Labor Participation at Lowest Rate in Over 30 Years, New FBI Director Sought, Aren't Bars for Getting High?: P.M. Links

• Today's slight down-tick in the
  unemployment rate comes courtesy of the
  lowest labor participation rate in over 30 years. Ouch.


• President Obama's proposed budget has finally united
  Republicans and Democrats — in
  disdain for the horrible thing.


• Help wanted: New FBI
  director. Must have a sincere interest in other people's
  conversations, and be able to fit into a sun dress in a man's size
  48. Apply in person in Washington, D.C.


• The federal government has agreed to pay $1 million to settle
  claims arising from the
  nasty habit immigration agents have of kicking in doors without a
  warrant.


• 
  Slovenia is widely predicted to be the next Cyprus, which was
  the last Greece. It seems Slovenia's state-owned banks have been
  used by politicians to make ill-considered loans to their buddies.
  Good luck, German taxpayers!


• Britain's
  Conservative Party is concerned about a flurry of local
  officeholders defecting to the upstart UKIP, as well as a series of
  election wins by the party's candidates.


• Not so fast, say Washington officials. Just because marijuana
  is legal
  doesn't mean you can get high in bars. Reasoning to come
  later.

Have a news tip for us? Send it to: 24_7@reason.com.

Follow Reason 24/7 on Twitter: @reason247

Follow us on Facebook
and Twitter,
and don’t forget to sign
up for Reason’s daily updates for more
content

Read More

Inhofe Wants to Bomb N. Korea, Another Corruption Scandal Hits New York, Idaho Lawmakers Restrict Drones: P.M. Links

• Sen. James Inhofe (R-Okla.) is
  buying the fear North Korea is trying to sell us and wants to
  launch a
  pre-emptive strike on the country. British Prime Minister
  
  David Cameron is also concerned the nuclear threat to the West
  is real.


• Another day, another political scandal in New York. A state
  lawmaker who represents the Bronx was arrested for
  taking bribes in order help some developer buddies.


• Another day, another solar power industry failure. Former
  employees of a recently shuttered (and subsidized) solar plant in
  Pennsylvania are trying to force the company into
  bankruptcy proceedings for its failure to pay their
  severances.


• Idaho lawmakers have signed off on legislation to require
  police to
  get warrants to use drones for surveillance, except in
  emergencies.


• Google appears to be challenging one of the
  National Security Letters that are used to demand the company
  hand over private data about users.


• The United States is offering
  a $5 million reward for information leading to the capture and
  conviction of brutal warlord Joseph Kony.

Have a news tip for us? Send it to: 24_7@reason.com.

Follow Reason 24/7 on Twitter: @reason247

Follow us on Facebook
and Twitter,
and don’t forget to sign
up for Reason’s daily updates for more
content

Read More

Inhofe Wants to Bomb N. Korea, Another Corruption Scandal Hits New York, Idaho Lawmakers Restrict Drones: P.M. Links

• Sen. James Inhofe (R-Okla.) is
  buying the fear North Korea is trying to sell us and wants to
  launch a
  pre-emptive strike on the country. British Prime Minister
  
  David Cameron is also concerned the nuclear threat to the West
  is real.


• Another day, another political scandal in New York. A state
  lawmaker who represents the Bronx was arrested for
  taking bribes in order help some developer buddies.


• Another day, another solar power industry failure. Former
  employees of a recently shuttered (and subsidized) solar plant in
  Pennsylvania are trying to force the company into
  bankruptcy proceedings for its failure to pay their
  severances.


• Idaho lawmakers have signed off on legislation to require
  police to
  get warrants to use drones for surveillance, except in
  emergencies.


• Google appears to be challenging one of the
  National Security Letters that are used to demand the company
  hand over private data about users.


• The United States is offering
  a $5 million reward for information leading to the capture and
  conviction of brutal warlord Joseph Kony.

Have a news tip for us? Send it to: 24_7@reason.com.

Follow Reason 24/7 on Twitter: @reason247

Follow us on Facebook
and Twitter,
and don’t forget to sign
up for Reason’s daily updates for more
content

Read More

President Obama Announces Federal Brain Project, Florida Medical Marijuana Bill Going Nowhere Despite Popular Support, Dutch Regret Joining Euro: P.M. Links

• The Pentagon
  says budget cuts will see it spending less on its drones, and
  only $1.03 billion on research and development when they requested
  nearly $2 billion.


• President Obama
  announced the BRAIN project, a fedeally-funded effort to map
  the human brain that will start with a $100 million
  “investment.”


• Seven out of ten Floridians support medical marijuana, but a
  bill legalizing it can’t even get a
  hearing in the legislature.


• Two men in Texas are
  suing their local sheriff department for allegedly detaining
  them for 39 days and seizing $14,000 they say they saved up for a
  new car.


• Senators John McCain and Sheldon Whitehouse are
  visiting Mali to check out the French-led intervention.


• Tens of thousands of people
  die in the winter in the United Kingdom, in part because of
  fuel taxes.


• A poll in the Netherlands shows 55 percent
  regretting the country joining the euro. Eurozone unemployment,
  
  meanwhile, hit a record 12 percent high.


• Samoa Air may start to charge passengers by
  weight.

Follow Reason 24/7 on Twitter!

Follow Reason on Twitter too, and like us
on Facebook. You
can also get the top stories mailed to
you—sign
up here.

Have a news tip? Send it to us!

The updated Reason app for Apple and Android now
includes Reason
24/7!

Read More

Students Fighting to Overturn Dodgeball Ban, Marijuana Tourism Company Launches in Colorado, Mom Claims NYPD Officers Pepper-Sprayed Her Kids: P.M. Links

• Students in
  Windham, N.H. are trying to overturn a ban on dodgeball. The
  local school committee voted to ban dodgeball and other “target”
  sports, saying that they promote bullying. 

• Two Colorado-based entrepreneurs have launched the country’s
  first
  marijuana tourism company. 

• A
  mother claims that NYPD officers pepper-sprayed her children
  because they thought she was trying to avoid a fare for the
  subway. 

• Obama’s approval rating is at a
  16-month low. 

• A Syrian
  opposition leader has said that France and the U.K., not
  the U.S., are the rebels’ best hope for support.

• Arkansas State Fusion Center Director
  Richard Davis has said that fusion centers only spy on
  Americans with “anti-government” sympathies. 

Follow Reason 24/7 on Twitter!

Follow Reason on Twitter too, and like us
on Facebook. You
can also get the top stories mailed to
you—sign
up here.

Have a news tip? Send it to us!

The updated Reason app for Apple and Android now
includes Reason
24/7!

Read More

The High Price of War, Obama Pushes Forward on Gun Regs, EPA Wants Cleaner Gas: P.M. Links

• A study out of Harvard
  calculates that the combined Iraq and Afghanistan wars will cost
  the United States between
  $4 to $6 trillion after future medical costs for veterans is
  factored in. Good luck paying for that, children of tomorrow!


• President Barack Obama is moving forward with his
  promised executive actions to bolster gun control policies even
  as new regulations in the Senate face a tough road.


• Outgoing Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood says it’s a
  “done deal” for Chicago to get a
  $100 million federal loan to build six blocks worth of
  recreational activity along the Chicago River downtown. Remember
  that when the state goes crawling to the feds for a pension
  bailout.


• National Public Radio’s famous Talk
  of the Nation show will be ending after 21 years at the
  end of June.


• The EPA is looking to for gasoline manufacturers to
  reduce sulfur and nitrogen oxides in their products to curb air
  pollution. It will also, obviously, increase gas prices.


• Union interests in California are looking to expand their
  reach. Shocking, we know.
  The targets this time are interpreters who work with the
  state’s medical program for low-income families. The goal is to get
  these interpreters to pay union dues and also guarantee them $60 an
  hour in pay.

Have a news tip for us? Send it to: 24_7@reason.com.

Follow Reason 24/7 on Twitter: @reason247

Follow us on Facebook
and Twitter,
and don’t forget to sign
up for Reason’s daily
updates

Read More

NY Legislators Introduce Medical Marijuana Bill, Bitcoin Enjoying Increased Popularity Amid Crisis in Cyprus, New Zealand May Introduce Press Regulator: P.M. Links

• New York legislators have introduced a medical
  marijuana bill despite the fact that Gov. Cuomo has said that
  he is not in favor of such legislation. 

• 
  Bitcoin is becoming increasingly popular in Europe as more
  people seek ways to keep governments away from their
  money. 

• 
  New Zealand could follow the U.K.'s
  example and introduce a regulator for the press. 

• For the second year running Californian
  regulations have prevented the sale of kosher
  Coca-Cola. 

• Gay couples could face
  higher taxes if the Supreme Court rules that DOMA violates the
  Equal Protection Clause of the Constitution. 

• A prohibition-era law is still on the books in
  Pennsylvania that forbids alcohol bought outside its
  borders from being brought in. 

Follow Reason 24/7 on Twitter!

Follow Reason on Twitter too, and like us
on Facebook. You
can also get the top stories mailed to
you—sign
up here.

Have a news tip? Send it to us!

The updated Reason app for Apple and Android now
includes Reason
24/7!

Read More

No Ruling on Gay Marriage from Supreme Court, Pentagon Responds to North Korea, Israeli Army Objects to Foreign Ministry’s Use of Bar Refaeli: P.M. Links

• There aren’t many clues on how the Supreme
  Court might
  rule on gay marriage after hearing oral arguments related to
  California’s Proposition 8 today.


• Some bars in Washington and Colorado are
  embracing marijuana use even as its legal status when smoked in
  “public places” remains unsettled in both states.


• The Pentagon responds to the
  latest saber rattling from North Korea by pointing out the U.S.
  was
  ready for “any contingency.”


• David Petraeus is
  expected to apologize for the affair that ended his CIA tenure,
  the beginning of a “public comeback.”


• An Egyptian-born Italian journalist who converted from Islam to
  Catholicism
  says he is leaving the Church over its “soft” stance on his
  former religion.


• The Israeli army
  opposes the foreign ministry’s decision to hire supermodel Bar
  Refaeli to promote the country's tech sector, because she’s a draft
  dodger and thus a bad role model for youth.


• The discovery of the Higgs Boson could help
  explain how the infinite stack of turtles will topple at the
  end of the universe.

Follow Reason 24/7 on Twitter!

Follow Reason on Twitter too, and like us
on Facebook. You
can also get the top stories mailed to
you—sign
up here.

Have a news tip? Send it to us!

The updated Reason app for Apple and Android now
includes Reason
24/7!

Read More