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‘Drug free’ advocate: I smoked pot in college, of course

“David Evans, a criminal defense attorney and special advisor to Drug Free America Foundation, warned that marijuana combined the worst aspects of tobacco and alcohol. He said the drug was highly addictive and caused traffic accidents that killed young people and those who supported legalizing marijuana were naive and misinformed. ‘You’re painting a very apocalyptic picture here, Mr. Evans, have you taken marijuana yourself?’ Morgan asked. ‘Yes, I smoked pot in college, of course,’ Evans replied. ‘You’re still alive,’ Morgan remarked. ‘You haven’t killed anyone. You haven’t gone crazy. You seem perfectly well. You seem reasonably rational.'” Continue reading →

Government asks for 60-year sentence for Bradley Manning

“The US government has urged a military judge to sentence Bradley Manning to 60 years in prison, arguing that the solider, who leaked a huge collection of classified documents to WikiLeaks, ‘deserves to spend the majority of his remaining life’ in custody. Manning was found guilty last month of 20 counts, seven under the Espionage Act, but acquitted of the most serious charge of aiding the enemy. Captain Joe Morrow, a military prosecution lawyer, told the court that there may not be a soldier in the history of the US who had shown such an ‘extreme disregard’ for US security interests.” Continue reading →

U.S. officials: We didn’t ask the UK to detain Greenwald’s partner

“U.S. officials did not ask the British government to question the partner of the journalist who first reported secrets leaked by fugitive U.S. intelligence agency contractor Edward Snowden, the White House said on Monday. British authorities did, however, give their U.S. counterparts a ‘heads up’ before detaining the partner of American journalist Glenn Greenwald, Brazilian David Miranda, the White House said. ‘This was a decision that they made on their own, and not at the request of the United States,’ White House spokesman Josh Earnest told reporters at a briefing. ‘This is something that they did independent of our direction,’ he added.” Continue reading →

Paris suburb to fight dog poop with closed-circuit television cameras

“A Paris suburb has come up with an innovative plan to fight a plague of dog droppings on local streets — catching offenders on closed-circuit television cameras. The commuter town of Montereau-Fault-Yonne southeast of Paris said Monday that municipal police would begin using a decade-old network of CCTV cameras to track down dog owners who don’t pick up their pets’ droppings. ‘This will allow us to identify and seek out pet owners with no sense of civic duty and fine them’ 35 euros ($47), town mayor Yves Jego told AFP. He said using the cameras against irresponsible dog owners was no different from filming traffic offenders.” Continue reading →

Lawmakers travel the world on lobbyists’ dime

“Lately, the number of privately financed trips offered by corporate interests, lobbyists, universities and foreign governments, including China, have been rising. Trips this year so far total 1,363, at a cost to the hosts of $3.2 million. Bill Allison, editorial director of the Sunlight Foundation, said the best arrangement would be to conduct all lawmaker travel ‘on the taxpayer’s dime.’ Lawmakers have traveled to a variety of locales this year on trips paid for by private groups and foreign governments, with Turkey the top destination so far, followed by Israel. Lawmakers stress the travel’s fact-finding nature.” Continue reading →

Saudi Arabia ready to replace Western military and economic aid to Egypt

“Saudi Arabia and other Gulf countries welcomed Egypt’s ouster of Morsi, which infuriated supporters of the Muslim Brotherhood’s president and sent them to the streets. King Abdullah was the first leader to send a message of congratulations to caretaker president Adly Mansour, who was appointed shortly after the army deposed Morsi following nationwide protests. Saudi Arabia later announced an aid package of $5 billion to Egypt. Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates followed suit, bringing the pledges made by the three oil-rich Arab states of the Gulf to $12 billion. The Saudi monarch pledged on Friday the kingdom’s support for Egypt’s fight against ‘terrorism’.” Continue reading →

Greenwald vows to release UK secrets after 9-hour detention of his partner

“The journalist who first published secrets leaked by fugitive former U.S. intelligence agency contractor Edward Snowden vowed on Monday to publish more documents and said Britain will be ‘sorry’ for detaining his partner for nine hours. British authorities used anti-terrorism laws on Sunday to detain David Miranda, partner of U.S. journalist Glenn Greenwald, as he passed through London’s Heathrow airport. Greenwald said the detention was an attempt to intimidate him for publishing documents leaked by Snowden disclosing U.S. surveillance of global internet communications. Snowden gave Greenwald from 15,000 to 20,000 documents.” Continue reading →

Bitcoin: A Primer for Policymakers

“A new Mercatus Center at George Mason University study addresses many of the common misconceptions about Bitcoin and describes how the digital currency works. The study also analyzes current laws and regulations that may already cover digital currencies and warns against preemptively placing regulatory restrictions on Bitcoin that could stifle this new technology before it has a chance to grow. In addition, the paper gives policymakers several recommendations on how to treat Bitcoin going forward in a way that helps the free market and provides clarity for law enforcement.” Continue reading →