Judge rules Santa Rosa kindergartener can bring medical marijuana to school

(Kent Porter, Press Democrat)

Summary:

A Santa Rosa kindergartener can bring medical marijuana ointment to school to treat her rare form of epilepsy, judge ruled.

While minors may legally use medical marijuana in private with a doctor prescription, California law currently prohibits medical or recreational marijuana use within 1,000 feet of a school. Five-year-old Brooke Adams bringing medical marijuana to their public school violates this law, Rincon Valley School District authorities argued.

In August Judge Charles Marson issued a temporary order allowing a nurse to accompany Adams to school and apply her THC oil three times a day. The order was made permanent Friday, Sept. 21. District officials have not decided whether or not they will try to appeal.

The use of medical marijuana in schools has become a topic of legislative debate. The California State Assembly passed a bill in August that would allow parents to bring and administer prescribed medical marijuana for their children on school property, and the bill has been sent to Governor Jerry Brown. However, the Association of California Administrators opposed the bill, saying it would violate drug-free school zone requirements as marijuana is federally illegal substance.

Sources:

https://www.abc10.com/article/news/local/what-to-know-about-the-bill-allowing-medical-marijuana-on-school-grounds/103-588462087

https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displaySection.xhtml?sectionNum=11362.3.&lawCode=HSC

https://www.pressdemocrat.com/news/8765336-181/judge-rules-santa-rosa-girl?artslide=5&slide=GAL&sba=AAS

http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-cannabis-school-20180922-story.html

Hurricane Florence Continues to Destroy

 

Summary and Analysis:

Hurricane Florence continues to break records in the Carolinas for floods and destruction. Florence has already taken the lives of 42 people and has left thousands of homes underwater. This dramatic flooding has caused thousands to evacuate and leave their homes and cars.

Unfortunately, the majority of the deaths have occured in South Carolina and has left almost 500,000 people without power in North Carolina itself. Although that is terrible, there is another problem Hurricane Florence is creating in its wake: toxic waterways.

Due to the immense flooding in North Carolina, pig poop, coal ash(byproduct of coal processing) and human sewage are creating a toxic soup that is completely contaminating everything underwater. This includes the Cape Fear river. This massive waterway carries the toxic soup all across North Carolina and will have terrible consequences for farmers and disease control in the future.

Opinion:

There is a serious problem with treatment of waste in North Carolina which was mainly due to human inability to control their environmental protection and conservation. This will have drastic effects on the North Carolina landscape and organisms that make that home. Unfortunately for them, they will have to try and live through a time in which everything that is around them is toxic and will kill them. There will be lasting effects on the environment which will hopefully increase awareness for environmental protection and limitations. Even though the company responsible for the coal ash was fined $25 million in 2015 after they were found to be disregarding the Clean Water Act, they still weren’t done will repairs and reinforcement. This is also illustrating the disregard large companies have for the environment, which is often left out of the news as it is more thrilling to talk about the lasting effects of global warming instead of talking about the things actually causing them.

Sources:

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/hurricane-florence-flooding-north-south-carolina-virginia-death-toll-today-2018-09-20/

https://www.cnn.com/2018/09/17/us/florence-monday-wxc/index.html

https://news.vice.com/en_us/article/7xjb4d/hurricane-florence-is-turning-north-carolina-into-a-toxic-stew-of-pig-poop-sewage-and-coal-ash

UK plans for Brexit stopped at Salzburg Summit

EU Leaders and Theresa May 

Summary:

The EU has come down to a answer to Theresa May's Chequers plan, a stern no. This intensifies the conflict within the UK over whether or not a hard border with Ireland is on the cards. The current leadership, mainly Conservative and Labour parties, have made it abundantly clear that Ireland will not acquire Northern Ireland while Brexit continues. Although the Chequers plan mainly highlights the continuation of the EU trade policy while allowing the UK to determine their own trade policy with the rest of the world, it also removes the EU’s immigration policy; removing the free flow of people from the rest of the EU. Ireland still remains a prominent pivot point in this debate. Both sides want to avoid having a hard border, which would cause many disputes regarding infrastructure and guard posts. Mrs. May has described how the Chequers plan is the only one that can both avoid conflict over trade with the EU and avoid the hard border with Ireland.

My opinion:

I have been following brexit since it was enacted in 2016. Unfortunately, exiting the EU is no small task. As it requires a majority of 65 percent of European countries to accept the withdrawl from the EU, it is a long and arduous process that can end in a few very undesired outcomes. This ultimately is due to how there is a deadline for the UK to protect themselves from leaving with “No Deal.” This would be terrible as it would end with the UK having no past treaties and economic deals with the EU, which would hurt both economies. The French president, Emmanuel Macron, has been the most vocal about his distaste for this proposal, describing the English as “liars” for attempting to leave the EU before it could be completed. Unfortunately for Macron, Britain left for mainly economic reasons. This is due to how the UK lost £8.5 billion annually being part of the EU. If the French could for once accept the British, both countries could get along swimmingly. Regarding the EU, it is a financial powerhouse when it comes to GDP so the UK should hop on and get a deal as it would help both the EU and UK.

Sources:

https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-politics-45596470

https://edition.cnn.com/2018/09/20/europe/brexit-salzburg-theresa-may-summit-intl/index.html

Three workplace shootings in 24 hours

Officer a scene of shooting at Rite Aid in Aberdeen, Maryland. (Jose Luis Magana, Associated Press)

Over a 24 hour span, there have been three workplace shootings: one at Rite Aid in Aberdeen, Maryland, one at a software company in Middleton, Wisconsin, and a municipal building in Masontown, Pennsylvania.

Aberdeen Rite Aid:

A 26-year-old woman open fired at a Rite Aid in Aberdeen, Maryland. The woman, Snochia Moseley, killed herself after, leaving four dead (three co-workers and the shooter) and several wounded. Moseley was a temporary Rite Aid employee, and, according to CBS, “got into an argument at work Thursday morning and began shooting colleagues.” However, authorities don’t have a motive yet. The gun used in the shooting was a 9 mm Glock handgun, which was registered to Moseley.

Middleton:

A 43-year-old employee open fired on his co-workers at WTS Paradigm (a software company). Four were wounded and three are in serious condition. Police shot and killed the man at the scene, but have not yet released his name. The man, who had worked for WTS for about a year and a half, was armed with a semi-automatic pistol and extra ammunition.

Masontown:

A man open fired and shot four people outside a judge’s office in the lobby of Masontown Borough Municipal Center.  The shooter, Patrick Dowdell, 61, was shot and killed by police on the scene. All four victims were taken to local hospitals and are in non-life threatening condition.

Dowdell was scheduled for a hearing on domestic violence the same day (Wednesday), but neither the judge nor any of the judge’s staff members were targeted.

An anecdote + my thoughts:

When trying to decide on a blog post, my mom said, “There was another shooting. How about that?” I went to go do some research and, much to my dismay, I couldn’t figure out which shooting she was talking about. That made me pause. It’s horrific, really. While each of these cases alone is awful, the fact that they all occurred within 24 hours is unbelievable. Shootings becoming a common thing. The fact that we say “another shooting” is disheartening.

Sources:

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/09/20/us/maryland-shooting-aberdeen.html

http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/maryland/crime/bs-md-harford-shooting-20180920-story.html

http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/maryland/crime/bs-md-other-workplace-shootings-20180920-story.html

https://www.vox.com/2018/9/20/17882414/aberdeen-maryland-shooting-rite-aid-harford-county

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/09/19/us/masontown-shooting-judges-office.html

Supreme Court nominee Kavanaugh accused of sexual assault

Photo: Chip Somodevilla (Getty Images)

What's going on:
Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh has been accused of sexually assaulting Christine Blasey Ford, a professor at Palo Alto University. Ford to the Washington Post Kavanaugh allegedly assaulted her when they were in high school while he was drunk, pinning her to a bed, groping her and covering her mouth. Kavanaugh has denied the allegation; however, there’s now some uncertainty surrounding his Supreme Court nomination. Kavanaugh and Ford will appear before the Senate in a hearing that has the potential to impact his nomination.

Another angle/my thoughts:
The midterms coming up put a certain time pressure on this situation. If the Democrats take the Senate, it’s less likely Kavanaugh (or any conservative) will replace Justice Kennedy. If Kavanaugh is not appointed by the midterms and the Democrats win the Senate, the “lame duck” Congress pushing Kavanaugh through would be somewhat hypocritical since the Senate never voted on Obama’s SC nominee Merrick Garland, who faced resistance from a handful of conservative members of the Congress (including Mitch McConnell who adamantly declared Obama’s appointment void) because the appointment was so close to the 2016 elections.

Sources:
https://www.npr.org/2018/06/29/624467256/what-happened-with-merrick-garland-in-2016-and-why-it-matters-now
https://www.washingtonpost.com/investigations/california-professor-writer-of-confidential-brett-kavanaugh-letter-speaks-out-about-her-allegation-of-sexual-assault/2018/09/16/46982194-b846-11e8-94eb-3bd52dfe917b_story.html?noredirect=on&utm_term=.a38a0f613d65
https://www.axios.com/brett-kavanaugh-sexual-assault-accuser-christine-blasey-ford-dd51d886-ed72-47dc-96f3-e07ef8e838bc.html
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2018/09/17/brett-kavanaugh-is-accused-sexual-assault-heres-why-republicans-are-hesitating-pause-his-nomination/?utm_term=.45efe8d47240
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/kavanaugh-accuser-willing-to-testify-her-lawyer-says/2018/09/17/21db2860-ba6c-11e8-9812-a389be6690af_story.html?utm_term=.dcb09c5196ca
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/09/17/us/politics/kavanaugh-allegations-ford-palo-alto.html

The majority of victims of Hurricane Florence are at risk of crippling debt

Summary:
The devastation caused by Hurricane Florence continues, having already tragically stolen seventeen lives in the last few days and washed poisonous coal-ash from a landfill into nearby waters, but fortunately, many thousands of other lives have been kept safe due to widespread evacuation efforts, and environmentalist groups like the Environmental Protection Agency have been assisting the state in monitoring and containing the pollution caused by the hurricane. However, one issue remains: an appalling lack of federally provided flood insurance for countless homeowners. Analysts and actuaries have calculated that there is an awfully high percentage of people who are underinsured, with less than 10% of people having flood policies or flood coverage, possibly due to overestimates of governmental disaster aid and the severity of damage caused by Hurricane Florence. Ignorance about the fact that standard homeowner insurance does not account for flooding and the declining rate of flood insurance policies over the years also play a large part, according to researchers and insurance experts. Combined, all of these factors spell out an alarming reality that homeowners might be forced into debt once the natural disaster passes; costs for Hurricane Florence could go as high as $20 billion and as low as $10 thousand, which is not very low at all.

Opinion:
Personally, I think that the various misconceptions about Hurricane Florence's impact and the ability of the federal government to compensate for damages and losses can be chalked up to the tendency of the Trump administration to make many optimistic campaign promises and the fact that the executive branch seems to prefer the removal of any fines associated with not taking up any insurance, as seen with its partial dismantlement of the fine associated with the Affordable Care Act, which lessens pressure on the populace to get needed insurance for themselves. Since this is the case, I believe that the country should work on improving and advocating for life-saving flood insurance even further in order to convince people to trust the federal programs that provide it and ensure the wellbeing of American citizens that are affected by Hurricane Florence.

Questions:
Do you think that states should provide flood insurance themselves instead of leaving it all up to the federal government? Why?
What should be done to lessen the economic pressure on homeowners who might not be able to afford to rebuild their lost homes?
Is there any conceivable way to convince the general public that buying flood insurance is a good investment and in their best interest?
Does the political issue of climate change affect who might be interested in purchasing flood insurance? Why?

Sources:
https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/2018/09/16/florence-and-flood-insurance/1327854002/
https://abcnews.go.com/Business/wireStory/florence-expose-gaps-flood-insurance-57857843
https://www.wsj.com/articles/florence-washes-away-portion-of-coal-ash-landfill-in-north-carolina-1537137771
https://www.nationalgeographic.com/environment/2018/09/hurricane-florence-rain-climate-change-science/
https://abcnews.go.com/US/major-river-flooding-threat-posed-florence-heavy-rain/story?id=57857204

Georgian voters sue their state over suspected election hacking

Summary:
In light of potential election fraud concerns after accusations about foreign interference in the presidential election of 2016, voters from both the Republican and Democratic parties have sued the state to overturn the results of its potentially compromised elections, arguing that its results could not be legally certified as the voting system fails to comply with state security testing requirements, even as state officials note how a previous lawsuit regarding the same issue concluded that there was insufficient evidence that the election process had been tampered with and that their system has been significantly improved. Paperless voting has proven itself to be flawed after twelve years of repeated experiments from cybersecurity experts, but other spokespeople such as a previous Secretary of State for Georgia and the executive director for the Center for Election Innovation and Research argue that changing from a paperless voting system to one with paper ballots in time for the upcoming election in October would be exceedingly difficult in such a short timeframe anyways, regardless of what the federal judge rules for. Besides, the cost of printing and extra equipment would burden the counties in Georgia and cause confusion, frustration, and then low voter turnout, they conclude.

Analysis/Opinion:
Considering how the power to conduct elections has traditionally remained with the states and the states only and how vehemently the state officials in Georgia continue to deny and dismiss concerns about possible security flaws in their current voting system, I believe that the ongoing court case is most likely to end in the states' favor. Indisputable evidence of the voting system's security failures still has not been provided even after the first lawsuit about Georgia's election methods failed; only evidence of the voting system's security successes have been mentioned time and time again by Georgia state officials who have overseen such experiments. While the chance of this second lawsuit succeeding is not zero when you consider how negative public opinion about election security has skyrocketed since the revelations about Russian hackers infiltrating the U.S. presidential election have been brought to light, I think President Trump's support for the Secretary of State in Georgia gives the state more backing from the executive branch and thus more influence on the federal court case's outcome. Even if the court case does not pass this time, I believe attempting a third lawsuit at a time when implementing changes might be better for the voters who are suing the state, especially since voter confidence is extremely important in elections and not a minor consideration.

Questions:
Are paper ballots or paperless ones best for state and federal elections? How would you attempt to negate its flaws?
Is a voting system that is completely secure and easy to use possible? What other potential voting methods are there?
Do you think that the federal judge will rule in favor of the state of Georgia or the voters? Why?

Sources:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/in-georgia-a-legal-battle-over-electronic-vs-paper-voting/2018/09/16/d655c070-b76f-11e8-94eb-3bd52dfe917b_story.html?utm_term=.8e27472e1989
https://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/2017/08/24/election-hacking-lawsuit-over-heated-georgia-race-could-sign-whats-come/574313001/
https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2017/05/the-voting-technology-we-really-need-paper/524820/
https://www.npr.org/2018/09/12/646808300/federal-court-asked-to-scrap-georgias-27-000-electronic-voting-machines

White house begins planning next visit to North Korea

This June, President Trump met with Kim Jong Un, the first meeting between the leaders of the two countries in history. Despite promises of denuclearize and President Trump's claims that "There is no longer a Nuclear Threat from North Korea," U.S. intelligence has since concluded that since the meeting, North Korea has continued developing its nuclear arsenal in secret. It briefly looked as if Trump was responding to the lack of denuclearization when he cancelled the Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo's, visit to North Korea three weeks ago. However, today, the white house has announced a new trip for the president himself to visit in the near future. The president gave no explicit reason for his change in approach, but his personal motives seem clear from what he does say. "[Kim] said some terrific things about me," Trump said. "He said very strongly that we want to denuclearize North Korea during President Trump's tenure," Trump told his supporters in Billings. Clearly, flattery goes a long way with our current president, but the consequences are yet to be seen. North Korea has requested a formal end to the Korean war as a reward for their steps toward peace, and considering Trump's unpredictable nature, they may very well get it while having done nearly nothing to lessen their own nuclear threat.

Sources:
https://www.cnn.com/2018/06/13/politics/trump-north-korea-nuclear-threat/index.html
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/white-house-coordinating-second-trump-kim-summit/
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/kim-jong-un-sends-letter-to-trump-seeking-second-summit-white-house-says/2018/09/10/97b36246-b52b-11e8-94eb-3bd52dfe917b_story.html?noredirect=on&utm_term=.7a72f0df7de5
https://www.wsj.com/articles/u-s-preparing-for-second-trump-meeting-with-north-koreas-leader-1536607841

California is against Trump's offshore oil drilling plans

Joe Sohm | Getty Images

Back in January, the Trump administration decided to expand oil drilling in the United States by issuing federal leases that will allow oil drilling to take place in a majority of the oil reserves off the American coastline. However, California Governor Jerry Brown has created new legislature that will prohibit the building of new oil drilling infrastructure within state waters, which includes all of the water three miles off the coast. Still, the federal government owns the water 3 to 231 miles away from the coast, but without the ability to build within the three miles to shore, pipes cannot be built to easily transport the oil.
In California, legislators are much more environment-conscious and invested in protecting the beaches and marine wildlife, leading to an interest in renewable energy instead of dirty energy from oil. According to the Public Policy Institute of California, 69% of Californian residents are against drilling for oil nearby. Californians are not alone, as all three west coast states are against offshore drilling.
Drilling in the ocean brings up a long-term environmental concern of pollution, energy, and conservation.
Is it a good idea to drill for short-term economic gains?
Is it better to invest in renewable resources?
Is this oil drilling conflict a good example of a good balance of states rights and federal power, or do you think that either the states or the federal government has too much power in this circumstance?
Sources:
https://www.cnbc.com/2018/09/08/california-gov-brown-signs-legislation-to-block-new-offshore-drilling.html
http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-offshore-drilling-20180908-story.html
http://time.com/5088449/donald-trump-oil-drilling/
http://www.ppic.org/blog/majority-opposition-drilling-includes-coastal-republicans/

Opioid Crisis & The Sackler Family

Source: The New Yorker

Summary and Analysis:

The Sackler family, who many blame for fueling the deadly opioid crisis in the United States, is coming out with a drug to combat opioid addiction.

Background: Purdue Pharma is a privately-owned pharmacy company that has been owned and operated by the Sackler family for decades. The company, which was worth 3 billion dollars in 2017, built its fortune by selling highly-addictive opioids, specifically OxyContin. "Purdue launched OxyContin with a marketing campaign that attempted to ... change the prescribing habits of doctors," wrote the New Yorker. "Purdue launched a multifaceted campaign that misinformed the medical community about the risks [of their drugs]."

Because of misleading advertisements and marketing, Purdue and its executives were forced to pay over 630 million dollars in 2007. Since then, they have faced multiple lawsuits.

Update: According to Newsweek, over 63, 000 people died of drug overdose in 2016,  almost 70 percent of these deaths being opioid-related. Today's opioid crisis is undeniably tied to doctors over-prescribing highly-addictive drugs, something that Purdue Pharma encouraged. In the past few days, the Sackler name has been in the news for a variety of reasons: it was uncovered that they owned a second pharmaceutical company, one that, combined with Purdue, totals to 14.4 million opioid prescriptions in 2016, according to the Financial Times. Also, Purdue is now being sued by Colorado's attorney general for its "significant role in causing the opioid epidemic."

But that's not the biggest news. Sackler, who owns Purdue, recently patented a mild opiate that supposedly eases the symptoms of opioid addiction and makes it harder for them to be smuggled and delt.

While some may be celebrating a possible cure for opioid addiction, many speculate the intentions of the Sackler-owned company. Said the Chicago Tribune, "Some are expressing outrage that the Sacklers, who have in essence profited from opioid addictions, may soon be profiting from the antidote."

Sources:

https://www.ft.com/content/a3a53ae8-b1e3-11e8-8d14-6f049d06439c

https://www.vox.com/science-and-health/2018/9/7/17831710/richard-sackler-opioid-epidemic-buprenorphine

http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/ct-oxycontin-purdue-pharma-richard-sackler-20180908-story.html

http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/ct-oxycontin-purdue-pharma-richard-sackler-20180908-story.html

https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2017/10/30/the-family-that-built-an-empire-of-pain

Elizabeth Warren wants to remove Donald Trump from Presidency

Drew Angerer/Getty Images

Elizabeth Warren has stated that the 25th amendment should be used to remove Trump from presidency because he is unfit for presidency. Trump has broken many norms and implied many alarming things. For example, he stated that he had a bigger nuclear button than Kim Jong Un, demonstrating a lack of professionalism. If that were to happen, then the Vice President and the Presidential Cabinet would have to declare that the current president is unfit to stay in power. If the Trump declares otherwise, then both the Senate and the House of Representatives would have to have a 2/3 vote to give the presidential position to the vice president.
The chances of this succeeding are very small. Vice President Mike Pence still supports Trump and probably would not try to declare himself president.
According to Vanity Fair in an article from last year, Trump said "What's that?" in response to a discussion about the 25th amendment. At that time, former chief strategist Steve Bannon believed that "Trump has only a 30 percent chance of making it the full term."
At this point, however, it is already halfway through his presidency anyways. Removing Trump is not very convenient, and I doubt that making Mike Pence President would be that much different from Trump.

Should the Vice President use the 25th amendment? Is that even a good idea? Would it even be possible considering the current congress?

Sources:
https://www.salon.com/2018/09/07/elizabeth-warren-thinks-it-could-be-time-to-invoke-the-25th-amendment-on-trump-after-times-op-ed/
https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2018/09/05/could-25th-amendment-used-remove-trump-office/1012979001/
https://www.businessinsider.com/25th-amendment-trump-definition-section-4-cabinet-2017-10
https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2017/10/donald-trump-is-unraveling-white-house-advisers
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gHUkMUpAgT0&ab_channel=CNN