Steve Kubby Update: Michele Kubby e-mailed the following to me this morning:
Immigration Canada’s deadline for removal of the Kubby family from Canada passed Thursday without a ruling from the court on a stay requested by the Kubbys. At the hearing on Monday of this week, Canadian Justice Yvon Pinard reserved judgment on their motion that the Removal Order against them be stopped. As a result, the Government of Canada is unable to remove the Kubbys, until the court rules.
Because the removal deadline has now elapsed, a new date for departure must be officially assigned by Border Services for their Removal Order, but only if Justice Pinard issues a negative decision on the stay requested by the Kubbys.
She’s calling it a win — at least for the moment:
Michelle Kubby said, “If the judge takes a month, as he has suggested he might, then that’s effectively a temporary stay, which is what we were seeking. We will be using this time to appeal to both the Canadian people and the Canadian Supreme Court, if necessary.
6 more items after the jump
Libertarian Busted: Former Libertarian Party candidate and NORML organizer arrested on marijuana charges:
Jeffrey Christen-Mitchell, 55, was arrested on suspicion of possession of drugs with the intent to distribute, conspiracy to distribute marijuana and distribution of marijuana. Nine others were also arrested in the sting, and two others have warrants issued for their arrests, according to the news release.
The investigation included three search warrants and yielded $7,000 in drug proceeds, 50 ounces of psilocybin mushrooms, various prescription drugs and stolen property, the task force reported.
Christen-Mitchell ran as the Libertarian candidate for Boulder County commissioner in 2004, losing to Will Toor in the general election after running a passive campaign. In September 2004, Christen-Mitchell joined fellow Libertarians Paul Tiger and Bo Shaffer to found the Boulder County chapter of National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws.
Kevin Zeese: Maryland Libertarian/Green/Populist Senate candidate Kevin Zeeze breaks more light on a story we once reported. From the Baltimore Sun:
An NSA e-mail contained in court files shows that before the Pledge of Resistance’s Oct. 4, 2003, protest, which coincided with the agency’s annual “family day” picnic, NSA relied on a detective working for the Baltimore Police Department’s Criminal Intelligence Unit to monitor the demonstrators’ movements.
That unit handles some of the city’s most politically sensitive investigations, including threats to public officials.
-snip-
The NSA July 2004 e-mail and the NSA’s “Action Plan” for the October 2003 protest were finally publicized this week by Kevin B. Zeese, a candidate for the U.S. Senate from Maryland, on the Web sites “rawstory.com” and “democracyrising.us.”
Good job, Kevin.
More on Kubby: The debate between physicians over whether Kubby’s condition is treatable with medical marijuana moves to the newspapers. From the Auburn Journal:
Medical marijuana activist Steve Kubby contends if he is returned to the United States and not allowed to smoke marijuana daily he will die, but doctors differ on whether all the pot Kubby smokes is really good for his health.
Kubby’s Canadian doctor said the one-time California gubernatorial candidate smokes cannabis to alleviate symptoms of his adrenal cancer.
“(Kubby’s) kind of cancer, metastatic pheochromocytoma, releases adrenaline into the blood and these drugs speed up your heart making your body run faster,” said Dr. Joe Connors, a medical oncologist for British Columbia Cancer Agency in a telephone interview Thursday. “His tumors make excessive amounts of these substances.”
The other side of the argument:
Dr. Fred Meyers, professor and chair of the Department of Internal Medicine for UC Davis Medical Center, said Thursday that metastatic pheochromocytoma is a “very rare” type of cancer.
He said that the cancer is usually associated with benign tumors and rarely becomes cancerous. Additionally, there are no effective anti-cancer drugs. Metastatic pheochromocytoma is in many situations considered incurable, he said.
Meyers said there is no medical proof that smoking marijuana cures or alleviates the symptoms of the adrenal cancer that Kubby is said to have.
“I haven’t examined him, but I don’t believe marijuana blocks the effects of the cancer,” Meyers said. “People do die of cancer. (Kubby) could die if either the cancer spreads or the epinephrine (similar to adrenaline) will be made is such large amount that he’ll die.”
South Carolina: Tom Moultrie announces his intent to run for state Education Superintendent. From WIStv:
Columbia high school teacher Tim Moultrie says he plans to file paperwork with the state Ethics Commission.
Moultrie says he will run as a Libertarian.
Moultrie teaches world history at Dreher High School. He says he opposes requiring students to attend school beyond middle school.
Moultrie is on the board of StopTax.org. That group wants to repeal property taxes on homes.
California: Aaron Starr takes on Arnold Schwarzenegger about his call to raise the minimum wage in California. From the press release:
“Two words came to mind when I listened to the Governor’s speech,” said Libertarian Party of California Chairman Aaron Starr, “Economically illiterate. The simple fact is that raising the minimum wage will not accomplish its intended goal, unless that goal happens to be political. It will give some teenagers living with their parents a boost, because they comprise the largest group of minimum wage earners in the state, but at the expense of other teenagers and adults losing their jobs or having their hours reduced.
“But if you’re going to ignore the basic laws of economics, then why stop at $7.75 per hour? I mean, if a dollar is good, then more is better, right? Why not raise the minimum wage to $10 per hour? Heck, let’s make it $20 or $25 per hour so we can ‘lift people out of poverty!’ Other than winning votes, I’m not sure of the governor’s reason for doing this because wage controls always clearly do more harm than good.”
While “economically illiterate” are not the two words which came to my mind, Starr makes a very valid point.
The Police State: Bob Barr and Al Gore will be teaming up to attack President Bush’s domestic eavesdropping program. From Human Events:
Gore is teaming up with former Rep. Bob Barr, a Republican, for the policy address, sponsored by the liberal MoveOn.org and libertarian Liberty Coalition. Barr is an outspoken critic of Bush on issues of national security. He led the drive to impeach President Bill Clinton, Gore’s partner in the White House for eight years.
“The speech will specifically point to domestic wiretapping and torture as examples of the administration’s efforts to extend executive power beyond Congressional direction and judicial review,” according to a MoveOn.org press release. “The extent of bipartisan concern over these issues is highlighted by former Republican Rep. Bob Barr’s introduction of the Vice President and by the organizations cosponsoring the speech.”
I’m glad to see both of them speaking out on the topic. However, I’m not so sure that Barr is a Republican, anymore. He endorsed Badnarik for president and links the the LP as opposed to the GOP, on his website.
:
sucker, ʟʟᴄ
Pingback: Hammer of Truth