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Whenever Ben Livingston, the founder of the Cannabis Defense Coalition, talks about the mission of the organization, he likes to say that it’s to “bear witness” to the injustices that take place when prosecutors go after authorized medical marijuana patients. While the act of sitting in a courtroom may seem inconsequential, it lets judges and prosecutors know that they’re being watched. During the Bruce Olson trial, the presence of CDC volunteers – and the media coverage that followed – appeared to fluster both the prosecutors and the judge in that case. Olson’s victory in that courtroom might still have happened without those “witnesses”, but Kitsap County’s approach towards prosecuting medical marijuana patients changed after that. They immediately dropped charges against Glenn Musgrove, a quadriplegic who had to be wheeled into the courtroom on a gurney, and have appeared to scale back their attempts to go after patients.

What’s happening in Egypt is happening on a significantly larger scale and with significantly direr consequences, but the same dynamic is in effect. Mass killings of innocent people by a government have happened before, and to some extent, we saw what happened in places like Srebrenica, Tiananmen and Darfur. But unlike those cases, we’re truly “bearing witness” to what’s been going on Egypt over the past 10 days. Technology that allows average citizens to film their surroundings, along with Facebook, Twitter, and an influx of new media outlets able to broadcast this uprising in real time to the whole world, presents an unprecedented challenge to regimes who prefer to operate in the dark.

There’s been a lot of discussion about what role the internet plays in starting these revolutions. But to whatever extent it does, that’s not its most valuable attribute. The more vital role is how it allows the world to bear witness to these events in depth, and to provide the context that encourages more people to stand in solidarity with those who are suffering from the extreme injustices being witnessed. The primary value to the internet is not its ability to allow for greater organization. Even with the internet shut off, millions of Egyptians continued their protests just fine. Its primary value is to provide that window into what’s actually happening – as it’s happening – to the rest of the world.

The latest news out of Cairo is that plain-clothed security forces are now more aggressively rounding up foreign media as they escalate the amount of violence directed at the anti-Mubarak protesters. They fired live ammunition at the unarmed protesters and hurled molotov cocktails from the rooftops of nearby buildings. Aggressors in this battle are being exposed as members of the Mubarak regime’s paid security forces. Others have admitted to having been paid by the regime to suppress the protests. Reports from numerous news outlets have confirmed that the regime is behind the violence, not that it’s even hard to figure out simply by seeing the timing and nature of the attacks.

So what happens next? We watched protests similar to this 18 months ago in Iran, and the crackdown eventually muted the calls for regime change. Even though we were able to bear witness to that, it wasn’t enough to make a difference. But Egypt is not Iran. We have leverage against the Egyptian government that we don’t have against Iran. And as I watch the violence escalate, I wonder when Obama finally starts playing those cards.

The Mubarak regime has taken decades to form itself into an immovable object – along with that necessary dose of hubris that allows them to believe that they can get away with anything. I find it amazing that in just two weeks, Mubarak has gone from being seen as a pro-American ally presiding over a country with good ties to the west, to unleashing his forces against his own people, the press, and foreigners, and using the same tactics and language used by the Iranian government in 2009 and Saddam Hussein in 2003. As we look around the Middle East today, it’s a good reminder that the biggest difference between Hosni Mubarak and Saddam Hussein was never a matter of character. It was a matter of circumstance.

I guess this is satire…right?

In a strong rebuke of President Obama and his domestic agenda, all 242 House Republicans voted Wednesday to repeal the Asteroid Destruction and American Preservation Act, which was signed into law last year to destroy the immense asteroid currently hurtling toward Earth.

It’s getting hard to tell….

Update: Okay…here’s a quiz. Is this satire, or real news?

A state lawmaker from Marietta (GA) is sponsoring a bill that seeks to do away with Georgia driver’s licenses.

State Rep. Bobby Franklin, R-Marietta, has filed House Bill 7, calling it the “Right to Travel Act.”

In his bill, Franklin states, “Free people have a common law and constitutional right to travel on the roads and highways that are provided by their government for that purpose. Licensing of drivers cannot be required of free people, because taking on the restrictions of a license requires the surrender of an inalienable right.”

Find the answer here.

I like it! I think I’ll demand (as a free person) my right to fly military jets “provided by [my] government.” Anyone up for an exciting trip to Whidbey Naval Air Station this weekend? Navigation skills a plus.

First day on the job at the Stranger, and no, HA is not shutting down. In fact, we’re adding contributors. Stay tuned for more news.

Goldy goes to work! It’ll be interesting to see if he has the time and interest to visit his buddies at Drinking Liberally tonight. Or maybe he wants to show up but Dominique has sent him off to cover some PTA meeting in Longview….

With or without Goldy, please join us tonight for an evening of politics under the influence at the Seattle chapter of Drinking Liberally. We meet at the Montlake Ale House, 2307 24th Avenue E.. We start at 8:00 pm, and sometimes even earlier for dinner.

Not in Seattle? There is a good chance you live near one of the 209 other chapters of Drinking Liberally.

President Hosni Mubarak of Egypt just announced that he would not step down, but that he would not seek “reelection”… an announcement that did not seem to mollify the crowds.

And yes, some of the best, most insightful, and perhaps most even-handed coverage of the Egypt’s “Jasmine Revolution” can be found on Al Jazeera English. Catch their live stream here.

I was sitting in the auditorium at Mercer Island High School last night at a presentation for parents of incoming ninth graders, when the school’s WiFi network popped up as a connection option on my iPhone. So I thought, what the hell, why not try it out and see if HA would load.

I already knew that the middle school’s network blocked HA, but I didn’t think much of it considering my occasional foul language, and the age of the students. But high school, well, there isn’t much four letter vocabulary I could teach kids that age. Yet sure enough, HA was blocked there too.

Ah well, no worry, I’ll be starting at The Stranger tomorrow so I guess my daughter and her friends could always read me there… but alas, The Stranger is blocked too. The Seattle Times loads fine, as does the P-I, two sites the average high schooler is unlikely to want to read, but The Stranger—a publication whose content might be remotely relevant to teenagers—no, that would be inappropriate. What are we trying to keep our kids safe from… quality writing?

And, of course, that’s the problem with censorship at any level. You could make an argument that some of the language in some of my posts is inappropriate for in-school reading, or that some parents may be offended by the blunt discourse of Savage Love, but in the process you’re tossing out a lot of insightful reporting and beautiful writing about art, music, philosophy and whatnot. Personally, I’m offended by the lies of omission that populate the Seattle Times op/ed pages, so why shouldn’t the high school ban their site too? Cater to every perceived offense, and I guess the district shouldn’t provide internet access at all.

Just seems kinda silly for an institution tasked with helping our teenagers grow into adults, to treat their students like little children.

But unfortunately for HA, I perform my fisking over at Slog.

Ever go out on a hard drinking binge and wake up from a blackout with no memory of what you did over the previous 24 hours? Well that’s kinda what happened to HA over the weekend, when my hosting company accidentally deleted my account. HA’s back up online, but it has absolutely no idea what it did on Sunday.

Though, considering HA mostly just collected comments from trolls, it’s hard to consider it much of a loss.

Last week’s contest was a tough one. The winner was Cam, who barely edged out wes.in.wa. It was Diamondback, MS, where Brett Favre’s sister was busted for being involved in the production of meth.

Here’s this week’s, just a random location this time. Good luck!

It is both amazing and instructive to remember that the democratic revolution in Tunisia, that has now spread to Egypt, all started with one, disgruntled citizen lighting himself on fire.

Hey teabaggers… think about it.

From Obama’s speech in Cairo, June 2009:

We meet at a time of great tension between the United States and Muslims around the world, tension rooted in historical forces that go beyond any current policy debate. The relationship between Islam and the West includes centuries of coexistence and cooperation but also conflict and religious wars.

More recently, tension has been fed by colonialism that denied rights and opportunities to many Muslims and a Cold War in which Muslim majority countries were too often treated as proxies without regard to their own aspirations. Moreover, the sweeping change brought by modernity and globalization led many Muslims to view the West as hostile to the traditions of Islam.

UPDATE: What’s going on in Egypt today is incredible. You can watch the Al-Jazeera English live feed or follow the #jan25 hashtag on Twitter to stay up to date.

Once again, I spent the morning with my head buried in a spreadsheet, and once again, you can see the results over on Slog. (For example, did you know it costs $46,202 to educate one K-12 student in the tiny Benge school district, but only $11,839 here in Seattle.)

Last week, the attention was on an upgrade to the medical marijuana bill. This week, the focus is on legalizing marijuana for adult recreational use:

Marijuana activists are taking another shot at a ballot measure legalizing the drug for adults under state law — but they hope lawmakers beat them to it.

The organization Sensible Washington filed an initiative Wednesday that would remove all state criminal and civil penalties for the possession, use and sale of marijuana in any quantity. But one of the effort’s organizers, Philip Dawdy, said the group would likely be happy to drop it if the Legislature passes a bill introduced this week that would make pot available in state liquor stores.

The initiative filed by Sensible Washington this time includes some language directing the legislature to establish regulations for the newly legalized market. This was a liability that cost the I-1068 campaign support last year. Building on last year’s momentum, they’re more optimistic about getting the 241,000 signatures they need.

On Tuesday, state Rep. Mary Lou Dickerson, D-Seattle, filed a bill that would allow the sale of marijuana to people 21 and over through state liquor stores. The Liquor Control Board would issue licenses to commercial growers, and revenue from sales taxes and license fees — possibly hundreds of millions of dollars a year, according to supporters — could help pay for health care and substance-abuse treatment.

Dickerson’s bill is great, but I’m not too optimistic that it could get through the legislature. And even if it did, I doubt Governor Gregoire would have the courage to sign it into law. Either way, the people of this state continue to demand that we look at marijuana law reform as a key component in how we fix our budget problems.

UPDATE: As expected, the top-voted question in Obama’s latest YouTube contest is about drug policy. He’s expected to address the leading questions from the White House this afternoon.

UPDATE 2: LEAP discusses Obama’s response.

YOU don’t need to be one of the science or math whizzes President Obama hopes to mint by the thousands to understand that his State of the Union Speech, themed “Winning the Future,” very likely carried a double meaning.

And apparently, you don’t need to be science or math whizzes to write editorials for the Seattle Times. Why anybody would take fiscal advice from the publisher of a struggling newspaper is beyond me.

I spent much of yesterday with my head buried in spreadsheets. Go see the results over on Slog.