- YASMINE ABDULRAHIMZI - Collective Awakenings
- HIGH, PORTLAND!
Good morning, Blogtown! It's Thursday, Oct. 1, and you can finally go buy recreational weed! The Merc crew is here to help make that happen for you, and a bunch of us will be perusing the local pot shops. Check back on Blogtown for updates on who's got what, where, for how much, and other important tidbits. We'll be posting throughout the day, provided we're not too stoned.
Looks like a bunch of Secret Service agents might have violated the US Privacy Act by accessing decades old personal information about an Ohio congressman who they wanted to discredit after he began investigating alleged scandals within the agency.
Congress narrowly missed another shutdown by passing a short-term spending bill that'll keep it going until mid-December. Did you know it actually costs more to shut it down than it does to keep it running? Sounds about right.
Campaign officials for presidential hopeful and Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders announced Wednesday that he's received more than one million individual donations since beginning his campaign. That's more than President Barack Obama had received by the same point in his 2008 campaign. #feelthebern
Sanders is catching up to rival one-time shoe-in for the Democratic nomination, Hillary Clinton. He's raised nearly $24 million to her $28 million so far.
As Obama's final term comes to an end, his attempts at placing (pretty lax) regulations on fracking practices hit a roadblock in Wyoming when a judge blocked proposed rules in the state. But though Obama once talked about reducing oil consumption, the US is now drilling more than ever. Yikes.
Oh, yeah: Republican nomination hopeful and shriveled apricot Donald Trump proved yet again what an idiot he is by saying that he'd send back all the Syrian refugees seeking safety in the US if he becomes president.
UberEATS recently launched a service in some major cities to deliver food (do your really want a stranger bringing you food?) to deliver food via driver. Now, stuff peddling giant Amazon is on board with a home delivery service of its own via real live humans.
Not everyone loves Uber, including Rio de Janeiro, which became the first Brazilian city to ban the transportation network company.
Aaron and Melissa Klein, owners of the now-closed Sweet Cakes by Melissa bakery, are refusing to pay the $135,000 ordered by the Bureau of Labor after they refused to bake a wedding cake for a same sex couple. The poor taste continues!
Go get gramma stoned: