eau de porneau.

NORML.ORG CN ON: Right-Wing Reefer

In his law student article, Tory said that he favoured decriminalization of pot, thought it was “absurd” to throw marijuana traffickers in jail and even mused about selling it as a legal product like alcohol.

Tory said yesterday that he still believes it’s unfair to give someone the stigma of a criminal record for simple possession but now believes in tougher sentences for traffickers.

I think it’s really important that more politicians realize that admitting they’ve smoked pot will probably not hurt their numbers. It’s good to know that there’s someone in the Conservative party considering decriminalization for personal use, but the standard Conservative model of tougher jail time for traffickers does nothing. You can put a murderer in jail, and there’s one less murderer on the street. However, if you put a drug dealer in jail, he’s replaced within hours.

Royal Wins French Socialists’ Nomination - New York Times

Segolene Royal won her Socialist Party’s nomination for the French presidency Thursday, a crucial step in her bid to become France’s first female chief executive.

The win means Royal will avoid a possibly divisive second round ballot against former Prime Minister Laurent Fabius and former Finance Minister Dominique Strauss-Kahn — two members of the party’s old guard who had challenged her.

Italy decriminalizing pot, France (possibly) getting a female president, South Africa getting gay marriage, and America getting Nancy Pelosi as speaker of the house, making some pretty fantastic promises for her first 100 hours in power.

The world’s pretty damned good right now, except that ridiculous war in Iraq.. oh, and the like, 30 pot busts I read about on Google News today.

Community responds to Taser use in Powell

[...] according to a study published in the Lancet Medical Journal in 2001, a charge of three to five seconds can result in immobilization for five to 15 minutes, which would mean that Tabatabainejad could have been physically unable to stand when the officers demanded that he do so.

Police officers said they determined the use of Tasers was necessary when Tabatabainejad did not do as they asked.

According to a UCPD press release, Tabatabainejad went limp and refused to exit as the officers attempted to escort him out. The release also stated Tabatabainejad “encouraged library patrons to join his resistance.” At this point, the officers “deemed it necessary to use the Taser in a “drive stun’ capacity.”

You could hardly go to any social news service on the internet without running into this story, and finally there’s some clarification. I’m wondering why the kid’s clamming up and not talking to the media. I think the evidence stacks up against the cops.

Yesterday a student leaving a library at UCLA was tasered by Campus Police for not showing identification on command.

Judging by the news article posted here, the story basically breaks down like this: The kid either didn’t have or refused to show ID. If he had it on him, I don’t see why this whole situation would have arose, so I’m assuming he didn’t and any report saying otherwise is probably slanted towards the police. The LA Times seems to be reporting the story this way, taking the side of the police and portaying Tabatabainejad as “non-compliant.” According to DailyKos he was of Muslim descent too, which could have had something to do with the tension the police show in the video.

In any event, Mostafa Tabatabainejad didn’t really seem to be doing anything that would warrant such a debacle, let alone a tasering. I understand campus police have a job they’re paid to do, but that doesn’t mean acting the way they did, allegedly jamming the taser into his ass cheek. On the other hand, if Tabatabainejad had just been a little more calm and compliant, the situation probably wouldn’t have become what it did.

Anyway, here’s the video. Decide for yourself.

After just watching the video again, it amazes me what fear will do to people.

Italy eases ‘personal use’ cannabis limits - New Zealand’s source for oddstuff - strange, weird & bizarre news on Stuff.co.nz

“I’ve planted some marijuana seeds in the flower beds in the chamber of deputies’ courtyard. And they’ve already started sprouting over the last few days,” said Communist Refoundation lawmaker Francesco Caruso.Caruso, also a well-known figure in Italy’s anti-globalisation movement, said he was just trying to advertise a pro-cannabis protest day on November 25 when activists will plant the drug in public places.

Who knew the battle was going on across the pond much in the same way it’s going here? I think Europe will be the first body of nations to truly adopt a universal plan to legalize Pot.

I’m interested in how the US drug czars are going to react to this.

Dalai Lama appeals for amnesty for Saddam Hussein :: Lobsang Wangyal.com

The Dalai Lama commended the stand of the European Union, who opposes the death penalty, and who calls on Iraq to refrain from carrying out the death sentence passed on Saddam Hussein.The Dalai Lama feels that any criminal activity can be prevented in society without having to resort to the death penalty, and hopes that in the case of Saddam Hussein, as with all others, that human life will be respected and spared.

I think the Dalai Lama’s right, but at this point, what political impact will his death really bring? Iraq is already a puppet state of the US, and really this will not do much more than piss some people off, make a lot happy, and bring an end to his incarceration in US-run prisons.

South African Parliament Approves Gay Marriages - New York Times

The new law allows both heterosexual and same-sex couples to register their unions either as marriages or civil partnerships. But in a concession to critics, it also allows civil officers to refuse to marry same-sex couples on the basis on conscience. Ms. Judge, the gay rights advocate, predicted that provision will be challenged in court.

“We can’t be in the situation where civil officers can decide who they want to marry and who they don’t want to marry,” she said. “They aren’t able to refuse to marry a black person and a white person. This is unconstitutional.”

Wow, right on South Africa. I honestly thought the next country in line would be America, but this is cool too. I’ve got to disagree with Judge though. If a Priest has a marriage license he should have the right to refuse to marry two gay guys if it goes against his religious beliefs.

Canada profs win right to smoke pot - CNN.com

“It took Professor MacLean a season, three full months, to get a similar accommodation and I believe that in Canada now, we should hope that the next person who gets the accommodation should not take more than a month,” Hutchinson told Reuters.

MacLean says the three-month response time from the university put him in a vulnerable position both medically and professionally, as he smoked joints on the edge of campus, and thus on the edge of the law.

Congratulations to the two professors in question, both of which I blogged about. This is a victory on many fronts, and hopefully, someday, there’ll be places for everyone to smoke pot at work. Not just medical patients.

God, that would be awesome.

For Evangelicals, Supporting Israel Is ‘God’s Foreign Policy’ - New York Times

Tell them “to let Israel do their job” of destroying the Lebanese militia, Hezbollah, Mr. Hagee said.

He called the conflict “a battle between good and evil” and said support for Israel was “God’s foreign policy.”

I’m not a Biblical scholar. Far from it.. but wouldn’t “God’s Foreign Policy” be protecting everyone and not just a country that’s friendly to American ideals?

The science was on their side, the opposition had weak arguments at best, and the support seemed to be pouring in from across the country, but somehow Amendment 44 suffered a blow last night, with 40% of the population turning out in support. Is the state of Colorado that conservative? Apparently not, since a Democrat was elected governor last night, although Gay Marriage also failed to pass. So why did Amendment 44 fail? Because they failed to correctly define the solution to drug prohibition, and thus failed to properly legalize.

Continue reading ‘Why Amendment 44 failed (and why you should care)’