Up to 20,000 people are expected to attend the Know Your Rights Expo, across the street from Disneyland Resort, at the city-owned Anaheim Convention Center, reports Eric Carpenter at The Orange County Register.

Legal experts will be discussing the status of California’s medical marijuana laws, and Proposition 19, a November ballot measure that would legalize, regulate and tax the sale of marijuana if approved by voters.

Anaheim has found itself squarely in the middle of California’s debate over medical marijuana. The city council passed a law which bans all medical marijuana dispensaries, which is being challenged in court by patients who believe the law violates Prop 215, the 1996 voter initiative that made California the first state in the union to legalize medical pot.

Advocates had been looking to the case to provide a clear precedent for other California cities, but an appeals court judge earlier this month sent the case back to trial court instead.

Expo organizers said the venue for Saturday’s event is mostly coincidental, and that Anaheim just seemed like a good central location.

“And with the court case and Prop 19 coming up, it seemed like the right time for a big expo,” said Kandice Hawes, president of Orange County NORML, the nonprofit legalization advocacy group sponsoring the event along with the Santa Ana-based law firm Glew & Kim.

Retired Orange County Superior Court Judge Jim Gray, an advocate for marijuana legalization, will speak at the expo.

Featured speakers at the expo will be retired Orange County Superior Court Judge Jim Gray, an advocate for Prop 19, and Duane Robert, a Green Party candidate for the U.S. Senate.

The event will be hosted by “Radical” Russ Belville of The NORML Stash Blog.

Hundreds of vendors will be on hand to sell hemp-related products, according to expo organizers.

The expo, only open to adults 18 or older, will be open from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. Saturday, August 28, at the Convention Center, 800 W. Katella Avenue, Anaheim.

Tickets are $15 for those 18 to 54. Seniors 55 and older can get in for $10.

For information and tickets, visit knowyourrightsexpo.com.

Steve Elliott, a working journalist since 1982, edits Toke of the Town, Village Voice Media’s site of cannabis news, views, rumor and humor.

Five years after Katrina, the Gulf Coast and New-Orleans have to deal with another large scale disaster ( in this case purely man-made) in the form of the BP oil spill. It seems that New-Orleans can not get a break, but again the Crescent City is far from being the only town at the epicenter of our current looming ecological and social disaster.

Most people, in the press, have failed to establish a link, which should be rather obvious, between climate change and global warming and the recent deadly fires in Russia and the current unthinkable human tragedy unfolding for Pakistanis under flood water.

The fires in Russia were triggered by the highest temperatures on record, and the torrential monsoon rains in Pakistan have caused the wrath of the Indus river. In both cases, we are dealing with “extreme weather”, which scientists view as a consequence of global warming. In other words global warming causes climate change which in return produces  extreme weather phenomenons such as hurricanes, floods, droughts etc.

But back circa 2005 in New-Orleans, Katrina exposed more than just a poorly managed city and state, a completely inefficient and careless federal government, but mainly the biggest fairy tale of global consciousness: America as a model for democracy, a “shining city upon a hill whose beacon light guides freedom-loving people everywhere”, a system all countries should look up to and copy. Katrina gave America a bad PR worldwide, giving outsiders a glimpse of the real America: The one of racial divide- despite the civil rights’ gains of the 60′s- and even more importantly the one of class divide. The America of shock or “jungle capitalism”.

Class is a dirty word in American politics, because of its Marxist connotation. It is, however the right one to use. In New-Orleans five years ago, people who could afford air line tickets or the ones who had cars could get out, the poor were  left behind fending for themselves against the storm first then trapped in a ghost town with broken infrastructures, trigger happy cops, vigilantes, mercenaries from Blackwater and the National Guard.

Katrina played a big part in the undoing of the Bush administration, yet the “lessons” from Katrina have not been learned by either the Democrats or the Republicans. Some people from the left categorized the BP oil spill as “Obama’s Katrina”, and indeed it is, but unfortunately it is not the only one for President Obama. There is of course Afghanistan or “Obama’s Vietnam” and, what I view as his biggest domestic policy mistake; the bailout of Wall Street with more or less no questions asked.

As far as New-Orleans, the short comings  of the Obama administration are plenty. Five years after the devastation of hurricane Katrina, New-Orleans’ Lower 9TH Ward- the area hit hardest by the flooding and in large majority poor and African-Americans- is still desolated. With no our very little infrastructure and a very few businesses, less than 25 percent of people have returned to the Lower 9TH. For the very few (see photo above) who had the knowledge and some resources to rebuild, daily life is a constant struggle.

The light coming out of America as a “shining city upon a hill” has become dim. Don’t get me wrong, for the super-rich ( or about 2 percent of the population controlling more than half of the wealth) the “American Dream” is still alive and well, but for 98 percent of us, it has been exposed as a farce, an elaborate Ponzi scheme cooked up by the “masters of the universe” of  Wall Street.

Further, in the fetid waters of New-Orleans post Katrina, the US saw a very disturbing reflection of itself. None of the uncomfortable questions raised by Katrina were answered: How was it that an America able to send hundreds of thousands of troops halfway around the world to topple Saddam Hussein could not protect New-Orleans? How could such a Third World disaster happen within the borders of the leader of the First World? Why did African-Americans suffer the most?

A record numbers of American are homeless or in the process of loosing their houses to banks going for a full on land grab. Almost 50 millions of Americans rely on food stamps to eat, many states are on the verge of insolvency. California, one of the biggest and supposedly one of  “richest states” of the nation will likely have to issue IOU (again) in a few weeks.

Meanwhile, we have no problem spending the bulk of our financial resources in repressive entities such as the police, the prison system and of course the military instead of allocating a proper level of  funds to education, health care, and social services. The hit of Katrina on New-Orleans was a wake-up call, the financial crash of 2008 was the second big punch, yet it is as if we still don’t understand that America’s current system is past due for a drastic revamping. The real lesson from Katrina, and from the 2008 financial collapse, is how cruelly America treats  its citizens who have nothing.

Editor’s Note: All photographs by Gilbert Mercier, you can view some more here.

San Francisco Mayor, Gavin Newsom, boldly addressed the media with the statement that “Californians had waited long enough.” There’s no reason for those individuals, waiting to exercise their right to marriage, to have to wait a single day longer. Expectations were high that Judge Walker would rule in favor of removing the stay on his previous judgement, clearing the way for the matrimonial ceremonies and celebrations.

At 12:40pm PST, Judge Walkers decision was announced. Equality wins the day… kind of. Judge Walker has ruled to lift the stay on his August 4, 2010, judgement striking down Proposition 8, but not yet. California’s ban on same-sex marriage will not be lifted until August 18, 2010, at 5:00pm PST. Six more days.

Another bitter-sweet moment in a long fight against the forces of bigotry and oppression. Plans for immediate ceremonies have once again had to be shelved. The specter of legal machinations by the opposition have been left to hang over the heads of all concerned.

Charles Cooper and the Proposition 8 legal team now have six days to try to compel a higher court to reinstate the stay on same-sex marriage. The psychological and emotional toll on the persons affected continues to get ratcheted up as their constitutional rights hang in the balance.

In the meantime, a delayed and tenuous victory is all that’s left to hold on to. Marriage plans will have to wait, yet again. Equal rights will be denied, for a little while longer. It’s been a long and difficult struggle. It’s easy to hope for a quick resolution, but none will be forthcoming.

The agents of oppression will continue their efforts to deny the rights of others based on their own religiously based bias. Those for the cause of equal rights, and the right to same-sex marriage, will continue their courageous battle as well. It’s sure to be a long and potentially eventful six days.

Elena Kagan at her second Senate hearing. Photo by TalkRadioNews

A lot went on this week, but here are the three top stories in the news that should probably give you some good hope for the future.

1. “Yes” To A Mosque Near Ground Zero

The proposed Islamic community center near Ground Zero got the green light from the City of New York on Tuesday. Controversy over having the mosque built close to the site of the 9/11 attacks had been fueled by the right-wing and even by the Anti-Defamation League which came out against it just weeks before the city was to vote on the project.

The mosque’s mission is to serve as a place where people from different religious backgrounds can find common ground.

The supporters, including Mayor Bloomberg defended the mosque against the divisive arguments from people like Sarah Palin who asked New Yorkers to turn against the project.

“Peace-seeking Muslims, pls understand, Ground Zero mosque is UNNECESSARY provocation; it stabs hearts. Pls reject it in interest of healing,” Palin tweeted.

After the vote approving the project, Mayor Bloomberg issued a brilliant speech just to set the record straight. Here is some of what he said:

“Let us not forget that Muslims were among those murdered on 9/11 and that our Muslim neighbors grieved with us as New Yorkers and as Americans. We would betray our values – and play into our enemies’ hands – if we were to treat Muslims differently than anyone else. In fact, to cave to popular sentiment would be to hand a victory to the terrorists – and we should not stand for that.”

2. “No” to Proposition 8 in California

On Wednesday, U.S. District Judge Vaughn Walker ruled that a ballot measure banning same-sex marriage in California is unconstitutional.

Proposition 8 was approved by voters last November. The anti-gay-marriage campaign received thousands of dollars from conservative religious organizations to run ads saying that children would be “forced” to learn about gay marriage in schools and that marriage is only for a man and a woman.

But Judge Walker’s decision stated that Proposition 8 violates the 14th Amendment which offers equal protection under the law. And, that what some see as “moral” is not basis for denying equal rights.

Here is part of Judge Walker’s ruling:

Proposition 8 fails to advance any rational basis in singling out gay men and lesbians for denial of a marriage license. Indeed the evidence shows Proposition 8 does nothing more than enshrine in the California constitution the notion that opposite sex couples are superior to same sex couples.

3. “Yes” To Kagan

On Thursday, the U.S. Senate voted to approve Elena Kagan to the highest court of the land.

After right-wing hysteria that Kagan was yet another “activist” seeking to fulfill some liberal agenda, and rumors that she is a lesbian, Democrats and a few Republicans approved her candidacy to the Supreme Court, 63-37.

This was yet another victory for President Obama who has now managed to get two women to the high court (Sonia Sotomayor was appointed last year).

After a swear in ceremony on Saturday, the 50-year old will become the 3rd woman in the current Supreme Court.

Here is some of what President Obama said after the vote:

Today’s vote wasn’t just an affirmation of Elena’s intellect and accomplishment, it was also an affirmation of her character and her temperament, her open-mindedness and even-handedness.

Oh boy, what a week. Let’s pop open that champagne!

Enforcement of marijuana prohibition consumes a great deal of California’s law enforcement and court system resources, and has a disproportionate impact on communities of color, according to the ACLU.

Prop 19 would allow adults 21 and older to possess and grow small amounts of marijuana for personal use, and would allow cities and counties to regulate and tax commercial sales.

Unless individual cities and counties enact local regulatory structures, marijuana sales would remain illegal under state law.

The three California affiliates of the ACLU have a combined 96,000 members and join a broad coalition supporting Prop 19′s common sense approach to controlling marijuana.

Supporters of the initiative include former U.S. Surgeon General Jocelyn Elders, the California NAACP, labor unions, and even some law enforcement officials from around the state.

California police made  60,000 marijuana arrests in 2008, m0st of them y0ung men of color. The arrests, however, do not indicate actual marijuana usage.

A new report from the Drug Policy Alliance (DPA) shows distinct racial disparities in California arrests for low-level marijuana possession. Data in the report reveal that African Americans in California are more likely to be arrested for marijuana possession than whites, but more white youth use marijuana than black youth.

“California makes tens of thousands of arrests each year for simply possessing small amounts of marijuana,” said Kelli M. Evans, associate director of ACLU of Northern California. “These arrests overload our already stressed courts and jails and divert scarce public safety dollars that could be used to address violent crime.”

The California Legislative Analyst’s Office said Prop 19 would allow “redirection of court and law enforcement resources to solving violent crimes.”

“The significant racial disparities in marijuana possession arrests have serious consequences, for young men of color in particular,” said Ramona Ripston, executive director at the ACLU of Southern California. “The impact of a misdemeanor conviction for marijuana possession creates barriers in finding a house, a job, and even a sch0ol loan.”

In Los Angeles County alone, the marijuana possession arrest rate of African Americans is more than 300 percent higher than the same arrest rate of whites, with blacks making up less than 10 percent of the county’s population, according to the DPA report.

“Proposition 19 is smart policy that would regulate and tax marijuana for adults, just like alcohol and tobacco,” said Kevin Keenan, executive director of the ACLU of San Diego & Imperial Counties.

Steve Elliott, a working journalist since 1982, is editor of Toke of the Town, Village Voice Media’s site of cannabis news, views, rumor and humor.

Even so the George W Bush’s Great Recession had many factors at play such as the trillion spent for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, the trigger effect was the burst of the US housing market bubble. From 2002 to 2007 the banks played an active role in inflating the prices and in some area of the country such as California, Florida and Nevada the real estate “value” saw a yearly increase of about 20 percent. Properties were appraised high, loans were granted on stated income and banks were pushing borrowers to use their houses as piggy banks and pulling money  out from it by selling  them countless lines of credit. This real estate “gold rush”, artificially created by the Bush administration and the banks, ended up in the 2008 massive crash and a rude awakening for financial institutions across  the world.

There is an empirical rule of thumb in how and when an economic recovery start after a major financial crisis: The trigger factor, in our case the collapse of the real estate market, is the one to recover first. Unfortunately, the current signs of the housing market are not showing such overall trends. Many Americans are still facing foreclosure, the market remains bloated with a record inventory and the banks are still putting their feet on the brake by not offering  homeowners in distress  loan restructuring options so they can keep a roof above their heads.

It seems that the few big banks still in the business of lending money for real estate purchases are just eager to cash out to clean up their portfolio from “toxic loans”, and by doing so they are putting a drag on property value preventing a real recovery. Once again the big banks such as Bank Of America, Morgan Chase and Wells Fargo are only concern with very short term strategies making their respective quarterly earning reports look good for the share holders. Of course by doing so they are not serving the public interest and even their own in the medium to long term.

I am currently in the process of selling my house in California, which give me a first hand experience of the negative impact from banks and real estate investors on the housing market. It is a regular sale, and I have quite a bit of equity on the property. However, I am still competing with countless short sales and foreclosures which stubbornly push the market down. My goal is to own a property free and clear, and to be out of the borrowing business for good. This also means that I am currently looking for some properties to buy. Unfortunately, the properties which I could afford to buy cash in Los Angeles county are snagged up in no time by investors who have an inside track with banks or REO, the shady real estate agent representing the banks.

This is how the scheme works in a nutshell. The new “shark flippers” of real estate are typically looking for distressed properties in the range of $200,000 to $250,000 ( In LA county the medium price for a single family house is $313,000). They pay cash for it, then do some work on the property, and within three to six months put the property back on the market for $400,000. In Nevada and Florida, two other states which like California can be call Ground Zero of the real estate collapse, the investors in conjunction with the banks are applying the same type of business model. For example, in Las Vegas, buyers can pick up decent properties as cheap as $120,000 or $150,000. At the pick of the market, the very same properties sold for about three to four times this amount.

At least in Los Angeles, a large proportion of the shark flippers are foreigners. They are Russians, Chinese, Armenians, Israelis, Hungarians with very little morale scruple and a lot of cash in their pockets. Some are partners in REO and represent pool of investors. Needless to say, this trend is preventing regular American families  to buy  affordable houses to call it home. The sharks have the angles with the banks, they have the cash and are attracted by the blood of homeowners in distress.

A multi-agency federal task force descended on the property of Joy Greenfield, 689, the first Mendo patient to pay the $1,050 application fee under the ordinance, which allows collectives to grow up to 99 plants provided they comply with certain regulations.

Greenfield had applied in the name of her collective, “Light The Way,” which opened in San Diego earlier this year. Her property had passed a preliminary inspection by the Mendo sheriff’s deputies shortly before the raid, and she had bought the sheriff’s “zip-ties” intended to designate her cannabis plants as legal.

In the days before the raid, Greenfield had seen a helicopter hovering over her property; she inquired with the sheriff, who told her the copter belonged to the DEA and wasn’t under his control.

The agents invaded her property with guns drawn, tore out the collective’s 99 plants and took Greenfield’s computer and cash.

Joy was not at home during the raid, but spoke on the phone to the DEA agent in charge. When she told he she was a legal grower under the sheriff’s program, the agent replied, “I don’t care what the sheriff says.”

When she returned to her house she found it in disarray with soda cans strewn on the floor. “It was just a mess,” she said. “No one should be able to tear your house apart like that.”

Greenfield called the raid a “slap in the face of Mendocino’s government.”

The DEA has been tight-lipped about the raid, but claims it was part of a larger investigation involving other suspects.

“Here Mendo is trying to step out in front by passing this ordinance, and what do the Feds do but raid the first applicant,” said Greenfield’s attorney, Bob Boyd of Ukiah.

“The DEA is stepping all over local authorities trying to tax and regulate,” Boyd said.

Neither Boyd nor other locals believe that the sheriff tipped off the DEA or gave them any information about permit applicants.

Mendocino County Sheriff Tom Allman confirmed Friday that the property owner had the proper paperwork and the marijuana was legal in the eyes of the county.

“This was a federal operation and had nothing to do with local law enforcement,” Allman said. “The federal government made a decision to go ahead and eradicate it.”

Mendocino County Sheriff Tom Allman has been supportive of medical marijuana cultivators who go by the rules.

Sheriff Allman has been highly supportive of efforts to bring local growers into the permit program. Nonetheless, observers fear the raid will have a chilling effect on medical cultivators, possibly causing supply problems for local patients.

“This raid is clear evidence that the DEA is out of control,” said California NORML director Dale Gieringer. “A change in federal law is long overdue.”

“In the meantime, the DEA needs a new director who will enforce Attorney General Holder’s pledge not to interfere in state medical marijuana laws,” Gierigner said.

The DEA is currently directed by Michele Leonhart, a Bush Administration holdover who has presided over numerous medical marijuana raids, and has obstructed research efforts to develop marijuana for medicine.

President Obama has renominated Leonhart to head the agency — a move strongly opposed by drug reformers, who are calling on the administration to honor its pledge of change.

Marijuana is certainly not the most pressing crime problem in the United States — but local police departments, with chronic budget shortfalls, are concentrating more on pot busts than ever before, because “it’s where the money is,” according to one California sheriff.

In an era when law enforcement has been forced to lay off staff, reduce patrols and even release jail inmates, officers have found that going after marijuana growers and smokers makes them eligible for hefty federal anti-drug grants, reports Justin Scheck at The Wall Street Journal.

Shasta County Sheriff Tom Bosenko said his department is eligible for roughly half a million dollars a year in federal anti-drug funding. The only problem is, most of the money has to be used to fight pot as part of the multi-agency, federally funded Campaign Against Marijuana Planting (CAMP).

The federal government has, for a long time, allocated money to help local communities fight crime, and influencing their law enforcement priorities in the process.

The budget squeezes in today’s weak economy has only enhanced this effect, which has become especially noticeable in California, where many or even most residents take a tolerant attitude towards marijuana, but federal dollars force local law enforcement to focus on it.

To make sure Shasta County gets the federal grants, Sheriff Bosenko has spent about $340,000 of his department’s shrinking budget — more than in past years — on a team whose sole duty is to traipse through the woods looking for pot plants.

Though the squad is mostly federally funded, the grants don’t cover some basic needs and equipment — so the Sheriff has to pay for those out of his regular budget, to make the department eligible for the big bucks.

Other crimes — like robbery and driving while drunk — may have a much larger impact on local communities than pot growing, the Sheriff admits. But those infractions don’t have fat federal grants attached to them. Marijuana does.

According to the sheriff, the anti-pot money is “$340,000 I could use somewhere else in my organization. That could fund three officers’ salaries and benefits, and we could have them out on our streets doing patrol,” Bosenko said.

“These so-called ‘eradication’ efforts have had zero effect on marijuana use, availability, or price, but once again, California law enforcement agencies are perfectly content to throw more tax money down the CAMP rabbit hole,” said Aaron Smith, California policy director for the Marijuana Policy Project (MPP).

In addition to the $3.6 billion being spent by the U.S. Justice Department this year, augmenting budgets of state and local law enforcement, the federal government set aside last year almost $4 billion in additional economic stimulus package funds.

The White House is also spending about $239 million in 2010 to fund local “drug trafficking task forces” — which, in the real world, usually means local cops dressing up like Rambo and tramping about in the woods in a wasteful, quixotic and doomed attempt to stop the burgeoning marijuana industry.

“It’s time to stop this insanity of repeating the futile exercise of CAMP and instead replace marijuana prohibition with a system of taxation and regulation,” Smith said. “Only then will we be able to eliminate the clandestine marijuana plantations — just as the repeal of alcohol prohibition did away with the bootleggers of that era.”

“It’s no coincidence that drug cartels don’t plant vineyards or hops fields in our national forests,” Smith added.

About the author: Steve Elliott, a working journalist since 1982, is editor of Toke of the Town, Village Voice Media’s site covering cannabis news, views, rumor and humor.

A 5.9 magnitude earthquake shook Southern California on Monday night at 9:26 pm, PST.

The quake was located near the Laguna Salada fault, 5 miles southeast of Ocotillo, California — a very deserted part of the state. The jolt was felt stronger in San Diego, 86 west of the epicenter, and also in El Centro, CA some 36 miles east of Ocotillo. The earthquake was also felt in Los Angeles.

Smaller earthquakes have shook the same general area, including a 4.1 magnitude earthquake that was felt at 9:36 pm.

No damages or injuries have been reported as of 9:55 pm, PST.

Since late May, smaller earthquakes have shook the Southern California region. A 4.4 earthquake startled Riverside residents over the weekend.

On April 4, a 7.2 magnitude earthquake shook near Mexicali, in Baja California — 60 miles south from tonight’s earthquake.

For the USGS’ details of the 5.9 earthquake click here.

Los Angeles City Councilwoman Janice Hahn with Councilman Tom Labonge. (Photo: Wikimedia)

On Tuesday, labor saw two of their candidates lose important races.

In Long Beach, 7th District City Councilwoman Tonia Reyes Uranga lost her seat to a younger opponent, James Jones. Uranga had been a key ally to unions trying to gain political power in that city. Union members from Los Angeles had been sent to Long Beach to canvas for Uranga, but they faced an uphill battle in a city where business interest take priority at council meetings.

Jones, 32, ran on a platform of fiscal responsibility, while Uranga focused her campaign on creating more jobs in Long Beach. Unions and labor-friendly coalitions were pushing for many months to get Uranga, a write-in candidate, to move their agenda forward and pass a ‘living wage’ ordinance for hotel workers in that city. Uranga has been no stranger at hotel worker rallies in the past year.

Another woman who lost her bid for higher office was Los Angeles City Councilwoman Janice Hahn. Hahn ran against San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom in the democratic primary for California lieutenant governor.

Hahn has been a very labor-friendly politician who boasts about her record of helping to pass a ‘living wage’ ordinance for hotel workers near the Los Angeles International Airport. She has also been very involved in supporting the Teamsters’ campaign to organize port truck drivers at the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach.

But Hahn’s record with the unions didn’t get her the votes she needed to beat Newsom. Her popularity seems to be limited to Los Angeles.

But labor groups have had victories in the past that are bound to pay off. Before becoming U.S. Secretary of Labor, Hilda Solis had enjoyed the support of unions for her bids to the California State Assembly, the State Senate, then later on to the US Congress. The labor movement has been gaining momentum in Los Angeles during recent years and their ability to mobilize union members to help elect politicians like Hahn and Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa has been unprecedented.

But the lost opportunities to have an ally like Hahn in Sacramento and a more progressive councilwoman in Long Beach raises the question of, how much longer will labor be able to fight for their candidates?

With Gubernatorial Candidate Meg Whitman facing off the Democratic Jerry Brown, and with Carly Fiorina eager to take Barbara Boxer’s seat, California will be a fun state to monitor this November. It’s unclear how involved labor will get in those elections since it concentrates more in local races, but this would be a great opportunity for the movement to show if its muscle is getting stronger or if it’s weakening.

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