The bill cuts taxes on beer, wine, and liquor. The Brookings Institute estimates that will lead to 1,550 more alcohol-related deaths each year. The study found that lower alcohol prices are directly correlated to more purchases and a higher death toll.

https://www.thebalance.com/trump-s-tax-plan-how-it-affects-you-4113968

[hic] Thanks Trump! [hic]

Our elected officials and health care providers may hope to curb the opioid epidemic through traditional addiction recovery programs and criminalization, but it’s time for them to consider the potential that medical cannabis has to offer in this effort.

All year, researchers from all over the country have been publishing concrete evidence proving that the legalization of medical marijuana leads to happier, healthier patients. Another study, released this week, has found that patients are replacing their prescription drugs with medical marijuana.

Published in the Journal of the American Medical Directors Association, the study concluded that chronic pain sufferers who were legally able to use medical cannabis eventually ended up using fewer opioids and other dangerous prescription drugs.

By the 10-month mark of being enrolled in the New Mexico Medical Cannabis Program (MCP), patients with chronic back pain, arthritis, chronic headaches, fibromyalgia, and other chronic musculoskeletal conditions significantly reduced their prescription drug use. Over a third of the patients enrolled in the MCP stopped using prescription drugs altogether, compared to only two percent of the non-enrolled participants.



more

https://botanika.life/patients-legally-using-cannabis-stopped-used-less-opioids-dangerous-prescription-drugs/



#1 reason why Jeff Sessions and Big Pharma are against MJ.

Source: The Hill

President Trump plans to nominate a Liberty University professor to serve as the administrator for the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention in the Department of Justice, the White House announced Tuesday.

Caren Harp is an associate professor at Liberty's School of Law.

Liberty University is an evangelical school run by Trump supporter Jerry Falwell Jr. The president gave the school's commencement address this past May.

Read more: http://thehill.com/homenews/administration/365579-trump-nominates-liberty-university-professor-for-doj-job

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Moore

Twenty-four hours ago, 81-year-old Jerry Richardson was the Panthers' owner and there was no reason to think that was changing anytime soon. But by Sunday evening, Richardson had announced that he would sell the team, hours after an explosive SI.com story detailing allegations of workplace misconduct and confidential payouts.

It didn't take long for potential suitors to make themselves known, starting with rapper and producer Diddy who wants to bring Colin Kaepernick back to the NFL.

"The North Carolina Panthers are up for sale. I believe it's time to turn the franchise over to new ownership," Diddy said in an Instagram post. "I need to send a message out to everybody in the beautiful state of North Carolina: I will be the best NFL owner that you can imagine. I will immediately address the Colin Kaepernick situation and put him in the running for next year's starting quarterback. It's just competition, baby! It's just competition.

"But also, I will have the best halftime show, the best selection of music and we will win [multiple Super Bowls]."

more
https://www.cbssports.com/nfl/news/colin-kaepernick-wants-to-join-diddy-steph-curry-to-buy-the-carolina-panthers/

ANDREW GRIFFIN

Monday 18 December 2017 16:00 GMT


The first ever interstellar visitor to our solar system is wrapped in a layer of organic insulation, scientists have said.

Oumuamua has enthralled astronomers and the public since it flew through the solar system in October.

As the first alien rock to travel here from another star, it was immediately recognised as highly unusual – but as scientists learn more about the object, they are discovering how strange it actually is.

Its strangeness has even led to suggestions it could be an alien artefact, rather than just an incredibly abnormal natural object.


more
http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/gadgets-and-tech/news/oumuamua-interstellar-visitor-alien-object-breakthrough-listen-latest-discovery-proof-a8116756.html

David Dayen
December 18 2017, 2:14 p.m.

U.S. CORPORATIONS ARE already beginning the process of pocketing the winnings from the tax bill jackpot they expect to hit any day now, undercutting, in a remarkably public fashion, the pretense that the corporate tax cut will lead to greater investment in job creation.

Since the Senate passed its version of the tax bill on December 2, 29 companies have announced $70.2 billion in stock buybacks, a maneuver that uses company cash to buy its own shares, which then drives up the price of those shares, rewarding major investors and executives whose compensation is directly tied to the company’s stock price.

The figure comes from a new report by Senate Democrats, which relies on the public statements of company executives. Stock buybacks, meanwhile, had been declining. There were $120 billion in buybacks in the entire second quarter of 2017, among all companies. The new figure — $70.2 billion in just 10 days, from just 29 companies — suggests that a surge of buybacks is in the offing if the tax bill becomes official, representing a staggering transfer of wealth from taxpayers straight to the wealthy.

As part of the tax bill, corporations will be able to bring back trillions of dollars parked overseas at a much lower tax rate than current law. Companies also benefit from a slashing of the corporate tax rate from 35 percent to 21 percent and the elimination of the corporate “alternative minimum tax,” which enables the use of as many deductions as possible to hold onto earnings.

more
https://theintercept.com/2017/12/18/tax-bill-corporate-rate-stock-buyback/