Month: July 2015

More Americans Than Ever Say They’ve Tried Marijuana, Gallup Poll Finds

More than 40 percent of Americans admit trying marijuana, the largest percentage in more than four decades of polling, a Gallup survey found Wednesday.

The 44 percent of people who say they tried marijuana is a significant jump from 1969, when Gallup first began asking the question. Back then, only 4 percent admitted trying the drug. By 1985, that figure had increased to 33 percent.

“The changes over time may reflect either an increase in the percentage who have tried the drug, or an increased willingness to admit to having done so in the past,” Gallup explained.

A rising willingness to acknowledge marijuana use would line up with the dramatic shift of public opinion on marijuana over the decades, reflected in other polls showing record high percentages of Americans supporting legalization.

In April, CBS News found 53 percent in support of legalization, the most since CBS began asking the question in 1979. That same month, Fox News found a record 51 percent in favor of legalization. In March, General Social Survey, widely regarded as the most authoritative source on public opinion research, found 52 percent in favor. In 2013, Gallup found 58 percent for legalization, but a year later that number dropped to 51 percent.

Gallup found that about half of Americans between ages 30 and 64 say they have tried marijuana, while 37 percent of adults under age 30 admit trying the drug. Almost half of all men and 35 percent of women said they tried marijuana.

Only 11 percent of American adults admitted to currently smoking weed, up 4 percentage points from 2013.

In the pioneer pot states of Colorado and Washington — the first to legalize recreational marijuana in 2012 and to open retail shops less than two years later — voters’ support for legalization has solidified. Since then Oregon, Alaska and Washington, D.C. have legalized recreational marijuana To date, 23 states have legalized marijuana for medical purposes.

The federal government continues to ban marijuana, classifying it as one of the “most dangerous” drugs alongside heroin and LSD.

The Gallup poll was based on telephone interviews conducted July 8 to July 12, with a random sample of 1,009 adults 18 and older, living in all 50 U.S. states and the District of Columbia.

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Early video from Stockton, CA house fire

The latest video from StocktonFireHistory is a fire in a vacant home this (Saturday) morning. Here’s the description with the video:

This video was captured at a structure fire on July 18th, 2015 at 615 Channel Street in Stockton, California. This is a vacant structure that is boarded up with a heavy fuel load. Engine 9 and Engine 2 arrived on scene and got hose lines in service to make an aggressive offensive attack on the fire . Truck 2 and Truck 3 had to overcome forcible entry obstacles while also performing vertical ventilation. There were multiple rooms on fire as well as a heavily involved attic. After fires like this, crews complete an extensive overhaul to ensure the fire is fully extinguished and to preserve as much property as possible. No firefighters or civilians were injured during this fire.

“Governor Walker, why are you trying to break my family apart?” – Leslie Flores

Because a new poll shows that Donald Trump polls nationally at 24% among Republican registered voters while Walker polls 13% I have to admit that I have no idea whether Walker’s comments to this family have an impact positive or negative within the Republican Party base. This guy’s tweet sums up their bigoted wingnuttery: "Obama's more »

Round-up of Wisco news: Walker puzzled by gayness, Walker v. G.A.B., 20 wk. abortion ban, MORE

These seem like the key WI political stories from the last 3 or 4 days. If I missed something, please do leave it in a comment. WALKER AND GAYNESS This is how conservative blog NewsMax frames it: Gay marriage opponent and Republican presidential candidate Scott Walker said in a CNN interview broadcast on Sunday he more »

Iowa is smelling the BS around Walker’s Kohls speech

Iowans are learning that Scott Walker doled out over $68 million to Kohls. It’s undermining his “brown bag government” schtick. Excellent! If they keep pulling at loose threads on his stories they’re going to turn up tales of unaccountable millions in corporate welfare he gave out through WEDC. Des Moines Register has the story: Some more »

Looks like my governor is cruisin’ through Iowa in a big gay RV

I sent this to George Takei Dear George: This is a photo of Scott Walker’s new RV. I must say, all I can see is an equal sign with those two red bars on the right. And when I see a red equal sign I am reminded of the red equal sign which you encouraged more »

Appeal of John Doe decision to SCOTUS unlikely according to Hasen

This is from Hasen’s “Analysis of Wisconsin John Doe Ruling: Bad News for Campaign Finance Laws” U.S. Supreme Court review? The dissent notes that under the U.S. Supreme Court’s Caperton decision, the failure to recuse in this case could be a due process violation. At least theoretically, that’s an issue which could go to the more »

How to Fire an Employee Without Being Sued

Firing an employee is never pleasant, even if you think he or she deserves it. Bringing a wrongful termination lawsuit can only add to the unpleasantness. No doubt you’d rather be focusing on your business than going to court….

House Republicans criticize Obama administration over immigration and San Francisco pier shooting

Steve, who declined to give a last name, leaves flowers at a makeshift memorial for shooting victim Kathryn Steinle on Pier 14 in San Francisco, California July 6, 2015. Steinle, 32, was fatally shot as she walked with her father along the popular Embarcadero pier on July 1, 2015 in what San Francisco police described as an apparent random attack. The random fatal shooting, allegedly by an immigrant, proves the United States must tighten its borders, according to a statement on Friday by U.S. presidential candidate Donald Trump, who is facing heavy criticism for his comments about Mexicans. REUTERS/Noah Berger

WASHINGTON — Angry House Republicans blasted the Obama administration Tuesday over the release of an immigrant later charged with murder in San Francisco, and advanced legislation aimed at preventing such an event from happening again.

Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson disputed the criticism at a hearing, but said he plans to evaluate whether a new approach is needed to avoid what happened in San Francisco, where an immigrant with a long criminal record and no legal status was released onto the streets and committed a murder.

And he agreed with Republican critics who said it didn’t make sense for the alleged killer to have been handed over to a jurisdiction like San Francisco, a “sanctuary city” which limits its cooperation with the federal government on immigration and was unlikely to try to send him home.

“I want to evaluate whether some discretion can be built into the process so when we’re faced with a choice like that, we can make the best decision for the purposes of public safety,” Johnson told the House Judiciary Committee in his first appearance on Capitol Hill since the July 1 murder of 32-year-old Kathryn Steinle sparked national controversy.

Steinle’s alleged killer, Mexican national Juan Francisco Lopez Sanchez, had been serving a federal sentence for illegal re-entry. Instead of being deported upon finishing his term, he was handed over to San Francisco on a decades-old drug charge. San Francisco authorities ended up dismissing Sanchez’s case and releasing him despite a request from federal officials to keep him detained.

Sanchez went on to allegedly shoot Steinle as she walked along a popular pier with her father in broad daylight. He has pleaded not guilty, claiming he found the gun on the pier and it accidentally went off.

San Francisco is among some 300 communities nationwide that refuse to abide by federal immigration detention requests, or “detainers,” which have been successfully challenged in court by critics who say they indiscriminately target immigrants including many innocent of criminal wrongdoing.

In the wake of Steinle’s death, Republicans have called for making such detainers mandatory.

“A convicted criminal alien who had been deported numerous times killed an innocent American woman,” said Judiciary Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte, R-Va. He said the crime exposed “the tragic impact of DHS’s reckless policies on the safety of Americans.”

Johnson said the killing underscores the need for local authorities to cooperate with the federal government and its detention requests, but he said making such cooperation mandatory would be counterproductive.

Even as Johnson was testifying before the Judiciary Committee, another GOP-controlled panel, the House Appropriations Committee, was taking action aimed at depriving sanctuary cities of funding and requiring the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency to continue to detain immigrants in the country illegally who have been convicted of crimes, instead of exercising discretion and releasing them into the general population.

Both amendments were added by the panel’s Republicans, over objections from Democrats, to a measure funding the Department of Homeland Security for the upcoming budget year.

“Dangerous criminals who are in the Unites States illegally must now be incarcerated until they are deported to their home country,” Rep. John Culberson, R-Texas.

“This is such a broad, knee-jerk reaction,” said Rep. Nita Lowey, D-N.Y.

The post House Republicans criticize Obama administration over immigration and San Francisco pier shooting appeared first on PBS NewsHour.

Pentagon announces plan aimed to lift transgender ban

Photo by Flickr user torbakhopper.

WASHINGTON — Defense Secretary Ash Carter says the Pentagon’s current regulations banning transgender individuals from serving in the military are outdated, and anyone willing to serve the country should be able to do so.

Carter is creating a working group to do a six-month study on the impact of lifting the ban. Carter says the group will begin with the presumption that transgender people should be able to serve openly.

The plan, which was first reported by The Associated Press, gives the services time to work through questions about health care, housing, physical standards, uniforms and costs associated with the change.

During that time, transgender individuals would still be unable to join the military, but decisions to force out those already serving would be referred to the Pentagon’s acting undersecretary for personnel.

The post Pentagon announces plan aimed to lift transgender ban appeared first on PBS NewsHour.