JASON KOEBLER, - US News and World Report
Stephan: Another marijuana myth falls to actual data.
It’s long been the argument of law enforcement and anti-medical marijuana advocates that the government-sanctioned pot dispensaries cause an uptick in crime, especially burglary and muggings. The only problem is that argument isn’t necessarily true, according to a new study funded by the National Institutes of Health.
On its face, the argument makes sense-medical marijuana dispensaries feature large caches of high quality drugs, and its customers overwhelmingly walk in with a huge wad of cash and walk out with a desirable product. But the study, published in the Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs, found that neighborhoods with medical marijuana dispensaries in Sacramento were no more likely to have crime than other neighborhoods.
The study’s authors say their research may debunk a 2009 report by the California Police Chiefs Association that said marijuana dispensaries ‘have been tied to organized criminal gangs, foster large [marijuana growth] operations, and are often multi-million-dollar profit centers.’
‘Because they are repositories of valuable marijuana crops and large amounts of cash, several operators of dispensaries have been attacked and murdered by armed robbers both at their storefronts and homes, and such places have been regularly burglarized,’ the report continues. ‘Drug dealing, sales to minors, loitering, heavy vehicle and […]
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Wednesday, June 6th, 2012
Stephan: The outcome of the Wisconsin recall, with Walker retaining his office, I believe, should be seen as a case study of what Citizen's United has wrought. Two things have been demonstrated: first, with enough money you can break the unions, the only organized source of Democratic money and foot soldiers. Second, that given enough money a Rightist extremist can be elected. A small group of people can buy the government they want, and it will craft for them the policies they desire. You don't do anything illegal when you get to write the laws.
Walker's win will shape every election in the country. The journey we have begun has momentous consequences, few of them positive.
-- Stephan
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Wednesday, June 6th, 2012
KATHERINE STEWART, - The Guardian (U.K.)
Stephan: In my view fundamentalism, be it Christian, Jewish, or Muslim, is essentially one historical trend. The fundamentalist drive to enforce behavior, it's obsession with sex and the subordination of women, its drive to penetrate and control government constitute, I think, one of the most dangerous trends humanity faces. It affects how we respond to climate change, sea rise, science, health, and social support. And one has to note to the violence of fundamentalism.
Good News Clubs’ evangelism in schools is already subverting church-state separation. Now they justify murdering nonbelievers.
The Bible has thousands of passages that may serve as the basis for instruction and inspiration. Not all of them are appropriate in all circumstances.
The story of Saul and the Amalekites is a case in point. It’s not a pretty story, and it is often used by people who don’t intend to do pretty things. In the book of 1 Samuel (15:3), God said to Saul:
‘Now go, attack the Amalekites, and totally destroy all that belongs to them. Do not spare them; put to death men and women, children and infants, cattle and sheep, camels and donkeys.’
Saul dutifully exterminated the women, the children, the babies and all of the men – but then he spared the king. He also saved some of the tastier looking calves and lambs. God was furious with him for his failure to finish the job.
The story of the Amalekites has been used to justify genocide throughout the ages. According to Pennsylvania State University Professor Philip Jenkins, a contributing editor for the American Conservative, the Puritans used this passage when they wanted to get rid of the […]
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Wednesday, June 6th, 2012
NICOLE WINFIELD, - NBC29/Associated Press
Stephan: Here is more of the trend of the Holy See assaulting American nuns.
VATICAN CITY (AP) – The Vatican on Monday sharply criticized a book on sexuality written by a prominent American nun, saying it contradicted church teaching on issues like masturbation, homosexuality and marriage and that its author had a ‘defective understanding’ of Catholic theology.
The Vatican’s orthodoxy office said the book, ‘Just Love: A Framework for Christian Sexual Ethics’ by Sister Margaret Farley, a member of the Sisters of Mercy religious order and emeritus professor of Christian ethics at Yale Divinity School, posed ‘grave harm’ to the faithful.
The Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith said that in the 2006 book, Farley either ignored church teaching on core issues of human sexuality or treated it as merely one opinion among many.
Farley said Monday she never intended the book to reflect current official Catholic teaching. Rather, she said, she wrote it to explore sexuality via various religious traditions, theological resources and human experience.
The Farley critique, signed by the American head of the congregation, Cardinal William Levada, comes amid the Vatican’s recent crackdown on the largest umbrella group of American sisters. The Vatican last month essentially imposed martial law on the Leadership Conference of Women Religious, accusing it of undermining church teaching and imposing […]
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Wednesday, June 6th, 2012
, - The Gallup Organization
Stephan: Someone asked me today how many people in the U.S. believe in evolution. I have written about this in several places, but I went back to re-examine one of the reliable databases, The Gallup Organization, and the last poll they had done in 2009. It is still a jawdropper -- 60 per cent do not. This explains why so many social policies seem loony. There is a very high correlation, for instance, between not believing in evolution, and not believing in climate change.
Click through to see the many charts.
PRINCETON, NJ — On the eve of the 200th anniversary of Charles Darwin’s birth, a new Gallup Poll shows that only 39% of Americans say they ‘believe in the theory of evolution,’ while a quarter say they do not believe in the theory, and another 36% don’t have an opinion either way. These attitudes are strongly related to education and, to an even greater degree, religiosity.
There is a strong relationship between education and belief in Darwin’s theory, as might be expected, ranging from 21% of those with high-school educations or less to 74% of those with postgraduate degrees.
Those with high-school educations or less are much more likely to have no opinion than are those who have more formal education. Still, among those with high-school educations or less who have an opinion on Darwin’s theory, more say they do not believe in evolution than say they believe in it. For all other groups, and in particular those who have at least a college degree, belief is significantly higher than nonbelief.
Darwin’s theory has been at the forefront of religious debate since he published On the Origin of Species 150 years ago. Even to this day, highly religious individuals claim that the theory […]
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