Oklahoma man arrested for posting nude pics of Californians

For victims of revenge porn, it was the perfect Valentine's Day gift.

Attorney General Kamala Harris announced Friday yet another arrest of a "revenge porn" operator, with the latest charges requiring an extradition request for an Oklahoma suspect.

The arrest marks the second revenge porn case for the attorney general in the past two months and comes on the heels of a federal indictment of notorious revenge porn operator Hunter Moore. Revenge porn websites have been thought to be driven by jilted ex-lovers posting nude photos of former partners. However, many victims have alleged their photos weren't shared, but hacked.

"We will continue to investigate and prosecute those who participate in these deplorable and illegal activities," Harris said in a statement Friday following the arrest of Casey Meyering of Tulsa, Okla.

Read More: http://www.sfgate.com/news/article/Oklahoma-man-arrested-for-posting-nude-pics-of-5236938.php

US drug policy fuels push for legal pot worldwide

In a former colonial mansion in Jamaica, politicians huddle to discuss trying to ease marijuana laws in the land of the late reggae musician and cannabis evangelist Bob Marley. In Morocco, one of the world's top producers of the concentrated pot known as hashish, two leading political parties want to legalize its cultivation, at least for medical and industrial use.

And in Mexico City, the vast metropolis of a country ravaged by horrific cartel bloodshed, lawmakers have proposed a brand new plan to let stores sell the drug.

From the Americas to Europe to North Africa and beyond, the marijuana legalization movement is gaining unprecedented traction — a nod to successful efforts in Colorado, Washington state and the small South American nation of Uruguay, which in December became the first country to approve nationwide pot legalization.

Leaders long weary of the drug war's violence and futility have been emboldened by changes in U.S. policy, even in the face of opposition from their own conservative populations. Some are eager to try an approach that focuses on public health instead of prohibition, and some see a potentially lucrative industry in cannabis regulation.

Read More: http://news.yahoo.com/us-drug-policy-fuels-push-legal-pot-worldwide-130121981.html

How Colorado disrupted the Drug War

Since my home state of Colorado legalized marijuana last week, the primary question I’ve been asked by friends, family and colleagues in emails, text messages and phone calls is some version of: “Are you high yet?”

I laugh along with the tongue-in-cheek queries. Look, I’d probably be ribbing my pals too if the shoe was on the other foot (er, weed was in the other bong?). What’s not such a laughing matter, though, is when the juvenile focus on getting high become the prism through which the national media caricatures our fight to finally disrupt, and ultimately end, the destructive drug war. When that happens, my state’s forward-looking attempt to answer some deadly serious criminal justice questions is flippantly marginalized as nothing more than a punchline for new riffs off “Half Baked” one-liners.

This, of course, is what has happened over the past week. Amid sensationalist hoaxes and a carefully timed series of counter-volleys by the most committed drug warriors, the East Coast punditburo’s professional ignoramuses and its never-forget-we’re-the-real-story egomaniacs added the drug war to all the other misguided wars (Iraq, Afghanistan, Terror) they’ve so loyally flogged.

In the former camp were the Tina Browns. Though allegedly not high as a kite, she nonetheless floated a free-association non-sequitur against legalization that was somehow even more psychedelically incoherent than anything you might hear in a hot-boxed college dorm room (“Ya man, legalizing weed might, like, hurt our race with China…puff puff pass, bro…”). In the latter were David Brookses and Ruth Marcuses – modern day narcissuses who ignored all the data about the wildly ineffective, institutionally racist war on cannabis and instead shrouded their anti-weed edicts in self-centered stories about their own personal experience inhaling.

Lost in the sound and fury were the questions America should be asking as our state moves forward. Questions like: Why shouldn’t adults be permitted to use pot? Is there really anything wrong with adults using mind altering substances? Is the unregulated black market for marijuana that’s been created by prohibition really safer than the highly regulated market that would be established via legalization? And how did politically moderate Colorado of all places end up defying all of the drug war’s vested interests and legalizing weed?

Read More: http://pando.com/2014/01/07/how-colorado-disrupted-the-drug-war/

Saudis Agree to Provide Syrian Rebels With Mobile Antiaircraft Missiles

Source: Wall Street Journal

Washington's Arab allies, disappointed with Syria peace talks, have agreed to provide rebels there with more sophisticated weaponry, including shoulder-fired missiles that can take down jets, according to Western and Arab diplomats and opposition figures.

Saudi Arabia has offered to give the opposition for the first time Chinese man-portable air defense systems, or Manpads, and antitank guided missiles from Russia, according to an Arab diplomat and several opposition figures with knowledge of the efforts. Saudi officials couldn't be reached to comment.

The U.S. has long opposed arming rebels with antiaircraft missiles for fear they could fall into the hands of extremists who might use them against the West or commercial airlines. The Saudis have held off supplying them in the past because of U.S. opposition. A senior Obama administration official said Friday that the U.S. objection remains the same. "There hasn't been a change internally on our view," the official said.

The U.S. for its part has stepped up financial support, handing over millions of dollars in new aid to pay fighters' salaries, said rebel commanders who received some of the money. The U.S. wouldn't comment on any payments.

Read more: http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702304703804579382974196840680?mg=reno64-wsj&url=http%3A%2F%2Fonline.wsj.com%2Farticle%2FSB10001424052702304703804579382974196840680.html

The middle class’s missing $1.6 trillion

The United States was the world’s first middle-class nation, which was a big factor in its rapid growth.  Mid-19th-century British travelers marveled at American workers’ “ductility of mind and the readiness…for a new thing” and admired how hard and willingly they labored. Abraham Lincoln attributed it the knowledge that “humblest man [had] an equal chance to get rich with everyone else.”

Most Americans still think of themselves as middle class.  But the marketing experts at the big consumer goods companies are giving their bosses the unsentimental advice that the middle class is an endangered species. Restaurants, appliance makers, grocery chains, hotels are learning that they either have to go completely up-scale, or focus on bargains for the struggling and budget-conscious.

Current income surveys, for statistical reasons, usually segment families by broad categories, which obscure the recent radical shift of income to a thin stratum of the super-rich. Well-to-do people may buy $100 coffee pots, but the lion’s share of the income growth has been going to folks with five houses and staff to make the coffee.

For the last 15 years, an international consortium of economists has been building data bases on the income shares of the richest people in the developed countries, based on pre-tax market income including capital gains and tax-exempt income, and excluding government transfers. The American data reveals the greatest inequality by far, followed by Great Britain.

Read More: http://blogs.reuters.com/great-debate/2014/02/12/the-middle-classs-missing-1-6-trillion/

US changing suits after dismal speedskating start

S.F. vendor busted for 2,000 lbs. of shark fins

State authorities Friday announced the seizure of more than 2,000 pounds of shark fins from a San Francisco seafood distributor in what is the first major bust under a new California law barring the sale of the traditional Chinese delicacy.

Michael Kwong, 42, owner of Kwong Yip Inc. in the South of Market neighborhood, was cited Jan. 29 for being in violation of the July 1 ban after investigators found his business full of shark fins ready for sale, officials said.

Investigators collected 2,138 pounds of shark, officials said, which they continue to analyze to confirm the body part and species of fish.

"It's probably thousands of sharks," said Lt. Patrick Foy of the California Department of Fish and Wildlife.

California lawmakers passed the prohibition on the possession and sale of shark fins in 2011, but the law was phased into full effect only last year. Violation of the law is a misdemeanor, punishable by up to six months in jail and a fine of up to $1,000.

Read More: http://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/S-F-vendor-busted-for-2-000-lbs-of-shark-fins-5236910.php

Grindr Use Triples In Sochi

If you’re gay and in Sochi for Valentine’s Day, things might not be as bleak as you think.

Despite the presence of anti-gay preachers picketing on the street and, you know, that whole cadre of anti-gay government officials with their anti-gay laws, a gay guy in Sochi is way more likely to hook up this week than before the Olympics began.

That’s according to data from Grindr about usage in Sochi specifically. We reached out to the app’s press team after American snowboarder Jamie Anderson told US Weekly, “Tinder in the Olympic Village is next level.” Tinder is a popular dating app for straight people as well as LGBTs; Grindr is exclusively for gay and bisexual men.

A week ago, there were 185 active users in Sochi, and now there are 541, according to a Grindr spokesperson. The total number of users in Russia is about 55,000. Sochi is no San Francisco—not yet anyway.

https://www.vocativ.com/02-2014/grindr-use-sochi-tripled-olympics/

ND pumps record 313.5M barrels of oil in 2013

Source: AP

North Dakota produced a record amount of crude oil in 2013 — 313.5 million barrels, about 70 million more than the previous high mark a year earlier, state data show.

The tally, up nearly 29 percent from 2012, marks the sixth consecutive record year for oil production in North Dakota, which is the nation's No. 2 oil producer behind Texas.

Lynn Helms, director of the state Mineral Resources, said Friday that North Dakota produced an average of 923,227 barrels of oil daily in December. The monthly total of 28.6 million barrels was down from 29.2 million barrels in November due to worse-than-normal winter weather that caused the slowdown in oil production, he said.

"The big story in December was the weather," he said.

Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/nd-pumps-record-313-5m-194645643.html;_ylt=AvdRIz7TVFYeATaCUqVjiLLQtDMD;_ylu=X3oDMTBsb21manVyBGNvbG8DYmYxBHBvcwM1BHNlYwNzcg--

State Department plans Arctic ambassador

The U.S. State Department plans to create an Arctic ambassador position to highlight the growing importance of that region.

In a letter to U.S. Sen. Mark Begich, Secretary of State John Kerry said he planned to name a "high-level individual of substantial stature and expertise" to serve as Special Representative for the Arctic Region.

"For a long time now, I've shared the view that the Arctic region really is the last global frontier, and the United States needs to elevate our attention and effort to keep up with the opportunities and consequences presented by the Arctic's rapid transformation," Kerry wrote in the letter, released by Begich's office Friday. "Properly managed, this region provides an opportunity for creative diplomatic leadership — but truly establishing and capitalizing on this leadership role will require making the Arctic region a higher U.S. priority; greater attention paid by senior policy makers; and, in keeping with President Obama's call for 'national unity of effort' on the Arctic, coordination of operational departments."

With the U.S. set to take over the rotating chairmanship of the eight-nation Arctic Council in 2015, Kerry said he believed it was vital to elevate Arctic issues and interests within the State Department.

http://news.yahoo.com/state-department-plans-arctic-ambassador-195133637.html;_ylt=AgBVnHAkyCE6LUtqDJsw2hrQtDMD;_ylu=X3oDMTBsdmNodWplBGNvbG8DYmYxBHBvcwMzBHNlYwNzcg--