AG Holder: no more raids on medical marijuana clubs.

I have two thoughts on this story (sort of H/T Instapundit*)

Holder Hints at Ending DEA Raids on Medical Marijuana

Attorney General Holder was speaking at a press conference Wednesday about Operation XCellerator, a crackdown on Mexican drug cartels, when a reporter asked him about the DEA’s stance on the raids. The reporter mentioned some raids that occurred right after the inauguration but before Holder’s confirmation, then he asked Holder if he would continue the raids policy under his tenure.

Holder joked, “What the president said during the campaign, you will be surprised to know, will be consistent with what we will be doing here in law enforcement.” After a bit of laughter, he repeated, “What he said during the campaign is now American policy.”

Continue reading AG Holder: no more raids on medical marijuana clubs.

The best legal decision that you’ll read today.

People vs. Foranyic. Some keywords:

Bicycle.
Axe.
Methamphetamine.
Stygian darkness.

It really is very well written; clear, concise, grammatical, and with a certain lively wit that suggests that the author took the time and effort that the subject matter demanded. I have no idea who J. Bedsworth is, but I still like the cut of his or her jib. And I also like jdub of Ace of Spades HQ for showing it to me.

Crossposted at RedState.

Great. Giant mountains in Antarctica.

Just great:

Alp-sized peaks found entombed in Antarctic ice

OSLO (Reuters) – Jagged mountains the size of the Alps have been found entombed in Antarctica’s ice, giving new clues about the vast ice sheet that will raise world sea levels if even a fraction of it melts, scientists said on Tuesday.

Using radar and gravity sensors, the experts made the first detailed maps of the Gamburtsev subglacial mountains, originally detected by Russian scientists 50 years ago at the heart of the East Antarctic ice sheet.

“The surprising thing was that not only is this mountain range the size of the Alps, but it looks quite similar to the (European) Alps, with high peaks and valleys,” said Fausto Ferraccioli, a geophysicist at the British Antarctic Survey who took part in the research.

Fark, of course, immediately twigged to the problem here, and it ain’t global warming. It’s the fact that there are big honking mountains in Antarctica, just like HP Lovecraft said that there were.  Which leads one to wonder what else the man was right about… if I was dumb enough to think about it too closely, of course. So I’ll just note that Charlie Stross’ “A Colder War” (found in his collection of short stories Toast) is a fun sequel to Lovecraft’s At the Mountains of Madness, particularly if you like Cold War-era paranoia.

And really, who doesn’t?

The Obama administration’s mistakes on the assault weapon ban.

The administration that couldn’t shoot straight*.

[UPDATE]: Welcome, SayUncle readers.

Note plural.

Mistake #1: picking an Attorney General and administration spokesman who doesn’t even know current firearms law.

Eric Holder was on today announcing that the Obama administration was going to bring back the “assault weapons” ban. As Purple Avenger of Ace of Spades notes, this is the same guy who called for making armor piercing bullets (“cop-killers”) illegal… Continue reading The Obama administration’s mistakes on the assault weapon ban.

Michael Totten on the Chris Hitchens Syrian Nazi story.

(Via Protein Wisdom)

There are two things about Michael Totten that make his account of Chris Hitchens versus the Syrian Nazis of interest:

  1. He’s an on-site reporter for that region for several years now, with a well-deserved reputation of being a straight shooter who reports what he sees as well as what he’s told;
  2. He was actually there.

So read the whole thing. It will be unsurprising to anyone reading this that Totten’s account is nothing like the rather fevered speculation that Ace referenced here, and that Dan Collins reaction-lampooned here: it has all the messiness that one associates with a true account. Hitchens got offended by a fascist symbol enough to deface; the fascists got offended by his defacing it, and showed up in enough numbers to let them attack a few middle-aged men until one of their targets could get a taxi to take them away. No Hollywood heroics, just a confrontation where the good guys were in a bad tactical position, and they took some lumps because of it. The good news? Totten learned the right lesson from this: don’t waste time reasoning with fascists. Have your own backup on speed dial, instead.

Yes, that advice scales up.

Moe Lane

Crossposted at RedState.

Democrats reject Flake Corruption Probe.

You do not expect them to live on their *salaries*, do you?

(Followup to this post)

The bad news, of course, is that majority party Democrats are adamant against having any investigation into whether there are links between campaign contributions and earmarks in bills – which is very interesting, given that they control Congress, and thus can presumably make sure that the proceedings are fair…

The House voted Wednesday to kill a resolution calling for an ethics investigation into potential quid pro quo between lobbyist campaign donations and lawmakers.

Rep. Jeff Flake, R-Ariz., sponsored the proposal that would have forced the House Ethics Committee to launch a probe into ties between the source and timing of campaign contributions by lobbyists and subsequent legislator requests for special projects or earmarks.

While open-ended, Flake’s resolution was a direct response to the ongoing federal investigation into the PMA Group, a lobbying company accused of making fraudulent donations to lawmakers using names of people who did not exist.

The firm, which has contributed millions to politicians in the last decade, has close ties to senior Democratic appropriators including Reps. John Murtha D-Pa., and Pete Visclosky,D-Ind. The FBI raided PMA’s headquarters in November and is investigating the group’s founder and president, Paul Magliochetti, a former Murtha aide.

Ah. That might be the problem, right there. Continue reading Democrats reject Flake Corruption Probe.

Murdoch rumored to be after the New York Times.

He might settle for the LA Times, though.

(Via Patterico) Not at all likely, but definitely funny:

Murdoch on the prowl for print sales

NEW YORK — Rupert Murdoch’s counterintuitive quest to invest in print media helped drive away longtime lieutenant Peter Chernin.

And now that Chernin can’t intercede, does Murdoch want to follow News Corp.’s $5 billion buyout of Dow Jones by gobbling up the struggling New York Times Co.?

The answer appears to be yes, as impossible as present economic conditions make it for most deals of any kind to get done.

Continue reading Murdoch rumored to be after the New York Times.