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