| Why is Colorado risking hundreds of millions to protect its marijuana industry? Posted: 26 Mar 2017 08:58 AM PDT ![Why is Colorado risking hundreds of millions to protect its marijuana industry?]( "Why is Colorado risking hundreds of millions to protect its marijuana industry?") Colorado's state legislature is considering an unusual plan to defend the state's marijuana industry from a federal crackdown under the Trump administration. The bill would allow growers and sellers to reclassify their recreational marijuana as medical "based on a business need due to a change in local, state, or federal law or enforcement policy." The strategy is meant to keep marijuana businesses afloat if the federal government comes after them, even if it means the state losing hundreds of millions of dollars in taxes. The bill represents a shift in how states might respond to what marijuana advocates say are an over-simplification of cannabis policy by the Trump administration.
|
| Infowars apologizes for spreading 'Pizzagate' theory. What does that mean for fake news? Posted: 26 Mar 2017 08:44 AM PDT ![Infowars apologizes for spreading 'Pizzagate' theory. What does that mean for fake news?]( "Infowars apologizes for spreading 'Pizzagate' theory. What does that mean for fake news?") Infowars owner and long-time conspiracy theorist Alex Jones admitted that his site falsely reported and commented on the debunked "Pizzagate" controversy, a theory that alleged that Comet Ping Pong, a Washington, D.C., pizza restaurant, had played a role in a child-sex-trafficking ring that also involved Hillary Clinton. Apologizing to the restaurant's owner, James Alefantis, Mr. Jones issued a statement Friday. "I want our viewers and listeners to know that we regret any negative impact our commentaries may have had on Mr. Alefantis, Comet Ping Pong, or its employees," he said.
|
| Seeking transparency, Congressional Democrats introduce 'Mar-a-Lago' act Posted: 26 Mar 2017 08:05 AM PDT ![Seeking transparency, Congressional Democrats introduce 'Mar-a-Lago' act]( "Seeking transparency, Congressional Democrats introduce 'Mar-a-Lago' act") The twin bills, not-so-subtly titled the "Making Access Records Available to Lead Government Openness Act", or the acronym "Mar-a-Lago" are named after the President's beachside resort that he has nicknamed the "Winter White House" due to his frequent visits in the first several months of his presidency. Mar-a-Lago, the palatial 128-room house in Palm Beach, Fla., was initially constructed by heiress and socialite Marjorie Merriweather Post with the express intention of becoming a winter presidential retreat. Following her death, Ms. Post's estate bequeathed the property to the US government, however less than a decade later the government returned Mar-a-Lago to the post foundation, citing enormous maintenance and operating costs.
|
| Could the Trump administration send Fethullah Gülen back to Turkey? Posted: 25 Mar 2017 02:19 PM PDT ![Could the Trump administration send Fethullah Gülen back to Turkey?]( "Could the Trump administration send Fethullah Gülen back to Turkey?") Fethullah Gülen leads a reclusive existence in his Pennsylvania compound. An extradition request for the cleric, filed by Turkey's government in September, remains under review, as Turkish impatience grows over the fate of a man that some call a Turkish Osama bin Laden — but whom skeptics describe as little more than a scapegoat for Turkey's power-hungry president. This weekend, Mr. Gülen is emerging at the center of US controversy, after ex-CIA director James Woolsey told the Wall Street Journal he had been present at a September meeting between top Turkish officials and President Trump's former national security advisor, Michael Flynn, in which the two sides discussed ways to deliver Gülen into Turkish custody.
|
