WASHINGTON -- In an ideal world the rising tide of economic recovery would lift everyone's boat, as John F. Kennedy used to say. Unfortunately, we live in the real world, where the boom that began a decade ago has left one demographic group, in particular, stuck on the bottom of the economic lake: undereducated black males. So says a body of new studies by poverty experts from Harvard, Princeton, Columbia and other major universities and think tanks. The experts have taken a closer look at the condition of those who are the least connected to attentive parenting, neighborhood role models and good schools that most of us take for granted. [continues 634 words]
"When I use a word," Humpty Dumpty said in rather a scornful tone in Lewis Carroll's "Through the Looking Glass," "it means just what I choose it to mean - neither more nor less." The same might be said of Supreme Court justices. Take, for example, Gonzales vs. Raich, the Supreme Court's medicinal marijuana case. The commerce clause in Article One of the Constitution could hardly be more clear in limiting federal power to commerce among the several states, not within a state. But in Gonzales vs. Raich, a 6-to-3 majority has stretched commerce to mean just what they choose it to mean - far enough to let the faraway feds, not the close-to-the-people state governments, decide whether their ailing residents should be allowed to grow their own medicine under a doctor's care. [continues 515 words]
WASHINGTON - "When I use a word," Humpty Dumpty said in rather a scornful tone in Lewis Carroll's Through the Looking Glass, "it means just what I choose it to mean - neither more nor less." The same might be said of Supreme Court justices. Take, for example, Gonzales vs. Raich, the Supreme Court's medicinal marijuana case. The commerce clause in Article One of the Constitution could hardly be more clear in limiting federal power to commerce "among the several States," not within a state. [continues 753 words]
The commerce clause in Article One of the Constitution could hardly be more clear in limiting federal power to commerce "among the several States," not within a state. But in Gonzales vs. Raich, the Supreme Court's medicinal marijuana case, a 6-to-3 majority has stretched "commerce" to mean just what they choose it to mean -- far enough to let the faraway feds, not the close-to-the-people state governments, decide whether their ailing residents should be allowed to grow their own medicine under a doctor's care. [continues 577 words]
WASHINGTON -- "When I use a word," Humpty Dumpty said in rather a scornful tone in Lewis Carroll's "Through the Looking Glass," "it means just what I choose it to mean--neither more nor less.'" The same might be said by U.S. Supreme Court justices. Take, for example, Gonzales vs. Raich, the high court's medicinal marijuana case. The commerce clause in Article 1 of the Constitution could hardly be more clear in limiting federal power to commerce "among the several states," not within a state. [continues 736 words]
WASHINGTON -- Jon Stewart's satirical "The Daily Show" on Comedy Central likes to call itself "No. 1 in fake news." Team Bush seems determined to challenge the show for the title--with our tax dollars. In memos sent last week to federal agency heads, the Bush White House rejected a Government Accountability Office ruling that it is illegal for federal agencies to feed TV stations prepackaged "news stories" that do not disclose the government's role in producing them. Fake-news stories, called "video news releases" in the public relations industry, are a huge business. The PR trade produces thousands a year, mostly for corporate clients. Designed to resemble independently reported news stories, these video news releases can be broadcast without editing and, to their everlasting shame, some TV stations have chosen to run them without identifying their government source. [continues 593 words]
I was surprised, but hardly shocked, to hear that President Bush all but admitted to illicit drug use in a secretly taped conversation. I'm only disappointed by the sleazy way the disclosure was disclosed and by the president's reluctance to set the record straight. Like many of the rest of us parents, he says he doesn't want to talk about any of his alleged past drug use because he doesn't want other youngsters to try it. Unfortunately, experience shows, silence is a self-defeating way to discourage kids from drug use. [continues 721 words]
Just as every woman has a little Aretha Franklin in her, as I once heard someone say, I believe that every journalist has a little bit of Hunter S. Thompson inside, raging to be heard. Now he lives only within us, his readers. Thompson was found dead on Feb. 20 at age 67 from a self-inflicted gunshot wound in his famously "fortified compound" in Woody Creek, Colo. Thompson made journalism look like fun because he was so much fun to read - too much fun for us to ruin it by worrying whether his facts were actually factual, or whether the dark shadows of personal danger that lurked shark-like beneath the dazzling waves of his rants, revelations and screeds might someday drag him under. [continues 568 words]
I was surprised, but hardly shocked, to hear that President Bush all but admitted to illicit drug use during a conversation that was secretly taped. I am only disappointed by the sleazy way the disclosure was disclosed and by the president's reluctance to set the record straight. Like many of the rest of us parents, he says in the tape that he doesn't want to talk about any of his alleged past drug indiscretions because he doesn't want youngsters to do the same. [continues 746 words]
My conservative pundit friend Armstrong Williams just had the weekend from hell, answering phones and juggling interviews like a multitasking press agent for Paris Hilton. "Have you seen the coverage?" he exclaimed over the phone. "I had no idea I was this important!" Well, sorry, my friend, but it's not just about you. There's also the matter of $240,000 in taxpayers' money. That's how much the U.S. Department of Education paid Williams, 45, to promote the Bush administration's No Child Left Behind education reform policy in his dual roles as public relations CEO and a multimedia news and public affairs pundit. [continues 703 words]
WASHINGTON -- My conservative pundit friend Armstrong Williams just had the weekend from hell, answering phones and juggling interviews like a multitasking press agent for Paris Hilton. "Have you seen the coverage?" he exclaimed over the phone. "I had no idea I was this important!" Well, sorry, my friend, but it's not just about you. There's also the matter of $240,000 in taxpayer money. That's how much the Education Department paid Mr. Williams to promote the Bush administration's No Child Left Behind education reform policy in his dual roles as chief executive officer of a public relations firm and a multimedia news and public affairs pundit. [continues 715 words]
WASHINGTON -- My conservative pundit friend Armstrong Williams just had the weekend from hell, answering phones and juggling interviews like a multitasking press agent for Paris Hilton. "Have you seen the coverage?" he exclaimed over the phone. "I had no idea I was this important!" Well, sorry, my friend, but it's not just about you. There's also the matter of $240,000 in taxpayer money. That's how much the U.S. Department of Education paid Williams, 45, to promote the Bush administration's No Child Left Behind education-reform policy in his dual roles as chief executive officer of his public relations firm and a multimedia news and public-affairs pundit. [continues 698 words]
Rush Limbaugh is back on the air after five weeks of drug rehabilitation, although experts say it could be weeks before Ol' Rushbo recovers his full sense of self-importance. His return sermon bombarded listeners with fusillades of what sounded a lot like humility, evidence that his rehabilitative treatment had broken down his defenses, cracked through his sense of denial and gotten him in touch with his feelings, as well as his audience. It took at least a half hour before his voice could de-mellow enough to take a New Age-sounding shot at "lib-brools'': [continues 750 words]
Back On The Air After Fessing Up To His Addiction To OxyContin, Limbaugh Could Be The Voice For Drug Reform WASHINGTON -- Rush Limbaugh is back on the air after five weeks of drug rehabilitation, although experts say it could be weeks before Ol' Rushbo recovers his full sense of self-importance. His return sermon bombarded listeners with fusillades of what sounded a lot like humility, evidence that his rehabilitative treatment had broken down his defenses, cracked through his sense of denial and gotten him in touch with his feelings, as well as his audience. [continues 769 words]
It was a small step for the Supreme Court, but one giant leap toward a sane drug policy. I'm talking about the high court's refusal Tuesday to hear the Bush administration's appeal of a lower court ruling allowing doctors to recommend the medicinal use of marijuana to their patients. Had the Supreme Court decided to hear the case, it would have had a golden opportunity to rip the innards out of laws various states have already passed to legalize or decriminalize the medicinal use of marijuana. [continues 692 words]
WASHINGTON - It was a small step for the Supreme Court, but one giant leap toward a sane drug policy. I'm talking about the high court's refusal Tuesday to hear the Bush administration's appeal of a lower court ruling allowing doctors to recommend the medicinal use of marijuana to their patients. Had the Supreme Court decided to hear the case, it would have had a golden opportunity to rip the innards out of laws various states have already passed to legalize or decriminalize the medicinal use of marijuana. [continues 679 words]
So Long To A Misguided Gag Rule On The Medicinal Use Of Marijuana WASHINGTON -- It was a small step for the U.S. Supreme Court, but one giant leap toward a sane drug policy. I'm talking about the high court's refusal Tuesday to hear the Bush administration's appeal of a lower court ruling allowing doctors to recommend the medicinal use of marijuana to their patients. Had the Supreme Court decided to hear the case, it would have had a golden opportunity to rip the innards out of laws passed by various states to legalize or decriminalize the medicinal use of marijuana. [continues 519 words]
It was a small step for the Supreme Court, but one giant leap toward a sane drug policy. I'm talking about the high court's refusal Tuesday to hear the Bush administration's appeal of a lower court ruling allowing doctors to recommend the medicinal use of marijuana to their patients. Had the Supreme Court decided to hear the case, it would have had a golden opportunity to rip the innards out of laws various states have already passed to legalize or decriminalize the medicinal use of marijuana. Instead, this conservative Supreme Court wisely decided to reject the Bush administration's appeal of a ruling that came from the most reputedly liberal appeals court, the San Francisco-based 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. [continues 543 words]
WASHINGTON - It was a small step for the Supreme Court, but one giant leap toward a sane drug policy. I'm talking about the high court's refusal Tuesday to hear the Bush administration's appeal of a lower court ruling allowing doctors to recommend the medicinal use of marijuana to their patients. Had the Supreme Court decided to hear the case, it would have had a golden opportunity to rip the innards out of laws various states have already passed to legalize or decriminalize the medicinal use of marijuana. [continues 697 words]
WASHINGTON -- It was a small step for the U.S. Supreme Court, but one giant leap toward a sane drug policy. I'm talking about the high court's refusal Tuesday to hear the Bush administration's appeal of a dangerous federal gag rule to keep the medicinal use of marijuana illegal, even when states want to legalize the drug. The rule prevented doctors from recommending marijuana to their ill patients or even talking about the medicinal benefits of the weed. [continues 682 words]
Memo to Rush Limbaugh: Hey, Rush, we're counting on you, pal. Now that you might be feeling the hot breath of drug prosecutors on your neck, perhaps you might speak out for more enlightened treatment of non-violent drug offenders. News reports say that Limbaugh is facing an investigation by the Palm Beach County state attorney's office in Florida for allegedly buying thousands of tablets of the powerful painkiller OxyContin and other highly addictive prescription drugs from an illegal ring in Florida between 1998 and 2002. Mike Edmondson, a spokesman for the state attorney's office, told The Associated Press last week that his office could neither confirm nor deny that an investigation was under way. [continues 724 words]
Memo to Rush Limbaugh: Hey, Rush. Were counting on you, pal. Now that you feel the hot breath of drug prosecutors on your neck, perhaps you might speak out now for enlightened treatment of nonviolent drug offenders. News reports say you face an investigation for allegedly buying thousands of tablets of the powerful painkiller OxyContin and other highly addictive prescription drugs from an illegal ring in Florida between 1998 and 2002. You issued a three sentence statement on your Web site saying that you were "unaware of any investigation by any authorities involving me" and you promised to cooperate fully "if my assistance is required in the future." [continues 704 words]
Memo to Rush Limbaugh: Hey, Rush. We're counting on you, pal. Now that you feel the hot breath of drug prosecutors on your neck, perhaps you might speak out for enlightened treatment of nonviolent drug offenders. News reports say you face an investigation for allegedly buying thousands of tablets of the powerful painkiller OxyContin and other highly addictive prescription drugs from an illegal ring in Florida between 1998 and 2002. You issued a three-sentence statement on your Web site saying that you were ''unaware of any investigation by any authorities involving me'' and you promised to cooperate fully ''if my assistance is required in the future.'' [continues 593 words]
TAKOMA PARK, MD. - The Bard of Baltimore, H.L. Mencken, once defined Puritanism as "the haunting fear that someone, somewhere may be happy." He would have found quite a few of them in his home state in recent days, trying to keep demon weed away from the seriously ill. Shrugging off their pressures, Maryland's Republican Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich signed a bill Thursday that, although it does not quite legalize the medicinal use of marijuana, does the next best thing. It reduces the maximum penalty for possession from a year in state prison and a $1,000 fine to a $100 fine in cases of "medical necessity," such as to relieve suffering from cancer treatment and other illnesses. [continues 572 words]
TAKOMA PARK, Md. -- The Bard of Baltimore, H.L. Mencken, once defined Puritanism as "the haunting fear that someone, somewhere may be happy." He would have found quite a few Puritans in his home state in recent days, trying to keep demon weed away from the seriously ill. Shrugging off their pressures, Maryland's Republican Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich signed a bill Thursday that, although it does not quite legalize the medicinal use of marijuana, does the next best thing. It reduces the maximum penalty for possession from a year in state prison and a $1,000 fine to a $100 fine in cases of "medical necessity," such as to relieve suffering from cancer treatment and other serious illnesses. [continues 595 words]
TAKOMA PARK, Md. - The bard of Baltimore, H.L. Mencken, once defined Puritanism as "the haunting fear that someone, somewhere may be happy." He would have found quite a few Puritans in his home state in recent days, trying to keep demon weed away from the seriously ill. Shrugging off their pressures, Maryland's Republican Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich signed a bill Thursday that, although it does not quite legalize the medicinal use of marijuana, does the next best thing. It reduces the maximum penalty for possession from a year in state prison and a $1,000 fine to a $100 fine in cases of "medical necessity," such as to relieve suffering from cancer treatment and other serious illnesses. [continues 576 words]
The bard of Baltimore, H.L. Mencken, once defined Puritanism as "the haunting fear that someone, somewhere may be happy." He would have found quite a few Puritans in his home state in recent days, trying to keep demon weed away from the seriously ill. Shrugging off their pressures, Maryland's Republican Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich signed a bill Thursday that, although it does not quite legalize the medicinal use of marijuana, does the next best thing. It reduces the maximum penalty for possession from a year in state prison and a $1,000 fine to a $100 fine in cases of "medical necessity," such as to relieve suffering from cancer treatment and other serious illnesses. [continues 577 words]
TAKOMA PARK, MD. -- The Bard of Baltimore, H.L. Mencken, once defined Puritanism as "the haunting fear that someone, somewhere may be happy." He would have found quite a few of them in his home state in recent days, trying to keep demon weed away from the seriously ill. Shrugging off their pressures, Maryland's Republican Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich signed a bill Thursday that, although it does not quite legalize the medicinal use of marijuana, does the next best thing. It reduces the maximum penalty for possession from a year in state prison and a $1,000 fine to a $100 fine in cases of "medical necessity," such as to relieve suffering from cancer treatment and other illnesses. [continues 577 words]
WASHINGTON -- It is not every day that a jury apologizes to a man it has just convicted. So Ed Rosenthal should feel honored that seven of the 12 jurors that convicted him on three federal counts of marijuana cultivation and conspiracy are now apologizing to him and calling for their own verdict to be overturned on appeal. Five of them appeared and two others had statements read at a news conference last Tuesday outside U.S. District Court in San Francisco. [continues 692 words]
It is not every day that a jury apologizes to a man it has just convicted. So Ed Rosenthal should feel honored that seven of the 12 jurors that convicted him on three federal counts of marijuana cultivation and conspiracy are apologizing to him, and calling for their own verdict to be overturned on appeal. Five of them appeared and two others had statements read at a news conference last week outside U.S. District Court in San Francisco. They wanted to let the world know that they felt misled by the federal judge and by prosecutors who did not allow the defense to raise issues of state and local medical marijuana laws in Rosenthal's trial. [continues 603 words]
It is not every day that a jury apologizes to a man it has just convicted. So Ed Rosenthal should feel honored that seven of the 12 jurors who convicted him on three federal counts of marijuana cultivation and conspiracy are now apologizing to him and calling for their own verdict to be overturned on appeal. Five of them appeared, and two others had statements read, at a news conference last Tuesday outside U.S. District Court in San Francisco. They wanted to let the world know that they felt misled by the federal judge and prosecutors who did not allow the defense to raise issues of state and local medical marijuana laws in Rosenthal's trial. [continues 719 words]
WASHINGTON -- It is not every day that a jury apologizes to a man it has just convicted. So Ed Rosenthal should feel honored that seven of the 12 jurors who convicted him on three federal counts of marijuana cultivation and conspiracy are now apologizing to him and calling for their own verdict to be overturned on appeal. Five of them appeared and two others had statements read at a news conference Tuesday outside a courthouse in San Francisco. They wanted to let the world know that they felt misled by the federal judge and prosecutors who did not allow the defense to raise issues of state and local medical marijuana laws in Rosenthal's trial. [continues 714 words]
It is not every day that a jury apologizes to a man it has just convicted. So Ed Rosenthal should feel honored that seven of the 12 jurors that convicted him on three federal counts of marijuana cultivation and conspiracy are now apologizing to him and calling for their own verdict to be overturned on appeal. Five of them appeared and two others had statements read at a news conference last Tuesday outside U.S. District Court in San Francisco. They wanted to let the world know that they felt misled by the federal judge and prosecutors that did not allow the defense to raise issues of state and local medical marijuana laws in Rosenthal's trial. [continues 719 words]
Late-night comedians have the drug hungers of Noelle Bush, daughter of Florida Gov. Jeb Bush and niece of the nation's president, George W. Bush, to kick around some more. But let's get serious for a moment. Noelle, 25, needs help. She has, in the parlance of these times, "issues." She was found with crack cocaine in her shoe on Sept. 9 at a drug treatment center in Orlando where she was in a court-ordered drug rehabilitation program. You know somebody's got a S-E-R-I-O-U-S drug problem when they get caught with illicit drugs while in rehab. [continues 563 words]
Late-night comedians have the drug hungers of Noelle Bush, daughter of Florida Gov. Jeb Bush and niece of the nation's president, George W. Bush, to kick around some more. But let's get serious for a moment. Noelle, 25, needs help. She has, in the parlance of these times, "issues." She was found with crack cocaine in her shoe Monday night at a drug treatment center in Orlando where she was in a court-ordered rehabilitation program. You know somebody has got a S-E-R-I-O-U-S drug problem when he or she is caught with illicit drugs while in rehab. [continues 592 words]
Late-night comedians have the drug hungers of Noelle Bush, daughter of Florida Gov. Jeb Bush and niece of the nation's president, George W. Bush, to kick around some more. But let's get serious for a moment. Noelle, 25, needs help. She has, in the parlance of these times, ''issues.'' She was found with crack cocaine in her shoe last Monday night (Sept. 9) at a drug treatment center in Orlando where she was in a court-ordered drug rehabilitation program. [continues 588 words]
Late-night comedians have the drug hungers of Noelle Bush, daughter of Florida Gov. Jeb Bush and niece of the nation's president, George W. Bush, to kick around some more. But let's get serious for a moment. Noelle, 25, needs help. She has, in the parlance of these times, "issues." She was found with crack cocaine in her shoe Monday night at a drug treatment center in Orlando where she was in a court-ordered rehabilitation program. You know somebody has got a S-E-R-I-O-U-S drug problem when he or she is caught with illicit drugs while in rehab. [continues 526 words]
Washington - Drugs Comedians have the drug hungers of Noelle Bush, daughter of Florida Gov. Jeb Bush and niece of the nation's president, George W. Bush, to kick around some more. But let's get serious for a moment. Noelle, 25, needs help. She was found with crack cocaine in her shoe last Monday night at a drug treatment center in Orlando where she was in a court-ordered drug rehabilitation program. You know somebody has a S-E-R-I-O-U-S drug problem when they get caught with illicit drugs while in rehab. [continues 537 words]
Late-night comedians have the drug hungers of Noelle Bush, daughter of Florida Gov. Jeb Bush and niece of the nation's president, to kick around some more. But let's get serious for a moment. Noelle, 25, needs help. She has, in the parlance of these times, ''issues.'' She was found with crack cocaine in her shoe last week at a drug treatment center in Orlando, where she was in a court-ordered drug rehabilitation program. We already knew Noelle's problem was serious when she spent three days in jail in July for contempt of court after she was found with prescription pills that did not belong to her. They reportedly belonged to a treatment center worker and had been taken from a cabinet. [continues 431 words]
The nation's drug czar is annoyed again. This time it is with me. Without mentioning me by name, John P. Walters, director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy, writing in the San Francisco Chronicle, held up one of my columns as an example of how journalists can be "fed misleading advocacy information that they swallow whole." The result is "a lack of accurate information" that plagues the public debate over marijuana. Walters recounts how a columnist described his claims of increased potency in today's marijuana as wildly overstated "whoppers." I knew he was talking about me. A database search turned up nobody else's essays that have used the words drug czar and "whoppers" in the same column. I found this amusing, since my efforts to get "accurate information" out of the drug czar's office while writing the column back in May were unsuccessful. [continues 596 words]
WASHINGTON -- The nation's drug czar is annoyed again. This time it is with me. Without mentioning me by name, a guest column by John P. Walters, director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy, in the Sept. 1 San Francisco Chronicle held up one of my columns as an example of how journalists can be "fed misleading advocacy information that they swallow whole." The result is "a lack of accurate information" that plagues the public debate over marijuana. He recounts how a columnist described his claims of increased potency in today's marijuana as wildly overstated "whoppers." [continues 731 words]
WASHINGTON - Our nation's drug czar is annoyed. If proponents have their way, the District of Columbia will vote later this year to legalize marijuana for medicinal purposes for the second time. John P. Walters, director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy, took some pot shots at the issue in a recent Washington Post piece that has been reprinted across the country. Unfortunately, he brings more smoke than light. "After years of giggling at quaintly outdated marijuana scare stories like the 1936 movie Reefer Madness," he writes, "we've become almost conditioned to think that any warning about the true dangers of marijuana are overblown." [continues 648 words]
Our nation's drug czar is annoyed. If proponents have their way, the District of Columbia will vote later this year to legalize marijuana for medicinal purposes for the second time. John P. Walters, director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy, took some pot shots at the issue in a recent Washington Post piece. Unfortunately, he brings more smoke than light. "After years of giggling at quaintly outdated marijuana scare stories like the 1936 movie 'Reefer Madness,'" he writes, "we've become almost conditioned to think that any warning about the true dangers of marijuana are overblown." [continues 528 words]
WASHINGTON -- Our nation's drug czar is annoyed. If proponents have their way, the District of Columbia will vote later this year to legalize marijuana for medicinal purposes for the second time. John P. Walters, director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy, took some potshots at the issue in a recent Washington Post piece that has been reprinted across the country. Unfortunately, he brings more smoke than light. "After years of giggling at quaintly outdated marijuana scare stories like the 1936 movie 'Reefer Madness'," he writes, "we've become almost conditioned to think that any warning about the true dangers of marijuana are overblown." He then proceeds with unintended irony to give an overblown warning of his own about "The Myth of 'Harmless' Marijuana." He warns Baby-Boomer parents that "today's marijuana is different from that of a generation ago, with potency levels 10 to 20 times stronger than the marijuana with which they were familiar." [continues 560 words]
