Medical Marijuana Industry Anticipates High Times As US Loosens Research Restrictions

Is medical marijuana really a medicine? Is it a drug? A dietary supplement? The definition is opaque, both scientifically and politically. But scientists and policymakers took steps this week that will let researchers more closely investigate the drug's potential medical value.

On Monday, the Obama administration banished a longstanding mandatory review of marijuana research proposals by the Public Health Service, effective immediately. Supporters of the decision said the review was merely a needless extra hurdle for scientists, and in some cases those who submitted proposals waited months or years to hear back.

Read more...http://www.ibtimes.com/medical-marijuana-industry-anticipates-high-times-us-loosens-research-restrictions-1984133

China central bank eases policy again to support economy

BEIJING (Reuters) - China's central bank cut lending rates for the fourth time since November and trimmed the amount of cash that some banks must hold as reserves, stepping up efforts to support an economy that is headed for its poorest performance in a quarter century.

Saturday's combined easing highlights Beijing's concerns that money isn't flowing to some of the most-needed sectors in the economy and that stubbornly high borrowing costs that could fuel bankruptcies and job losses. The last time the central bank simultaneously cut interest rates and reserve requirements was at the height of the global financial crisis in late 2008.

Read more... http://mobile.reuters.com/article/idUSKBN0P70BX20150627?irpc=932

Obama tells Marc Maron he saved the stock market

President Barack Obama says he saved the American economy... and its stock market.

Obama did a victory lap on comedian Marc Maron's podcast, WTF, earlier this week, and said people's lives are better today than they were four years ago, which is ultimately the goal of any presidency.

Read more... http://www.businessinsider.com/obama-saved-stock-market-2015-6

Greece will hurt Europe no matter what

The economic crisis in Greece is far from over, and as it plays out it will have political and economic ramifications across Europe. The most Athens and its lenders can hope for at present is a temporary agreement to prevent a Greek default and buy time to continue negotiations, but the possibility of Greece exiting from the eurozone remains.

And while a default and a "Grexit" would impact global markets and European politics most drastically, drawn out negotiations will themselves also erode confidence in the viability of the European Union.

Read more... http://www.businessinsider.com/greece-will-hurt-europe-no-matter-what-2015-6

Really Feeling My Joints Today

Steve Benson Cartoons

The Patriot Act Just Expired. Here's What Happens Now.

The Senate packed up Sunday evening without extending the expiring surveillance provisions of the Patriot Act, meaning that—for now, at least—the U.S. intelligence community is without tools that it says are vital to national security, including the National Security Agency's bulk collection of U.S. call data.

Thanks to the stubborn opposition of Sen. Rand Paul and a gamble with the clock by Majority Leader Mitch McConnell that sorely backfired, the Senate failed to deal with the three controversial parts of the post-9/11 act that reached sunset the moment the calendar turned to June.

Read more... http://www.nationaljournal.com/tech/the-patriot-act-just-expired-here-s-what-happens-now-20150601