March 14, 2013

Massachusetts Attorney General: POT SHOPS ALLOWED STATEWIDE

Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley ruled Wednesday that medical marijuana dispensaries must be allowed statewide and individual municipalities cannot legally block them. The ruling (PDF) was issued by Coakley’s Municipal Law Unit in response to a 2012 bylaw passed by officials in Wakefield, Massachusetts. Two other nearby towns also passed a similar ordinance.



The logic behind the ruling is simple: It says that the legalization of medical marijuana, enshrined in state law, “cannot be served if a municipality were to prohibit treatment centers within its borders, for if one municipality were allowed to do so, all could do so, making reasonable access impossible.”



Wakefield officials argued that they had the right to ban medial marijuana sales because marijuana is a Schedule I controlled substances prohibited under federal law. However, Coakley wrote that because no court has ruled against Massachusetts’ medical marijuana law, it’s not in her purview to “determine that issue.” In striking down the general bans, Coakley also wrote that towns may still adopt zoning rules that limit where dispensaries can set up shop in order to preserve “public health, safety, morals, or general welfare.”




AG says Mass. towns cannot bar marijuana centers








http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2013/03/14/massachusetts-attorney-general-pot-shops-allowed-statewide/

March 13, 2013

ANTI-MAFIA Police RAID Offices In Diocese Of Frontrunner

Roman Catholic cardinals have been urged to overcome divisions at a special mass ahead of the papal conclave, just hours after anti-mafia investigators carried out a string of raids in the diocese of the leading candidate.


In a homily before thousands of pilgrims and the most senior figures in the church, Angelo Sodano, the dean of the college of cardinals, made a last-ditch attempt to banish infighting, as he extolled the virtues of unity amid diversity. But even as preparations for the mass were being made, Cardinal Angelo Scola, the archbishop of Milan – and reportedly the hot favourite to be the next pope – suffered a blow.



Anti-mafia detectives swooped on homes, offices, clinics and hospitals in Lombardy, the region around Milan, and elsewhere. A statement said the dawn raids were part of an investigation into "corruption linked to tenders by, and supplies to, hospitals".



Healthcare in Lombardy is the principal responsibility of the regional administration, which for the past 18 years has been run by Roberto Formigoni, a childhood friend of Scola and the leading political representative of the Communion and Liberation fellowship. Until recently, Scola was seen as the conservative group's most distinguished ecclesiastical spokesman. But he has progressively loosened his ties to Communion and Liberation, and in early 2012 publicly rebuked the movement after its leader was found to have written to Pope Benedict, implicitly criticising the cardinal's liberal predecessors in the Milan archdiocese.


cont'



http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/mar/12/cardinals-overcome-divisions-conclave-pope

March 13, 2013

WIDE STANCE WEASEL: Larry Craig Attempts To Use Campaign Funds For Sex Scandal Legal Defense

Move along folks,....just another ' Wide-Stance-Family-Values-reTHUG-Weasel-Hypocrite ' trying to game the system.



There are many, many discrepancies and much debate over what is appropriate use of campaign funds and what is not. However, I think I can safely say that most people would agree that using said funds to stay out of jail when one is caught (literally) with his pants down in an airport bathroom propositioning for sex is inappropriate. Apparently, however, former Idaho Senator Larry Craig disagrees.


He disagrees so much, in fact, that he used $217,000 worth of campaign money to defend himself regarding a certain incident in 2007 where he was arrested for soliciting sex with an undercover officer in the Minneapolis-St. Paul Airport. Now, there is no way that Craig could have known that it was a cop and that there was a sting operation going on regarding men cruising for airport sex,was there? No harm, no foul, right? Wrong. Craig was arrested and pleaded guilty to a disorderly conduct charge, which he would later try to unsuccessfully reverse after the incident went public. However the good Senator wants to twist this, the facts remain: he was soliciting for sex in one of the cruisiest airports in the nation, got caught, pleaded guilty, and used campaign funds to try to clean up the resulting mess. No matter how appropriately Larry Craig might think the money was used, U.S. District Court Judge Amy Berman Jackson, is skeptical. She says:





The judge also referenced a letter that Craig’s own lawyers wrote to the Senate Ethics Committee, which said that the incident was purely personal conduct. If it was personal, then how can the use of campaign funds be justified? Things that make ya go hmmm….


Jackson says of the letter:





The Federal Elections Commission sued Larry Craig last year for the return of the illegally used funds, and they also propose that he and his treasurer pay up to $6500 in fines for his misdeeds with campaign money. There is nothing more delicious than a closeted Republican caught up in a gay sex scandal. If the rest of you haven’t learned from the self- imposed hardships of Larry Craig, Mark Foley, Ted Haggard, and others, please do. It is a whole lot easier (and, in these cases, cheaper) to just come out and be who you are than to get caught in airport bathrooms, truck stops, and, goodness forbid, seedy motels with crystal meth and rentboys.







http://www.addictinginfo.org/2013/03/12/larry-craig-attempts-to-use-campaign-funds-for-sex-scandal-legal-defense/

March 11, 2013

Gay Republican Group Leader PLOTS A Campaign AGAINST Sen. Lindsey Graham

GOProud vice chairperson Bruce Carroll announced on his blog on Monday that he has resigned from the organization while he mulls over running against incumbent Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC).



“Over the next few weeks, I will be studying the resources, time and effort it would take to do my part in holding Lindsey Graham accountable for his voting record and his attitude toward the voters in South Carolina,” Carroll said in a post on Gaypatriot.net. “This is important: I do not make major decisions hastily; I will take adequate time to realistically look at all of the evidence (pro and con) and consult with a diverse group of people that I trust and that also have the best interests of South Carolina at heart as I do.”



Carroll, who was part of GOProud since its inception in 2009, said he was in charge of “expanding GOProud’s chapters and grassroots strength nationwide” before deciding to resign. The political blog The New Civil Rights Movement reported that Carroll had edited his Twitter profile to bill himself as South Carolina’s “next junior Senator.” “If I believe I could provide a serious alternative to Senator Graham for the voters of South Carolina, and I can find the financial and moral support to join me in that effort, then I will take those next formal steps needed to do so,” Carroll said in his post. “Someone needs to be the Conscience of South Carolina’s Voters during the 2014 Primary. I hope I can accept that challenge.”



Carroll also said he “felt it best” to leave GOProud before the upcoming Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC), scheduled to begin on March 14. GOProud, a CPAC co-sponsor in 2011, has since been excluded from the event.





http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2013/03/11/gay-republican-group-leader-plots-a-campaign-against-sen-lindsey-graham/

March 9, 2013

Tea Bag WEASEL! - Marco Rubio: De-Fund Obamacare, Or Else HE'LL SHUT DOWN The Government

The Ferret Has Landed!!


There’s virtually no chance that Senator Marco Rubio ( R-FL) can ever compete with Senator Rand Paul’s filibuster, given his dry mouth affliction, unless Poland Spring backed a truck right in into the Capitol Building. But like his senatorial colleague, Rubio enjoys wasting everybody’s time with political brinkmanship and grandstanding to further his presidential aspirations. As congress tires of the sequester’s finger-pointing negotiations, Rubio and his fellow Teabagger politicians Ted Cruz (R-TX) and Mike Lee (R-UT) joined in refusing to compromise on the budget, unless there are provisions to strip Obamacare of its entire funding.


During an appearance on Hugh Hewitt’s conservative talk radio program on Thursday night, Rubio reiterated a host of tiresome, thoroughly-debunked, batsh*t-crazy, and Baracknophobic assumptions regarding Obamacare, and its supposedly massive ramifications for american businesses. Further, he suggested that he would have no problem shutting down government completely if Obamacare wasn’t stripped of its funding. Naturally, he made absolutely no mention of sacrificing his own generous six-figure salary and tax-payer funded health plan.





Attempting to look at ways to reach the dreaded c-word (compromise), Hewitt asked if Rubio would be amenable to a partial defunding of Obamacare, such as repealing a provision that levies a 2.3% tax on medical devices. Rubio responded that he “didn’t think that would be enough” for him to vote on a resolution.......


cont'



http://www.addictinginfo.org/2013/03/08/marco-rubio-de-fund-obamacare-or-else-hell-shut-down-the-government/

March 7, 2013

John McCain BELITTLES Rand Paul's Filibuster As 'SIMPLY FALSE'

All Hell Is Breaking Loose on the Right After McCain Slams Rand Paul’s Filibuster



John McCain’s criticism of Rand Paul’s filibuster has set off a chain reaction of chaos within the Republican Party and the conservative movement.

Here is Rand Paul saying that the government would drop a Hellfire missile on Jane Fonda and Kent State:






Here is the video of McCain on the Senate floor:






McCain said, “Well, Mr. President, I watched some of that ‘debate’ yesterday. I saw colleagues of mine who know better, come to the floor and voice the same concern, which is totally unfounded. I must say that the use of Jane Fonda’s name does evoke certain memories with me, and I must say she is not my favorite American, but I also believe that as odious as it was, Ms. Fonda acted within her constitutional rights. And to somehow say that someone who disagrees with American policy and even may demonstrate against it, is somehow a member of an organization which makes that member an enemy combatant is simply false. It’s simply false.”



Later McCain said, “But to somehow allege or infer that the President of the United States is going to kill somebody like Jane Fonda, or someone who disagrees with policies is stretch of imagination which is frankly ridiculous, ridiculous. So, I don’t disagree that we need more debate, more discussion, and frankly more legislation to make sure that America does protect the rights of all of our citizens. To make sure at the same time that if someone is an enemy combatant, that enemy combatant has nowhere to hide, not in a cafe, not anywhere. But to say that we would hit them in a cafe with a Hellfire missile. First of all, there are no drones with Hellfire missiles anywhere near. They’re over in places like Yemen, Afghanistan, and other places in the world. So, we’ve done a, I think, disservice to a lot of Americans by making them think they’re in danger from their government. They’re not.”



The reaction to McCain’s comments has been all hell breaking loose on the right.




cont'




http://www.politicususa.com/hell-breaks-loose-john-mccain-slams-rand-paul.html

March 5, 2013

AIPAC Wants Sequester EXEMPTION For Israel

..." The message hammered home throughout the American Israel Public Affairs Committee Policy Conference Sunday through Tuesday was that looming spending cuts mandated by the 2011 sequester could endanger Israel and America’s leadership throughout the world. The showcase for the message was legislation introduced Monday night in the House of Representatives by two Florida lawmakers -- Reps. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, a Republican, and Ted Deutch, a Democrat -- that would designate Israel a “major strategic ally,” a one-of-a-kind label.



One of two initiatives that AIPAC's 13,000 activists are taking with them Tuesday for lobbying on Capitol Hill, the legislation enshrines much that is already in existence, including $3.1 billion in annual defense assistance to Israel and missile cooperation programs. But the redundancy is precisely the point. At a time when the president and Congress are considering how best to distribute across-the-board 8.5 percent spending cuts, AIPAC wants Congress to keep its funding for Israel as is.

cont'





http://www.jta.org/news/article/2013/03/05/3121186/at-aipac-confab-sequester-looms-large

March 5, 2013

" Obama Has Made It Clear To Netanyahu: His Visit Is NOT ABOUT PHOTO-OPS "

Israeli sources said Obama, scheduled to arrive in Israel on March 20, wants a detailed Israeli withdrawal plan from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during the president’s visit. The sources said the Israeli plan would be considered in what could be an imminent U.S. initiative to establish a Palestinian state in the West Bank in 2014. “Obama has made it clear to Netanyahu that his visit is not about photo-ops, but the business of Iran and a Palestinian state,” a source said. “The implication is that if Israel won’t give him something he can work with, then he’ll act on his own.”



The sources said Obama’s demand has sparked concern in the office of the Israeli prime minister. They said Netanyahu has been unable to form a coalition amid a boycott by left-wing parties and an alliance by two new movements — Yesh Atid and Jewish Home — with 31 seats in the 120-member parliament and opposed to major territorial concessions in the West Bank. “The ties between Yesh Atid and Jewish Home are strengthening,” Uri Ariel, the No. 2 member in Jewish Home, said. So far, Netanyahu has been unable to woo any parties except for the U.S.-supported “The Movement,” led by former Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni. The prime minister has received a two-week extension from President Shimon Peres.



“In these past four weeks I tried to form the broadest possible government,” Netanyahu said. “But the main reason that I have not managed to complete the task by today is because there is a boycott of a certain sector.” Netanyahu was referring to a demand by Yesh Atid to ban ultra-Orthodox from the next government. The ultra-Orthodox comprise nearly 20 seats in the Knesset.



On March 1, the Israeli daily Makor Rishon reported that the next Netanyahu government would destroy numerous Jewish communities in the West Bank. The newspaper quoted Likud negotiators as saying that the plan depended on Yesh Atid ending its alliance with Jewish Home, led by Naftali Bennett. “We are going to difficult decisions,” a Likud negotiator was quoted as telling a Yesh Atid parliamentarian. “If you do not break up your pact with Bennett we won’t be able to uproot communities if there is a need for difficult decisions. Together we can do it.”


cont'






http://www.worldtribune.com/2013/03/03/obama-plans-to-extract-timetable-for-israeli-pullout-from-west-bank/

March 5, 2013

Menendez ACCUSER Says She Was PAID To MAKE UP Prostitution Claims

PURE reTHUG WEASEL!!




Amazing. Only days before the November elections, conservative website The Daily Caller ran with a story accusing Democratic Sen. Robert Menendez of visiting prostitutes during a vacation to the Dominican Republic, based on a videotape from the supposed prostitutes themselves. An FBI investigation wasn't able to find any evidence supporting the story, and now it turns out the whole thing looks to have been faked:





There's no confirmation so far on who paid for the fake claims, but since the Daily Caller video surfaced a mere five days before Menendez's reelection, it seems quite likely to be politically motivated (yes, I managed to say that with a straight face—congratulate me).

In any event, The Daily Caller looks to have been either badly burned, gullible, or both. Good show, conservative news sources. Again.




http://www.dailykos.com/story/2013/03/04/1191597/-Menendez-accuser-says-she-was-paid-to-make-up-prostitution-claims