The Colorado Center on Law and Policy has released a report on the state and local budget impact of Amendment 64, the November ballot initiative to legalize personal adult use of marijuana in Colorado. The report finds Amendment 64 would:

• initially result in $60 million annually in combined revenue and savings for state and local governments in Colorado, which could double to more than $100 million within the first five years of implementation;
• save local and state law enforcement officials more than $12 million in the first year of operation;
• generate $24 million annually in state revenue for the Building Excellent Schools Today (BEST) capital construction program
• create more than 350 new jobs, the majority of which will be in the construction industry.

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Justin Wolfe has been on death row in Virginia since 2002 for killing a fellow drug dealer. He was convicted based upon testimony of the shooter, Owen Barber, that Wolfe had hired him to kill the dealer. Barber later recanted and said he made that up to avoid the death penalty. His affidavit is here.

In 2010, Barber testified at Wolfe's federal habeas hearing that he fabricated Wolfe's involvement to avoid the death penalty. (He was sentenced to 60 years.) In 2011, the federal court vacated Wolfe's conviction and sentence finding he was wrongfully convicted based on the prosecution's withholding of critical evidence. Virginia appealed.

Today the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed the District Court's order vacating Wolfe's conviction and sentence, finding no error in the district court's findings. Virginia says it is disappointed and most likely will retry Wolfe. [More...]

Look at this "reporting", via Hunter:

So, now we know. After months of his campaign dodging direct questions on the matter, Mitt Romney said Thursday in South Carolina that at no time in the past decade has he paid less than a 13 percent tax rate.

Mitt Romney refuses to release his tax returns, and this WaPo "journalist" pronounces the question answered.

Simply pathetic. I suppose the new standard is what the candidate says is taken as gospel and enough. Why would any candidate ever release their tax returns applying this standard? What a pathetic excuse for a reporter.

Ecuador has granted asylum to Julian Assange of Wikiliaks.

“The government of Ecuador, faithful to its tradition of protecting those who seek refuge in its territory or in its diplomatic missions, has decided to grant diplomatic asylum to Julian Assange,” said Foreign Minister Ricardo Patiño, reading from a government communiqué at a news conference....

“There are indications to presume that there could be political persecution,” and that Mr. Assange would not get a fair trial in the United States and could face the death penalty there.

Ecuador can only provide protection to Assange in Ecuador. And Britain still says it must extradite him to Sweden. How does he get to Ecuador? [More..]

I'll be on Daily Kos Radio with Jesse LaGreca today at 11 Eastern. Listen here.

Open Thread.

New Zealand High Court Judge Winkelmann delivered a solid win to Kim Dotcom and his Megaupload codefendants late yesterday. Judge Winkelmann upheld District Court Judge David Harvey's order directing the U.S. to disclose evidence to the defense for use at the extradition hearing.

Kim Dotcom's extradition has become less certain after a judgment which will see the FBI having to prove it has the evidence to back up its charges - and a finding the legal document asking he be sent for trial in the United States did not comply with the law.

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I don't usually read articles about Zumba, but when looking for news about Kim Dotcom in the New Zealand Herald tonight, I came across a new series of articles and videos about Zumba and I got sucked in.

First, Zumba flew a reporter from New Zealand to Florida to attend its annual instructor's conference in Orlando last week. Attending the convention: 8,000 instructors from 80 countries. Here's his video report on the "United Nations of Zumba."

Second, Zumba, which is already said to be worth a half billion dollars, is branching out into the music business. With 14 million people now taking Zumba classes, it figures who needs radio stations? Zumba Fitness CEO Beto Perlman says:

We have 14 million people and we're democratic. They are all listening to the music that we give them.

So why not make deals directly with the artists, whose music they will feed directly to the Zumba-ites at classes, where music is already a key component? Instead of buying music heard on the radio, millions will buy a song after dancing to it at Zumba class. Pretty clever. It's a win-win -- Zumba classes won't get stale, artists make some money, and Zumba rakes in millions. [More...]

Ross Douthat:

Most Republicans would have been happy posing as deficit-reducers while arguing for deficit-financed tax cuts. But Ryan, despite his own supply-side sympathies, deliberately drew up a plan for deficit reduction that would work with our current tax code, and doesn’t require any rosy fantasies about how tax cuts will spur unprecedented growth. [Emphasis supplied.]

Wait, what?

Ryan’s assumptions provide the key to understanding his political thinking. He predicts that his plan would bring in more revenue from increased economic activity even while cutting the top tax rate and corporate rate from 35 percent to 25 percent, adopting the supply-side theories that he has subscribed to since he was at Miami University of Ohio. [Emphasis supplied.]

It's the old cut taxes on the rich + ? = Prosperity gnome plan. Get this:

If Rep. Paul Ryan’s newly unveiled 2012 budget is signed into law, this is what Ryan’s economic forecasters say will happen: The unemployment rate will plunge by 2.5 percentage points. The still-sinking housing market will roar back in a brand new boom. The federal government will collect $100 billion more in income tax revenues than it otherwise would have. And that’s just in the first year. By 2015, the forecasters say, unemployment will fall to 4 percent. By 2021, it will be a nearly unprecedented 2.8 percent.

Sounds like a "rosy fantasy" to me. Ross Douthat is both a fool and a knave.

I'll be on Daily Kos Radio with Jesse LaGreca today at 11 Eastern. Listen here. (Tech should not be an issue today.)

Open Thread.

Today is the day that hundreds of thousands of undocumented young persons who have been residing in this country can start applying for a two year period of protection from deportation.

Under President Obama's recent order, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) is handling the applications. The forms became available today.

Individuals requesting consideration of deferred action for childhood arrivals must submit Form I-821D, Consideration of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, Form I-765, Application for Employment Authorization (with accompanying fees); and an I-765WS, Worksheet. USCIS recently developed a series of resources to inform the on how the process will work. The website, www.uscis.gov/childhoodarrivals, includes a flier, a How do I brochure, frequently asked questions, and a number of other resources. USCIS encourages individuals with questions to visit this website or call the USCIS National Customer Service line at 1-800-375-5283.

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The New York Times had an article yesterday about impoverished grandmothers in Swaziland who are growing Swazi Gold to support themselves and the orphaned grandchildren they are raising, many of whose mothers died of Aids. They are high up in the hills near a place called Piggs Peak. They fear the police.

Maybe they ought to fear the DEA who could decide to make Piggs Peak the next stop on their excellent African Adventures tour.

If you don't think the DEA is in Swaziland, you'd be wrong. The DEA has an office in South Africa, where is where the Times says the grandmothers' pot ends up, which covers:

Angola, Botswana, Burundi, Central African Republic, Comoros, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Kenya, Lesotho, Mada-gascar, Malawi, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, Rwanda, Seychelles, South Africa, Swaziland, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia, Zimbabwe

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Vogue Magazine has a 9 page interview with Chelsea Clinton in its September issue, which will be on the newsstands August 21. But you can read it now here. A slideshow of images is here. [More...]