OH senate to vote on medical marijuana

By Margo Pierce
CityBeat.com
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Marijuana is a medicine. Not many doctors are willing to make that kind of statement publicly, especially when U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration raids result in the jailing of physicians, terminally ill patients and state-licensed marijuana growers in states where the medicinal use of marijuana is permitted by law.

But Richard J. Wyderski, a physician at Miami Valley Hospital in Dayton, believes the benefits of the herbal therapy far outweigh the risks of pushing for legalization. In this case he’s publicly backing Senate Bill 343, most commonly referred to as the Ohio Medical Compassion Act sponsored by Sen. Tom Roberts (D-Dayton).

“I provided testimony to the Senate Judiciary Committee,” Wyderski says. “I talked about the historical aspects of marijuana — it was a medicine back in the 1800s and early 1900s — and the regulatory stuff that happened that led to it no longer being used medicinally even though it was on the U.S. pharmacopoeia until the early 1940s…

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Why does America vote on Tuesdays?

Tonight I saw Gideon Yago, a former MTV News correspondent and current writer for Rolling Stone and Spin magazines, speak at Ohio University about the current political atmosphere and the impact the Millenial generation will have on America and the world as a whole. One of the many issues for which he advocates is moving the U.S. election day either to Saturdays, or make nationwide elections a national holiday to help increase voter turnout. This really resonated with me… So Gideon name-dropped “Why Tuesday?”, a non-profit organization working toward fixing this big hole in our election process. Watch the video to check out what “Why Tuesday?” hopes to achieve as soon as possible!

Click here to become a fan of Why Tuesday? on Facebook!

From WhyTuesday.org…

In 1845, before Florida, California, and Texas were states or slavery had been abolished, Congress needed to pick a time for Americans to vote. We were an agrarian society. We traveled by horse and buggy. Farmers needed a day to get to the county seat, a day to vote, and a day to get back, without interfering with the three days of worship. So that left Tuesday and Wednesday, but Wednesday was market day. So, Tuesday it was. In 1875 Congress extended the Tuesday date for national House elections and in 1914 for federal Senate elections.

Today, we are an urban society, and we all know how hard it is to commute to our jobs, take care of the children, and get our work done, let alone stand on lines to vote. Indeed, Census data over the last decade clearly indicates that the inconvenience of voting is the primary reason Americans are not participating in our elections.

If we can move Columbus Day, Presidents’ Day, and Martin Luther King, Jr.’s Holiday for the convenience of shoppers, why not make Election Day more convenient for the sake of voters? First and foremost, it is time to end the deafening silence of good people on this vitally important issue. So we ask: Why Tuesday?

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Dennis Kucinich vows not to give up on George W. Bush impeachment this time

By Mike Soraghan
TheHill.com
June 11, 2008
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Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D-Ohio) said he’s not going to let his effort to impeach President Bush die a quiet death in committee.

He said Wednesday that he’ll bring his resolution back in 30 days if the Judiciary Committee, to which it was referred Wednesday, doesn’t act on it.

“This one’s coming back from the dead in 30 days,” Kucinich said after the referral vote Wednesday. “In 30 days, I’ll be joined by many more” members, he said.

Asked who those members were, he replied, “You’ll see.”

Democratic House leaders have been fending off impeachment efforts from Kucinich and left-wing activists since taking office more than a year ago. Republicans suffered politically from the impeachment of President Clinton, and Democratic leaders say they don’t want to be bogged down in messy impeachment proceedings.

Kucinich also has a resolution to impeach Vice President Dick Cheney, which has been bottled up in committee since May 2007. The measure had 27 co-sponsors.

Kucinich’s 35-article impeachment of Bush has no co-sponsors, though several members were said to be planning to sign on Wednesday.

Kucinich himself made the motion to send it to the committee, saying his detailed allegations should be weighed in a hearing.

“Thirty days is a reasonable amount of time, not 30 minutes” of debate on the floor, he said. Attempts to get comment from committee officials on whether there will be a hearing were unsuccessful.

The vote on referral occurred without debate Wednesday. All Democrats voted to refer the bill, but Republicans split.

Most voted no, in an effort to highlight the ability of the “loony left,” in the words of a Republican aide, to force a debate and distract the House from pressing issues like gas prices and funding for the Iraq war. Democratic aides called the attempt to force a debate “a political stunt.”

But House Minority Whip Roy Blunt (R-Mo.) had originally recommended a yes vote on referral, and some Republicans still voted yes, saying they wanted it gone.

“I believe the impeachment resolution is beyond ludicrous. Even the five minutes we spent on it were a waste of time,” said Rep. Kevin Brady (R-Texas). “I wanted it off the floor and dealt with.”

AAA takes OU Student Senate, Adeyanju becomes president-elect

By Laura Bernheim
Campus Editor
ThePost.ohiou.edu
May 20, 2008
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Senior Michael Adeyanju of the Ability and Accountability party won the presidential Student Senate election with 1,088 votes.

For the second year in a row, junior Will Klatt lost by a slim margin. After losing last year’s election by 17 votes, he lost by 41.

AAA swept all five off-campus commissioner jobs and won four out of five positions each as senator-at-large and Student Activities Commission at-large. In total, AAA won 21 positions compared to 12 for The Birthday Party, led by Klatt.

Freshman Evan Webb was the only winner for the third party, Action through Communication and Teamwork, as senator for the Russ College of Engineering and Technology.

About 2,700 students voted this year, a little more than half of how many voted in last year’s elections.

RESULTS:

President:
Michael Adeyanju, AAA: 1,088
Will Klatt, The Birthday Party: 1,047.

Vice President:
Sarah “Sally” Neidhard, AAA: 1,234
John Calhoun, The Birthday Party: 1,124

Treasurer:
Maleka Anderson, The Birthday Party: 1,588
Matt Bell, write-in: 288

Sen. Ed Kennedy rushed to hospital for “stroke-like” symptoms

The Crypt
Politico.com
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Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, one of the longest-serving Democrats in the Senate, has been rushed to the hospital with “stroke like symptoms,” according to cable news and wire service reports.

Kennedy, 76, was air lifited to Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston. He has served in the Senate since 1962, and has become one of the leading surrogates for Sen. Barack Obama’s run for the Democratic presidential nomination..

The news is already dominating the cable networks, as commentators are reviewing Kennedy’s enduring public career.

Kennedy is a lion of the Senate, chairman of the Education and Labor Committee and one of the most skilled legislators in the chamber. He has had health problems, and his current condition was serious enough for him to be airlifted from the family compound on Cape Cod to Boston.

Here’s a statement from Kennedy’s office:

“Senator Kennedy went to Cape Cod Hospital this morning after feeling ill at his home. After discussion with his doctors in Boston, Senator Kennedy was sent to Massachusetts General Hospital for further examination. He is currently under evaluation, and information will be released as it becomes available.”

The Crypt will update with independent confirmation of Kennedy’s condition and any other news as it develops.

UPDATE: Politico has confirmed Kennedy’s condition, but Senate sources are being very careful about discussing the situation, given potential seriousness of a stroke for a 76 year old man.

The Cape Cod Times, is reporting that local rescue crews responded to an emergency call from the Kennedy compound at 8:30 this morning:

“Hyannis fire responded to the compound after a call was made around 8:30 a.m. It’s unclear what Kennedy’s medical condition is, but after he spent almost two hours in the emergency room a decision was made to transfer him to Mass General Hospital in Boston.

“Kennedy, 76, was placed on a stretcher and wheeled out to the MedFlight helicopter around 10:15 a.m. where it took off from Barnstable Municipal Airport.

“The Kennedy family is preparing to host the annual Best Buddies Challenge event in Hyannisport this afternoon, which is a fund-raiser for the organization. Best Buddies was founded by Anthony Kennedy Shriver and helps people with intellectual disabilities.

“Hundreds are expected to participate in the event, which kicked off this morning with a 100-mile bicycle ride from the Kennedy Library in Boston to Hyannisport.

“A concert at the Kennedy compound is scheduled for tonight.”