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Californians Can Get Marijuana Convictions Expunged This Weekend

Tony Newman
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Californians Can Get Marijuana Convictions Expunged This Weekend

In an effort to help people reduce or clear their criminal records, the Drug Policy Alliance is hosting a series of four free record expungement fairs in the Greater Los Angeles area. These events are a sponsored project of MedMen Enterprises.

California’s marijuana legalization law allows people to retroactively reduce or clear marijuana convictions for activity that is now legal or less severely punished since Proposition 64 passed in 2016. The expungement fairs will provide free access to attorneys and paralegals from partnering organizations to help those who have been impacted and are part of a broad array of services being offered, including employment, health care, immigration consultation, and voter registration.

The first fair in this new series will be Saturday, March 17, at Los Angeles Trade–Technical College near downtown LA.

Attorneys and paralegals from the Los Angeles County Public Defender’s Office will be on site providing free post-conviction relief for anyone with an eligible Los Angeles County criminal conviction. Other attorneys will be on site to assist people who have convictions outside of Los Angeles County. Participants will be able to find out if they can remove their conviction from their record or if it can be reduced to a lower penalty and will receive direct assistance in doing so.

“Doing this work is about protecting people from the consequences of our outdated, failed drug laws,” said Eunisses Hernandez, a California policy coordinator for the Drug Policy Alliance. “Prior marijuana convictions can create barriers to housing, employment, and even make people a target for deportation, principally impacting poor communities and communities of color. California’s historic marijuana legalization initiative has already helped thousands clear or reduce a marijuana conviction from their record, but we need to get the word out to the hundreds of thousands of other Californians who could benefit from this groundbreaking provision.”

Adam Bierman, CEO of MedMen, a Los Angeles-based cannabis company with facilities and operations in three states, commented, “It’s a responsibility we have as leaders of the new, legal industry, to help reverse the devastation caused by selective enforcement experienced during the failed war on drugs. This is a new lease on life for these individuals which in turn begins a process to re-strengthen families and communities.”

In the state of California, there are 4,800 barriers to housing, employment, and citizenship that exist for someone with a criminal record. Reducing or expunging prior convictions, including prior marijuana convictions, removes thousands of barriers that allow people to fully reenter their community and society. It’s not easy to take care of reducing or expunging your record without legal help, so these free fairs are crucial for helping reach more people who need assistance.

The retroactive penalty reduction provisions of Prop. 64 were a priority for the Drug Policy Alliance when the initiative was being drafted. DPA and its partners have hosted dozens of expungement fairs like this and have already helped hundreds of people get their records changed. These fairs have generated extensive media coverage across the state of California – and even nationally in the Los Angeles Times and Washington Post – and have helped this issue gain momentum on a systemic level. Earlier this year, San Francisco’s district attorney announced that the city will clear or reduce thousands of marijuana convictions dating back decades. Seattle then made a similar announcement the following week, and last week the Sonoma County district attorney’s office said it will begin clearing or reducing nearly 3,000 marijuana-related convictions.

People looking for more information on how to get their records reduced or expunged can find out more at the Drug Policy Alliance’s website. 

This Little Girl Is Obsessed With Doll Face Transplants And It’s Super Creepy

Maria Loreto
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This Little Girl Is Obsessed With Doll Face Transplants And It’s Super Creepy

There’s a 7-year-old girl who’s so obsessed with playing doctor, she performs really complex (and deeply disturbing) face transplants on her dolls.

According to Mashable, the image was uploaded by the girl’s older sister on Twitter, where she called out for help. Yes, someone please help her. She explained that her little sister really loved playing doctor and that she liked to take care of her family members when they were sick.

If my mom is sick or whatever, she’ll make … fake IVs and oxygen masks to put on her. It’s funny.

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Let’s not focus on the disturbing outcome of the surgery. Let’s focus on little girls wanting to be doctors and surgeons because that’s awesome and worth encouraging. No matter how creepy you are, you should always follow your dreams and do what you’re passionate about.

But here is a list of all the creepy doll movies for you to enjoy!

  1. Child’s Play (1988) – A cult classic about a serial killer who transfers his soul into the body of a popular doll named Chucky, who then terrorizes a young boy. This spawned a long-running franchise with several sequels.
  2. Annabelle (2014) – A prequel to The Conjuring, about a vintage Raggedy Ann doll that becomes possessed by a demonic force and terrorizes a young couple. It also had several sequels like Annabelle: Creation.
  3. Dead Silence (2007) – A man returns to his hometown to investigate the mysterious death of his wife, which seems linked to the ghost of a vengeful ventriloquist named Mary Shaw and her haunted puppet.
  4. Dolls (1987) – An anthology horror film where a group of travelers become trapped in a house inhabited by a family of demented toymakers and their collection of living dolls.
  5. Puppet Master (1989) – A horror film about a former Nazi puppeteer who brings his deadly puppets to life using an Egyptian spell. It spawned a long-running cult franchise.
  6. Dolly Dearest (1991) – A family moves to Mexico to reopen a doll factory, only to find that one of the dolls is possessed by the spirit of a vengeful girl.
  7. Demonic Toys (1992) – A horror anthology where evil toys, including a baby doll, come to life and terrorize people trapped in a warehouse.
  8. Magic (1978) – A psychological horror about a ventriloquist whose dummy seems to have a mind of its own.

Other notable mentions include Poltergeist, The Boy, and episodes of anthology series like The Twilight Zone and Goosebumps featuring evil dolls.

Why UK Won’t See Tourism Money From Harry And Meghan’s Wedding

Amy Hansen
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Why UK Won’t See Tourism Money From Harry And Meghan’s Wedding

Industry experts say the nuptials will act as a powerful marketing tool to entice tourists in the years to come. But there won’t be more visitors during the wedding month of May.

“Don’t expect visitors from abroad to come for this royal wedding; it is a pageant for domestic consumption,” said Tom Jenkins, CEO of European tourism association ETOA.

The 2011 wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton did not result in a noticeable uptick in tourist arrivals or spending, according to the UK Office for National Statistics.

This wedding shouldn’t be any different.

“There was no discernible increase in bookings for the UK as a consequence of the royal wedding,” Olivier Jager, CEO of the ForwardKeys, tells CNN Money.

Analysts expect that any spike in visits from royal fanatics will be counteracted by the desire of other tourists to stay far away from the hubbub.

In January, Reuters reported the country was  expecting to see a major boost in its economy to the tune of around $600 million, thanks to the flocking of tourists who were predicted to be eager to get a closeup of the matrimonial action.

At the time, Chief Executive David Haigh of the business valuation consultancy Brand Finance was quoted as saying, “We think approximately 200 million pounds will come from tourism, travel, hotels” with another 150 million from parties and about 50 million from sales of commemorative T-shirts, hats and other items.

But all isn’t lost just yet.

Deirdre Wells, head of the British travel association UKinbound, tells CNN she predicts visitors will feel compelled to book UK trips in the coming years after watching the wedding on TV.

And Alexander Göransson, an analyst at the market research firm Euromonitor, agrees, saying, “Meghan and Harry’s wedding will continue to keep the UK in focus, especially from a US perspective, which is likely to sustain the current [tourism] momentum.”

The wedding will be held May 19 in Windsor, which is just outside central London.

Marijuana Possession Can Get A Person Killed In These Countries

Mike Adams
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Marijuana Possession Can Get A Person Killed In These Countries

President Trump said recently that people who deal drugs in the United States should receive the death penalty. He drove his message of zero tolerance home over the weekend at a rally in Pennsylvania, saying, “I don’t think we should play games” with dope slingers who capitalizing on junkie America. Trump credits his newfound interest in putting drug offenders to death to a number of foreign lands.

It seems that some of the more psychotic of world leaders have convinced the Orange Goon that murdering people for non-violent crimes is the only way out of the scourge of drug addiction and overdose deaths. It should frighten the U.S. population to the core that Trump is taking policy advice from nations who kill people for simple drug infractions, including marijuana possession. Here are some of them.

China

Although China will not execute anyone busted with a small amount of marijuana, the nation has no issue whatsoever about stringing up drug traffickers until they are dead. Depending on the offense, people convicted of smuggling large amounts of marijuana can either be put down in a public hanging, shooting, or if they are lucky lethal injection.

Egypt

Marijuana has been illegal in Egypt since the late 1800’s. Although the country is not a leading executioner for pot crimes, large-scale drug traffickers can face the death penalty for their leafy indiscretions. This has been the law of the land since the late 1980’s.

Singapore

Singapore has been against marijuana for the past two hundred years. This country is infamous for locking up small time drug offenders and it pulls no punches about the need to kill for cannabis. Its drug policy is considered one of the strictest on the planet. Although the country considers 15 grams of weed to be a trafficking violation, the law does not designate the death penalty for crimes less than 500 grams. So pack light.

Malaysia

Drug traffickers have feared Malaysia since the early 1950’s. This is where capital punishment is the end of the line for anyone who dares smuggle marijuana. The death penalty is mandatory for this or any other drug trafficking offense, according to the language of the Dangerous Drugs Act of 1952. There has been some talk about abolishing the country’s mandatory death sentence, but for now it is still very much in play.

Myanmar (Burma)

Southeast Asian governments do not mess around with drug offenders. This part of the world deemed the “Golden Triangle” is more of a detriment the lives of pot traffickers than anywhere else in the world. Myanmar has extremely harsh laws against marijuana. Although the country went through a period between 2005 and 2015 where no one was executed for drugs, judicial officials recently brought this dry spell to an end.

Philippines

President Rodrigo Duterte is responsible for transforming the Philippines into the most recognizable nation in the world for spilling blood in the name of drugs. People caught with weed can be killed on the spot. Some of the latest data shows that somewhere around 12,000 drug offenders have lost their lives since Duterte won the election in 2016.

Saudi Arabia

Saudi Arabia also has a strict policy for marijuana possession. The nation has a three-strike rule. The first strike earns a person 6 months in jail, while a second offense bumps the sentence up quite a bit – 7 years of hard time. Saudi officials stop messing around on the third offense. This is when they call upon the death penalty to ensure they never see that person again.

Let’s keep the United States out of this madness.

Assembling IKEA Furniture Just Got A Lot Easier

Amy Hansen
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Assembling IKEA Furniture Just Got A Lot Easier

Everyone’s favorite waste of time on weekends is rolling out on-demand furniture assembly. TaskRabbit, an app that matches customers to handymen, was purchased by IKEA last September and was tested in two of the company’s California stores. And now, it’s available nationwide.

That means no more dealing with those little wrenches if you don’t want to.

This means that customers can now hire a TaskRabbit “tasker,” either through the TaskRabbit app, website, or through an Ikea employee once they’ve purchased an item. Before they leave the store, they can get a quote of how much it’ll cost for one of these handymen to assemble their furniture.

As Business Insider reports, Ikea already has an official partnership with TaskRabbit in the UK that offers fixed pricing for customers seeking someone to assemble furniture purchased from the Scandinavian furniture store.

The new service enables Ikea stores to compete with furniture-selling rivals such as Wayfair and Amazon.

Business Insider points out that before the partnership was even announced last year, Recode reported that:

The purchase of TaskRabbit was fueled by Ikea’s need to bolster its digital customer service capabilities to better compete with rivals like Amazon, which has stepped up its home goods and installation offerings. The purchase is Ikea’s first step into the on-demand platform space.

As Curbed reports, TaskRabbit will roll out into six U.S. stores in the New York and San Francisco metro areas, followed by additional stores in LA, Miami, Houston, Boston, Washington D.C. and more later this year.

YouTube Techies Have Spoken: iPhone X Design Problems Revealed

Maria Loreto
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YouTube Techies Have Spoken: iPhone X Design Problems Revealed

Different YouTubers with large followings tested out the iPhone X and found some glaring performance issues with the device

With the most expensive hardware on the market, you’d expect the iPhone X to run as smooth and fast as possible, outshining all of the other smartphones available. It’s what you’re paying for, right? As with everything Apple-related, the answer is much more complicated than that.

According to Forbes, different YouTubers with large followings tested out the iPhone X and found some glaring performance issues with the device, which can not outperform the Samsung Galaxy S9 Plus. While the S9 was released recently—about 6 months after the release of the iPhone X—giving Samsung an advantage when it comes to having the latest technology, the device’s price tag is still much more accessible than the iPhone X’s, meaning that it has cheaper parts and shouldn’t perform as well.

The individual parts of the iPhone X are stronger than the Galaxy, with the chip acting 45 percent faster than the Galaxy’s, and with the general perks of iOS over Android, which is a smoother and faster operating software. When you sum all of these parts together and focus on real world performance, which is what really matters, the iPhone X ends up losing.

The Galaxy S9 Plus is a much better multitasker than the iPhone X, capable of handling more apps and demands. This is mainly due to its RAM capabilities. The S9 has 6GB of RAM, while the iPhone X only has 3GB, making the device crash easier. Why doesn’t Apple add more RAM? Well, with more RAM comes less battery life, and Apple doesn’t need any more drama when it comes to its batteries.

If you want to know more, you can check out the speed test below with all the specs and details regarding the iPhone X and the Samsung Galaxy S9 Plus.

Sydney Study: CBD Therapy Successfully Treats Teen Epilepsy

Amy Hansen
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Sydney Study: CBD Therapy Successfully Treats Teen Epilepsy

Preliminary research suggests that cannabinoids have the power to “dampen down convulsions” and that one of the cannabinoids, CBD, shows promise for curbing seizures all together.

While we don’t know exactly how marijuana effects epileptic seizures in adults, a new study finds CBD provides great relief for teenagers struggling with epilepsy.

Researchers at the National Drug and Alcohol Research centre at UNSW Sydney found that CBD successfully treats teens whose epilepsy does not respond to conventional drugs. The findings are published online in the Journal of Neurology Neurosurgery & Psychiatry.

According to UNSW, preliminary research suggests that cannabinoids have the power to “dampen down convulsions” and that one of the cannabinoids, CBD, shows promise for curbing seizures all together.

Researchers go on to say that:

“Clinical trial data showed that CBD used in addition to standard epileptic drugs was more effective than a dummy (placebo) drug at cutting seizure frequency by 50 percent or more and improving quality of life.”

The bad news here is the side effects, both dizziness and drowsiness. Those who experienced these effects were 24 percent higher than those using a placebo, and  those who experienced serious side effects were twice as high among those taking cannabidiol.

“Pooled data from 17 of the observational studies showed that seizure frequency dropped by at least 50 percent in just under half of the patients and disappeared completely in nearly one in 10 (8.5%) in eight of these studies. Quality of life improved in half of the patients in 12 of the studies.”

Researchers conclude that “Pharmaceutical grade CBD as adjuvant treatment in paediatric onset drug resistant epilepsy may reduce seizure frequency” and that “existing [randomised controlled trial] evidence is mostly in paediatric samples with rare and severe epilepsy syndromes; [randomised controlled trials] examining other syndromes and cannabinoids are needed.”

Smoking Cannabis Okay If You Experience Epileptic Seizures?

Brea Mosley
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Smoking Cannabis Okay If You Experience Epileptic Seizures?

About a third of patients who suffer from epileptic seizures have a form of the disease that is resistant to medications approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). These people, roughly a million, still experience seizures while taking pharma medicine.

Dr. Orrin Devinsky, a neurologist from New York University Langone Medical conducted one of the largest studies on a cannabis-based drug for treatment-resistant epilepsy and the findings were as significant as they were promising.

The researchers treated 213 patients with cannabis’ non-psychoactive chemical, cannabidiol or CBD and monitored them for 12 weeks. The group of patients included children and adults who suffered from 12 different types of extreme epilepsy.

As a part of an open door policy, the patients also knew exactly what they were being treated with and were allowed to consume the cannabis along with their current medications.

The findings were very telling of the capabilities of cannabis: the addition of CBD to epileptic treatments reduced motor seizures with about two percent of the patients became entirely seizure free. Researchers noted that the CBD was able to reduce seizures by the same amount that existing pharma medications can.

Twenty-three of the patients had Dravet syndrome, a form of epilepsy that begins in infancy, and noted that their seizures fell by an average of 54 percent. Eleven patients had Lennox-Gastaut syndrome, a type of epilepsy where seizures vary from tonic (stiffening) and atonic (dropping). Researchers noted that the LGS patients saw a drop in seizures by an average of 55 percent.

Around 79 percent of the participants noted adverse effects, but they were not serious enough to make them drop out of the study.

1 In 4 Men Think It’s Okay To Expect Sex From An Employee

Maria Loreto
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1 In 4 Men Think It’s Okay To Expect Sex From An Employee

A survey conducted on men from eight different countries, including the US, concluded that one out of every four of them think that it’s okay for an employer to expect sex from an employee.

According to Fortune, this survey was conducted by CARE, a non-profit humanitarian agency who decided to publish some of these shocking facts and statistics during International Women’s Day. The survey was conducted on over 9,408 adults from countries such as the US, Australia, Ecuador, India, Egypt, South Africa, and Vietnam. Researchers claim that they chose these countries because they cut across geographical and developmental levels.

Other surprising statistics from CARE include a poll conducted on Ecuador where they asked men if they thought it was appropriate to kiss a colleague without permission during an office party; 21 percent of them said yes. Another statistic from the UK claims that 35 percent of men between the ages of 25 and 34 consider it appropriate to pinch a woman’s butt as a playful gesture.

These polls are disheartening considering the prominence of movements such as Times Up and Me Too, which can make us feel like the world has already changed for the better.

The truth is that the battle for gender equality is still ongoing, and having these results and knowledge can only arm us and make us more prepared for the future. These polls leave it clear that movements centered on women’s issues need to keep evolving, now more than ever.

People With This Personality Trait Have More Sex Than Anyone Else

Amy Hansen
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People With This Personality Trait Have More Sex Than Anyone Else

It pays to be nice, no question about it. But it also means more sex. If you’ve ever needed reason to be kind, this is it.

Psychologists at the University of Guelph and Nipissing University have discovered that there’s a correlation between altruistic people and sexual frequency. Their study, which involved two experiments, revealed strong links been altruism and mating success.

In Study 1, participants who scored higher on a self-report altruism measure reported they were more desirable to the opposite sex, as well as reported having more sex partners, more casual sex partners, and having sex more often within relationships. Sex moderated some of these relationships such that altruism mattered more for men’s number of lifetime and casual sex partners.

“They tend to focus on personality instead. This means they have a wider pool of partners to choose to date and sleep with. They’ll have more sex quickly as they see it as a way to bond.,” dating coach James Preece told The Independent.

Generosity is also very telling when it comes to the number of sexual conquests.

In Study 2, participants who were willing to donate potential monetary winnings (in a modified dictator dilemma) reported having more lifetime sex partners, more casual sex partners, and more sex partners over the past year. Men who were willing to donate also reported having more lifetime dating partners.

According to researchers, the results of the two studies suggest that altruists have higher mating success than non-altruists and “support the hypothesis that altruism is a sexually selected costly signal of difficult-to-observe qualities.”

In other words, says Preece, “People like people who like them, so if someone shows they care deeply about them they are more likely to be attracted.”

“Everyone wants to be liked,” he says, “and altruistic people are often more charming than their competition. That’s because they come across as more humble and less self-absorbed.”

 

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