MPs call for cannabis to be legalised

This month’s American election saw two further states legalise cannabis – and a group of MPs from all parties, led by former deputy prime minster Nick Clegg and former health minister Norman Lamb says we should follow suit.

The MPs backed an Adam Smith Institute and Volteface study which argues that Britain’s ‘dark ages’ drugs policy has failed to stop people drugs being manufactured and used, and to stop associated crime, corruption and killing.

A legal cannabis market could be worth £6.8 billion to the economy annually, potentially netting between £750 million and £1.05 billion in tax revenues and reduced criminal justice costs.

The number of offenders in prison for cannabis-related offences in England and Wales would also likely drop from the current 1,363, who cost taxpayers £50 million a year, the report said.

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http://metro.co.uk/2016/11/21/mps-call-for-cannabis-to-be-legalised-and-it-would-earn-the-treasury-1-billion-a-year-in-tax-6271733/

Monday Toon Roundup 2- The Rest

Monday Toon Roundup 1: Team Drumpf

Teaching 1984 in 2016

Every year, one high-school educator converts his classroom into a totalitarian state to teach George Orwell’s book. This year, the lesson feels different.

By ANDREW SIMMONS

My classroom becomes a totalitarian state every school year toward the end of October. In preparation for teaching 1984 to seniors, I announce the launch of a new program aimed at combating senioritis, a real disease with symptoms that include frequent unexplained absences, indifferent reading, and shoddy work. I tell each class that another class is largely to blame for the problem and require, for a substantial participation grade, that students file daily reports on another student’s work habits and conduct; most are assigned to another student in the same class.

We blanket the campus in posters featuring my face and simple slogans that warn against the dangers of senioritis and declare my program the only solution to the school’s woes. Last year, my program was OSIP (Organization for Senior Improvement Project); this year, it’s SAFE (Scholar Alliance For Excellence). We chant a creed at the start of each class, celebrate the revelatory reports of “heroes” with cheers, and boo those who fail to participate enthusiastically. I create a program Instagram that students eagerly follow. I occasionally bestow snacks as rewards.

After a week, new posters (and stickers) speak less to senioritis and more to, well, me. The new slogans are simpler: my name, mostly. My image is everywhere. I change the rules, requiring students to obtain more points in order to pass. I restrict previously granted privileges, like the right to leave the room to use the bathroom. I subtract points for subjectively noted lapses in conviction. I fabricate a resistance movement and vow to stamp out the ignorant opposition to our noble cause.

Occasionally, a kid groans in exasperation and I fix him with a long, nasty, meaningful look. If a student asks about the point of it all, I ask him why no one else seems to have the same concern. I get louder. I get meaner. I give students points for alerting me to the sources of dissent. Eager to shore up their grades, gleeful at the chance to tweak friends and possibly enemies, a few students furtively hand over notes after classes. I collect the reports two weeks after they start the book, pronounce the experiment over (with language paying tribute to Orwell’s telling appendix), and ask them what they learned.

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http://www.theatlantic.com/education/archive/2016/11/teaching-1984-in-2016/508226/?utm_source=atltw

Toon: Pence goes to the wrong musical

Sundays Doonesbury Toon: A visit to the Don

Search seems to be broken

Nothing comes up if I search for keywords posted since the hack.

Trump meets with Michelle Rhee as she is considered for Secretary of Education

President-elect Donald Trump met with controversial former Washington, D.C. public school chancellor Michelle Rhee, who is considered to be in the running for Secretary of Education as part of his administration.

Her husband, Sacramento mayor Kevin Johnson, joined her for the meeting on Saturday at the billionaire businessman's golf club in Bedminster, New Jersey.

The couple, who are both Democrats, were photographed departing the clubhouse in the afternoon after their meeting and shaking hands with Trump outside.

Like Trump, Rhee has been a supporter of school choice, which calls for public money to be used for charter schools.

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http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3953376/Trump-meets-controversial-school-reformer-Michelle-Rhee-eyed-Secretary-Education-Cabinet.html

The grifters are coming out of the woodwork

U.S. weather satellite that is 'a quantum leap' poised for launch

By Irene Klotz

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla (Reuters) - A U.S. weather satellite that will "revolutionize" forecasting was scheduled for launch from Florida's Cape Canaveral on Saturday, promising to deliver continuous high-definition views of hurricanes and other storms over the Western Hemisphere.

The detailed view provided by the satellite is expected to sharpen hurricane forecasts, provide more advanced warning of floods and better tracking of wildfires, plumes and volcanic ash clouds.

Scheduled to blast off from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station at 5:42 p.m. EST (2242 GMT), the GOES-R satellite is capable of taking a complete picture of the hemisphere every five minutes while simultaneously zooming in on fires, volcanic eruptions or severe rain in specific regions.

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https://www.yahoo.com/tech/u-weather-satellite-quantum-leap-poised-launch-182021756--finance.html

CRISPR Gene-Edited Cells Get First Human Test

Chinese scientists say that have tested a revolutionary, but controversial, gene-editing technique in a living person for the first time. Until now, the technique known as CRISPR/Cas9, had only been tested in lab animals. But this latest news reported in the journal Nature could stoke the fires already burning under US-based researchers, who want to use the gene-editing tool to treat disease.

The Chinese team, lead by oncologist Lu You at Sichuan University in Chengdu, used CRISPR/Cas9 to treat a patient with non-small-cell lung cancer as a part of a clinical trial. This could be the first step toward completely new cancer therapies.

Heralded as one of the biggest biotechnology breakthroughs of the century, the CRISPR/Cas9 technique allows scientists to repair broken genes more easily and more efficiently than previous methods. It starts with an RNA molecule that matches the DNA sequence of a targeted gene. The RNA works like a guide, bringing the enzyme Cas9 to the damaged bit of DNA, where it's used to snip out the damage, replace it or repair it.


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http://www.seeker.com/crispr-gene-edited-cells-get-first-human-test-2096129169.html?sf42872421=1