Stephan: I think this marijuana trend is one of the most interesting political developments in the country. At the Federal level the drive to maintain prohibition has intensified. Meanwhile, at the state level conservatives and social progressives alike are trying to work out a new rational policy. I can think of no other policy where the Federal level, and the State level are so out of synch.
PROVIDENCE, R.I. — Rhode Island Gov. Lincoln Chafee (CHAY’-fee) has signed legislation rolling back criminal penalties for the possession of small amounts of marijuana.
Chafee announced the signing Wednesday night after the General Assembly ended its formal session. Chafee, an independent, had been expected to sign the bill into law.
Adults caught with an ounce or less of marijuana would face a $150 civil fine. Minors would also have to complete a drug awareness program and community service.
The previous state law made possession of small amounts of marijuana a misdemeanor. Violators had faced possible jail time and fines up to $500.
Fourteen other states have decriminalized possession of limited amounts of marijuana.
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AKIO MATSUMURA, - Akio Marsumura Blog
Stephan: This the latest assessment of Fukushima, by one of Japan's leading international figures.
Akio Matsumura is a career diplomat and the founder and Secretary General of the Global Forum of Spiritual and Parliamentary Leaders on Human Survival with conferences held in Oxford, Moscow, Rio de Janeiro, Kyoto, and Konya.
We continue to post the opinions of many international scientists on the potential global catastrophe that would result from the collapse of Reactor 4 at Fukushima Dai-ichi. The message now is simple and clear-Japan’s government will not act; it is the United States who must step forward-yet no action has been taken.
I was amazed when I heard that one million Japanese had read our article that introduces Ambassador Mitsuhei Murata’s courageous appeal at the public hearing of the House of Councilors of Japan and Robert Alvarez’s famous figure that there is 85 times greater Cesium-137 at Fukushima than at Chernobyl accident. People from 176 nations have visited our blog and Ambassador Murata and Robert Alvarez have been quoted in online and print media in many of them. Despite this global attention, the Japanese government seems to be further from taking action to deal with the growing dangers of Fukushima Dai-ichi. In April I flew to Japan to meet with government and opposition party leaders to convey how dangerous the situation is. Ambassador Murata and I met with Mr. Fujimura, Chief Cabinet Secretary, who assured us he would convey our message to Prime Minister Noda before his departure for Washington to […]
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LAURIE GOODSTEIN and ERIK ECKHOLM, -
Stephan: Given what we now know about the Catholic hierarchy nothing about this is surprising. But for an organization supposedly based on spiritual principals... well, it seems more than a little crass.
While the first criminal trial of a Roman Catholic church official accused of covering up child sexual abuse has drawn national attention to Philadelphia, the church has been quietly engaged in equally consequential battles over abuse, not in courtrooms but in state legislatures around the country.
The fights concern proposals to loosen statutes of limitations, which impose deadlines on when victims can bring civil suits or prosecutors can press charges. These time limits, set state by state, have held down the number of criminal prosecutions and civil lawsuits against all kinds of people accused of child abuse – not just clergy members, but also teachers, youth counselors and family members accused of incest.
Victims and their advocates in New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts and New York are pushing legislators to lengthen the limits or abolish them altogether, and to open temporary ‘windows
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PAUL KLEYMAN, New American Media - Truthout.org
Stephan: This financial crisis is far from over. Here is an aspect that hasn't gotten much attention. But it may have a big impact on your life.
SAN FRANCISCO — Only a week after an election signaling a rollback in public-employee retirement benefits, new Federal Reserve data show a sharp decline in family wealth. The effect is especially acute for non-whites and Hispanic households.
The compounding factors of deep losses in U.S. family wealth, sharp declines in pensions and calls in Washington to reduce Social Security could tarnish Americans’ golden years for generations to come, particularly for economically vulnerable groups of older women and ethnic elders.
Recession Cuts Retirement Savings
The Fed’s new Survey of Consumer Finances for 2010 reveals that while white non-Hispanic families saw a
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Thursday, June 14th, 2012
TOM PHILPOTT, - Mother Jones
Stephan: Further evidence of the trend of industrial agriculture to create a diet, that threatens the health of both the food and the eater, but that is terrifically profitable. (Reread the piece I just ran on sugar intake.)
You know how sometimes you get into a high-stakes conversation and you think of the perfect things to say after it’s over? Well, here’s a factoid I wish I had dropped during last week’s interview with Terry Gross on her NPR show Fresh Air: ‘The number of chickens produced annually in the United States has increased by more than 1,400 percent since 1950 while the number of farms producing those birds has dropped by 98 percent.’
Those startling numbers and many more appear in a new report from a group called Georgians for Pastured Poultry, an alliance that includes pastured-based poultry farms, chefs, the Sierra Club, and an environmental law firm called GreenLaw. (Hat tip to the excellent Maryn McKenna.) The report reads like the black book of industrial chicken farming-a kind of dossier of the ills of rounding up billions (yes, billions) of birds into tight spaces and fattening them as quickly as possible.
It’s easy to understand why some Georgians might come together to promote alternative forms of chicken production. The poultry industry has alighted upon Georgia in a way it hasn’t any other individual state. According to the report, which is lavishly footnoted and was prepared with the […]
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