Massachusetts mayor first in line as recreational marijuana sales begin

Massachusetts became the first state on the East Coast Tuesday to allow recreational marijuana sales, meaning tens of millions of adult consumers, including those in New York City, are now within a three-hour drive from a pot shop.

CBS News correspondent Tony Dokoupil reports from Northampton, Massachusetts, where one of two stores opening in the state is located and where David Narkewicz will welcome legal recreational marijuana as both the ceremonial first customer and the town’s mayor.

“I think there’s a lot going on here in trying to bring marijuana out of the shadows,” Narkewicz said.

But when asked whether the purchase is simply ceremonial or it will be consumed, Narkewicz said, “I am actually going to probably preserve it and display it…because it is historically significant.”

Massachusetts is the seventh state to open retail marijuana shops, but the first to open them east of the Mississippi. The milestone comes as the cannabis industry celebrates a series of new highs.

Earlier this month, Michigan became the first Midwestern state to approve recreational cannabis– joining 10 other states and Washington, D.C. In October, Canada became the first major world economy to legalize recreational marijuana.

But the steady march of marijuana legalization has Dr. Sharon Levy concerned. She runs the adolescent substance use and addiction program at Boston Children’s Hospital.

“Instead of saying, ‘Well, we’ll assume these things are safe until they’re proven harmful,’ maybe we should be saying ‘These things might be harmful until they’re proven safe.’ I don’t think that’s something we’ve done a very good job with,” Levy said.

https://govtslaves.info/2018/11/20/massachusetts-mayor-first-in-line-as-recreational-marijuana-sales-begin/

Trump fires back at federal judge’s ruling on immigration in scathing statement

The White House is fuming over a ruling by a federal judge Tuesday against the president’s order restricting amnesty to ports of entry in anticipation of the arrival of several migrant caravans at the U.S. border.

“This decision will open the floodgates…”

“At this very moment, massive numbers of aliens are arriving on our southern border, threatening to incapacitate our already overwhelmed immigration system,” read the statement from White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders.

“Yet now, a single district judge has issued a nationwide temporary restraining order preventing the executive branch from performing its Constitutional duty to enforce our borders and control entry into the United States,” it continued.

“He may not rewrite the immigration laws”

Earlier Tuesday, a federal judge issued the order invalidating the policy change by President Donald Trump intended to prohibit illegal aliens from receiving amnesty.

“Whatever the scope of the President’s authority, he may not rewrite the immigration laws to impose a condition that Congress has expressly forbidden,” said U.S. District Judge Jon Tigar.

The White House insisted that the judgement would mean more illegal immigration coming through America’s borders.

“This decision will open the floodgates, inviting countless illegal aliens to pour into our country on the American taxpayer’s dime,” the statement continued. “This temporary injunction is yet another example of activist judges imposing their open border policy preferences, which are rejected by the overwhelming majority of the American people, and interfering with the executive branch’s authority to administer the immigration system in a manner that ensures the Nation’s safety, security, and the rule of law.”

“We will take all necessary action to defend the executive branch’s lawful response to the crisis at our southern border,” the statement concluded.

Judge Tigar is a nominee of former President Barack Obama.

Here’s a news video about the ruling on Trump’s amnesty policy:

https://www.theblaze.com/news/2018/11/20/trump-fires-back-at-federal-judges-ruling-on-immigration-in-scathing-statement

A conspiracy theory is born: US comedian calls Ocasio-Cortez ‘a Russian tool’

‘Russiagate’ seems to have claimed another victim. Comedian Jen Kirkman went into a full meltdown, starting by branding Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez a Russian tool and ending with blaming Putin for messing up her life.

Representative-elect Ocasio-Cortez is a rising star of progressive politics, whose way to national prominence began after she defeated veteran congressman Joe Crowley in a Democratic primary. She runs on a progressive platform and wants similarly-minded people to get elected the same way she did – by challenging centrist Democrats and thus shifting the entire party to the left.

According to Kirkman, this is all a secret ploy of Russian President Vladimir Putin, who wants to divide the Democratic Party and “take over America.” On Sunday, she shared her suspicions about the politician with her 260,000 Twitter followers in a long thread that has since gone viral.

https://www.rt.com/usa/444439-ocasio-cortez-conspiracy-russian-tool/

Russian top diplomat says further untoward steps can be expected from Washington

"It looks like over the past 25 years the Americans, and some of our other Western colleagues, have capitally forgotten the basics of diplomacy and have lost the standards of dialogue," Lavrov said

MOSCOW, November 20. /TASS/. The United States’ recent actions indicate that further untoward steps in respect of Russia could be expected from Washington, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on Tuesday.

"The American Establishment, which is cherishing the idea of its exclusiveness, keeps on appointing opponents and rivals, first of all from among countries pursuing an independent foreign policy. It is now clear for all that further untoward measures could be expected from Washington, including in respect of Russia as any steps taken by [US President Donald] Trump towards establishing sustainable, normal channels for contacts with Moscow on the most acute problems of today are blocked by those who seek to continue and augment the destructive approach to relations with our country that was initiated by the previous White House administration," he said.

"It looks like over the past 25 years the Americans, and some of our other Western colleagues, have capitally forgotten the basics of diplomacy and have lost the standards of dialogue and consensus. As a result, we see dangerous militarization of foreign policy thinking," Lavrov stressed.

http://tass.com/politics/1031663

>>3976182

>>3976182

>any steps taken by [US President Donald] Trump towards establishing sustainable, normal channels for contacts with Moscow on the most acute problems of today are blocked by those who seek to continue and augment the destructive approach to relations with our country that was initiated by the previous White House administration," he said.

LAVROV

This is huge

‘Are we also to blame for not raking Cali forests?’ Iran FM blasts Trump’s statement backing Saudis

Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif has denounced the White House’s “shameful statement on Saudi atrocities” for blaming all sorts of ills on his country, asking on Twitter if Tehran will next be blamed for California wildfires.

“Mr. Trump bizarrely devotes the FIRST paragraph of his shameful statement on Saudi atrocities to accuse IRAN of every sort of malfeasance he can think of. Perhaps we’re also responsible for the California fires, because we didn’t help rake the forests — just like the Finns do?” Zarif tweeted on Tuesday.

He was referring to the statement issued by US President Donald Trump explaining why Washington has chosen to stand by Riyadh despite the “unacceptable and horrible crime” of murdering journalist Jamal Khashoggi — which Trump admitted that Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman “could very well” have known about.

“I’m not going to destroy the world economy, and I’m not going to destroy the economy for our country by being foolish with Saudi Arabia,” Trump told reporters on Tuesday.

Zarif’s comments about raking the forests was a dig at Trump’s remark made during his visit to wildfire-ravaged California. Trump suggested Finland did not have the same problem because the Finns rake the underbrush that fuels the blaze. Finnish president Sauli Niinistö admitted he had discussed forestry with Trump but denied mentioning any raking, prompting many Finns – and Americans – to mock Trump on social media.

As evidenced by Trump’s statement, Washington continues to blame Iran for just about all the ills of the Middle East, from the conflict in Syria and the Saudi-led war in Yemen to the rising death toll along the Israel-Gaza border. Earlier on Tuesday, the US Treasury Department sanctioned several Russian companies working with Syrian oil exports, claiming the profits are being laundered for Iran’s funding of terrorism.

Though the US and Iran have maintained unremitting mutual hostility since the 1979 revolution that overthrew the pro-US monarchy in Tehran and replaced it with an Islamic republic, the Trump administration has ratcheted up the level of rhetoric against Iran to the point of calling for regime change.

Trump has also torn up the 2015 nuclear deal negotiated by the previous administration, which had offered Iran sanctions relief in exchange for halting its nuclear research. US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said that sanctions will be imposed until Iran begins to “act like a normal country.”

So far, however, the conflict between Washington and Tehran has played out as a war of words on social media.

“Sanctions are coming,” Trump tweeted at the beginning of November, using a “Game of Thrones”-style meme. General Qassem Soleimani, head of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards’ Quds Force, responded on Instagram with a meme of his own.

https://www.rt.com/news/444483-zarif-trump-khashoggi-california-rake/

Luongo: Is Bill Browder Behind The Anti-Russia Interpol Propaganda?

Luongo: Is Bill Browder Behind The Anti-Russia Interpol Propaganda?

number of things have happened in the past few days which pushed Mr. Browder’s future into uncertainty. The first occurred on September 30th when the Chinese President of Interpol Meng Hongwei was recalled to China on unspecified corruption charges.

As we noted earlier, now that his formal resignation letter has been received by Interpol, the most likely person to replace Meng is Russian Interior Ministry official Alexander Prokopchuk. And Mr. Prokopchuk is no fan of Mr. Browder.

On the heels of this news Russia has now opened up multiple new lawsuits against Browder (who they convicted in absentia last year to nine years in prison for tax evasion) citing him as the creator and coordinator of a criminal conspiracy.

From Sputniknews:

“Last Friday, a decision was made regarding Browder to initiate a criminal case for creating a criminal organization and directing it, that is, for the crime provided for by Part 1 of Article 210 of Russia’s Criminal Code,” Atmonyev said at a briefing of the Russian Prosecutor General’s Office.

He said Russia would soon put Browder on an international wanted list under the UN Convention Against Transnational Organized Crime.

https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2018-11-20/luongo-bill-browder-behind-anti-russia-interpol-propaganda

Aryan Circle Gang Leader and Gang Member Sentenced to Prison for Being Accessories-After-the-Fact to Racketeering Murder, Among Other Charges

https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/aryan-circle-gang-leader-and-gang-member-sentenced-prison-being-accessories-after-fact

MS-13 Member Sentenced to More Than Seven Years in Prison for Racketeering Related Charges

https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/ms-13-member-sentenced-more-seven-years-prison-racketeering-related-charges

‘Insane:’ California Air Pollution Reaches 60x World Health Standards

The level of air pollution in California exceeded the “safe” levels set by the World Health Organization (WHO) about 60 times over last week after a series of wildfires in the state cumulatively burned nearly 250,000 acres and destroyed more than 12,000 homes and businesses.

According to a Monday report by Bloomberg, particulates in the air in California were as high as 1,500 micrograms per cubic meter following the Camp and Woolsey wildfires. The blazes, named after their places of origin, are among 15 wildfires that broke out in California this month.

The safety threshold for air particulates set by the World Health Organization is 25 micrograms per cubic meter.

"It is just insane," Rebecca Buchholz, a project scientist at the National Center for Atmospheric Research in Boulder, Colorado, recently told Bloomberg. "It is quite amazing how high these fine-particulate levels are."

Even though the pollution levels have since decreased in many areas, the particulate matter may continue to circulate in the air due to rain and smoldering. As of Monday, at least 20 California cities were labeled as having "unhealthy" air quality levels. Their residents were advised to stay indoors as much as possible to avoid breathing in the particles, which can cause problems from trouble breathing to long-term medical issues including heart and lung disease.

"We're much more likely to see emergency room visits and hospital admissions go up, and we are also likely to see increases in the mortality in the population," Dr. Michael Jerrett, the chair of environmental health sciences at UCLA's Fielding School of Public Health, recently told CBS News. "And then if it's sustained over a long period of time, you know, months to years, you can begin to affect numerous major bodily systems that can lead to disease or premature death."

"Once it gets past the air blood barrier in the lungs, it can go to almost any organ in the body, because it travels through the bloodstream," Professor Ed Avol, acting director of the Environmental Health Division in the University of Southern California Department of Preventive Medicine, also told CBS News this week.

He added that the smoke contains a whole slew of chemicals.

"It's also homes and buildings and the plastics and the asphalt shingles and furniture and everything else that was in the homes that's now up in the air combusted. So there's lots of chemicals in the air," Avol noted.

On Monday, California's Butte County Sheriff Kory Honea said that authorities have managed to "tentatively" identify around 67 out of at least 79 victims of the fires. At the same time, the number of people believed missing in California stands at 993.

"The insured loss for the Camp and Woolsey wildfires in California will be between USD $9 and $13 billion ($7.5-$10 billion for Camp; $1.5-$3 billion for Woolsey)," according to a Monday press release by RMS, an analytics firm that works with companies to evaluate catastrophe risks.

https://sputniknews.com/environment/201811211069986202-california-air-pollution-reaches-60x-health-standards/

https://twitter.com/cjf39/status/1065027433726906368

US Senate Demands Trump Explore Saudi Sanctions Over Khashoggi Murder

In a letter to US President Donald Trump Tuesday, top US Senators renewed their demands for his administration to open a Global Magnitsky investigation into Saudi Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman's relationship to the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi.

A bipartisan group of 22 senators first sent a letter requesting the investigation on October 12, ten days after the journalist disappeared during a visit to the Saudi consulate in Istanbul, Turkey. The Global Magnitsky Act is an extension of sanctions applied by the US government to Russian officials it believed were connected to the death of Sergei Magnitsky in a Russian jail in 2012. The 2016 extension enables it to apply such sanctions to other individuals worldwide the US government believes are connected to human rights violations.

The US Treasury did sanction 17 Saudi nationals in connection with Khashoggi's murder under the Magnitsky Act on November 15, Sputnik reported, but the Saudi Crown Prince was not among those sanctioned.

"We expect to receive your determination within 120 days," senators Bob Menendez (D-NJ) and Bob Corker (R-TN) wrote in their letter.​

The US government has delivered conflicting accounts of Khashoggi's murder. Last Friday, the CIA concluded the Washington Post journalist had been slain at the explicit orders of the Crown Prince, but the State Department rebutted that position, which Trump reiterated on Monday in a statement.

"It could very well be that the Crown Prince had knowledge of this tragic event — maybe he did and maybe he didn't! We may never know all of the facts surrounding the murder of Mr Jamal Khashoggi," the president wrote.

https://sputniknews.com/news/201811211069986503-US-Senate-Committee-Demand-Trump-Explore-Saudi-Sanctions/