Iranian President, Hassan Rouhani, returns from Barack Obama talk to jeers – and cheers – in Tehran - Middle East - World - The Independent

The Iranian President, Hassan Rouhani, was greeted by angry scenes on his return to Tehran from New York yesterday, with his convoy pelted with eggs, shoes and stones amid chants of "Death to America" and "Death to Israel".

But supporters of his controversial decision to break a 34-year silence between the leaders of Iran and America, by speaking to President Barack Obama on Friday, cheered and hailed him as a "lord of peace".

Read more...Iranian President, Hassan Rouhani, returns from Barack Obama talk to jeers – and cheers – in Tehran - Middle East - World - The Independent

Thousands cited for having pot on federal land

TACOMA, Wash. (AP) — Karen Strand didn't think she'd get in trouble for having a small container of medical marijuana when she went hiking in Olympic National Park this summer.

President Barack Obama, she remembered, had said the federal government had "bigger fish to fry" than people who follow state marijuana laws, and Washington state had just legalized pot.

Read more...Thousands cited for having pot on federal land

Stoners vacation to Jamaica as weed tourists - USATODAY.com

NINE MILE, Jamaica — NINE MILE, Jamaica Napa and Sonoma have their wine tours, and travelers flock to Scotland to sample the fine single malt whiskies. But in Jamaica, farmers are offering a different kind of trip for a different type of connoisseur.

Call them ganja tours: smoky, mystical -- and technically illegal -- journeys to some of the island's hidden cannabis plantations, where pot tourists can sample such strains as "purple kush" and "pineapple skunk."

Read more...Stoners vacation to Jamaica as weed tourists - USATODAY.com

Study: The right bacteria might help fight obesity

WASHINGTON (AP) — Call it a hidden ally: The right germs just might be able to help fight fat.

Different kinds of bacteria that live inside the gut can help spur obesity or protect against it, say scientists at Washington University in St. Louis who transplanted intestinal germs from fat or lean people into mice and watched the rodents change.

And what they ate determined whether the good germs could move in and do their job.

Read more...Study: The right bacteria might help fight obesity

At G20, Politicians Push the Same Neoliberal Agenda That Got Us Into This Mess | The Nation

Earlier this month, world leaders at the G20 Summit in St. Petersburg, Russia were promising to develop proposals to regulate big banks and international tax heavens. Meanwhile, an international group of activists in the same city were proposing a striking alternative.

Participants in the G20 Counter-Summit spent two days discussing ways to solve the intertwined financial and environmental crises that the G20 has been unable or unwilling to seriously address for five years now. Fingering the neoliberal economic policy of G20 members as the main obstacle to worldwide economic recovery, the conference called for a renunciation of austerity policies and World Trade Organization agreements in favor of stricter regulation of markets and capital flows, a broadening of public services and the development of sustainable methods of production and consumption. Participants also drafted a statement condemning any attempts at an outside attack on Syria, which coincided with their call for an end to US hegemony and the emergence of a multipolar world.

Read more...At G20, Politicians Push the Same Neoliberal Agenda That Got Us Into This Mess | The Nation

New study: More Americans using marijuana | 11alive.com

(USA Today) -- As the nation takes a softer stance on marijuana, more Americans are using the drug, the National Survey on Drug Use and Health found.

The nationwide survey made public Wednesday found 7.3% of Americans 12 or older regularly used marijuana in 2012, up from 7% in 2011. Marijuana use has increased steadily over the past five years. In 2007, the survey found 5.8% of Americans 12 or older used marijuana.

The report from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration surveys 70,000 people aged 12 and older throughout the country. It is the nation's most comprehensive look at drug and alcohol use.

Read more...New study: More Americans using marijuana | 11alive.com

Push for legal pot gets boost as feds ease enforcement

Marijuana movements already simmering across the country could get a big boost from the Obama administration’s announcement that it would take a laid-back approach to states with softer laws on marijuana.

“This is one of the most significant milestones in the movement toward ending marijuana prohibition,” said Mason Tvert, spokesman for the Marijuana Policy Project, which advocates marijuana legalization and regulation. The group has led several ballot initiatives across the U.S. “The federal government for the first time ever has sent a clear signal to states that they can adopt their own marijuana policies if they do them in a responsible manner.”

Read more...Push for legal pot gets boost as feds ease enforcement

9 questions about Syria you were too embarrassed to ask

The United States and allies are preparing for a possibly imminent series of limited military strikes against Syria, the first direct U.S. intervention in the two-year civil war, in retaliation for President Bashar al-Assad's suspected use of chemical weapons against civilians.

If you found the above sentence kind of confusing, or aren't exactly sure why Syria is fighting a civil war, or even where Syria is located, then this is the article for you. What's happening in Syria is really important, but it can also be confusing and difficult to follow even for those of us glued to it.

Here, then, are the most basic answers to your most basic questions. First, a disclaimer: Syria and its history are really complicated; this is not an exhaustive or definitive account of that entire story, just some background, written so that anyone can understand it.

Read more...9 questions about Syria you were too embarrassed to ask

Tim Tebow Russia News: $1 Million Offered To Play Quarterback In Russian Playoffs

For Tim Tebow, Russia offer is an amazing $1 million to play just two games as a quarterback in the Russian playoffs.

As previously reported by The Inquisitr, the latest Tim Tebow news had the quarterback turning down a NFL team inquiry that would have forced Tim Tebow to give up on being a NFL quarterback.

As everyone know by now, the Tim Tebow Patriots deal didn’t work out too well. He appeared in three out of four preseason Patriots game only to be cut. Tim Tebow has made it abundantly clear he won’t accept any other NFL position except for quarterback. Tim Tebow news also claims he will not retire or accept any offer to play for the Canadian Football League, Arena Football League, or for US Rugby.

Read more...Tim Tebow Russia News: $1 Million Offered To Play Quarterback In Russian Playoffs

75 Years of Mortality in the United States, 1935–2010

Reductions in deaths and death rates are often used as an indicator of the success of public health initiatives to improve the health and well-being of the U.S. population, as well as to set national goals for reducing disparities in the burden of mortality across groups. Anti-tobacco campaigns, AIDS prevention programs, and cancer screening promotions all use lives saved as a measure of success. About 80 of the Healthy People 2020 objectives are about death (1). Since mortality statistics do not change markedly from year to year, one might not appreciate the progress in reducing mortality when looking at short-term change. This report uses data from the National Vital Statistics System (NVSS) over a 75-year period, including preliminary data for 2010, to examine long-term trends in mortality in the United States by age, sex, and race.

Read more...75 Years of Mortality in the United States, 1935–2010

Feds ease policing of pot

Last year, the Department of Justice warned that Arizona officials might face federal prosecution for implementing the state’s voter-approved medical-marijuana program.

That appears increasingly unlikely after the Justice Department said Thursday that states can let people use the drug, license people to grow it and even allow adults to stroll into stores and buy it — as long as the marijuana is kept away from kids, the black market and federal property.

In a sweeping new policy statement prompted by pot-legalization votes in Washington and Colorado last fall, the department gave the green light to states to adopt tight regulatory schemes to oversee the medical and recreational marijuana industries burgeoning across the country.

Read more...Feds ease policing of pot

Marijuana is the most used illegal drug worldwide but painkiller addiction kills more people | Mail Online

Marijuana is the most used illegal drug worldwide but addiction to legal painkillers kills the most people, according to new research.

Scientists found that cannabis was used more than cocaine and heroin in the first ever study of world-wide drug use.

But experts from the University of Washington found that opioid painkillers such as vicodin, oxycontin and codeine caused more than half of the estimated 78,000 drug-related deaths worldwide.

Read more...Marijuana is the most used illegal drug worldwide but painkiller addiction kills more people | Mail Online

Syria crisis: China joins Russia in opposing military strikes

China has joined Russia in opposing military strikes on Syria, saying it would push up oil prices and create an economic downturn.

The Chinese intervention came as G20 leaders gathered in Saint Petersburg on Thursday for a summit likely to be dominated by Syria. The Russian president, Vladimir Putin, is expected to allow the issue on to the agenda for dinner, reflecting the reality that the fate of the world economy is inextricably intertwined with the risk of a Middle East conflagration.

Read more....  Syria crisis: China joins Russia in opposing military strikes