MAPTalk-Digest Tuesday, December 29 2009 Volume 09 : Number 125
001 Thank You, Jane Re: MAP: Re: Did WSJ get hit with Hack/Denial of Servic
From: Richard Lake <>
002 High expectations? States weigh marijuana reform
From: Doug Snead <>
003Salem-News.com top stories 2009
From: Allan Erickson <>
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Subj: 001 Thank You, Jane Re: MAP: Re: Did WSJ get hit with Hack/Denial of Service attack and is Google fooled?
From: Richard Lake <>
Date: Sun, 27 Dec 2009 02:34:52 -0800
Perhaps someone at the WSJ was in a hurry to get out of the office
for the holiday?
The article, which has created much interest, is posted properly at
http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v09/n1150/a05.html
Thank You, Jane, for all your newshawking.
Perhaps some on this list remember that you have been newshawking for
MAP since the start. I do.
Richard
At 07:37 PM 12/25/09, mmfamily wrote:
>Curiouser and curiouser - 4:30 p.m. PST, Christmas Day -- the
>article's back on Google News under drug policy here
>
>http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704254604574614230731506
>
>saying it was posted an hour ago and this time looks REALLY
>AUTHENTIC with the correct spelling of David Luhnow (I was wrong
>below about the spelling of the last name in last night's version).
>
>Can it be true???
>
>Jane
>
>-----Forwarded Message-----
> >From: mmfamily <>
> >Sent: Dec 25, 2009 12:48 PM
> >To: "" <>
> >Subject: Did WSJ get hit with Hack/Denial of Service attack and is
> Google fooled?
> >
> >It's X-mas eve and I'm surfing Google news. I've set my Google
> News to show me the top 5 "drug policy" articles.
> >
> >Article #5 appears to be from the WSJ with the title "Legalization
> is best way to defeat drug cartels" by author "Davis Luhnow".
> >
> >http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704254604574614230731
> 506644.html#articleTabs%3Darticle
> >
> >Looks pretty legit though many of the graphics aren't working. The
> publication date is strange too -- Saturday, December 26. The text,
> however, is REMARKABLE in that it's coming from the Wall Street Journal.
> >
> >I search "Davis Luhnow" in Google to see who this guy is, and find
> that David -- not "Davis" -- and Luchnow not "Luhnow" is a staff
> writer for the Wall Street Journal.
> >
> >Curious about the WSJ site having a "typo", I go back to there to
> confirm David Luchnow's credential, and the WSJ server is down and
> stays down for about 30 minutes. That's about 9:50 PST which is
> almost 1:00 a.m. X-mas Eve in NY. Not too many server
> administrators paying a lot of attention.
> >
> >Search again on "Davis Luhnow" in Google and come up with this:
> >
> >http://goldismoney.info/forums/showthread.php?p=2093276
> >
> >The "article" appears at the top -- complete with an egregious
> typo in the title I'd missed before -- and a link back to the
> WSJ. I click on that and get the "server is down" message. A link
> to the article briefly appears at the USA Today site but clicking
> on it also leads back to the WSJ's downed server.
> >
> >At 11:30 p.m. here in CA I go back to Google News. The article is
> now #2 on the list of most read drug policy articles. Clicking on
> the article takes you to the URL I posted at the
> beginning. Google's exact words are:
> >
> >Saving Mexico
> >Wall Street Journal - Davis Luhnow - 11 hours ago
> >For instance, US anti-drug policy inadvertently helped Mexican
> gangs gain power. In the late 1980s and early 1990s, the US
> government cracked down on the ...
> >Mexico: 4 held in revenge attack on hero's family The Associated Press
> >Mexico Police Make Arrests in Marine Family's Killing Bloomberg
>>cbs4denver.com - Wikipedia: Marcos Arturo Beltrán-Leyva
> >all 941 news articles »
> >Email this story
> >
> >
> >This appears to be an elaborate hack by some very clever guys and
> a great opportunity for a clever poet to rewrite "T'was the Night
> Before X-mas". With viral communication, should become an instant classic....
> >
> >Merry Christmas!
> >
> >Jane Marcus
> >Board Member, Interfaith Drug Policy Initiative (IDPI)
> >
> >Post Script, Christmas Day, 9:30 a.m. PST: The "phony" WSJ
> "Saving Mexico" piece is still showing up in Google News under
> "drug policy" with an original posting of 21 hours ago.
------------------------------
Subj: 002 High expectations? States weigh marijuana reform
From: Doug Snead <>
Date: Sun, 27 Dec 2009 19:11:15 -0800
This AP article got picked up in lots of local newspapers and big city newspapers...
= = =
High expectations? States weigh marijuana reform
Sun, 27 Dec 2009
Seattle Times (WA)
Rachel La Corte, Associated Press Writer
HIGH EXPECTATIONS? STATES WEIGH MARIJUANA REFORM
Washington Is One Of Four States Where Measures To Legalize And Regulate Marijuana Have Been Introduced, And About Two Dozen Other States Are Considering Bills Ranging From Medical Marijuana To Decriminalizing Possession Of Small Amounts Of The Herb.
OLYMPIA, Wash. --
Washington is one of four states where measures to
legalize and regulate marijuana have been introduced,
and about two dozen other states are considering bills
ranging from medical marijuana to decriminalizing
possession of small amounts of the herb.
"In terms of state legislatures, this is far and away
the most active year that we've ever seen," said Ethan
Nadelmann, executive director of the New York-based
Drug Policy Alliance, which supports reforming
marijuana laws.
Nadelmann said that while legalization efforts are not
likely to get much traction in state capitals anytime
soon, the fact that there is such an increase of
activity "is elevating the level of public discourse on
this issue and legitimizing it."
"I would say that we are close to the tipping point,"
he said. "At this point they are still seen as symbolic
bills to get the conversation going, but at least the
conversation can be a serious one."
Opponents of relaxing marijuana laws aren't happy with
any conversation on the topic, other than keeping the
drug illegal.
"There's no upside to it in any manner other than for
those people who want to smoke pot," said Travis
Kuykendall, head of the West Texas High Intensity
Drug-Trafficking Area office in El Paso, Texas.
"There's nothing for society in it, there's nothing
good for the country in it, there's nothing for the
good of the economy in it."
Legalization bills were introduced in California and
Massachusetts earlier this year, and this month, New
Hampshire and Washington state prefiled bills in
advance of their legislative sessions that begin in
January. Marijuana is illegal under federal law, but
guidelines have been loosened on federal prosecution of
medical marijuana under the Obama administration.
Even so, marijuana reform legislation remains a tough
sell in some places. In the South, for example, only
Mississippi and North Carolina have decriminalization
laws on the books.
"It's a social and cultural thing," said Bruce Mirken,
spokesman for the Marijuana Policy Project, a
Washington, D.C.-based marijuana advocacy group. "There
are some parts of the country where social attitudes
are just a little more cautious and conservative."
Rep. Mary Lou Dickerson, a Seattle Democrat who is
sponsoring the legalization bill in Washington state,
said that she "wanted to start a strong conversation
about the pros and cons of legalizing marijuana."
Under her bill, marijuana would be sold in Washington
state's 160 state-run liquor stores, and customers, 21
and older, would pay a tax of 15 percent per gram. The
measure would dedicate most of the money raised for
substance abuse prevention and treatment, which is
facing potential cuts in the state budget. Dickerson
said the measure could eventually bring in as much to
state coffers as alcohol does, more than $300 million a
year.
"Our state is facing a huge financial deficit and
deficits are projected for a few more years," Dickerson
said, referring to the projected $2.6 billion hole
lawmakers will need to fill next year. "We need to look
at revenue and see what might be possible."
Allen St. Pierre, executive director of the National
Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws, said
that tough economic times across the country have
lawmakers looking at everything, and may lead even more
states to eventually consider the potential tax value
of pot.
"The bean counters are now reporting back to their
elected officials how much money is being left off the
table," he said, adding that billions of dollars worth
of pot is going untaxed.
Ron Brooks, president of the National Narcotics
Officers' Associations' Coalition, said that he feared
that, if legalized, marijuana would contribute to more
highway accidents and deaths, as well as a potential
increase in health care costs for those who smoke it.
State lawmakers, he said, need to ask themselves "if
they believe we really will make all that revenue, and
even if we did, will it be worth the suffering, the
loss of opportunities, the chronic illness or death
that would occur?"
Legalization isn't the only measure lawmakers across
the country are weighing. About two dozen states,
including Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Wisconsin, are
considering bills ranging from medical marijuana to
decriminalizing possession of small amounts of
marijuana, St. Pierre said. Washington state is among
the states that are considering decriminalization, with
a bill that would reclassify adult possession of
marijuana from a crime with jail time to a civil
infraction with a $100 penalty.
Fourteen states, including Washington state, already
have medical marijuana laws, and 13 have
decriminalization laws on the books, St. Pierre said.
About two dozen cities across the country, including
Seattle, make marijuana offenses a low law-enforcement
priority.
Marijuana advocates said that while increased activity
in the statehouse is heartening, change most likely
will come at the ballot box through voter-driven
initiatives.
"Inevitably, the politicians are going to be behind the
curve on this stuff," Nadelmann said, noting that
almost all of the medical marijuana laws came about by
initiative.
This month, a group campaigning to put a marijuana
legalization measure before California voters said it
had enough signatures to qualify for the 2010 ballot.
That proposal would legalize possession of up to one
ounce of marijuana for adults 21 and older. Residents
could cultivate marijuana gardens up to 25 square feet.
City and county governments would determine whether to
permit and tax marijuana sales within their boundaries.
And in Nevada earlier this month, backers of a move to
legalize marijuana there filed paperwork creating an
advocacy group aimed at qualifying an initiative for
the 2012 election.
On the Net:
Drug Policy Alliance: http://www.drugpolicy.org
High Intensity Drug-Trafficking Areas:
http://www.whitehousedrugpolicy.gov/HIDTA
Marijuana Policy Project: http://www.mpp.org
National Narcotics Officers' Associations' Coalition:
http://www.natlnarc.org
National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws:
http://www.norml.org
------------------------------
Subj: 003Salem-News.com top stories 2009
From: Allan Erickson <>
Date: Tue, 29 Dec 2009 22:50:30 -0800
Tim and Bonnie King are doing a remarkable job with Salem-News. If you
haven't visited, please do. They are doing yeoman's work with a large
focus on veterans and the WOD.
LEAP's Norm Stamper's letter to the new drug czar was #1 w/ nearly
90,000 views.
My piece on Obama's pot smoking hypocrisy was #9 with almost 20,000
views.
Dr Leveque #10 with almost 20,000 vews
http://salem-news.com/articles/december292009/stories_year_tk.php
ae
http://morningdonut.blogspot.com/
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End of MAPTalk-Digest V09 #125
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