The Progress We've Made

Abolish Drunk Driving Laws
Austin Police Chief Art Acevedo wants to create a new criminal offense: “driving while ability impaired.” The problem with the current Texas law prohibiting “driving while intoxicated” (DWI), Acevedo explained to the Austin-American Statesman in October, is that it doesn’t allow him to arrest a driver whose blood-alcohol content (BAC) is below 0.08 percent unless there’s additional evidence of impairment. “People sometimes focus on how many drinks they can have befo

Open Thread
- Publicola provided an update on the ongoing friction between the ACLU of Washington and Sensible Washington regarding legalization initiatives. Last year, the ACLU didn’t like the way the initiative was set up and refused to endorse it. Sensible Washington is once again planning to file an initiative and there are two issues that continue to keep these two organizations apart. The first is the lack of Regulation language in the bill. After the failure of Proposition 19 in California th...

Texas fiercely resists EPA air, water standards
HOUSTON | A long-standing tit-for-tat between Texas and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency over how to regulate Pollution has grown fierce in recent months, leaving industry frustrated and allowing some plants and refineries to spew more Toxic Waste into the air, streams and lakes than what is federally acceptable. Both sides and conservation groups agree the battle has put the health of Texas residents and the environment at risk. But the back-and-forth over everything from who should is...

Montana's "Inquisition" and Wikileaks
So you are a little girl in grammar school in 1917. Your name is Christine Shupp and you live near Melville in Sweet Grass County. Every morning after the pledge of allegiance to the flag, the teacher makes you, alone, kneel down on the floor and kiss the flag. It is because you are German. You are a rancher in Rosebud County and you call WWI "a Millionaire's war" and you are dragged off by neighbors to jail. You're in a saloon and call war time food regulations "a big joke" and you are sentence...

Vermont, Montana Lead Battles Over Assisted Suicide in 2011
Vermont and Montana will form Ground Zero for the debate over Assisted Suicide in 2011 as legislatures in both states are expected to tackle bills related to the subject. Alex Schadenberg of the Euthanasia Prevention Coalition is closely following the machinations of both legislatures and he provides further insight. “The newly elected Governor of Vermont, Peter Shumlin, is committed to legalizing Assisted Suicide in that state,” he said. Shumlin told the lobbying arm of the pro-assi...

Montana State holds off Weber State 75-72
Cody Anderson scored a career-high 15 points and Bobby Howard had 14 points and 13 rebounds as Montana State edged Weber State 75-72 in the Big Sky opener for both Wednesday night. Rod Singleton added 10 points for the Bobcats (7-6), who snapped a three-game Losing Streak to the Wildcats. Lindsey Hughey had a career-high 21 points and added 10 rebounds to lead Weber State (6-6) while Scott Bamforth had 14 points and Kyle Bullinger finished with 13. Weber State trailed 72-64 with 1 minute to play...

Oakland's pot industrial park founders over its profit motive
Former Construction Industry executive Jeff Wilcox has a $20 million bet riding on the future of marijuana commercialization in California. That is what his AgraMed Inc. venture has invested in a warehouse near the Oakland waterfront and a bid to open a "business park for the cannabis industry." He hopes to lease the space to pot growers, bakeries, labs and processing facilities and to create hundreds of well-paying jobs. But Wilcox is in limbo after Oakland officials last week suspended a pla...

Feds Sue To Get Michigan Medical Marijuana User Records
The U.S. Attorney's office in Michigan is asking a Federal Judge to force the state's Department of Community Health to comply with a Subpoena and turn over the Medical Marijuana records of 7 people under investigation by the DEA. Michigan law protects the confidentiality of those granted Medical Marijuana cards and makes disclosure a Misdemeanor. The DEA Subpoena seeks: “copies of any and all documents, records, applications, payment method of any application for Medical Marijua...

The DEA Searches for Ambiguity in Michigan
The Associated Press reports that the Drug Enforcement Administration is demanding Medical Marijuana records from Michigan's Department of Community Health "as part of an investigation in the Lansing area." The department is resisting, citing a state law that makes it a Misdemeanor to release information about patients who use Medical Marijuana or the caregivers who are authorized to supply them. Assistant U.S. Attorney John Bruha has asked a judge to order the department's compliance, saying t...

Teen marijuana use on the rise
Marijuana use by Young People is on the rise, and officials say conflicting messages about the dangers of marijuana contribute to the increase. The annual Monitoring the Future Survey conducted by the National Institute of Drug Abuse found that use of the drug on a daily basis has increased among eighth-, 10th- and 12th graders. One in 16 High School seniors used marijuana daily or almost daily, and for the second year in a row more 12th graders used marijuana than smoked Cigarettes. More than...

Nevada's Wild West spirit snubs legal marijuana
In this photo taken Thursday, Dec. 9, 2010, empty bottles for cola containing THC, known as consumables, are pictured in Las Vegas. Nevada is known for letting just about anything slide, whether it's booze, bets or Brothels. But even here there are limits. It has been OK to smoke pot to treat illness for ten years. But don't think about selling it. Lately, federal agents and local police have taken notice, raiding several pot shops in and around Sin City. All of it has pot Activists scratching ...

Hedonistic Nevada still says no to legal weed
Nevada is known for letting just about anything slide, whether it's booze, bets or Brothels. But even here there are limits. It has been OK to smoke pot to treat illness for 10 years. But don't think about selling it. Lately, federal agents and local police have taken notice, raiding several pot shops in and around Las Vegas. All of it has pot Activists scratching their heads: How is a state that has long lured visitors with promises of unconstrained debauchery stricter with pot than its more wh...

2010: A Year In Medical News
NEW YORK (CBS 2) - News from the medical world led to some of 2010′s biggest headlines, including an “illness” that threatened the globe, creepy crawlers and concern over head injuries. Dr. Max Gomez has takes a look back at the year in medicine. The year started out with two medical groups contradicting last year’s recommendations on mammography, saying that women should start routine screening at age 40. While on the male side, Prostate Cancer screening guidelines...

Nevadas Wild West spirit snubs legal marijuana
LAS VEGAS (AP) — Nevada is known for letting just about anything slide, whether it’s booze, bets or Brothels. But even here there are limits. It has been OK to smoke pot to treat illness for ten years. But don’t think about selling it. Lately, federal agents and local police have taken notice, raiding several pot shops in and around Sin City. All of it has pot Activists scratching their heads: How is a state that has long lured visitors with promises of unconstrained debauchery...

Nevada's Wild West spirit snubs legal marijuana
In this photo taken Thursday, Dec. 9, 2010, Pierre Werner answers a phone... Las Vegas (AP) - Nevada is known for letting just about anything slide, whether it's booze, bets or Brothels. But even here there are limits. It has been OK to smoke pot to treat illness for ten years. But don't think about selling it. Lately, federal agents and local police have taken notice, raiding several pot shops in and around Sin City. All of it has pot Activists scratching their heads: How is a state that has ...

Two Intriguing Developments in Marijuana Legalization
This story about the Oakland City Council’s decision not to go forward with a plan to let private companies start enormous “medical” pot farms has two intriguing subplots. First, the Alameda County Attorney advised the members of the council that it was not clear whether they would be immune from federal prosecution if they approved the plan. This issue hasn’t come up yet because Prop 19 lost, but assuming some state goes pro-pot, it’s an inevitability. If a mayor o...

Feds Want Michigan's Medical Marijuana Documents
The Federal Government wants the department that oversees the state of Michigan's Medical Marijuana program to provide records for seven individuals under investigation by the Drug Enforcement Agency. The Department of Community Health hasn't yet complied with the Subpoena because there are potential civil and criminal penalties for violating confidentiality under the state's Medical Marijuana law, the Grand Rapids Press reports. Assistant U.S. Attorney John Bruha said the DEA on sought copies...

Food Bank Teams Up with Marijuana Shop
(NewsCore) - A California food bank raked in donations for needy families this year after teaming up with a neighboring medical Marijuana Dispensary to provide complimentary joints to those who donated at least four cans of food, KTVU-TV in Oakland reported Thursday. Medical Marijuana patients at the Granny Purps dispensary in Soquel, Calif., were given a complimentary marijuana Cigarette for every four cans they donated to the Second Harvest Food Bank in Watsonville, Calif. The drive, which las...

Twenty-five Democratic State Legislators Have Switched to GOP
Good thing the New Media is out there, what's the chance you'd see this story on the Nightly News? examiner GOPAC chairman Frank Donatelli just sent out a Press Release crowing that 25 Democratic legislators have now switched parties and become Republican . " We are pleased with the decision of these men and women to leave the Democratic Party and join with us. They are adding to the ranks of Americans who want to put result-oriented ideas into action to get us moving in the right direction. ...

Hot Airs top 50 posts, the final Top 10
Now we come to the top 10 most viewed posts at Hot Air in 2010, the posts that attracted the most eyeballs over the course of the year, according to our legion of technical wizards and web masters.  Which topics created the most traction, and which personalities seized the most attention?  Be prepared for some surprises, and then a few in the overview of the Top 50 at the end: #10: Obama: “I do think at a certain point you’ve made enough money” - Good enough to not just g

Newsflash for Greta Van Susteren: Sarah Palin is just not that bright
By R.K. Barry Greta Van Susteren, Fox News talking head and defender of all that is fair and balanced in the coverage of news, wants to know what criteria fellow Fox pundit Juan Williams used when he stated that Sarah Palin is not on the same "intellectual stage" as President Obama. You may recall that Williams once worked for National Public Radio but lost that job because of comments he made about Muslims on airplanes that NPR thought insensitive. Then Fox gave him a full-time gig - mostly...

Fish Dont Fry in the Kitchen
Some Schadenfreude for those of you who were right about WMD in the beginning: Judith Miller used to be a superstar. She was a major reporter at the New York Times for decades—at the DC bureau, in Cairo, in Paris, special correspondent to the Persian Gulf, embedded with a special unit in Iraq. She had the best sources. She had amazing scoops. Now she’s writing—on contract, not full-time—for Newsmax, a goofy right-wing magazine where Conservatives you’ve never hear...

Safe Haven For Bad Journalists
by Zoë Pollock In classic style, Alex Pareene gloats about Judith Miller's new gig at Newsmax, "a goofy right-wing magazine where Conservatives you've never heard of (and John Stossel, apparently) report, constantly, that Barack Obama is bad and unpopular": While someone who's wrong about everything is an odd hire for any magazine, even one that exists mostly to sell old people Acai berries, Judith Miller, you must remember, was fired by the liberal New York Times. If li...

NPRs Ken Rudin leaving blogging to help lead Impact of Government
Ken Rudin, NPR’s political director, is pulling back from his daily contributions to the “Political Junkie” blog to become the editorial coordinator of the broadcaster’s new statehouse and local reporting project, Impact of Government. Rudin announced the change to readers last night, saying the daily blog would revert back to its original format as a weekly column, and he would continue to contribute to “Talk of the Nation” and regular Podcasts. Impact of G...

The Year In Mosk
ANNOUNCING WONKETTE’S Person of the Year: The guy who can’t spell “Muslim,” “Mosque,” OR “Ground Zero,” yet NOES ENUFF to know he should be bigoted against any two of these things aligning. Yes, it was a banner year for hate on Earth yet again, even when we thought Justin Bieber would finally eclipse it. He didn’t! Hate won at the last second. But at least he made it close. The so-called “Muslin Groud Zero Mosk” was the perfect ch...