It’s a brand new Grand Old Party flag!
The flag comes down, and we’ve all had our national moment of healing and we can all go on, right? Republican presidential candidates are supporting South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley’s call for the removal of the Confederate flag on the state capitol grounds following last week’s church shooting in Charleston. “Kudos to @nikkihaley and all the… Continue reading “It’s a brand new Grand Old Party flag!”
Watch: 7-year-old makes Scott Walker crash and burn with 2 questions
When second grader Aaron Stark went up to ask Republican Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker a question in this newly released video, the Governor had no idea that he was about to be made to look like an absolute fool by the young, but very astute man:
“If you were president, what would you do about climate change?”, the young man asked the Republican governor.
Trying to keep his composure, Scott Walker evaded the simple question, giving the boy an unintelligible answer about being a Boy Scout and keeping campsites clean, but the brave young man pressed on:
“Do you even care about climate change?”
At this point, the governor continued to crash and burn, giving a second unintelligible answer about securing natural resources for everyone, completely evading the boy’s question and exposing himself as the intellectual lightweight and political fraud that he is.
It’s truly sad that when a young Wisconsinite tried to ask his governor about saving his future and that of other young kids, the governor couldn’t even answer his question.
This is a BFD
So many people can be helped. I’m really happy to hear this. I imagine anyone who’s seen a loved one suffer through cancer will support this:
The White House today lifted a longstanding restriction on medical marijuana research, giving a green light to a growing group of mainstream scientists who are interested in investigating the potential health benefits of pot. Such research will no longer have to undergo review by the Public Health Service, a process that is ostensibly meant to ensure the use of scientifically valid clinical trials, but in practice has served as a barrier to launching studies. A bipartisan group of lawmakers, and even opponents of legalization, had called for the requirement to be lifted.
“This announcement is a pretty big deal,” says Christopher Brown, a spokesperson for Americans for Safe Access, a group that advocates for access to pot for medical research. “You have a lot of interest in experimental research on medical cannabis and this shows that you are starting to see policies aligned with that.”
The announcement comes a few months after US Surgeon General Vivek Murthy signaled the federal government’s shifting thinking on medical pot, telling CBS This Morning that preliminary data shows that “marijuana can be helpful” for some medical conditions.
Still, Americans for Safe Access is calling for the feds to loosen restrictions even more. Numerous startup companies are interested in capitalizing on the medical benefits of pot, but scientists who want to use marijuana for research currently must obtain it from a DEA-approved grow facility, a process that can take a year or longer if they need specific cannabis strains. And marijuana remains classified under Schedule 1 of the Controlled Substances Act, a category reserved for drugs that supposedly have no medical benefit.
Slate: Gay marriage ruling will be in favor
I have a gay friend who insists this ruling will be the start of a civil war with the religious right. What do you all think?
Early Monday morning, the Supreme Court refused to stay a federal judge’s order invalidating Alabama’s ban on same-sex marriage. In doing so, the justices immediately set up a constitutional crisis between the state’s lawless chief justice and the federal judiciary. They also effectively admitted what court-watchers have suspected for months: The court is preparing to rule in favor of nationwide marriage equality at the end of this term.
Here’s how Monday’s decision reveals the justices’ intention to strike down gay marriage bans across the country. Typically, the justices will stay any federal court ruling whose merits are currently under consideration by the Supreme Court. Under normal circumstances, that is precisely what the court would have done here: The justices will rule on the constitutionality of state-level marriage bans this summer, so they might as well put any federal court rulings on hold until they’ve had a chance to say the last word. After all, if the court ultimately ruled against marriage equality, the Alabama district court’s order would be effectively reversed, and those gay couples who wed in the coming months would find their unions trapped in legal limbo.
