Post-9/11, No Dissent!, Barrett Brown, Surveillance and Privacy, NSA Spying, Syria; World News; Racism

Post-9/11

• How to Win the War on Terror: Repeal the Patriot Act
• America's next president had better believe in restoring liberty—"Our founders had their flaws, and huge moral blind spots – but on liberty, they were way ahead of their time."
• Breaking My Silence—"For years I have written about mass incarceration, while staying mute about drones and other injustices. It is time to connect the dots."
• TSA is officially allowed to lie to you in order to cover its ass
• DHS: New details in how the feds take laptops at border

No Dissent!

• America is more terrifying than Orwell's fiction—"Not even the author of '1984' could have envisioned a world dominated by a single superpower." Salon
• MIT 'could have done more' to defend Swartz—"Swartz's friends say that the information about the 26-year-old's access clearance could have changed the course of what MIT described in the report as an 'aggressive prosecution.'" In other news: MIT announces it will hold community meetings to discuss Swartz case
• Craig Zucker: What Happens When a Man Takes on the Feds—"Buckyballs was the hottest office game on the market. Then regulators banned it. Now the government wants to ruin the CEO who fought back."
• How a Philadelphia Family Lost Their Home to Asset Forfeiture
• Rise Morning Show: Julia Davis, Conner Habi

Barrett Brown

• US stops jailed activist Barrett Brown from discussing hacking prosecution—"Federal court order prohibits Brown from talking to the media in what critics say is latest in crackdown on investigative journalism."
• Barrett Brown Faces 105 Years in Jail—"But no one can figure out what law he broke. Introducing America's least likely political prisoner."
• 105 Years in Jail for Posting a Link?—"This is almost a textbook case of prosecutorial overreach. As Carr points out, the guy who actually stole the Stratfor information is facing a sentence of only ten years. So why is Brown facing 105 years?"

Surveillance and Privacy

• How We Got From 9/11 to Massive NSA Spying on Americans: A Timeline—"Total Information Awareness, PRISM, encryption back doors, a 'black budget' of billions, and everything in between."
• State AG Says It's OK Ohio Implemented Facial Recognition Program Without Notifying Public Because Everyone Else Is Doing It
• Feds Had Court Reverse Ban On Warrantless Searches On Americans Because 'We Wanted To Be Able To Do It'
• N.J. law requires notice before terror surveillance
• Pols weigh in on Boston surveillance cameras

NSA Spying

• NSA Phone-Records Spying Said to Violate Rules for Years—"The U.S. National Security Agency violated rules on surveillance of telephone records for almost three years and misled a secret court, raising fresh concerns that spy programs lack adequate controls to protect Americans' privacy." FISA actually shut down NSA for 6 months for their constant flouting of privacy.
• Zero Sum: Americans Must Sacrifice Some Security to Reform the NSA—"The nation can survive the occasional terrorist attack, but our freedoms can't survive an invulnerable leader like Keith Alexander operating within inadequate constraints."
• Government Announces Steps to Restore Confidence on Encryption Standards—Can the trust be restored? NYT
• NSA spying disclosures could cost companies billions Salon
• The NSA machine: Too big for anyone to understand
• UN: press should not be 'intimidated into silence' over state secrets—"Representatives criticise UK government following detention of David Miranda, and call for public debate over NSA surveillance."
• David Miranda detention divides MEPs—"Whistleblowers such as Edward Snowden and Bradley Manning have been described as 'essential to democracy,' during a debate on media freedom in the EU."
• Flipside: The Rest of the Snowden Files Should Be Destroyed

Syria

• Obama will try more diplomacy on Syria but warns US 'doesn't do pinpricks'
• Obama asks Congress to delay vote on Syria military strike
• Kerry To Meet With Russian Foreign Minister To Reach Deal On Syria
• Sudden plan: Syria to dispose of chemical weapons?
• Take that, D.C. gasbags!: How angry Americans may stop a disaster—"As the Beltway wise men all lined up behind a war, the people spoke loudly against it -- and humiliated the elites." Salon

World News

• Russia Issues Travel Warning About United States—"Countries often issue travel advisories warning citizens of danger abroad: war, for instance, or a terrorist threat or an outbreak of disease. The Russian Foreign Ministry posted advice of a somewhat different nature on Monday, cautioning people wanted by the United States not to visit nations that have an extradition treaty with it." NYT
• Convicted Berlusconi Threatens to Bring Down Italian Government
• GetUp takes on TV networks over refusal to show anti-Murdoch advert—"Activist group to seek 'clarification' from ACCC on whether the rejection was appropriate or an abuse of market power." Check out GetUp's banned ad.
• Murdoch celebrates conservative victory in Australia with Twitter tirade
• Body doubles in China: Will Bo Xilai serve his sentence?—"Bo Xilai is awaiting a sentencing that is likely to be harsh. But Chinese netizens suspect that he could hire a body double to serve his jail time for him."
• Kenya's deputy president William Ruto denies murder at ICC
• Carmen Quintana: Set on fire by Pinochet's soldiers
• London student reported to police: "Enchanted by anarchism and individualism"

Racism

• German firm apologizes for producing anti-immigrant condoms
• Dunkin' Donuts apologizes for blackface ad campaign in Thailand
• Trois Pommes Gives Oprah 'Pretty Woman' Treatment, Then Buries Its Head in the Sand

Miranda, Surveillance and Privacy; War on Drugs, Arlington, Crackdown, Stop-And-Frisk, Mandatory Sentencing, Prisons, 420, Legalization

Miranda

• David Miranda: 'They said I would be put in jail if I didn't co-operate'
• David Miranda, schedule 7 and the danger that all reporters now face—"As the events in a Heathrow transit lounge – and the Guardian offices – have shown, the threat to journalism is real and growing."
• Is Glenn Greenwald's journalism now viewed as a 'terrorist' occupation?—"David Miranda's detention shows that being the partner of the man who interviewed the NSA whistleblower is enough to see you treated like a terrorist."
• White House Had Advance Notice on Heathrow Detention—Claims they didn't sanction his detainment. WSJ
• Snowden journalist to publish UK secrets after Britain detains partner

Surveillance and Privacy

• Britain forced Guardian to destroy copy of Snowden material—Different unnamed officals were quoted as saying, "You've had your fun. Now we want the stuff back."; "We can call off the black helicopters"; and "You've had your debate. There's no need to write any more."
• Time for Answers from the NSA—"After a report of 2,776 privacy violations, even NSA defenders are getting fed up."
• N.S.A. Calls Violations of Privacy 'Minuscule' NYT
• Feds target instructors teaching how to beat polygraph tests
• Obama administration asks Supreme Court to allow warrantless cellphone searches—Thanks Obama!
• NZ PM John Key appeared to lose patience with a journalist at a media conference today—Walked on being asked about the spying bill.
  
• UK: Police 'spied on activists for blacklisting agency'—"Whistleblower says he believes he personally collected intelligence that later appeared in files of agency."

War on Drugs

• Poll: 82% Of Americans Believe U.S. Is Losing 'War On Drugs'
• Grand Jury Decides Not to Charge Officer Who Fatally Shot Unarmed Youth in Bronx—Over a bag of marijuana? NYT
• American Drug War: U.S. Prosecution Tactics Frees Colombian Nationals
• In 2011, 1 in 25 Americans was arrested—"The War on Drugs still accounts for startling arrest rates, borne out in FBI stats." Salon
• Father of foster child who died speaks to KVUE—Daughter taken away from pot-smoking parents died in foster care.
• Student left in DEA cell to get $4 million from US—Doesn't look like anyone's getting fired or publicly reprimanded over this.
• Mexican Cartels Are Recruiting US Soldiers As Hitmen, And The Pay Is Good
• More Fast and Furious guns surface at crimes in Mexico

Arlington

• Owner irked after raid on Arlington's 'Garden of Eden'—"They came here under the guise that we were doing a drug trafficking, marijuana-growing operation. They destroyed everything." They being a SWAT Team.
• Arlington Farm Owners Demand Apology From Police After Drug Raid Comes Up Empty
• Texas Police Hit Organic Farm With Massive SWAT Raid

Crackdown

• Feds Throwing Medical Marijuana Patients Into Federal Prison at Unprecedented Rate
• Feds Raid Pot Dispensaries in Washington, Where the Drug is Legal
• California Democratic Party Marijuana Resolution Asks Obama To End Federal Crackdown

Stop-And-Frisk

• New York 'stop and frisk' policy ruled discriminatory—"New York City's police department violated the civil rights of thousands [NYT] through its stop and frisk policy, a US judge has ruled. Judge Shira Scheindlin said police chiefs 'turned a blind eye' to evidence that officers had discriminated by race when making the stops." Unconstitutional.
• Cop Cams Ordered To Help Fix NYC Stop-And-Frisk
• Mayor Bloomberg Loves Cameras Watching Everyone... Except His Cops

Mandatory Sentencing

• Holder To Announce Move Against Mandatory Minimum Sentencing—"Attorney General Eric Holder is calling for major changes to the nation's criminal justice system that would scale back the use of harsh prison sentences for certain drug-related crimes, divert people convicted of low-level offenses to drug treatment and community service programs and expand a prison program to allow for release of some elderly, non-violent offenders."
• Mandatory Drug Sentences Author: 'We May Have Overreacted'—"Former Rep. E. Clay Shaw, Jr., who helped draft the Anti-Drug Abuse Act of 1986, says it's time to reconsider."
• Welcome drug prosecution reform still needs Congress's help

Prisons

• Fareed Zakaria: "If our Politicians can take on the prison lobbies, there is hope for America."
• Supreme Court: California must continue prisoner release
• FCC slashes what prisoners pay for phone calls—" A decade after families of prison inmates asked for action, the Federal Communications Commission agreed to limit how much companies can charge for phone calls made from behind bars."
• Judge to open documents in Idaho prison lawsuit—"Inmates at the Idaho Correctional Center... brought the lawsuit in 2010, contending the [Corrections Corporation of America]-run prison was so violent that prisoners called it 'Gladiator School.'"
• CCA warden says he didn't know about understaffing

420

• Dr. Sanjay Gupta: Why I changed my mind on weed—"I apologize because I didn't look hard enough, until now. I didn't look far enough. I didn't review papers from smaller labs in other countries doing some remarkable research, and I was too dismissive of the loud chorus of legitimate patients whose symptoms improved on cannabis."
• Charlotte's Web
• NJ governor: Ease access to kids' medical pot
• Pro-marijuana ads pulled from NASCAR's Brickyard 400
• Federal Drug Agency Denies Marijuana Is Less Toxic Than Alcohol—Lying liars.

Legalization

• As haze clears, are American opinions on marijuana reaching tipping point?
• Florida: Backer says passion, not politics, motivates medical-marijuana drive
• Quinn to Sign Medical Marijuana Bill—"Illinois will become 20th state in the union to allow for medical marijuana use; New law takes effect Jan. 1."
• New York City Comptroller John Liu calls for legalized pot in NYC—The money earned can be used to fund education.
• Canada: Trudeau says he supports legalizing marijuana
• Legal Weed is Hurting San Francisco's Hippies
• A push in Mexico City to legalize marijuana use
• Uruguay's lower house votes to legalize marijuana—The UN's International Narcotics Control Board is "concerned," but this may be the "tipping point" on the war on drugs.
• Big Marijuana lobby fights legalization efforts
• Pope Francis attacks drug legalisation in Latin America—Just when I was starting to like the guy.

Wag the Dog? NSA Spying, Surveillance and Privacy; Africa; Americas; Asia; Europe; Middle East

Wag the Dog?

• US embassy closures extended over militant threat fears
• Drone strikes kill militants in Yemen; Americans urged to leave
• Greenwald: Is US Exaggerating Threat to Embassies to Silence Critics of NSA Domestic Surveillance?
• The NSA Leaks Put Our 'Methods' At Risk, But Bragging About Monitoring Al Qaeda Emails Doesn't?
• Colbert: Global Terror Warning—"The Obama administration alerts Americans about an imminent Al Qaeda attack that could happen any moment, anywhere and anytime."

NSA Spying

• Obama: 'We Don't Have A Domestic Spying Program'—It's a global spying program.
• Obama Cancels Meeting With Putin In Moscow
• Greenwald: New U.S. spying revelations coming from Snowden leaks
• Russian senator fundraises for Edward Snowden's work on personal data—"United Russia politician Ruslan Gattarov says he has set up a website to gather money for the NSA whistleblower's work."
• Former NSA Boss Calls Snowden's Supporters Internet Shut-ins; Equates Transparency Activists With Al-Qaeda

Surveillance and Privacy

• US drug agency surveillance unit to be investigated by Department of Justice—"Civil rights groups express concern after revelations that secret unit uses wiretaps and telephone records to arrest Americans."
• Government Reverses Course on Warrantless Wiretapping in Criminal Case, Admits Duty to Notify Defendants
• Mass Data: Transfers from Germany Aid US Surveillance—"German intelligence sends massive amounts of intercepted data to the NSA, according to documents from whistleblower Edward Snowden, which SPIEGEL has seen. The trans-Atlantic cooperation on technical matters is also much closer than first thought."
• Germans' fear of American spying surges FT
• Schneier: Defeating the modern Leviathan of corporate-government data collection—"Individuals face an unholy alliance of data-hungry private firms and public agencies. Only citizen action can win back our privacy."

Africa

• Tunisia crisis: Tens of thousands join protest—"Tens of thousands of protesters have marched in the Tunisian capital, Tunis, to demand the resignation of the Islamist-led government."
• Uganda Passes Tough New Law Against Public Protest—'The law gives the police powers to control public meetings, including the use of force to break up gatherings held without prior authorization. Even meetings of a political nature held between three people must be authorized by the police...."
• Egypt: Diplomacy Hasn’t Resolved Political Standoff

Americas

• Canada: You will be shocked(!) to see who is on Stephen Harper's full 'enemy' list
• Falklands, global espionage and multilateral organizations in CFK dialogue with Ban Ki-moon
• Gunman kills head of Venezuela opposition party

Asia

• Japan launches largest warship since World War II
• Secret trove of files on N Korean rights abuses—"US and South Korean intelligence agencies are sitting on a huge archive recording torture, starvation and gross human rights abuses in North Korea. The files would be of great value to a United Nations investigation into crimes against humanity by the Pyongyang regime." Disclosure c/o Wikileaks.
• US criticises Vietnam internet control law—"The US has criticised a new internet decree in Vietnam that would restrict online users from discussing current affairs."
• Chinese firm paid insider 'to kill my company,' American CEO says
• Indonesia: Nazi-themed Asia café sparks global outrage

Europe

• Why Is A Top Obama Strategist Helping Sell UK Immigration Crackdown?
• UK: Doreen Lawrence pledges to condemn 'racial profiling' spot checks in the House of Lords—"Equalities watchdog says it will investigate the operations, with one member of the public saying it was akin to 'Nazi Germany.'"
• French Mayor threatens suicide over traveller camp
• Immigrants under fire in Italy despite pope's call for tolerance
• Swedish police cleared over shooting that sparked riots—"Prosecutors in Sweden have closed the inquiry into a police shooting which sparked Stockholm's worst riots in decades this May."
• Outrage as Swiss move to segregate asylum-seekers
• Malta refuses European demand to accept Africa migrants

Middle East

• Saudi prince defects from royal family
• Saudi offers Russia deal to scale back Assad support
• Syria fired ballistic missiles on its largest city in February. This is what it looks like now
• Bahrain bans protests in capital ahead of major anti-govt demonstration
• Turkish ex-army boss Basbug sentenced to life for Ergenekon overthrow plot
• 'This is our land': Protests at plan to remove Bedouins from ancestral villages—"The so-called 'Prawer plan' is being fought in and outside Israel."
• Israel blocks EU projects in West Bank

Why gay marriage matters, Marriage Equality, Conservatives, International; Sports; Politics and Media; Intolerance

Why gay marriage matters

• Missouri man arrested at hospital for refusing to leave gay partner
• Hospital: Man OK to visit sick husband—Right after the shitstorm that ensued.
• First hand account: Arrested at Hospital: Just for wanting to hold his partner's hand
• Exclusive interview with daughter of gay man handcuffed, dragged from husband's hospital bed
• Missouri hospital ex-employee on gay beating case: 'It makes news because of the f*gs'

Marriage Equality

• 53 percent of Americans now support gay marriage, poll finds
• Second GOP senator backs marriage equality—"'Same-sex couples should have the right to civil marriage,' said Illinois Sen. Mark Kirk." Salon
• Just Three Senate Dems Oppose Gay Marriage—The holdouts are from West Virginia, Louisana, Arkansas
• John Roberts' High Stakes Gamble To Uphold DOMA
• University Times threatened with legal action over Iona Institute articles—"Institute sends letter claiming defamation after articles challenging conservative think-tank and anti-gay marriage video."
• Detroit archbishop wants gay marriage supporters to self-excommunicate (practically)
• Poll: Gay television characters a boon for marriage equality—"Researchers found that support for equal rights was positively influenced by fictional gay characters." Salon

Conservatives

• RNC Passes Unanimous Resolution Affirming GOP Is Still Against Gay Marriage—Log Cabin Republicans ain't happy.
• Hate Groups Threaten To Leave GOP If Gay Marriage Opposition Is Ended
• Rick Santorum: 'Suicidal' to change GOP
• Hell Freezes Over As Glenn Beck Endorses Marriage Equality
• Stephen Colbert on GOP listing "in the closet" as a sexual orientation

International

• Uruguay legalises same-sex marriage—"Vote in lower house of Congress makes Uruguay the third country in Americas and 12th in world to allow gay marriage."
• French Senate backs same-sex marriage bill—And the homophobes lash out.
• Gay Men in China Just Need to Get Themselves a Lesbian Wife

Sports

• Chris Kluwe: An openly gay player in the NFL is not a distraction
• Major Sports Leagues Prepare For the 'I'm Gay' Disclosure—"The N.H.L. has formed a partnership with a gay advocacy group to plan training and counseling on gay issues, and the National Football League is looking to smooth the way for acceptance." NYT
• Gay sports blogger Kurt Wirth on coming out in an Alabama town of 81—"Wirth found more open minds than expected, eventually working as an SID at an SEC school."

Politics and Media

• Montana House endorses measure to decriminalize gay sex
• Ben Carson Goes On The Offensive, Lashes Out At "Racist" Critics—"Dr. Ben Carson has pivoted from apologizing 'if anybody was offended' by his anti-gay comments to attacking his critics, some of whom he says are 'racist[s]' who are trying to smear him as a bigot in order to silence him."
• Michigan Republican Refuses To Resign, Stands By Anti-Gay Facebook Post
• You can't talk traditional marriage without shaming divorce
• Under the Gaydar—"How gays won the right to raise children without conservatives even noticing."

Intolerance

• Look How Many States Still Allow Housing Discrimination Against Gays
• Putin Says Russia Does Not Discriminate Against Gays NYT
• Megyn Kelly Asks Anti-Gay Hate Group Leader Why Pro-Gay Activists Are So Intolerant —How dare we be intolerant of their god-given right to be intolerant!
• Applebee's employee gay-bashed by husband of co-worker says he was told not to return to work due to bad publicity
• Anti-Gay Activist Lawyer Convicted Of Child Pornography

HSBC: Drug Money Launderer, 420, Medical Marijuana, Legalization and Decriminalization, War on Drugs, Law and Disorder, Mexico

HSBC: Drug Money Launderer

• HSBC to pay $1.9bn in US money laundering settlement
• HSBC blasted for 'stunning failures over oversight'
• HSBC, Too Big to Indict? NYT
• Outrageous HSBC Settlement Proves the Drug War is a Joke
• Matt Taibbi: You Can Go to Prison for Pot, While Big Banks Get Away With Laundering Drug Cartel Cash --It's a horrible injustice.

420

• The end of the war on marijuana
• How the War on Drugs Caused the Fake Pot Problem
• The Truce On Drugs--"What happens now that the war has failed?"
• D.A.R.E., America's Most Famous Anti-Drug Program, Will No Longer Talk to Children About Marijuana
• New Data Cast Further Doubt on Drug Czar's Theory That Marijuana Reform Makes Kids Smoke Pot
• Fox News busted reporting drivers on Cannabis
• Video: Breaking The Taboo--Come for the message. Stay for Morgan Freeman's voiceover.

Medical Marijuana

• 25,900 People Want Obama to Pardon a Medical Marijuana Provider Facing Life in Prison. Will He?
• If Oakland’s Medical Pot Is Illegal, Why Are the Feds Trying to Patent It As Medicine?
• San Francisco: Medical Marijuana Users Can Get Booted From Public Housing at Any Time
• Medical marijuana law sponsors surprised Christie wants to impose sales tax on it
• Ireland: Medicinal cannabis available here in the next year

Legalization and Decriminalization

• Obama's Pot Problem--"Now that states have started legalizing recreational marijuana, will the president continue the government’s war on weed?"
• Obama Won't Go After State Marijuana Legalization: 'We Have Bigger Fish To Fry'
• 3 Reasons Not to Take Obama's Pot Prosecution Comments Too Seriously
• Administration Weighs Legal Action Against States That Legalized Marijuana Use NYT
• Washington Post: Marijuana's foot in the door--"For now, the federal government does not need to stage an aggressive intervention, one way or the other. It can wait, watch and enforce the most worrisome violations as they occur."
• Washington state lights up as smoking marijuana becomes legal
• Indiana State Police chief advises lawmakers to legalize and tax pot
• Marijuana: A Winning GOP Issue?
• Speaker won't stop Vermont House pot debate--"Shap Smith says he's open to a dialogue on marijuana decriminalization, despite his own misgivings about the idea."
• Why Legalizing Pot Won't Curb the Drug War--"Advocates may think their recent initiatives have set Mexican traffickers back, but the cartels have already moved on."

War on Drugs

• Clinton: Drug war 'hasn't worked'
• Quentin Tarantino Says Drug War, Justice System Are Modern-Day Slavery
• Branson: War on drugs a trillion-dollar failure
• Video: Is The War on Drugs "All About the Money"?
• The War on Drugs is a war on human nature--"America's been fighting this battle for decades. It can't be won, and it's costing us upwards of $20 billion a year." Salon
• Government will not change drugs policy despite critical report--"The Government tonight ruled out any shift in drugs policy despite a damning report by an influential group of MPs which said Britain was failing to tackle drug barons or the multi-billion pound global profits of their illegal trade."
• Nick Clegg calls for royal commission on drugs reform--Says there's a 'conspiracy of silence.'

Law and Disorder

• Police In Colombia Seize 1.5 Tons Of Cocaine In A Container That Was To Be Shipped To The US
• Brazil: Dozens of police officers arrested, accused of taking bribes--From drug traffickers.
• Spain arrests woman with cocaine filled breast implants
• Pakistan: 13 die after drinking cough syrup--"The victims were all drug addicts who apparently drank the cough syrup in an attempt to get high...."
• Man loses drug money, asks Tucson police for help

Mexico

• More than 25,000 people disappear in six years--"Unpublished official figures show cost of chaos and violence enveloping country in fight against drug gangs."
• 'Please spare my little girl': How Mexico's fearless female mayor sacrificed herself to save her daughter's life as she was abducted by drug gang, tortured and executed
• Mexico beauty queen had gun in her hands, was used as a human shield

Marriage Equality & DOMA, International, Religion; Conversion Therapy, Politics, Media

Marriage Equality & DOMA

• Supreme Court to Hear Two Challenges to Gay Marriage--And Scalia tips his hand early. NYT
• The Marriage Plot: Inside This Year's Epic Campaign for Gay Equality
• Seattle: A license to marry: It's official--"Just after midnight, as hundreds rejoiced, King County issued marriage licenses to same-sex couples for the first time."
• Women Marry At West Point Chapel, First Same-Sex Couple To Wed There
• Federal judge says 'perpetuation of the human race' justifies Nevada gay marriage ban--Infertile couples who don't plan to raise kids, your marriage licenses have been revoked.
• Boeing Won't Offer Pension Benefits To Same-Sex Couples
• Soldier's last wish: Let DOMA die before I do
• George Will: 'Quite Literally, The Opposition To Gay Marriage Is Dying'
• Poll: Plurality supports gay marriage [H/T Hector]
• Possibly the most beautiful ad for marriage equality we've ever seen

International

• Gay marriage to be illegal in Church of England--"The Church of England and Church in Wales will be banned in law from offering same-sex marriages, the government has announced." David Cameron was for allowing it.
• French protests against gay marriage bill
• Experts: Mexico Ruling Opens Door to Gay Marriage
• Uruguay's Lower House Approves Gay Marriage Law
• Israel gets same-sex divorce before same-sex marriage

Religion

• Christian's year of living 'gay' leads to dramatic change, sparks controversy
• 'Europe's first gay-friendly mosque' sparks controversy
• Gay And Muslim: The Challenge Of Homophobia In Islam
• Is Mormon Teaching About Gays Evolving?
• Rick Warren: Churches Are 'Probably' Responsible For Negative Attitudes Towards Gays--And he's 'probably' trying to deflect blame.
• Christian group says demon sex makes you gay--"A Christian magazine warns that homosexuality is caused by sex with succubi -- and that's just the beginning." Salon
• Berkeley students seek Christmas ban on Salvation Army bell ringers--"The student government at the University of California-Berkeley (CAL) passed a resolution last month that would ban Salvation Army bell ringers and their iconic red kettles from campus this Christmas because of the Christian organization's alleged bias against homosexuality."

Conversion Therapy

• UK government: Gay "cure" therapy is harmful--"The Department of Health does not condone the concept of therapists offering 'cures' for homosexuality. There is no evidence that this sort of treatment is beneficial and indeed it may well cause significant harm."
• Judge temporarily blocks California's ban on gay conversion therapy Salon
• 'Gay Conversion' Therapy Is Not Protected Free Speech--"Just because a treatment is carried out through words doesn't mean it's safeguarded by the First Amendment."

Politics

• President Obama nominates first openly gay Latina judge to U.S. District Court
• When Barney Frank announced he was 'coming out of the room' (er… the closet)
• Republican Pa. lawmaker announces he's gay
• Marco Rubio Says Homosexuality Is A Sin — But Not In A Judgmental Way--No homo.
• Cuban transsexual elected to public office--"Adela Hernandez, jailed for 'dangerousness' in the 1980s, becomes first transgender person to hold public office in Cuba."

Media

• 'I Couldn't Accept Being Gay Because I Was too Afraid'--An interview with first openly gay boxer Orlando Cruz
• Major Corporate Foundation Suspends Support For Boy Scouts Over Anti-Gay Discrimination
• Passengers left stranded on bus after driver refuses to board because of gay rights advert on the side
• South Lyon teacher suspended for playing song about being gay
• AP bans the word "homophobia"
• Where masturbation and homosexuality don't exist
• Scientists May Have Finally Unlocked Puzzle of Why People Are Gay [H/T Hector]
• APA Revises Manual: Being Transgender Is No Longer A Mental Disorder
• Dear Prudence: Follow-up letters from the twincest writer and the minister's wife
• My husband's secret gay life Salon

War on Drugs, Big Pharma, Armstrong, 420, Cases, Mexico, Cartels, International

War on Drugs

• So who's winning the war on drugs?--"President Nixon's declared war on drugs is more than thirty years old. It's time to ask who's winning."
• Roseanne Barr: The War on Drugs is Just Plain Crazy
• The Throwaways--Police enlist young offenders as confidential informants. But the work is high-risk, largely unregulated, and sometimes fatal."
• Florida Deputy Uses Spidey-Sense to Establish Probable Cause--"Last May, Sarasota, Florida Sheriff's Deputy Dominic Fornal followed Joseph McNeal's Jaguar out of a parking lot, then pulled McNeal over. The reason? Dep. Fornal claimed he could smell marijuana coming from the car. Even though the car was traveling at 35 mph. And the windows were up. Oh, and there was no marijuana in the car. Fornal did arrest McNeal and charge him with a DUI, though, even though McNeal's BAC was about half the legal limit."
• Fast And Furious Report: No Evidence DOJ Leadership Knew Of Gunwalking Tactics

Big Pharma

• Drug giants fined $11bn for criminal wrongdoing--"Fines are not enough to reform drug industry, warn lawyers."
• How Big Pharma Hooked America on Legal Heroin
• As Obamacare dawns, Big Pharma rides into the sunset

Armstrong

• USADA says it will ban Lance Armstrong, strip 7 Tour titles--Does the USADA even have any authority over the International Cycling Federation or the Amaury Sport Organisation that runs the Tour?
• Lance Armstrong drops fight against doping charges
• Lance Armstrong joins Md. cancer benefit triathlon

420

• Former DEA Heads Push Holder to Oppose State Marijuana Initiatives
• Romney plans to smoke medical marijuana laws
• Yale study: Alcohol's gateway effect much larger than marijuana's
• Young cannabis smokers run risk of lower IQ, report claims--"If cannabis impairs the IQ of those who smoke as teenagers, then legalising it is the best way to mitigate that harm."
• Bid to overturn L.A. pot shop ban qualifies for ballot

Cases

• New Hampshire Jury Nullifies its First Felony Marijuana Case
• Pot-smoking driver in Saskatoon deemed not impaired
• Riverside: Judge says city can't ban medical marijuana clinic
• Montana Supreme Court: No constitutional right to medical marijuana
• Wal-Mart worker fired over medical marijuana loses case

Mexico

• Devastated Mexican father asks: Why did my son have to die for the US's failed "war on drugs"?
• Mexicans see a losing battle in the war on crooked police
• US drug addiction impedes Mexican growth – President Calderon

Cartels

• Marines vs. Zetas: U.S. Hunts Drug Cartels in Guatemala
• "Cocaine godmother" Griselda Blanco gunned down in Colombia, media reports say
• Top Colombian drug lord captured in Venezuela
• Fritanga Arrest Puts Dangerous Drug Cartel Leader in Police Custody
• Mexico navy says it captured Gulf cartel leader--"Mario Cardenas Guillen, alias El Gordo, is accused of being one of the two top leaders of the Gulf cartel of Mexico."

International

• Australia: Report urges rethink on illegal drugs--"A report has recommended Australia consider decriminalising cannabis and ecstasy in a bid to tackle the country's drug problem."
• UK: Drugs policies are not working, believe 75% of MPs
• Canada: Border guards told to forget about illegal drug exports
• Uruguay takes 'war on drugs' in new direction: The state as dealer
• Thailand: Are our drug policies really working?
• Why Washington's War on Drugs in Afghanistan Isn't Working
• What the world thought: Should drugs like cocaine and heroin be legalised?

Money Laundering, Fast and Furious, Mexico, 420, DEA, Medical Marijuana, Law and Disorder, War on Drugs, International

Money Laundering

• Senate report: HSBC 'allowed drug money laundering'--They're 'sorry' for what they'v done.
• Mexican Drug Cartel Laundered Money Through BofA, FBI Alleges
• Mexican drug cartels and the U.S. banking industry--It's been going on for some time now.

Fast and Furious

• The truth about the Fast and Furious scandal--"A Fortune investigation reveals that the ATF never intentionally allowed guns to fall into the hands of Mexican drug cartels. How the world came to believe just the opposite is a tale of rivalry, murder, and political bloodlust."
• Fast and Furious follow up: The ATF and gun stores
• Fast And Furious: Feds Name 4 Suspects Linked To Botched Gun-Smuggling Operation
• Fast and Furious: Failed scandal--"John Boehner seems to realize his party’s effort to use Fast and Furious to embarrass Obama has failed." Salon
• Fast And Furious Whistleblower: Grassley, Issa 'Cried Wolf' On New ATF Video

Mexico

• Mexican drug cartels' spreading influence: Graphic
• Drugs tunnel between Mexico and US discovered
• Mexican papers halt crime coverage for fear of reprisals

420

• Why Pot Is Illegal Everywhere in the World
• Jon Stewart criticizes Chris Christie over marijuana legalization--Christie now says that the war on drugs "has been a failure."
• Moms and Dads for Marijuana Regulation unveil new Colorado billboard

DEA

• DEA head: A thousand dead children means we’re winning war on drugs Salon
• Government-sponsored study destroys DEA's classification of marijuana
• The Fallacy of the DEA: Why the Agency Needs to Concede to Legal Marijuana

Medical Marijuana

• Obama's War On Ethical Medical Pot
• Vote To Close Marijuana Shops Postponed Amid Proposed Deal
• Medical marijuana patient Bob Crouse acquitted of felony charges--"I was just trying to grow the quantity of medicine I needed to medicate myself. I never had any intent to distribute."
• Study: Medical Marijuana Does Not Increase Number Of Teens Smoking Pot
• Injured vets want battle over pot to end

Law and Disorder

• Stop-and-Frisk May Soon Hit Judicial Roadblocks NYT
• Florida Cop Fired for Planting Dope, Says He Did That and More Under Orders
• Long Beach Police Investigate Excessive Force in Pot-Shop Raid
• Harlem Couple Branded 'Professional Agitators' in NYPD 'Wanted' Poster
• Twelve Years for Cough Syrup, Criminal Charges for Ibuprofen

War on Drugs

• In His Second Term, Obama Will Pivot to the Drug War
• The Myth of the Toothless President
• The drug war: The path to decriminalisation
• New York Times: What Do You Get From A Drug War Costing $25 Billion Annually? Cocaine 74 Percent Cheaper Than It Was 30 Years Ago
• Florida Supreme Court upholds state's drug law--"A Florida law that requires people caught with illegal drugs in their possession to prove their innocence has been upheld by the state Supreme Court." Emphasis mine.

International

• A Quiet Revolution: Drug Decriminalisation Policies in Practice Across the Globe--"The main aim of the report was to look at the existing research to establish whether the adoption of a decriminalised policy led to significant increases in drug use - the simple answer is that it did not."
• Uruguay legalizes marijuana to fight crime
• Ten Years After Decriminalization, Drug Abuse Down by Half in Portugal
• Britain is losing war on drugs--But "[g]overnment has no intention of changing law and problem will not be solved by decriminalisation."
• Cocaine and coca not the same thing, says Bolivia's Morales in defiance of US
• Canadians favor decriminalizing marijuana
• Aussies the biggest recreational drug users in the world - report

420, Medical Marijuana, Crackdown, Legalization and Decriminalization, War on Drugs, Mexico, South America

420

• Cops seize waitress' $12K tip because it smells like pot
• Mitch McConnell To Constituent: Marijuana Leads To Death--So does dihydrogen monoxide.
• Dutch Law Would Stop Sale of Marijuana to Tourists NYT

Medical Marijuana

• Poll: 50% of Americans -- a record high -- favor legal marijuana
• Lawmakers In 5 States Tell Feds To Back Off Medical Marijuana
• "No Medical Value?" 27 Studies Show Pot Kills Pain
• Medical Marijuana Patient Fired by Wal-Mart Deserves His Day in Court
  
• Why Medical Marijuana Providers Are Opposing Legalization Efforts in Washington and Colorado

Crackdown

• New York police officers defy order to cut marijuana arrests--"Nearly half of people charged with marijuana posession were reportedly not displaying the drug when they were stopped."
• Butte, CA Snatches Children from Marijuana Patients--"Daisy and her husband are medical cannabis patients in Butte County. Their 3 wk-old and 15 mth-old children were taken and held by Butte County CPS for more than four months, following the parents arrest for cannabis."
• My suburban pot secret--"I thought starting my own medical marijuana operation would be easy and safe. Then the DEA crackdown started." Salon
• Court Orders Marijuana Smoker's Son Taken, Police Kill Man When Serving Order
• Up in smoke: Why are the feds cracking down on marijuana in states that allow it?

Legalization and Decriminalization

• Gov. Gary Johnson: Fed Raid on CA Legalization Advocate an Outrage
• 'This Debate Will No Longer be Suppressed': Legalizing Drugs Breaks Into the Mainstream
• Over 300 Economists Agree: It’s Time to Legalize Marijuana--The Budgetary Implications of Marijuana Prohibition shows "that marijuana legalization — replacing prohibition with a system of taxation and regulation — would save $7.7 billion per year in state and federal expenditures on prohibition enforcement and produce tax revenues of at least $2.4 billion annually if marijuana were taxed like most consumer goods."
• Marijuana Must Be Legalized
• Co. State's Proposal To Legalize Pot Gets Big Push
• Richard Branson: America Needs to Open Debate on Cannabis Decriminalization
• George F. Will: Should the U.S. legalize hard drugs?
• B.C.'s chief medical officer joins call to legalize pot
• Cannabis: Legal high--"Quietly, cannabis has in effect been decriminalised in Britain."

War on Drugs

• Kansas man gets 7 years plus for bath salts
• Heroin Works Better Than Methadone, So Why Won't Politicians Allow It?
• Animal behaviour: Clever hounds--Drug-sniffing dogs can get cued by their handlers to spot drugs.
• Rick Scott Vetoes Bill Sending Non-Violent Drug Offenders To Rehab After Serving Half Sentence In Jail
• Drug War Incompatible with Human Rights, Says Law Enforcement Against Prohibition
• Drugs war 'a failure' that bred criminals

Mexico

• Mexican Drug Lord Officially Thanks American Lawmakers for Keeping Drugs Illegal
• "Drug Lords" Targeted in Fast & Furious Worked for FBI
• Two US Soldiers Were Caught Setting Up A Hit Squad For The Mexican Cartels
• In Mexico, extortion is a booming offshoot of drug war
• Mexican policemen killed after beheadings

South America

• Guatemala's president urges debate on drug legalisation
• Colombia's former president calls America's drug war a 'failure'
• At Americas Summit, Allies Nudge U.S. To Change--"President Obama emphasized at a summit of leaders from across the Americas that the U.S. would not shift strategies in the war on drugs." Claims legalization is not the answer to the cartels.

Medical Marijuana, 420, Legalization and Decriminalization, War on Drugs, South America

Medical Marijuana

• Transplant Denied: How Medical Marijuana Policy Kills Patients
• Judge throws out medical pot suit against the feds
• Rep. Jared Polis mocks Colorado's new DEA chief--"Democratic Rep. Jared Polis of Colorado on Wednesday poked fun at his state's new head drug enforcement agent, joking that the Drug Enforcement Agency's new motto was 'protecting America from mold and water damage,'" because Barbra Roach said that "medical marijuana was dangerous because it caused 'mold and water damage' in the homes of people who grew it."
• 'Israel is world leader in medical marijuana use'
• RI: Medical Marijuana Dispensaries May Finally Become a Reality--"Rhode Island state lawmakers and Governor Lincoln Chafee announced a compromise Thursday, agreeing on on changes to the state’s medical marijuana law they believe will allow three state-approved medical marijuana dispensaries to open without without the risk of a federal prosecution."

420

• Eliot Spitzer: Spending Money on Prosecuting Pot Is Ridiculous
• Canada: End 'destructive' war on pot, panel urges Harper
• Marijuana: The big lie
• Pinellas detective dressed as Progress Energy worker in search of marijuana
• Middle school student sues after strip search for marijuana

Legalization and Decriminalization

• Legalization forces are gaining ground in drug war
• New Hampshire House Passes Marijuana Decriminalization Bill--"The bill squeaked by on a 162-161 vote, not enough to overcome a threatened veto by Gov. John Lynch (D)."
• Washington Marijuana Legalization Initiative I-502 Leads in New Poll
• Certified: Colorado Marijuana Legalization Initiative Qualifies for November Ballot
• New Poll Shows Vermont Voters Want Marijuana Decriminalization
• California bill would remove felony penalties for drug possession
• Pat Robertson: "It's time we stop locking up people for possession of marijuana. We just can't do it anymore."

War on Drugs

• Why Can’t You Smoke Pot? Because Lobbyists Are Getting Rich Off of the War on Drugs--They're fighting legalization to help the police arrest more people.
• Drug Policy as Race Policy: Best Seller Galvanizes the Debate--Michelle Alexander, author of "The New Jim Crow", on racism and the drug war.
• Cleaning up the 'hood: Focusing on drug markets rather than users means less crime
• Sick: Young, Undercover Cops Flirted With Students to Trick Them Into Selling Pot
• Braun Wins Appeal on Positive Drug Test and Avoids Suspension

South America

• Homeland Sec Napolitano: 50,000 Dead in War on Drugs Is Not a Failure
• U.S. Tells South America to Shut Up About Legalizing Drugs
• Biden visits Mexico and Honduras amid drug debate