Open Thread.

More than 159,000 signatures were delivered to the Colorado Secretary of State today for the statewide legalization of marijuana initiative. Only 86,500 signatures are needed to get the initiative on the 2012 ballot.

The initiative is the Regulate Marijuana Like Alcohol Act of 2012, available here.

In a nutshell,

The Regulate Marijuana Like Alcohol Act of 2012 makes the adult use of marijuana legal, establishes a system in which marijuana is regulated and taxed similarly to alcohol, and allows for the cultivation of industrial hemp.

If enacted, Colorado will be the first state to legalize adult marijuana use and possession. For more, go to Regulate Marijuana.

The tradition of making Christmas as pleasant as possible for the inmates at the Pitkin County jail continues. Deputy Sheriff and jail administrator Don Bird says the inmates will not only get their special Christmas day meals, but also wake up to little presents outside their cell door.

[P]roviding good food and a couple of small gifts for those who are incarcerated goes a long way toward helping morale at what can be an exceptionally hard time of the year.

“Nobody’s getting anything pricey,” Bird said. “It’s just something that somebody can get on Christmas so [when] they get up in the morning, there’s something outside their door.”

[More...]

Aspen has not been kind to Charlie Sheen's wife Brooke Mueller. She was arrested late last night at Escobar and charged with misdemeanor assault and possession of cocaine with intent to distribute . A woman claims Mueller assaulted her at the Belly Up around 11:30 pm. (Via Pitkin County Press Release)

Denver's federal money for the homeless has dried up, as has grant money. In 2005, then Mayor John Hickenlooper introduced Denver's Road Home project, to help the homeless find shelter and programs addressing drug addiction, alcoholism and mental illness, believed to contribute to homelessness.

But we have more homeless than ever -- more than 11,000 in downtown Denver. Many like to sleep on the 16th st Mall where it's well-lit and police are usually nearby. There's no law preventing sleeping on the street.

Now, with the increased numbers of homeless persons. the shelters are full, the temporary house is full, and the social programs have waiting lists.

Downtown Denver is a mess. 30 minutes ago there were police cars everywhere, blocking traffic, even driving the wrong way down one-way streets without using their sirens. Buses couldn't move, every street between Stout and Larimer on 14th and 17th had 4 to 5 police cars. There were no protesters I could see, just a mess of police cars and lanes blocked. Not one news station is reporting on it.

Anyone know what this is about?

5280 Magazine has an in-depth report on how events unfolded in the "home grown" terrorism case of Najibullah Zazi. Zazi's first lawyer, who allowed the FBI to extensively question Zazi, discusses his strategy. Zazi, who has pleaded guilty and cooperated but not been sentenced, apparently is in the witness protection program and hoping for a sentence to less than life and a new identity when he's released. [More...]

Russell Pearce, the state senator from Arizona who authored the discriminatory Arizona immigration bill, lost his seat in a recall election yesterday.

Pearce, a former Phoenix-area sheriff's deputy known for his tough stance against illegal immigration, sponsored the state immigration law that became the focus of national media and legal attention.

"With Sen. Russell Pearce's defeat in this recall election, everyone who practices the politics of fear and division was put on notice," said Rep. Raul Grijalva, a Democrat from Arizona.

Herman Cain is now represented by prominent Atlanta libel/defamation attorney Linn Wood, who previously represented the parents of JonBenet Ramsey, Richard Jewell, Gary Condit and the accuser in the Kobe Bryant Case. (He did not represent Kobe, as reported by the National Journal and ABA Journal, which should know better.) The National Journal reports he represented "Los Angeles Lakers star Kobe Bryant, whom Wood served as co-counsel in a federal civil-action rape case." Here's the Complaint in the accuser's federal suit, signed on page 8 by Lin Wood.[More...]

A Reuters/Ipsos poll shows Herman Cain's popularity down 9 points with Republicans following the publicity of sexual harassment allegations against him:

The poll showed the percentage of Republicans who view Cain favorably dropped 9 percentage points, to 57 percent from 66 percent a week ago.

Among all registered voters, Cain's favorability declined 5 percentage points, to 32 percent from 37 percent.

Cain insists he is "back on message." Where's he going to deliver it? Late Night TV. He'll be on Jimmy Kimmel Live Monday.

Just another reason to ski in Colorado. Voters in Steamboat Springs yesterday rejected a proposal to ban medical marijuana businesses. Steamboat is in Routt County, and a separate proposal to ban the businesses throughout the county also failed. As one commenter to the article noted:

More people voted to retain MMJ businesses than voted for any member of the City Council.

In related news, Dan Hartman, the state's director of Medical Marijuana Enforcement has been reassigned to a different division. While the Department won't confirm it, many believe the reassignment came about because of his public stance opposing local bans of medical marijuana businesses. Here's the letter he wrote that was published in the Steamboat Springs Pilot: [More..]

Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed to me.
I lift my lamp beside the golden door.

125 years ago today the Statue of Liberty opened with that message. Starting today, via Earthcam, you can watch live feeds from the statue with stunning views.

The Statue of Liberty should not be treated as an artifact of the past. But the reality is: We build walls and fences to keep people out and when that doesn't work, we jail them. We deny social benefits to the undocumented, even when they've worked and paid taxes. We conduct raids at businesses and separate families. [More...]