Smoke 'em if you got 'em

Oakland, California passes medical marijuana tax.

Yep. A 1.8% gross receipts tax on medical marijuana. Of course, there's no indication of how the Governator is going to react to this, or what the national political reaction will be.

Frankly, I think it's a good idea.

One, there's no reason not to tax it. I'm sure they already pay sales tax, but every business pays sales tax... there's no real way around that (at least not without several unfriendly types from the IRS giving you the once-over).

Two, Oakland, like the entire rest of the state, is in a budget crunch. When one medical marijuana business owner (who supported the tax, by the way) says he's going to be paying over $350,000 for the new tax, that tells you something.... that there is a shitload of medical marijuana being sold in Oakland. ($350,000 just for the new tax means he has gross sales of around $19.5 million dollars... but it doesn't say how many of the whopping total of 4 medical marijuana dispensaries in Oakland that he owns.)

Three, I think this is going to lead other cities in California to pass similar taxes. Oh wait, Los Angeles is already considering it. And they have 400 dispensaries in L.A. Now, whether this will lead to an additional state-wide tax, I don't know. There's been talk about a $50 per ounce state tax, but that is for total legalization of pot, not simply confined to the current "only for medical use" marijuana policy in effect in California.

Of course, if California makes pot legal, the Feds will probably shit themselves. Right now, the U.S. Attorney General is letting medical marijuana use in California operate without federal raids occuring on every day ending in -y, because he's deferring to state law on the matter. But that's because there are still barriers in place to keep just anyone from walking into a medical marijuana dispensary and buying some Oaxacan ditchweed. (Okay, okay, it's probably grown in Big Bear. :P ) Okay, it's not a whole lot more then "have a note from your doctor", but it's there.

Frankly, it could go either way. If California wasn't suffering under a couple billion dollars of budgetary shortfall, then I'd say Bill 390 wouldn't stand a chance. As it is, it isn't going to get heard until early 2010, so if the economy picks back up noticeably before then, there's probably a decent chance it won't pass. But if California is still looking at continuing shortfalls, the attractions of an extra billion dollars in taxes and surcharges might be tempting enough to pass it.

AND THEN EVERYONE IN CALIFORNIA (over the age of 21) CAN GET GOOD AND FUCKED UP!

Man. this keeps getting more interesting

Ahmadinejad humiliated over vice president choice.

Okay, so basically, Ahmadinejad recently picked a guy named Esfandiar Rahim Mashai to be the First Vice-President. (Not first as they've never had one before, but first in rank. Iran has twelve vice-presidents.) Mashai also happens to be Ahmadinejad's son's father-in-law.

He is also, apparently, a soppy liberal. Well, no, not how we would probably consider things. But to Supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei (the guy who is really in charge in Iran), Mashai is a problem. You see, back in 2008, Mashai dared to say that Iranians were "friends of all people in the world - even Israelis." You can imagine how well that went over.

So, Ahmadinejad picking him as a political ally resulted in... drum roll please... Khamenei ordering Ahmadinejad to dismiss Mashai from his newly appointed post.

Here's the kicker... will Ahmadinejad do it? Honestly, he probably will. But Ahmadinejad is in a pretty good position to stand up for his choice. Basically, all the political turmoil over the (almost certainly rigged) election means that the overall power structure (Khamanei and the rest of the Guardian Council) preferred Ahmadinejad to his chief rival in the election, Mousavi, despite the fact that all major decisions are made, regardless of who is President, by the Supreme Leader.

But, Khamenei needs Ahmadinejad to stay in office and look like a strong leader just as much as Ahmadinejad needs Khamenei's support. If Ahmadinejad is forced to dismiss Khamenei, it weakens Ahmadinejad. Even more, although this is highly unlikely, it could result in Ahmadinejad stepping down. That, friends and neighors, would really stir things up in Iran.

No, I don't think Ahmadinejad will step down if he is forced to dismiss Mashai. But it is an interesting thought, isn't it?

bwaha

Please, think of the NPCs.