Everyone knows the Olympics are an advertising bonanza for the event's corporate sponsors, a practice that goes back to the 1984 games in Los Angeles. What isn't as well known is that the urban authorities today do not merely promote the Olympics' officially approved commercial speech; they suppress commercial speech that does not have the games' approval. Kosmograd reports: The most carefully policed Brand Exclusion Zone will be around the Olympic Park, and extend up to 1km beyond its perimeter, for up to 35 days. Within this area, officially called an Advertising and Street Trade Restrictions venue restriction zone, no advertising for brands designated as competing with those of the official Olympic sponsors will be allowed. (Originally, as detailed here, only official sponsors were allowed ... Continue reading →

Implementation of Narcotic Detection Canine Minimum Certification Requirements Effective July 1st, 2012, P.A. 97-0469 (50 ILCS 705/10.12) mandates that "all police dogs used by State and local law enforcement agencies for drug enforcement purposes…be trained by programs that meet the minimum certification requirements set by the Board." The Training Board refers to these police dogs as "narcotic detection canines". At the March 8th Training Board meeting, the Board approved both the minimum certification requirements and the implementation process. This information can be found on this website along with the annual reporting form which is to be submitted to the Board no later than May 1st, 2012. PART-TIME ORDINANCE SAMPLE Our Part-time ordinance sample is available here in PDF or MS-WORD. CHANGE OF ADMINISTRATION FOR SANGAMON ... Continue reading →

The curtain is about to go up on a series of events to mark the 50th anniversary the Vietnam War, but the Boston Globe is reporting that the plans to celebrate America�s Vietnam veterans �are sputtering.� It reports that few events are planned and �crucial corporate sponsorship is nonexistent.� Most veterans, it reports, �have not even heard about the effort.� The Globe quotes a veteran Marine Corps captain, Phillip Jennings, as saying the problem is �leadership and motivation.� There is �no real direction,� he says. �There is no champion of it at the Pentagon or the White House.� It is tempting to blame President Obama. He is, after all, the commander-in-chief on this anniversary. But we�ll demur. It is hard to recall many more affecting ... Continue reading →

A User's Guide To Smoking Pot With Barack Obama Barry was quite the accomplished marijuana enthusiast back in high school and college. Excerpts from David Maraniss' Barack Obama: The Story dealing with the elaborate drug culture surrounding the president when he attended Punahou School in Honolulu and Occidental College in Los Angeles. He inhaled. A lot. posted May 25, 2012 8:29am EDT Continue reading →

Ryan J. Reilly May 25, 2012, 6:22 AM The FBI informant who brought down an Alaska miltia headed by Schaeffer Cox last year admitted this week that he ran drugs for the Hells Angels motorcycle gang before he began working with the feds. The federal trial of Cox, Coleman Barney and Lonnie Vernon began earlier this month and could last several weeks. They are charged with plotting to murder government and law enforcement officials. The Anchorage Daily News reports that 37-year-old Gerald “J.R.” Olson worked as a “prospect” for the Angels and hauled drugs from Washington state to Alaska for 17 months. He said he was later charged with felonies for stealing a mini front-end loader, according to the paper. The FBI, had given Olson ... Continue reading →