Portman among 47 GOP senators to sign letter to Iran WASHINGTON — In a move Democrats denounced as trying to sabotage the Obama administration’s foreign policy, Sen. Rob Portman and 46 other Senate Republicans yesterday warned Iran’s leadership that any agreement to limit Tehran’s apparent efforts to build a nuclear bomb would need Senate approval to stay in effect beyond 2016. More
Ore. smokejumpers skydive into illegal pot garden A team of smokejumpers parachuting into a fire in the mountains of Southern Oregon landed in an illegal marijuana garden being prepared for growing season. The six smokejumpers from a base in Redmond found the site Monday evening, when there was a rash of lightning strikes. More
Police confiscate 4-foot, 2-pound marijuana joint California police confiscated a mammoth joint during a 4/20 pot rally on Saturday, reports the Los Angeles Times. As the paper notes, hundreds of UC Santa Cruz students gather each year for the event, and each year campus police confiscate things like bongs and dime bags. More
On Marijuana Tax, Colorado Asks: What’s Too High? If marijuana is legalized and properly regulated, its proponents have long said, it could generate millions of dollars in state tax revenue. But how the drug should be taxed has proved to be a thorny question. More
Licensed NYC pot shops sue state in turf war over competition: ‘Rug … pulled out from under us’ Four licensed city pot shops have sued the state, claiming its cannabis regulators broke the law by allowing other weed dispensaries to operate within a 1,000-feet buffer zone designed to limit ... 01/10/2025 - 2:27 am | View Link
Former U.S. presidents sit together to honor Jimmy Carter Bill Clinton, George Bush, Barack Obama and Donald Trump all sit together to celebrate the legacy of former President Jimmy Carter. 01/9/2025 - 2:55 am | View Link
What’s closed on national day of mourning for Jimmy Carter The US will honor the late former President Jimmy Carter, who died at age 100 on December 29. President Joe Biden declared January 9 as a day of mourning in an executive order – the same day as his ... 01/8/2025 - 1:00 am | View Link
Cannabis companies say DEA has closed mind against a less-dangerous pot ranking Advocates accuse Drug Enforcement Administration of blocking the reclassification of cannabis as a Schedule III drug under the Controlled Substances Act. 01/8/2025 - 12:56 am | View Link
Another Voice: Let's not prop up lie on 'Big Pot' New York’s launch of its “legal” pot marketplace has been plagued by incompetence and failure. It has also provided significant cover for illicit market, and false hope for minority entrepreneurs who ... 01/7/2025 - 9:15 pm | View Link
“Vice President Kamala Harris has told close allies and family members she is disappointed in President Biden’s recent contention that he would have won the 2024 election, straining relations between the two during their final days in the White House,” the Wall Street Journal reports.
“Harris has been reluctant to distance herself from Biden or criticize him throughout her vice presidency.
New York Times: “Today, Panama holds special strategic significance for China because of the canal, but Beijing has been working to expand its influence in Latin America, and among developing countries more broadly. It has portrayed itself as an alternative to what it calls American hegemony and bullying, casting itself as a more sympathetic, fellow developing country.”
“And with significant investments in port construction worldwide, China is positioning itself to influence global commerce and monitor international activities.”
Peter Baker: “The long-sought, tortuously negotiated Gaza ceasefire deal announced on Wednesday came about in part through a remarkable collaboration between President Biden and President-elect Donald Trump, who temporarily put aside mutual animosity to achieve a mutual goal.”
“The two presidents directed their advisers to work together to push Israel and Hamas over the finish line for an agreement to halt the fighting that has ravaged Gaza and release hostages who have been held there for 15 months.
“Treasury and other law enforcement officials told lawmakers Wednesday that Chinese hackers gained access to more than 3,000 unclassified agency files as part of a cybersecurity breach last year,” Politico reports.
“The Trump transition is attempting to remove US attorneys immediately by replacing them with interim leaders who’d be aligned with the president-elect’s priorities,“ Bloomberg Law reports.
“Transition staffers have been working to identify existing career prosecutors in many of the nation’s 93 law enforcement districts who they’d feel confident would support the president-elect’s law enforcement priorities—including deportations—once elevated as acting US attorneys, said the attorneys.”