Wednesday, April 12th, 2017
Stephan: We are about to witness a great international experiment. Truly important and not being properly discussed. Canada is on the verge of legalizing marijuana while, at the same time Republican Attorney General Jeff Sessions is moving to reopen the war on drugs. We are about to see two competing social visions play out. Here's my prediction: Canada's social policies will prove to be cheaper, more efficient, more effective, nicer to live under, and more productive of wellbeing. Everyone will be able to see it.
Canadian pro legalization demonstrators
Credit: Health Nut News
America’s neighbor to the north is fast moving toward legalizing recreational marijuana nationwide, which would make Canada the second country in the world to do so. And the impact of having weed legalized on such a big scale, so close to home, may affect the future of pot in the United States.
“There are those who sometimes regard Canada as the 51st state. It would be an important signal about the movement coming of age. It would add to the critical mass,” says Oregon Rep. Earl Blumenauer, a member of Congress’ newly-formed Cannabis Caucus who is pushing to change the way the federal government treats the substance. And, he says: “It would shift the center of gravity.”
When Colorado voters legalized marijuana in 2012, it became the […]
1 Comment
Wednesday, April 12th, 2017
KRISTENA HANSEN, - Associated Press
Stephan: Oregon is joining Washington, Alaska, and Colorado as I reported yesterday, in setting up a system to protect the state's citizens from the federal war on drugs. This will provide a smaller American version of the Canada-America experiment.
I also predict the marijuana issue,combined with climate change, and health care, are going to create a very strong socially progressive state's rights movement. The Great Schism Trend is reaching a crescendo.
SALEM, OREGON — Oregon state lawmakers who fear heightened marijuana enforcement by federal agents overwhelmingly approved Monday a proposal to protect pot users from having their identities or cannabis-buying habits from being divulged by the shops that make buying pre-rolled joints and “magic” brownies as easy as grabbing a bottle of whiskey from the liquor store.
The bipartisan proposal would protect pot consumers by abolishing a common business practice in this Pacific Northwest state where marijuana shops often keep a digital paper trail of their recreational pot customers’ names, birthdates, addresses and other personal information. The data is gleaned from their driver’s licenses, passports or whatever other form of ID they present at the door to prove they’re at least 21 as required by law.
The data is often collected without customers’ consent or knowledge. It is stored away as proprietary information the businesses use mostly for marketing and customer service purposes, such as linking their driver’s license number with every pot product they buy so dispensary employees are better able to help out during their next visit.
No Comments
Tuesday, April 11th, 2017
Noel Randewich , - Reuters
Stephan: Here is some very important economic news, although it doesn't seem to be getting much coverage except in the business press. I take this as an important, good news, benchmark on the transition out of carbon energy, particularly since Tesla has yet to make a profit.
A Tesla Model S charges at a Tesla Supercharger station in Cabazon, California.
Credit: Reuters/Sam Mircovich
SAN FRANCISCO — Tesla Inc (TSLA.O) on Monday briefly became the most valuable U.S. car maker, reaching a market capitalization of as much as $51.105 billion, higher than General Motors’s (GM.N).
Helped by an analyst’s recommendation, the luxury electric car maker’s stock rose as much as 3.15 percent to a new record high of $313.73, and its market value was at one point larger than GM’s, which was $51.095 billion, before it dropped behind again.
Over the past month, Tesla has surged 35 percent as investors bet that it and Chief Executive Elon Musk will revolutionize the automobile and energy industries.
Tesla’s market capitalization is now equivalent to $102,000 for every car it plans to make in 2018, or $667,000 per car sold last year. By comparison, GM’s market capitalization is equivalent to $5,000 per car it sold in 2016.
Proponents believe Tesla will become a carbon-free energy and transportation heavyweight and they argue its valuation is reasonable based […]
2 Comments
Tuesday, April 11th, 2017
Mary Emily O'Hara, Reporter - NBC News
Stephan: Here is some more good news. I think other states, particularly Blue value states, will be watching closely to see what the social effects of this decision will be on the social wellbeing of New York. I predict it will be positive and that other states, principally Blue value states, will follow suit just as happened with marijuana.
Democratic Andrew Cuomo and Democratic Senator Bernie Sanders announce free tuition in New York.
Credit: Adirondack Daily Enterprise
NEW YORK — New York will be the only state in the country to cover four-year public college tuition for residents after the program was included in the budget package approved Sunday night.
The state’s Excelsior Scholarship program will be rolled out in tiers over the next three years, starting with full coverage of four-year college tuition this fall for students whose families make less than $100,000.
The income cap will increase to $110,000 in 2018 and $125,000 in 2019.
“With this budget, New York has the nation’s first accessible college program. It’s a different model,” said Governor Andrew Cuomo Saturday in a statement. “Today, college is what high school was—it should always be an option even if you can’t afford it.”
According to Cuomo’s office, the budget includes a record $7.5 billion for higher education — though that’s only a 6.3 percent increase from 2016.
An estimated 80 percent of New York State’s families with college-age […]
2 Comments
Tuesday, April 11th, 2017
Valerie Tarico, - Alternet
Stephan: The anti-choice movement in the U.S. makes passionate arguments about how they want to eliminate abortions because they care so much about unborn fetuses. What they really think about those fetuses is revealed the moment they are born -- sorry kid you're on your own.
If you really want to reduce abortion, of course, nothing Republicans are proposing will actually accomplish that. But there are wellness oriented social policies that will, and here is some more good news. Colorado has taken a real look at how to reduce abortions and this is what they have devised. It will never be adopted by Red value states because these new policies are not about punishment, judgment, and misery, which is so important to Republicans.
But I think other Blue states will track this closely and we will see them following the trail blazed by Colorado.
Most businesses would jump at the opportunity to invest a dollar that saves them $5.85 over the next three years and then keeps on returning savings, all the while improving service to their customers.
That’s what the state of Colorado accomplished by upgrading family planning services between 2009 and 2014, and other jurisdictions have reported even greater returns over the long run. When Delaware governor Jack Markell saw Colorado’s results, he got excited and kicked off a copycat process of retooling family planning services across his state, where over 60 percent of pregnancies were unintended. Will Oregon and Washington follow suit?
The Colorado Success Story, by the Numbers
Almost half of Colorado women who got pregnant in 2008 said that the pregnancy happened sooner than they wanted or that they hadn’t wanted to get pregnant at all. That was similar to the US average: the rate of unintended pregnancy has been stuck around 50 percent since the 1960s.
Global health experts call unintended pregnancy an epidemic because it’s so common, and the toll on physical health, mental […]
No Comments
