Drug Decriminalization In Portugal, Eight Years Later
Portugal decriminalized all recreational drugs in 2001. The country’s experiment turned out to be a great success. This July 1 BBC report on the results indicates that while drug abuse remains a problem for some Portuguese, the country’s decision to emphasize treatment over prosecution has led to declining drug use in addition to emptier prisons….
A Fourth Of July Message From Ted Nugent
Don’t tread on Ted, Fedzilla. Ultraconservative semi-retired rock guitarist, bowhunter, gun nut, and hippie hater Ted Nugent flexes his disdain for big gubmint in this rant condemning bailouts, public health care, and anything else trampling the rights of rugged individualists everywhere. As the stunned and defeated British army marched out of Yorktown, their band appropriately…
Is Pirate Bay Selling Out Or Buying In?
By Richard Gehr During the past several months, the Pirate Bay BitTorrent tracking site has evolved into something more than a means for some 20 million users to trade files legally or otherwise. Beginning in Sweden, it has inspired Pirate political parties active in at least fourteen other European countries. The movement has its martyrs,…
Indonesian Reggae Inna Political Stylee
By Richard Gehr As in Malaysia, indie and underground headbangers and skankers in Indonesia are also taking to the stage and freely expressing political opinions as the country gears up for its July 8 presidential election. With a population of 228 million, 200 million of whom are Muslim, Indonesia boasts the world’s largest Islamic population….
Interview: The Greening Of Rothbury
By Richard Gehr As the Rothbury Festival cranks up for its second year at the JJ Ranch in Rothbury, Michigan, this weekend, festival founders Jeremy Stein and Don Strasburg discuss how Rothbury represents the cutting edge of large-event environmentalism, and what this can mean for society as a whole. How is Rothbury greener than any…
Mr. Franken Goes To Washington – Seven Months Later
By Josh Gelfand The Democrats now have the filibuster-proof majority they’ve been hoping for, at least on paper. Today the Minnesota Supreme Court decided unanimously to declare Al Franken the winner of the long-contested Senate seat. The Court determined that incumbent Norm Coleman did not have the grounds to dispute the election, and they recommended…
Persepolis 2.0: History, Comics Repeat Themselves in Iran
By Richard Gehr In 2004, Marjane Satrapi published Persepolis: The Story of a Childhood, a graphic autobiography about her family’s experience during the 1979 Islamic Revolution, when the Shah of Iran was overthrown (with the help of the US government). The new regime turned out to be even more repressive than the previous one, so…
Oregon Passes Hemp Bill
By Josh Gelfand Leave it to those crazy Oregonians to step up and pass a definitive industrial-hemp legalization bill. Yesterday the Oregon House passed SB 676 by a vote of 46-11. It will allow production and possession of industrial hemp along with trade in industrial hemp commodities and products. Oregon is now the ninth state to…
Krugman: Climate-Change Deniers Committing ‘Treason’
By Josh Gelfand Leave it to Nobel Prize-winning economist Paul Krugman to speak truth to power, even if the power in question lost narrowly in the House last week. Krugman’s Monday New York Times column called out the 212 dissenting voters of the Waxman-Markey climate-change bill: “A handful of these no votes came from representatives who…
Headbanger Politics in Malaysia
I’m not an expert on Malaysian politics. But I was fascinated by this Malaysian Insider article about the voting inclinations of young underground metal, punk, and ska musicians who play their music – and express their views – in this country of 10 million Muslims (about 50 percent of the population). Khairuddin Aziz, a guitarist…