Demand for medical marijuana has increased substantially in San Francisco since the Health Department began issuing ID cards four years ago. The San Francisco Examiner reports that the city, wanting a piece of the action, may begin regulating pot clubs.

The City has seen "an explosion of new medical marijuana clubs," according to Supervisor Ross Mirkarimi, a Green Party member who plans a public hearing on an estimated 34 clubs. Health Department records show that from 2003 to 2004, the number of patients requesting medical marijuana ID cards doubled to more than 7,000.

"After seeing the rise of this cottage industry in San Francisco, questions abound as to what The City might do to benefit from this commerce," Mirkarimi said. "I'm not looking in order to infringe on their business, but I want to bring them into the sunshine."

Fox News Anchor Sean Hannity has added a dating service to his website.

Welcome to Hannidate 2005, where you may find your perfect match through Hannity style romance. Be sure to click on each icon to see a full size picture and full description:

Think Progress has some clips from it, and wants you to know they are not parodies.

I think the idea is a winner. In fact, after reading about it, I went and bought the domain name DateLeft.com . I'm willing to sell it, any takers?

In a small but welcome step towards privacy protection, a Florida Court has barred a party from introducing into evidence the fruit of a spyware program that was secretly installed on the other party's computer. The Florida court ruled the state's wiretapping law covered spyware and precluded the admission.

The case is O'Brien v. O'Brien and the opinion is here. [Hat tip to Eric Sterling of Criminal Justice Policy Foundation and Allen St. Pierre of NORML]

So far this week, Key West Prosecutor Albert "A.J." Tasker takes the prize for his naked streak across a parking lot and jump into a stranger's car.

A drunken Florida prosecutor who streaked across a motel parking lot and mistakenly jumped into a stranger's car landed in the slammer, a state attorney's office spokesman said.

After tossing back a few drinks with colleagues last weekend, Monroe County assistant prosecutor Albert "A.J." Tasker, 28, stripped off his clothes as a prank and headed toward what he thought was a friend's vehicle.

One of the big issues with applying the Supreme Court's opinion in Booker and FanFan is whether it is retroactive and applies to cases that are no longer on direct appeal or review. Today the Sixth Circuit joins the Seventh Circuit in ruling that the decision is not retroactive. The case is Humphress v. United States and you can read the opinion here (pdf).

In a supplemental brief, Humphress argues that his sentence was increased on the basis of facts found by the sentencing court, in violation of Blakely v. Washington, 124 S. Ct. 2531 (2004). Because the Supreme Court’s intervening decision in United States v. Booker, 125 S. Ct. 738 (2005), which now governs Humphress’s Blakely claim, does not apply retroactively to cases already final on direct review and because there is no reasonable probability that, but for his counsel’s allegedly deficient performance, Humphress would have pled guilty, we will AFFIRM the district court’s denial of the § 2255 motion.

Law Prof Doug Berman of Sentencing Law and Policy adds some analysis.

The Nation has a new article, Shameless in Colorado, available free online, that follows up on the Boulder mortuary that gave fetal ashes to a Catholic Church for public burial as a lament to the anniversary of Roe v. Wade.

Hunter Thompson's wife Anita says she was on the phone with Hunter when he killed himself. In the Aspen Daily News, she provides an account of the Good Doctor's final days and of her feelings about his suicide:

At first I was very angry. He was my best friend, my lover, my partner, and my teacher," she said. "But I know he is much more powerful and alive now than ever before. He is in all of our hearts. His death was a triumph of his own human spirit because this is what he wanted. He lived and died like a champion."

As to the final phone call:

The New York terrorism trial of Yemini Sheik Mohammed Ali Hassan al-Moayad, who is accused of funneling money to Hamas and other militant organizations, took an interesting turn yesterday. Most Americans believe, in this post-9/11 world, that "jihad" means "holy war." But, as an expert witness testified at the trial yesterday, "jihad" has another meaning for Muslims. While on one hand, it can mean an armed struggle,

....it can also mean, as the defense prefers, the struggle for self-perfection and charitable work. "Anything that basically furthers the cause of Islam and is understood to be doing good," said the witness, Bernard Haykel, an associate professor of Islamic studies at New York University.

That was my understanding. I always thought the word Jihad had two meanings, one of which was synonymous with "effort" or "campaign"-- working hard for any good cause--as in a "jihad for mass education" or "jihad against Malaria." On a spiritual level, I thought Muslims viewed "jihad" as a concept having to do with an internal struggle against evil--the goal of which was self-purification.

The parents of Ahmed Omar Abu Ali, jailed on terrorism charges in the U.S. (TChris outlines the case here and here and here)after his return from custody in Saudi Arabia where he claims he was tortured, are protesting the Justice Department's insistence that they sign a S.A.M. before being allowed to meet with him.

Had Lynne Stewart not signed a S.A.M., she might not be convicted and awaiting sentencing today. Civil Liberties expert Elaine Cassell writes:

The Attorney General of Kansas is demanding files of late-term abortion patients in anticipation of criminal prosecutions.

Attorney General Phill Kline, a Republican who has made fighting abortion a staple of his two years in the post, is demanding the complete medical files of scores of women and girls who had late-term abortions, saying on Thursday that he needs the information to prosecute criminal cases.

He says his targets are abortion doctors and health professionals:

"There are two things that child predators want, access to children and secrecy. As attorney general, I'm bound and determined not to give them either."

Unfair Witness has some photos up of Jeff Gannon on his radio show at RightTalk.com.

Several TalkLeft readers have sent e-mails this past year telling me that TalkLeft is re-directed to RightTalk.com. It isn't, but I figured out that these readers transposed "lefttalk" for "talkleft." If you go to "leftalk.com", you do go to RightTalk.com.

Now what does a right wing radio station need with a name like LeftTalk?

The Freeway Blogger is preparing to launch another campaign...this time he will commemorate the 1,500th soldier killed in Iraq by posting 150 signs on San Francisco area freeways--including those in Marin, Oakland, San Francisco, and San Jose.

You can view examples of the signs here. Go ahead, join in, start a movement.