Mitt's Solar Shenanigans, Secret Service Immune to Free Speech, Nutmeg State Digs Medical Pot: P.M. Links
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For a second month in a row, orders to U.S. factories unexpectedly fell, in an apparent sign of a global economic slowdown.
- Mitt Romney has one more similarity to Barack Obama: as governor of Massachusetts, he delivered state money to a solar energy firm, which has now gone belly-up.
- A Colorado man arrested by Secret Service agents after verbally confronting then-Vice President Cheney won't be allowed to sue for violation of his free speech rights. The Supreme Court said the agents, one of whom has since been transferred to Guam, were entitled to qualified immunity.
- The latest poll finds Gary Johnson at 12 percent in New Mexico — 21 percent among independents.
- New York City Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg signed on to Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo's plan to decriminalize possession of small amounts of marijuana in public view so that cops can't so easily escalate citable offenses to misdemeanors. Just don't wet your smoke-parched whistle with a giant-sized soda.
- Connecticut is the the 17th U.S. state to legalize the medical use of marijuana. The measure requires registration with the state and a doctor's certification. California is also moving toward a licensing regime. Meanwhile, Massachusetts prohibitionists step up efforts to keep a small whiff of freedom out of their state.
- California's latest effort to drive cigarette sales to the black market — Proposition 29, which raises taxes by a buck a pack — has sparked an expensive ballot battle that leaves the outcome in some doubt. Opponents voice doubts about starting expensive new projects in a bankrupt state.
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