#cannabis jobs 2024

[getstaffedup]

Are you Exploring Careers in the Cannabis Industry? - StaffedUp

Ready to dive into the cannabis industry? StaffedUp makes it easy! Explore different jobs, connect with top employers, and start your new career today!

[know-news-is-good-news]

Does THIS mean cannabis will be Legal in 2024 ?

OK don't ruin THIS ! ! Wait until after the holidays to get fogged UP !

[reasonsforhope]

Article | Paywall Free

"Maryland Gov. Wes Moore issued a mass pardon of more than 175,000 marijuana convictions Monday morning [June 17, 2024], one of the nation’s most sweeping acts of clemency involving a drug now in widespread recreational use.

The pardons forgive low-level marijuana possession charges for an estimated 100,000 people in what the Democratic governor said is a step to heal decades of social and economic injustice that disproportionately harms Black and Brown people. Moore noted criminal records have been used to deny housing, employment and education, holding people and their families back long after their sentences have been served.

[Note: If you're wondering how 175,000 convictions were pardoned but only 100,000 people are benefiting, it's because there are often multiple convictions per person.]

A Sweeping Act

“We aren’t nibbling around the edges. We are taking actions that are intentional, that are sweeping and unapologetic,” Moore said at an Annapolis event interrupted three times by standing ovations. “Policymaking is powerful. And if you look at the past, you see how policies have been intentionally deployed to hold back entire communities.”

Moore called the scope of his pardons “the most far-reaching and aggressive” executive action among officials nationwide who have sought to unwind criminal justice inequities with the growing legalization of marijuana. Nine other states and multiple cities have pardoned hundreds of thousands of old marijuana convictions in recent years, according to the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws. Legalized marijuana markets reap billions in revenue for state governments each year, and polls show public sentiment on the drug has also turned — with more people both embracing cannabis use and repudiating racial disparities exacerbated by the War on Drugs.

The pardons, timed to coincide with Wednesday’s Juneteenth holiday, a day that has come to symbolize the end of slavery in the United States, come from a rising star in the Democratic Party and the lone Black governor of a U.S. state whose ascent is built on the promise to “leave no one behind.”

The Pardons and Demographics

Derek Liggins, 57, will be among those pardoned Monday, more than 16 years after his last day in prison for possessing and dealing marijuana in the late 1990s. Despite working hard to build a new life after serving time, Liggins said he still loses out on job opportunities and potential income.

“You can’t hold people accountable for possession of marijuana when you’ve got a dispensary on almost every corner,” he said.

Nationwide, according to the ACLU, Black people were more than three times more likely than White people to be arrested for marijuana possession. President Biden in 2022 issued a mass pardon of federal marijuana convictions — a reprieve for roughly 6,500 people — and urged governors to follow suit in states, where the vast majority of marijuana prosecutions take place.

Maryland’s pardon action rivals only Massachusetts, where the governor and an executive council together issued a blanket pardon in March expected to affect hundreds of thousands of people.

But Moore’s pardons appear to stand alone in the impact to communities of color in a state known for having one of the nation’s worst records for disproportionately incarcerating Black people for any crimes. More than 70 percent of the state’s male incarcerated population is Black, according to state data, more than double their proportion in society.

In announcing the pardons, he directly addressed how policies in Maryland and nationwide have systematically held back people of color — through incarceration and restricted access to jobs and housing...

Maryland, the most diverse state on the East Coast, has a dramatically higher concentration of Black people compared with other states that have issued broad pardons for marijuana: 33 percent of Maryland’s population is Black, while the next highest is Illinois, with 15 percent...

Reducing the state’s mass incarceration disparity has been a chief goal of Moore, Brown and Maryland Public Defender Natasha Dartigue, who are all the first Black people to hold their offices in the state. Brown and Dartigue have launched a prosecutor-defender partnership to study the “the entire continuum of the criminal system,” from stops with law enforcement to reentry, trying to detect all junctures where discretion or bias could influence how justice is applied, and ultimately reform it.

How It Will Work

Maryland officials said the pardons, which would also apply to people who are dead, will not result in releasing anyone from incarceration because none are imprisoned. Misdemeanor cannabis charges yield short sentences and prosecutions for misdemeanor criminal possession have stopped, as possessing small amounts of the drug is legal statewide.

Moore’s pardon action will automatically forgive every misdemeanor marijuana possession charge the Maryland judiciary could locate in the state’s electronic court records system, along with every misdemeanor paraphernalia charge tied to use or possession of marijuana. Maryland is the only state to pardon such paraphernalia charges, state officials said...

People who benefit from the mass pardon will see the charges marked in state court records within two weeks, and they will be eliminated from criminal background check databases within 10 months."

-via The Washington Post, June 17, 2024. Headings added by me.

[headspace-hotel]

Going through the bills proposed in the kentucky 2024 legislative session and some of the things being proposed are

make a PFAS Working Group

require homeless shelters to provide free menstrual products (it's actually disturbing that they didn't already)

require schools to provide free menstrual products

create harm reduction centers and lower penalties for possessing controlled substances

require insurance to pay for cancer screenings (okay. low bar but okay)

abolish the death penalty (actually has a couple republican sponsors)

decriminalize cannabis

make fluoridation of water in districts optional (?????)

make coal the "state rock" of Kentucky

Prohibit children from being interrogated in a "deceptive manner" (?)

Make weight discrimination illegal

pay schools to food grown at kentucky farms to provide for school meals at low income schools (hey that's rad)

Lower the age of carrying a concealed deadly weapon from 21 to 18 (?????????????)

Require companies to give their employees earned paid sick leave

Impose restrictions on the collection of biometric data by private entities

Allow poultry to be sold at farmers' markets and at farms

pay for cancer screenings for firefighters

let pregnant incarcerated people have midwives or doula services

require that public high school curriculum include instruction on the history of racism

Remove Robert E. Lee Day, Confederate Memorial Day, and Jefferson Davis Day from the list of public holidays (WE HAVE THOSE?!!?!?!)

Retroactively expunge some cannabis convictions

"Prohibit public school districts from expanding any resources or funds on diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging or political or social activism; prohibit public school districts from engaging in diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging" (HUH?????)

require schools to give kids a lunch period of at least 30 minutes (the bar is in hell)

provide scholarships for teachers to help the teacher shortage and give teachers compensation for planning time

require schools to have defibrillators

make it so a homeless person doesn't have to pay to get a copy of their birth certificate

require a working smoke detector to be present in any house sold (...did we not already have this?)

create the Kentucky Urban Farming Youth Initiative

Require local governments to lower minimum square footage requirements for housing, and facilitate multifamily housing, manufactured housing, and "tiny homes," and require that zoning laws have a "substantial connection to protection of public safety, health, and usage of property" (This could be a good thing??)

require hiring and licensing authorities to allow people convicted of a crime an opportunity to get a job

Propose a new section of the Kentucky Constitution that guarantees the right of an individual to buy, sell, or use a certain amount of cannabis and to grow a small amount of cannabis plants, and put this on the ballot (LET'S FUCKING GOOOOOO LET THE PEOPLE DECIDE please this would be so funny)

Now let's watch how many of the good and basic common sense laws get left to die by Republicans because Republicans are ghouls

this is why it's important to vote in local elections, this is the kind of stuff that's being decided upon

[disease-danger-darkness-silence]

Northern Nevada Gothic for 2024

Something is killing the coyotes. The raccoons have begun to Rise.

Cannabis is legal now. The elders speak of terpenes and cannabinoids. Kenny Furlong's smile stretches ever wider. Where are his wife and daughter?

There was a Democratic rally. You know a lot of people who went, but it was strangely empty.

You drive through Lyon County on a gig app job. The wild horses are strangely absent, save one. It looks emaciated. You pull up to the delivery building and turn to acknowledge the horse, and it has disappeared. The cop at the Donald J. Trump Justice Complex doesn't tip you, but he also does not arrest you.

The protests have increased in frequency, but decreased in mass. You still do not know what anyone is protesting, but you no longer honk in support. Too many have accidentally pledged to gods thought long dead.

You have received five mail-in ballots in the mail. They are all under your name, and they all contain different ballot measures and candidates. You do not know which one is the correct one to send in - they all have the same postmark.

The Awful Awful is now $15. You take another gig app order. You Hunger.

You encounter a person considering moving to your town. You are friendly, and recommend local attractions based on their interests. You hope they become a neighbor and not the sustenance of The Old Ones.

While driving 75 miles per hour, you witness a wildfire begin to burn, boiling and roiling as if alive. It devours several houses and some livestock, always hungry for more. It is unseasonally dry, even for the desert, and you are parched, thirsting for water no matter how much you consume. As traffic slows and then backs up, you read the license plate and bumper stickers of the person in front of you. It decries climate change. It is a California license plate, permanently attached to that car forever. It reads MAGAMOM.

The affluent community of Galena has posted illegibly-scrawled signs. They are thank you notes to the first responders of the fire. The alphabet is not one known to man, and yet you are able to read it clearly.

There is a luxury apartment for rent. It is $1,500 a month. It is $5,000 a month. It is $2,000 a month. It is $1780 per month with a $300 per month gated community fee. It is a vast studio apartment that echoes when you tour it.

You are in a car and see a road with the name of Diogenes. You exclaim, "Behold! A street!" Your Zoomer daughter laughs. Your partner does not. You begin to panic about shoelaces, but the thought slips your mind entirely as you slide back on to McCarran Boulevard.

There was a Trump rally. You don't know a single person who attended, but it was allegedly packed.

You have done the math. If you live in Stead, and a friend lives in Carson City, and you both work at the Reno post office, you have the same commute. When did Reno move closer to Carson City? Continents drift, yes, but not like this.

You drive to Elko. It has become large. You drive back. If you wanted to see people, you would stay at home.

Pahrump is a real city that exists in Nevada. You never laugh when people say the name. It is a point of pride - your family have never cracked in the face of Pahrump, and you will not be the weak link.

The 5G tower is being built inside your bathroom. It's terribly inconvenient for showering, but the internet speeds have never been better.

You pass a solar farm and see whispers of shadows beneath them. You are grateful that they find solar power so delicious.

The NRA hosts an open house at the local gun range. The range safety offer lacks any visible eyes or ears, but he effortlessly controls the range with the practiced ease of a person who has spent many a year at a military drill post.

There is a Trader Joe's. The parking lot is always, without fail, too small and far too hot. There are so many handicapped signs. Everything becomes a blur, but you come to holding a pair of organic mangoes in your hand while an employee discusses myrcine content.

Gig workers avoid specific areas of town. It would not do to be called to a Chick-fil-A. They may not be traditionally homophobic, but the chicken claps for a reason. The giant C mocks you.

A tourist asks you about the landmark letters on hills and you realize that you have never questioned their presence.

There is an Amazon warehouse there is a Chewie warehouse there is a DHL warehouse there is a Panasonic factory there is a Tesla factory there is an industrial park there is a new railway and a new section of highway. The Amazon warehouse is closing and reopening. It is ever and yet never changing.

Your favorite band has made the mistake of booking a gig at the Grand Sierra Resort. You laugh. If the ghosts don't kill them, the fans will.

Casinos have started restricting prime rib to Fridays and Saturdays. Sunday through Thursday you wander town like a wraith, craving animal fats and au jus.

The Black Widows, Australian Redbacks, and Brown Widows have begun mating. You fear the day they achieve perfection and ride to defeat their long-standing nemesis: the spider of Lyon County.

The Spite House has been dismantled. You wail to the world. This injustice will not be left unpunished. Rudy will rest in peace.

I need you all to know that these all seem ridiculous but almost all of them are based on something I personally experienced. I've lived here most of my life.

[covid-safer-hotties]

Also preserved in our archive

Defund the police blamed for post-covid cognitive decline, apparently lmao. Since when has a citation ever stopped a traffic accident? This is like blaming 2020 "lockdowns" on children still suffering learning losses (e.g. "Not having an exponential increase in test scores for the 20th year in a row) in 2024.

By TJ Martinell

The number of annual traffic fatalities in Washington state has jumped from 528 in 2019 to 810 in 2023, a 51% increase since 2019, according to the Washington Traffic Safety Commission.

The reasons given for the increase vary, ranging from fallout among law enforcement staffing via the defund the police movement in 2020 to increased substance abuse amongst drivers.

Both the WTSC and the Washington State Patrol last year made public statements about the rise in traffic fatalities that made 2023 the deadliest since 1990. At the time of the statements in August 2023, there were 417 traffic fatalities, a little more than half of the annual total.

While deaths by police pursuit in the past have hogged the political spotlight despite being statistically insignificant in comparison, commission staff have described the state’s traffic fatalities as a “safety crisis.”

WTSC Director Shelly Baldwin noted at the WTSC’s Thursday meeting that “our increase is kind of across the board,” but also “Washington is … kind of really an outlier by itself” among the states.

“Motorcycles [fatalities] has reached a high that they've never seen before historically,” she said.

Speculation as to why traffic fatalities increased varied. Mason County District Court Judge George Steele, who represents the District and Municipal Court Judges' Association on the commission, told colleagues that “a lot of pressure on policing started in 2020. Police departments had trouble filling their ranks. In my county … there was a period of time almost every DUI case that came across my bench was responding to an accident. Driver went off the road. sometimes joke with people if we just get rid of ditches, we wouldn't have any more problems. Ditches seem to be catching a lot of drunk drivers.” He added that “there's not enough people out there. I think it's pretty clear that enforcement has suffered during all this time. Lack of people are available to take the jobs, fill the, fill the ranks of what had to and, as a result, in case they're not being enforced, you're going to get more of the behavior. If you don't look at that part of it, you're not to be having a whole lot of success and making inroads into that problem.” WSTC Distracted Driving Program Manager Janine Koffel remarked that “I think a fundamental challenge that we face with speed management is the lack of perception of risk by drivers, perception of risk that they're going to get a ticket. If they're going to get stopped for speeding and that they'll get a ticket, they have a low perception of risk for serious injury or fatal crashes.” She said a statewide survey they conducted found that 78% of drivers admitted driving at 10 miles per hour or more over speed limits within a month’s time. “We need to work cooperatively to determine strategies and messaging that…really pivot the perception of risk in relation to speed risk,” she said. “That's where enforcement plays a critical role. We need citations for everyone, soccer moms, and all.” Another fallout from 2020 has been increased use of substances such as alcohol or cannabis by drivers, according to WTSC External Relations Director Mark McKechnie. At the same time, he said there are a lot of drivers who are able to get a license without going through a driving education course. “If they haven't had that basic education as their foundation on what the rules of the road are and how to drive safely and how to understand those risks from speeding and other behaviors, then it's hard to remind them of something that they may not have learned well in the first place,” he said. He added that “we need more sidewalks and protected bike lanes and we need infrastructure that encourages people to slow down.”

[harriswalz4usabybr]

Monday, October 21, 2024 - Kamala Harris

The Vice President, Governor Kelly, and Secretary Haaland headed to the cornhusker state to do some campaigning. The 'official' schedule is below.

Omaha, NE (Event #1) Event Location: University of Nebraska Omaha Event Type: Get Out the Vote Event Time: 8:00 - 11:00 CT *The campaign launched a Get Out the Vote initiative on-campus at the University of Nebraska Omaha. Governor Laura Kelly met with some faculty members, while Deb Haaland and the Vice President met with various student groups. Some social media ambassadors were recruited to help us raise awareness for the down ballot races and ballot measures in the state of Nebraska. Our stance on the ballot initiatives are below.

Omaha, NE (Event #2) Event Location: Biaggi's Ristorante Italiano Event Type: Lunch with Local Democrats Event Time: 12:30 - 15:00 CT *We invited some local democrats from across the state to join the campaign for lunch. This was just a session for us to discuss the issues going on in Nebraska and how democratic policies are being discouraged due to republicans in the state.

Lincoln, NE Event Location: Pinnacle Bank Arena Event Type: Campaign Rally Event Time: 18:00 - 21:00 CT *Full-text of this speech will be released shortly.

Nebraska Initiative 434 Vote: No Reason: This amendment would place significant restrictions on abortion, limiting reproductive freedom in Nebraska. We urge a "no" vote to protect women’s health, privacy, and their right to make personal medical decisions free from government interference.

Nebraska Initiative 436 Vote: Yes Reason: Supporting earned sick leave is a basic step toward a healthier workforce and safer workplaces. Approving this initiative will help ensure that Nebraska employees are able to care for themselves or loved ones without risking their jobs or financial security.

Nebraska Initiative 437 Vote: Yes Reason: Legalizing medical marijuana is about providing relief to Nebraskans suffering from chronic conditions. This measure allows qualified patients access to safe, regulated medicinal marijuana under medical guidance, offering new hope to patients in need.

Nebraska Initiative 438 Vote: Yes Reason: Expanding medical marijuana through regulated legalization supports patients while ensuring safety standards. By establishing the Nebraska Medical Cannabis Commission, this initiative would ensure that patients get safe, quality products while supporting responsible business practices.

Nebraska Initiative 439 Vote: Yes Reason: This amendment would safeguard reproductive rights by establishing a state constitutional right to abortion until fetal viability. A "yes" vote upholds a woman's right to make personal healthcare choices, aligning with our stance to protect and expand women’s rights. We urge you to make this "yes" vote!

Nebraska Referendum 435 Vote: No Reason: A "yes" vote would pull taxpayer money from the public school system of Nebraska. Please keep money in public schools by voting "no" on this referendum.

~BR~

[bookgeekgrrl]

My media this week (3-9 Nov 2024)

welp. that sure was a week that happened.

📚 STUFF I READ 📚

😍 reasons why you don't want to talk (about reasons why you don't want to talk) (napricot) - 61K, post EG/TFATWS fix-it that was amazing and so satisfying. [tbh i usually prefer to ignore EG/TFATWS entirely but this author is so damn good; I trust them implicitly]

😊 ripples all the way down (iriswests) - 57K, slow burn buddie

🥰 No Needles series (sal_si_puedes) - 68K, suits D/s fic, reread, forever fave

💖💖 +85K of shorter fic so shout out to these I really loved 💖💖

center of gravity (spqr) - Suits: Mike/Harvey, 16K - absolutely amazing fic, delightful read, extremely unusual AU

Rank Hath Its Privileges (One-EyedBossman (desert000rose), SecretFandomStories) - MCU: Steve & Natasha, 18K - DOLI #15; Steve & Natasha have a besties night in and catch up

📺 STUFF I WATCHED 📺

Would I Lie To You? - s16, e9

Jet Lag: The Game - Hide + Seek (ep 1)

Rescue & Restore - 1871 Candy Drop Roller Restoration

Handsome - Pretty Little Episode #12

Handsome - Molly Shannon asks about Irish Goodbyes

Dirty Laundry - s4, e7

Jet Lag: The Game - Tag Eur It 3 (ep 1-6)

Decoding the Afterlife: Ancient Egyptian Tombstones With Dr. Nicky Nielsen - Session 3: Reading Divine Epithets & Offerings

Seas The Day: Life Lessons From Cephalopods With Dr. Sarah McAnulty - Session 4: Respecting Our Elders: Ancient cephalopods to today

What We Do In The Shadows - s6, e5

Gastronauts - s1, e3

Brilliant Minds - s1, e1-6

D20: Adventuring Party - "Pigeon Lord Ishii" (s18, e7)

D20: Misfits & Magic 2 - "The Heart of Weugan" (s23, e7)

Doctor Odyssey - s1, e6

🎧 PODCASTS 🎧

⭐ Lost Notes: Groupies - Lori Lightning and the Baby Groupies

⭐ Lost Notes: Groupies - The Fairytale of Miss Pamela

⭐ Lost Notes: Groupies - Girls Together Outrageously

⭐ Lost Notes: Groupies - Hollywood Encounters

The Curious History of Your Home - Bins

The Curious History of Your Home - Dish Washing

Re: Dracula - November 4: My Jonathan

Pop Culture Happy Hour - The Penguin

The Atlas Obscura Podcast - Weed Week: Get Inside the CannaVan

If Books Could Kill - Sam Harris's "The End of Faith"

Wait Wait… Don't Tell Me! - Outtakes: An airline is being sued for carelessly handing out what?

Talk From Superheroes - Agatha All Along

It's Been a Minute - The hot mom rom-com phenomenon

Pop Culture Happy Hour - YouTube Rabbit Holes That Are Great Distractions

The Atlas Obscura Podcast - Weed Week: Dope Lake

Switched on Pop - Did Kendrick Lamar kill hip-hop?

Re: Dracula - November 5: Three Graves to Find

⭐ 99% Invisible - Meet Me at Riis

The Allusionist - 165. Fiona part 1

⭐ Vibe Check - One Hell of a Contradiction

Off Menu - Ep 270: Sebastian Stan

Decoder Ring - A Feel-Good Story About the End of the World

The Atlas Obscura Podcast - Weed Week: Jirzankal Cemetery

The Atlas Obscura Podcast - Weed Week: San Francisco Cannabis Buyers’ Club

⭐ Lost Notes: Groupies - The Oral History of Star Magazine

Dinner’s on Me - ZACHARY QUINTO

The Curious History of Your Home - Forks

Imaginary Worlds - Why The Future is (Doctor) Doom

Pop Culture Happy Hour - Heretic And What's Making Us Happy

Dear Prudence - I’m Sick of Hearing My Friend Cry About Her Job. Help!

Dear Prudence - Prudie Plus: It Really Should Be All About Me

Endless Thread - Awoken by a Lamp

The Atlas Obscura Podcast - Weed Week: The International Church of Cannabis

The Sam Sanders Show - Inside 2024’s Tech Revolution with Journalists Taylor Lorenz & Elise Hu

The Curious History of Your Home - Coffee

Lost Notes - S1 Ep. 2: Outlaws of the Airwaves: The Rise of Pirate Radio Station WBAD

ICYMI - The Fashion Expert Twitter Loves to Hate

🎶 MUSIC 🎶

Presenting Barry Manilow

Stray Cats

Presenting Bay City Rollers

The Struts

AC/DC

Multi Cello Retro TV/Video Game

Lacrimosa [a playlist described as "moody classical music with dark academia aesthetics" and it was great!]

Judas Priest

HorrorPops

HorrorPops Radio

[newstfionline]

Tuesday, June 25, 2024

The ‘double haters’ (Washington Post) Ask voters here in far western Wisconsin what they think of their two main presidential choices in November—the same two choices they had four years ago—and the answers, even tinged with Midwest nice, come out hard and blunt. “Absolute trash.” “Three hundred-and-some-odd-million people and that’s all we can get?” “Terrifying.” “Both options suck. And it’s going to, I think, boil down to what sucks less.” With Election Day less than five months away, voters here in Hudson are increasingly preoccupied with just which option—President Biden, 81, or former president Donald Trump, 78—is “the evil we’ve got to vote for,” in the words of Gregory Wold, 57, a retired corrections department employee from North Hudson, Wis. These and other “double haters”—voters who are dissatisfied with both major party choices—are again pondering the same two options, and again are coming up largely disappointed. These double haters are likely to prove a critical voting bloc in November. They are a group that could help determine the outcome in a close election, especially in critical swing states like Wisconsin, and one that has become the focus of considerable attention and outreach from both campaigns.

Venezuelan migrants (NPR) Over the past two years, the city of Chicago has struggled to care for destitute migrants arriving from the southern border. The majority, around 30,000, are from Venezuela, a South American country whose economy has collapsed. But the number of Venezuelans in Chicago hardly compares to how many have migrated over the past decade to neighboring Colombia. Bogotá alone, the capital, has received more than 600,000. Colombia initially rolled out the welcome mat and, by many measures, absorbed this population with little harm and many benefits. Nearly 1.9 million Venezuelans gained paths to formal employment as well as Colombia’s education and health care systems. More recently, however, Colombia’s migrant integration has begun to falter due to the indifference of a new president, waning interest among international donors and a wave of xenophobia rippling through the public. Still, Colombia—a decade into a muddled but essentially humane response to a migrant crisis—holds many lessons for Chicago.

Sweden: Youth homes and gun violence (Reuters) The killer was only 14 and had lived in youth homes as a ward of the authorities since he was eight. A year ago, a gang helped the boy escape, put him up in a hotel and gave him cannabis, food and new clothes. Six days later, gang members told him it was time to repay them for their kindness. They had a job for him. Together with another youth, the boy, who as a juvenile cannot be identified, shot dead a 33-year-old Hells Angels biker. He was convicted by a court which described the case as a gangland contract killing. As he was too young to be sentenced, he was handed back to social services and sent to another youth home. Sweden has long prided itself on one of the world's most generous social safety nets, with a state that looks after vulnerable people at all stages of life. But these days it also has another distinction: by far the highest per capita rate of gun violence in the EU. Last year 55 people were shot dead in 363 separate shootings in a country of just 10 million people. By comparison, there were just six fatal shootings in the three other Nordic countries—Norway, Finland and Denmark—combined. In an increasing number of cases, courts have found the epidemic of violence emerging from Sweden's archipelago of youth homes, built to serve the dual purpose of looking after children in state care and punishing youth offenders.

Costly election pledges in France stoke fears of splurges that risk pushing country deeper into debt (AP) The promises are appealing—and expensive. Vying to oust the centrist government of President Emmanuel Macron in an upcoming two-round parliamentary election June 30 and July 7, French political parties of both the far right and far left are vowing to cut gasoline taxes, let workers retire earlier and raise wages. Their campaign pledges threaten to bust an already-swollen government budget, push up French interest rates and strain France’s relations with the European Union. “The snap election could well replace Macron’s limping centrist government with one led by parties whose campaigns have abandoned any pretense of fiscal discipline,” economist Brigitte Granville of Queen Mary University of London wrote Thursday on the Project Syndicate website.

Gunmen Attack Synagogues and Churches in Russian Republic (NYT) Gunmen attacked synagogues and churches in two cities in southern Russia on Sunday, killing multiple police officers and a priest, in an apparently coordinated assault that underscored Russia’s vulnerability to extremist violence. Officials said six of the gunmen were killed after shootouts in the two cities, Makhachkala and Derbent, in the predominantly Muslim region of Dagestan on the Caspian Sea. Wielding rifles and Molotov cocktails, they attacked a synagogue and a church in each of the two cities. The precise death toll was not immediately clear. Sergei Melikov, Dagestan’s governor, said that “more than 15 police officers fell victim to today’s terrorist attack,” without specifying how many of them were killed and how many were wounded. Dagestan, one of Russia's poorest provinces, is predominantly Muslim and has in the past been the scene of Islamist attacks.

Russia threatens ‘consequences’ for US over Crimea missile strikes (Politico) Moscow on Monday warned of "consequences" for America, as it accused Washington of being involved in deadly strikes on Russian-occupied Crimea using U.S.-made rockets. According to Russia's state-owned RIA Novosti, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said "time would tell" what the response would be to the use of what Moscow claims were five Army Tactical Missile System (ATACMS) missiles donated to Ukraine by the U.S. “Of course, the involvement of the United States of America in hostilities, direct involvement in hostilities that result in the death of Russian civilians, this, of course, cannot but have consequences," Peskov said. "What exactly—time will tell.” While Russia's defense ministry claims to have intercepted four of the missiles, fragments of a fifth detonated in mid-air after being struck by air defenses, killing four people and injuring 151 on the ground, according to the RIA Novosti report.

Nearly 2 million people stranded as second wave of devastating floods hits Bangladesh in less than a month (CNN) Bangladesh’s unusually wet rainy season has caused a second flooding disaster within a month, stranding over 1.8 million people in the country’s northeastern regions. After weeks of heavy rains fed rivers upstream near Bangladesh’s border with India until they grew past their danger marks, the floodwaters submerged homes and farmland across the region. Villagers have been forced to wade through waist-deep water to recover items from their homes, and some parts of the northeast will likely face food and clean water shortages, according to officials. The South Asian country is expected to be disproportionately impacted by climate change in the near future—the World Bank estimates that about 13 million Bangladeshi citizens could become climate migrants by 2050, causing a 9% dip in the country’s GDP.

The Philippines needs rice—but young people don’t want to farm it (Washington Post) In the Philippines, people say, “Bigas ay buhay”: “Rice is life.” It’s a neutral canvas for every meal. Other foods are often served as “ulam,” the topping or side dish for rice. Rather than unlimited soda, fast-food chains serve “unli-rice.” Rice missing from a meal is almost an accusation: You’re committing papak. Some 2.4 million Filipinos work as rice farmers, toiling on lush paddies that blanket the country, some on ancient terraces that cut through steep hills. But for young people, the grueling, volatile and often impoverished life of a rice farmer holds dwindling appeal. With fewer young people willing to farm, the average age of a Filipino rice farmer is 56—and climbing. The shift away from farming could mean food shortages in the Philippines, which already imports more rice than any other country.

‘Hamster’ crypto craze has taken Iran (AP) Cab drivers and bikers tap away furiously on their mobile phones as they wait at red lights in the Iranian capital during an early June heatwave. Some pedestrians in Tehran are doing the same. They all believe they could get rich. The object of their rapt attention? The “Hamster Kombat” app. A wider crypto craze aside, the app’s rise in Iran highlights a harsher truth facing the Islamic Republic ahead of Friday’s presidential election to replace late President Ebrahim Raisi, who died in a helicopter crash in May: an economy hobbled by Western sanctions, stubbornly high inflation and a lack of jobs. Even as presidential candidates make promises about restoring the country’s economy, Iranians, who have been hearing for years about bitcoin, are now piling into this app out of sheer hope it might one day pay off. “It’s a sign of being desperate, honestly,” said Amir Rashidi, the director of digital rights and security at the Miaan Group who is an expert on Iran. It’s about “trying to hang on to anything you have a tiny hope that might some day turn to something valuable.”

Netanyahu says Israel is winding down its Gaza operations. But he warns a Lebanon war could be next (AP) Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Sunday that the current phase of fighting against Hamas in Gaza is winding down, setting the stage for Israel to send more troops to its northern border to confront the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah. The comments threatened to further heighten the tensions between Israel and Hezbollah at a time when they appear to be moving closer to war. Netanyahu also signaled that there is no end in sight for the grinding war in Gaza. The Israeli leader said in a lengthy TV interview that while the army is close to completing its current ground offensive in the southern Gaza city of Rafah, that would not mean the war against Hamas is over. But he said fewer troops would be needed in Gaza, freeing up forces to battle Hezbollah.

Israeli Military Says Troops Tied a Wounded Palestinian to a Vehicle (NYT) Israeli troops tied a wounded Palestinian to the top of a military vehicle on Saturday morning during an operation in the occupied West Bank, a scene that was captured on video and quickly went viral, prompting outrage and the promise of an investigation by Israel’s military. Although the Israeli military said it would investigate, human rights groups have regularly criticized the country’s military-justice system, which they say rarely indicts or convicts those accused of inappropriate violence against Palestinians. The troops handed over the wounded man to the Palestinian Red Crescent for medical care, the Israeli military said. Mr. Ballas had been shot in the leg and arm, and his skin had burns from lying on the vehicle’s hood in the scorching sun, said his father, Raed Ballas. Mujahid Ballas was visiting his uncle’s house to play cards during his weekend holiday, his father said. He denied his son was involved in any militant activity, pointing to the fact that the Israeli security services had ultimately released him after the raid.

400-meter runner goes from locked in a porta-potty straight to the Olympics (AP) It was a classic case of going from the outhouse to the penthouse. Less than an hour before her semifinal at U.S. track trials, 400-meter runner Kendall Ellis was trapped in a porta-potty, banging on the door, screaming for someone to let her out. Thankfully, somebody did. She won that race in a personal-best time, then came back Sunday to top that mark and win the final, along with the national championship and the spot in the Olympics that comes with it. “Crazy things happen right before something great is about to occur, so maybe I needed that to get all the nerves and adrenaline out,” she said.

[theoldhempfarmer]

THCa flower, the stakes are high and the chances are slim…

Dateline 1-3-24

It’s cold outside here in Middle Tennessee, so The Old Hemp Farmer is nursing a wonderful hot cup of organic Indonesian coffee and noshing some Costa Rican Cacao fortified with Tennessee homegrown Cannabis extract. Which is just one of the many Tennessee homegrown Recreational Cannabis edibles that’ll remain legal after July 1st of this year, which is a good thing because we will probably lose three different revenue streams - D8 Vape cartridges, THCa Pre-rolls and D8/D9 Tinctures unless…

So this morning’s blurb is about how possibly the high THCa Industry can be salvaged here in Tennessee. There are two scenarios that can possible save the Cannabis “cash cow” that is known as THCa. The first scenario that could save your THCa favorite product could start January 9th when the 2024 Tennessee legislative session commences. During this upcoming legislative session the House and Senate could simple rewrite HB0304 to state that all testing would be for Delta 9 THC only and this would apply to Cannabis grown by licensed Tennessee farmers. Lee Crabtree and I have been compliantly growing Cannabis in the state for going on eight years and presently we have to watch the majority of THCa flower being sold in Tennessee being Black Market grown other states. There is only one way to battle Black Market Cannabis and that is to have a Vertical (grown, processed, packaged and inspected in state) Cannabis program that provides relatively inexpensive high THCa flower that can be accessed easily. Which is an easily understood concept but I strongly doubt the Republican Super majority that control the Tennessee House and Senate are going to be comfortable with basically sensible Cannabis laws. So The Old Hemp Farmer doesn’t see HB0403 rewritten to save high THCa Flower because the majority of folks in the Tennessee Statehouse still harbor animosity against marijuana, which is basically what high THCa Flower actually is, so that ship probably won’t sail.

The other way that could possibly salvage the high THCa flower Industry in Tennessee is the ongoing campaign of petitioning the Tennessee Department of Agriculture with letters, phone calls and texts to amend the methodology (testing for Delta 9 THC from post decarboxylation to pre decarboxylation) of testing Cannabis products. (Doesn’t seem like much but the difference is everything to wholesalers and retailers.) With the Culmination of this “Save The THCA flower” campaign being hopefully a mass of Cannabis folks attending the town hall meeting where Public comment is scheduled for Feb. 6, 2024, at 10 a.m. at the Tennessee Department of Agriculture’s Porter Building Atrium. So let us say a gang of folks actually do contact their legislators and the TDA to plead for high THCa flower and products, will this approach work? Maybe, maybe not. I’m not sure if people realize that the Tennessee Department of Agriculture was founded in 1854 and is the oldest state agency in Tennessee. This Cabinet-level agency is one of the largest and most firmly entrenched bureaucracies in Tennessee executive branch and supposedly only answers to the Governor. Which means the TDA can’t be voted out of office so they know their jobs are safe. Assured longevity has its rewards. Also know that the forthcoming lack of the public’s access to high THCa flower and the loss of revenue at Cannabis companies isn’t a crisis at the Tennessee Department of Agriculture. But be assured that the TDA will listen attentively but in the end these civil servants will do what they think is best for their agency and their pensions. Anyway as always, Hemp Dawgs and Hemp Puppies keep one eye on the weather and the other eye on the market.

Visit our Tennessee homegrown web site to try our great products: https://www.tnhomegrown.com

The Wife's web site: https://www.theoldhempfarmerswife.com

Our Podcast - Full Contact Cannabis: https://fullcontactcannabis.podbean.com

[getstaffedup]

Are you Exploring Careers in the Cannabis Industry? - StaffedUp

Ready to dive into the cannabis industry? StaffedUp makes it easy! Explore different jobs, connect with top employers, and start your new career today!

[1dkreally]

[Image ID: 4 slides of white text on a blue background.

Slide 1: STATE-SPONSORED REVENGE PORNOGRAPHY

Were you at the Seattle Eagle on Saturday night when officers from the Washington State Liquor and Cannabis Board (LCB) raided the bar?

The LCB may have photographs of your dick.

Slide 2: Acting on an anonymous tip of underage drinking, the LCB raided the Eagle on 01/27/2024. The LCB does not know where this tip came from and can't rule out malicious harassment — they can't rule out a homophobic attempt to "SWAT" a famous Seattle gay bar — but officers found no minors in the bar and should have left.

Instead, according to reports from multiple men at the bar during the raid, LCB officers moved through the Eagle photographing men engaged in what LCB officers viewed as "LEWD" CONDUCT: men whose nipples were visible, men in jock straps, and men whose genitals could be seen. Officers did not announce their presence.

Slide 3: Photos were taken without consent.

The LCB has confirmed the existence of these photographs and that these photographs are subject to state public disclosure laws. This means, once the investigation has completed, these photos will be released to the public.

Let's call this what it is: STATE-SPONSORED REVENGE PORNOGRAPHY.

Slide 4: Not all the men who go to the Eagle are out of the closet in all areas of their lives. Men could lose their jobs or homes once these photographs are released. LCB officers knew these photos would become a part of the public record. LCB officers knew each photo they took had the potential to "cause harm to the depicted person".

Seattle celebrates nude cyclists at an annual Solstice Parade that attracts thousands of children. But adult gay men in jock straps in a 21+ space on a Saturday night are being "lewd" and the bar they're in — which can't possibly control what all patrons are doing or wearing at all times — can be raided. /End ID.]

Nobody better ever fucking tell me the fight for rights is over.

[buckiegotit]

Vacancy Notices-- The Medicinal Cannabis Authority

Published 15 October 2024 Buckie Got It St. Kitts and Nevis News Source Quality Insurance Inspector�� Job Summary The Medicinal Cannabis Authority is dedicated to ensuring the safe, equitable, and responsible use of cannabis in St. Kitts and Nevis. The Quality Insurance Inspector in the Medicinal Cannabis Authority will be responsible for ensuring that cannabis growers, businesses and other…

[jobustad]

Latest PCSIR Jobs in Islamabad August 2024-Pakistan Council of Scientific & Industrial Research Jobs

Latest PCSIR Jobs in Islamabad August 2024 has been announce through Latest advertisement PCSIR, an R&D Organization working under the Federal Ministry of Science and Technology, Islamabad, requires the following staff for its project “Establishment of Medical Cannabis Greenhouses For Biotechnology Derived Bio-products, National Hemp & Cannabis Analytical Laboratory and National Industrial Hemp &…