by Sony with little expected success. Then the company is hacked with threats not to release the movie. All fingers are pointed at North Korea, including statements from the White House and the FBI. There are widespread reports of the U.S. shutting down the North Korean Internet in retaliation. However, the real culprits are actually laid-off Sony staff. In the meantime, the suppressed movie racks in millions as viewers (including my kids last night) rush to see the forbidden movie. Now that’s a movie plot. It is not clear however if it should be fiction or non-fiction. Media is reporting that experts believe that North Korea was in fact innocent of the hacking and that the culprits were former employees of that other hermit kingdom, Sony.

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International, Media, Politics, Religion

Turkish Government Arrests 16-Year-Old Boy For Insulting Erdogan

1533782_1013750711972480_2898209863156174231_n220px-Recep_Tayyip_ErdoganThe rapid decline of civil liberties in Turkey continue this month under the expanding control of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his coalition of Islamic parties. The latest sign came with the arrest of Mehmet Emin Altunses, 16, who allegedly committed the crime of “insulting” Erdogan. That is what free speech has become in Turkey. It is a crime to write or say things insulting about Erdogan who is viewed around the world as a menacing clown destroying secularism and civil liberties in Turkey. Despite such moments as Erdogan’s calling people who use birth control “traitors” and saying Muslims discovered America, you are not allowed to be disrespectful or insulting in discussing Erdogan.

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Criminal law, Religion, Torts

Heather Cook, Maryland’s First Female Bishop, Accused of Fatal Hit-and-Run

244F92AB00000578-2889726-Tragic_Maryland_s_first_female_bishop_58_year_old_Heather_Cook_c-m-5_1419843198355244FA2C300000578-0-image-m-7_1419834114326The second highest Episcopal minister in Maryland, Bishop Suffragan Heather Cook, is under fire for an alleged fatal hit-and-run. Cook hit bicyclist Tom Palermo, 41, on a sunny Saturday afternoon, and left the father of two young children dying of a head wound on the side of the road. She returned 20 minutes later.

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