Tuesday, October 15, 2013
Alternate Realities Roundup 10/15
Posted By Eric S. Peterson on October 15, 2013, 10:24 AM
President Barack Obama gives the defense industry a major payday by rolling back limits on arms exports.---
Top of the Alty World
“In Big Win for Defense Industry, Obama Rolls Back Limits on Arms Exports”--ProPublica
Mother Jones explains the debt ceiling in 10 short sentences.--Mother Jones
A look at the possible deal to shutdown the shutdown and its odds for success.--The Atlantic
California Gov. Jerry Brown has flummoxed Democratic supporters by recent decisions that align him with the prison industry and the NRA. Critics see it as posturing for reelection.--Alternet
Top of Alty Utah
The Utah State Bar has closed one complaint investigation against Attorney General John Swallow.--Utah Political Capitol
Since 2006, a questionable crime-mapping-software company has received hundreds of thousands of dollars in contracts from the Attorney General's Office, thanks to help from influential lobbyists.--Packer Chronicle
Utah same-sex couples cannot file joint state-income-tax returns.--Q Salt Lake
Local Utah companies have been trending on the popular ABC show The Shark Tank.--Provo Buzz
Rantosphere
Blogger Holly Richardson commends Gov. Gary Herbert for loaning money to the federal government to keep Utah's national parks open.
“Fed up with the lack of leadership from the shut-down federal government and understanding the very real impact of closed national parks to Utah business owners and their families, Gov. Gary Herbert rolled up his sleeves and went to work. Within 24 hours, he had a deal worked out, money wired to the feds, and the parks re-opened. I recognize the irony of loaning the federal government money to operate parks located where you live, but I also appreciate ACTION rather than standing around wringing one’s hands and lamenting that this just should not be.”--Holly on the Hill
The Long View
The environmental damage of pot farms hidden in California's forests are amping-up calls for tougher enforcement. A number of California conservatives say the War on Drugs can't solve the problem, but legalization can.
“Amplified by a willing national media, the environmental harms caused by pot have become "the new reefer madness," said well-known marijuana historian Dominic Corva. But some Northern California officials who are on the frontlines of combating trespass grows say they're only a symptom of a much larger problem: the Drug War itself. Butte County Supervisor Bill Connelly, a conservative who describes himself as "definitely not an environmentalist," shares this belief. He contends that ramping up the War on Pot because of trespass grows will ultimately fail to either eradicate the farms or protect Mother Nature. As a result, he's calling for the legalization of marijuana nationwide, joining a cadre of unlikely advocates on the right, including current Humboldt County Sheriff Mike Downey. They argue that if pot becomes legal, then marijuana production will come out of the shadows and into the light, where pot will be grown legitimately on traditional farms, like other crops.”--East Bay Express
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