| | 15 JUL 2021 | Facts, not fear. | | | TRENDING TOPICS
Infrastructure reconciliation plan • Senate marijuana bill • Iran kidnapping plot • Europe's green deal • Drug overdoses surge | | FEATURED UNDER-REPORTED STORIES
Post-Covid pilgrimage trend • Fewer subway police • Clorox-nonprofit partnership | |  | | |
TRENDING TOPICS, MOST CREDIBLE STORIES | | | #2 in U.S. News • 25 articles How broad is the support for a federal bill to decriminalize marijuana? |  | |
Top from last 48 hrs
Senate marijuana bill: Schumer, Democrats to introduce bill to federally decriminalize cannabis.
USA Today (Moderate Left) • Factual Grade 80% • 3 min read
The Cannabis Administration and Opportunity Act, a draft bill by Sens. Cory Booker, D-N.J., and Ron Wyden, D-Ore., and Schumer would remove marijuana from the Controlled Substances Act, allowing pot to be regulated and taxed. Thirty-seven states have already decriminalized the substance, and 18 of those states have fully legalized it.
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The legislation would not only decriminalize marijuana but also expunge nonviolent marijuana-related arrests and convictions from federal records. It also would allocate new tax revenue, which would come from marijuana sales, to pay for restorative justice programs as ways to address the consequences the war on drugs had on communities.
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In the evenly divided Senate, Schumer would need the support of at least 10 Republican senators to avoid the filibuster and get it to a vote, which is highly unlikely. Republicans have opposed federal measures to decriminalize marijuana. Another obstacle: President Joe Biden hasn't voiced his support for the legislation.
- Top from different political viewpoint
Chuck Schumer says he wants to legalize marijuana. His bill suggests otherwise.
Reason (Moderate Right) • Factual Grade 80% • 6 min read - Top long-read
Americans from both parties want weed to be legal. Why doesn't the federal government agree?
FiveThirtyEight (Moderate Left) • Factual Grade 82% • 7 min read
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| | TODAY'S POLL Do you think the use of marijuana should be made legal? All votes are anonymous. This poll closes at: 9:00 PST
| | YESTERDAY'S POLL Should abortions be banned after 6 weeks of pregnancy? 661 votes, 101 comments Context: Texas law bans abortions after 6 weeks. HIGHLIGHTED COMMENTS " No - Look to the evidence of what behavior this type of legislation causes in other developed nations, almost all of whom have changed course on the subject (most recently Ireland, which has traditionally followed strict Catholic convention for years prior). It doesn't stop abortion from happening, it simply forces women into dangerous, expensive & oftentimes life-threatening procedures." " Yes - Abortion shouldn't be used as a form of birth control. There should be a greater emphasis on effective birth control or continuing innovations in BC for both men and women. I would imagine concessions also could be made for rape, incest victims, or putting the life of the mother at risk but not for the overwhelming majority of abortions that are done because having a child isn't convenient and or continually making poor life choices." " Unsure - There are premature births that can survive as early as 24 weeks; that being the case, abortion at that point really blurs the line between ending a pregnancy and ending a viable human life (barring some rare extenuating circumstances). So I believe there should definitely be some kind of limit on how far into a pregnancy abortion is permitted; but 6 weeks seems too soon, and too restrictive, given that some mothers do not even know they are pregnant by that point." | | | #1 in World News • 32 articles Why did Iran allegedly plot to kidnap a journalist in the U.S.? |  | |
Top from last 48 hrs
Iran plotted to kidnap NYC journalist critical of regime, DOJ says.
Washington Examiner (Moderate Right) • Factual Grade 89% • 5 min read
The target appears to have been Masih Alinejad, a journalist and outspoken women's rights activist. However, the Justice Department did not name the individual when it unsealed an indictment "charging four Iranian nationals with conspiracies related to kidnapping, sanctions violations, bank and wire fraud, and money laundering."
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Alinejad fled Iran in 2009 and settled in New York in 2014. [Her first social media campaign] launched in 2014 and encouraged Iranian women to post photos of themselves without their hijab, while the second similar civil disobedience effort began in 2017, with Iranian women removing their headscarves or wearing white shawls in protest every Wednesday.
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The same Iranian network "has also targeted victims in other countries, including victims in Canada, the United Kingdom, and the United Arab Emirates, and has worked to procure similar surveillance of those victims," the agency added.
- Top from different political viewpoint
U.S. charges four with plot to kidnap journalist critical of Iran.
Al Jazeera (Moderate Left) • Factual Grade 72% • 4 min read - Top long-read
The long arm of the authoritarian state.
Washington Post (Moderate Left) • Factual Grade 67% • 9 min read
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| | #1 in Science News • 29 articles How does the EU plan to halve greenhouse gas emissions in ten years? |  | |
Top from last 48 hrs
Europe unveils plan to shift from fossil fuels, setting up potential trade spats.
New York Times (Moderate Left) • Factual Grade 81% • 7 min read
The proposals, if passed, would see the last gasoline or diesel cars sold in the European Union by 2035; require that 38.5 percent of all energy be from renewables by 2030; increase the price charged for carbon emitted to make the use of fossil fuels increasingly expensive; and financially assist those most affected by potential price increases.
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The most radical, and possibly contentious, proposal would impose tariffs on certain imports from countries with less stringent climate-protection rules. A White House official said on Wednesday afternoon that it was reviewing the European Commission's proposals and broadly welcomed the idea of a carbon border tax.
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The proposals mark only the start of what promises to be a difficult two-year negotiation among industry, 27 countries and the European Parliament. Although the EU produces only 8% of current global carbon emissions, its cumulative emissions are among the world's highest. As a huge market, it sees itself as an important regulatory power.
- Top from different political viewpoint
European Union releases 'Green Deal' to cut emissions in half in ten years.
National Review (Right) • Factual Grade 69% • 2 min read - Top long-read
Carbon border taxes are unjust. (2020)
MIT Technology Review (Center) • Factual Grade 84% • 5 min read
View all articles | |
| | #1 in Health News • 28 articles Why did drug overdoses surge in 2020? |  | |
Top from last 48 hrs
Drug overdose deaths soared to a record 93,000 last year.
Washington Post (Moderate Left) • Factual Grade 76% • 5 min read
The death toll jumped by more than 21,000, or nearly 30 percent, from 2019, according to provisional data released by the National Center for Health Statistics, eclipsing the record set that year. The increase came as no surprise to addiction specialists, drug counselors and policy experts who have watched the steady rise in deaths throughout the pandemic.
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Opioids, primarily illegal fentanyl, continued to drive the death toll, as they have for years. Overdose deaths involving opioids reached 69,710 in 2020, up from 50,963 in 2019, according to the data. Deaths from methamphetamine and cocaine also rose.
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[In 2020] healthcare resources were stretched and redirected toward the pandemic. Anti-addiction medication was more difficult to obtain. Stress increased dramatically. Users were more isolated, leading to additional overdoses because other people were not nearby to summon first responders or administer the opioid antidote naloxone, experts said.
- Top from different political viewpoint
U.S. overdose deaths hit record 93,000 in 2020 during pandemic.
STAT News (Center) • Factual Grade 71% • 3 min read - Top long-read
Helping drug users survive, not abstain: 'harm reduction' gains federal support.
New York Times (Moderate Left) • Factual Grade 88% • 7 min read
View all articles | |
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