Day: November 4, 2020

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World Looks On With Concern And Alarm At U.S. Election Impasse

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World Looks On With Concern And Alarm At U.S. Election Impasse

While the United States is locked in limbo for the outcome of an election that President Trump has already labeled fraudulent and has threatened to challenge in court, the rest of the world is looking on with a mixture of uncertainty, concern and outright alarm.

In America, power is decentralized and messy. But it's the dirt in the gears of democracy that really protects it for the rest of us.

Edison Research and AP VoteCast

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It’s fascinating to read about Edison Research and AP VoteCast, the two competing, privately run businesses, that acquire all of the national Presidential Election data from thousands of local boards of elections and provide it to major news services – Edison Research (ABC CBS NBC Reuters wire newspapers) and AP Vote Cast (PBS NPR Fox and AP Wire newspaper).

These companies have enormous power in their ability to call the race and operate in near obscurity. They’ve been around for decades, providing an essential service but fall into obscurity but all for one night every four years. It’s actually fascinating how an important part of democracy is actually a private business. But like all things in our democracy, power is decentralized and consists mostly of local governments often following their own rules based on state and national standards.

Marijuana legalization, drug decriminalization win big – Vox

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Election Day results: Marijuana legalization, drug decriminalization win big – Vox

In every state where a ballot measure asked Americans to reconsider the drug war, voters sided with reformers. In Arizona, Montana, New Jersey, and South Dakota, voters legalized marijuana for recreational purposes. In Mississippi and South Dakota (separate from the full legalization measure), voters legalized medical marijuana.

In Oregon, voters decriminalized — but not legalized — all drugs, including cocaine and heroin. Also in Oregon, voters legalized the use of psilocybin, a psychedelic drug found in magic mushrooms, for supervised therapeutic uses.

In Washington, DC, voters in effect decriminalized psychedelic plants, following the lead of several other cities.

With its vote, Oregon became the first state in the US in modern times to decriminalize all drugs. And marijuana is now legalized in 15 states and DC, although DC still doesn’t allow sales.