Marijuana goes legal in Washington state amid mixed messages

SEATTLE (Reuters) - Hundreds of marijuana enthusiasts huddled near Seattle's famed Space Needle tower on Thursday night with pipes, bongs and hand-rolled joints to celebrate Washington's new status as the first state in the nation to legalize pot for adult recreational use.

The public gathering at the downtown Seattle Center, like a smaller turnout at a nearby spot hours earlier, defied a key provision of the state's landmark marijuana law, which allows possession of small amounts of cannabis but forbids users from lighting up outside the privacy of their homes.

Police kept their distance from both gatherings, underscoring mixed law enforcement messages about the new statute, known by its ballot designation as Initiative 502. The measure took effect on Thursday.

Seattle's city attorney issued a stern warning on Wednesday that public pot puffing would not be tolerated and that violators faced citations with $100 fines.

But the Seattle Police Department said its officers had been directed to limit any enforcement actions related to Initiative 502 to verbal warnings only, at least for now.

The new law, passed by voters last month in a move that could set the state up for a showdown with the federal government, removes criminal sanctions for anyone 21 or older possessing 1 ounce (28.5 grams) or less of pot for personal use.

Colorado voters likewise chose to legalize pot for personal recreational use, but that measure is not due to take effect until next month. Both states are among 18 that have already removed criminal sanctions for medical use of marijuana.

The Washington law also legalizes possession of up to 16 ounces (0.45 kg) of solid cannabis-infused goods - such as brownies - and up to 72 ounces (2.4 kg) of weed in liquid form.

But driving under the influence of cannabis or imbibing in public places where the consumption of alcohol is already banned remain illegal.

NO SELLING OR SHARING ALLOWED

The new law ultimately will permit cannabis to be legally sold and taxed at state-licensed stores in a system to be modeled after those in many states for alcohol sales. The state Liquor Control Board, along with agriculture and public health officials, have until next December to set up such a system.

For now, it remains a crime to sell, cultivate or even share one's own stash, even though the law allows individuals to purchase a limited amount for personal possession.

Ironically, the first known court challenge of the law came from a medical marijuana patient in Olympia, who filed suit last week seeking to block enforcement of a new standard for marijuana impairment while driving, similar to the blood-alcohol standard for drunken driving.

The plaintiff, Arthur West, says the new legal limit - 5 nanograms per milliliter of blood of THC, pot's active ingredient - would unfairly subject him to prosecution for a THC level at which he routinely drives without impairment. A hearing on his request for an injunction was set for Friday.

Little if any of the law's fine points seemed to matter to the mellow group of about 300 people - from college-age tokers to middle-aged Baby Boomers - who assembled at the Seattle Center fountain, a short distance from the Space Needle.

Convivial laughter, laid-back conversation and occasional coughing filled the air as the pungent smell of marijuana wafted through the crowd, many wearing sweatshirt hoodies to ward off the chill, on a cold, crisp evening.

'SAFER THAN ALCOHOL'

Carrying a sign, "marijuana is safer than alcohol," Jared Allaway, 30, described the night as "iconic."

"Seattle's always been friendly to cannabis," Allaway said. "Hopefully this will spread to eastern Washington. You get outside of Seattle, it's a different world."

Seated in a wheelchair that sported a "Goddess" sticker, medical marijuana patient Penny Simons, 52, said she traveled with friends from Renton, Washington, south of Seattle, to attend the smoke-in.

"It's history," she said. "I've been thinking about the people across the country who are jailed for this. It's nice to see things change."

A smaller crowd of about 100 pot-smoking celebrants had assembled about 19 hours earlier nearby for a count-down to the law taking effect at the stroke of midnight, blaring the music of reggae legend Bob Marley from loudspeakers.

Both gatherings were peaceful, with no reports of arrests.

New Fantasyland officially opens in Orlando

LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. (AP) — Derrick Weitlich and his friend Leslie Martinez arrived at the Magic Kingdom at 5:40 a.m. Thursday, wanting to be among the first to visit the park's New Fantasyland.

Getting up early was worth it, said these Melbourne, Fla., Disneyfans, who estimated that they have visited the park some 180 times.

"I love Beauty and the Beast," said Martinez, while standing in front of the new Gaston's Tavern restaurant. "And I'm very picky when it comes to details about Beauty and the Beast."

Martinez and Weitlich weren't disappointed. From the antlers lining the walls in the tavern to the animatronic Ariel in the Under the Sea-Journey of the Little Mermaid ride, they were impressed with the New Fantasyland.

It's the largest expansion project in the park's 41-year history. The new spaces are built on what was once the site of the 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea experience, and the expansion doubles the size of the original Fantasyland. The central Florida theme park near Orlando is blending classic Disney characters (like Dumbo, the flying elephant) and newer, popular hits (like "The Little Mermaid") with the multimillion dollar expansion.

"It's really about immersing people in a number of stories, characters and music that they love," said Walt Disney Parks and Resorts Chairman Tom Staggs.

New Fantasyland sits just past Cinderella Castle, with two sections: Enchanted Forest, where visitors will find Belle from "Beauty and the Beast" and Ariel from "The Little Mermaid," and Storybook Circus, which is inspired by the Disney film "Dumbo."

Among the highlights: a ride called Under the Sea-Journey of the Little Mermaid, which tells Ariel's story, and Enchanted Tales With Belle, a walk-through experience that features a magical mirror and costumed characters.

Staggs said that the expansion allows families to "be a little more relaxed" while in the park, calling the spaces "more enjoyable."

Thursday's grand opening happened twice: once for media and bloggers in front of Gaston's Tavern and then again on the steps of Cinderella Castle, with cheering park visitors. Staggs was joined by actress Ginnifer Goodwin, singer Jordin Sparks and, of course, Mickey Mouse. Sparks sang a medley of songs from Disney movies.

Two of New Fantasyland's highlights have yet to open. A ride called Seven Dwarfs Mine Train is still under construction, as is Princess Fairytale Hall — where guests can go to meet all of their favoriteDisney princesses at once. Disney officials said the princess experience will open next year and the ride is expected to open in 2014.

For Disney traditionalists, never fear: Many of the park's longstanding beloved attractions likeCinderella Castle, and rides based on "It's a Small World" and "The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh" remain open.

Be Our Guest Restaurant is new, and offers a different Disney concept. Folks who eat lunch will be served at the counter, while dinner guests will be served tableside. It will also serve wine and beer with dinner, which is the first time alcohol is being sold at the Magic Kingdom. The meals at Be Our Guest are French-themed.

Some old favorites have been improved. An additional Dumbo ride was added — one Dumbo carousel goes clockwise, the other counter-clockwise — two castles were built and the Barnstormer rollercoaster was remodeled. Other areas were spruced up and redecorated.

"I think they did the themes so well, the transitions from one area to another," said Weitlich, who is 31. He and Martinez, who is 29, come to the park at least twice a month.

On Thursday, they bought T-shirts that said "A Brand New Happily Ever After," posed for photos and drank LeFou's Brew, a sweet drink based on apple juice and toasted marshmallows. The pair said they were going to get to know New Fantasyland just like the rest of the park.

Mars One finds more than 1,000 volunteers for one-way trip to planet in 2023

The mission to Mars will be one-way, but the organisation already has 1,000 volunteers (Image: Mars On

The Mars One organisation has revealed details of its plans to land four astronauts on the Red Planet in 2023, with four additional 'crew' arriving every two years.

The organisation said that it had had more than 1,000 volunteers for the mission, who emailed in via the foundation's website.

Selection of the astronauts will begin next year, the Dutch organisation says.

The trip to the planned 'colony' would be one-way - and the astronaut volunteers will live and die on Mars.

Mars One aims to finance a mission to Mars via donations from corporations, people - and by creating a reality show-style 'media event' around the training and selection of its astronauts.

[Related: Could other stars be MORE favourable to life than our sun?]

The Dutch company is backed by Nobel prize winning physicist, Gerard 't Hooft - and by Paul Romer, co-creator of Big Brother.

Mars One also announced that it had become a not-for-profit foundation.

"With more than 850,000 unique visitors to the website, Mars One has received thousands of emails," the Dutch company said in an email today. 

"Among those emails were more than one thousand requests from individuals who desire to go to Mars--well before the launch of the Astronaut Selection Program. Furthermore, Mars One is supported by a large groups of advisers and ambassadors, among them an astronaut, a Nobel prize winning physicist and several NASA scientists."

Bas Lansdorp, co-founder and President of Mars-One offers, “A foundation more accurately represents how the Mars One team feels about this mission, and how the world has embraced our plan, even in this early stage. 

"We receive so many kind and supportive emails, people offer donations or offer to helpin whatever way they can. The conversion to a foundation represents that going to Mars is something we do as a united world.”

In the first half of 2013 Mars One will launch the Astronaut Selection Program, a search to find the best candidates for the 'next giant leap of mankind'. The search will be global, open to every person from every nation. As a Foundation, Mars One will be the owner of the human outpost on Mars, the simulation bases on Earth, and the employer of the astronauts, both in training here on Earth, and those on Mars.

Arno Wielders, co-founder and technical director of Mars One: “Sending humans to Mars has been my dream for twenty years. Evidently, I am not alone--we have received emails from over fifty countries."

"People in thirty seven countries have purchased our merchandise, demonstrating their support for Mars One. Regardless of their background, people are positive about this optimistic event that we believe will bring people of Earth a little bit closer together.”

Euro 2020 to be staged in cities across Europe

LAUSANNE - Soccer's European Championship in 2020 will take place in cities across the continent, rather than in one or two host countries, in a radical departure from the traditional format, UEFA said on Thursday (Friday, PHL time).

European soccer's governing body said the move, approved by its executive committee, would allow smaller countries a slice of the action as they would not be able to stage an unwieldy, 24-team tournament on their own.

UEFA said it planned to use a mix of major cities and medium and smaller ones for the tournament which will mark the competition's 60th anniversary.

"The main point is really to give more cities, more countries the possibility to host a celebration European championship," UEFA secretary general Gianni Infantino told reporters.

"Instead of a party in one country, you will have a party all over Europe."

The idea was first aired by UEFA president Michel Platini at the end of Euro 2012. Three of the last four European Championships have been staged in two countries although the tournament was traditionally held in one.

The announcement threw up a range of questions such as how many cities would host games, whether all host countries would qualify and play at home, and how much traveling would be done.

Infantino said that decisions would be made over next few months.

"Today, everything is open," he said.

He said the bidding process would start by March with a final decision on the host cities by spring 2014.

Infantino said that financial considerations played a major part in the decision.

"The fact that the Euro moves to 24 teams bears additional burdens on the host nations, the requirements are becoming bigger and bigger," he said

Logistical challenges

"One of the purposes of this decision is to help countries who are maybe not sure today whether they should build or not a national stadium, to give them this impetus.

"It will be a lot easier from a financial perspective for all the countries. If you need to build airports or 10 stadiums in a country - this would be rather easy because it would be one stadium per host city."

Infantino said the many new logistical challenges would be addressed in the next few months, including the number of host cities.

"The only thing decided is that the concept is changing," he said. "How many cities is to be decided and determined."

Other issues to be addressed include whether to play groups in one or two venues close to each other, or whether to force teams to play their group games in different parts of the continent.

"If groups are going to be in different countries, then ideally they should not be too far away," he said. "We have to look into that and take a decision which makes sense.

He also accepted that with so many host countries, some of them would not qualify.

"You can't have 15 hosts automatically qualified. This would have to be thought about and looked at," he said.

"Another question is will hosts who qualified play at home... It will probably be difficult to understand for the fans of a country which is host if they do not play a match at home.

"Probably, you have a certain number of teams at home against a certain number of teams who play away, this may be an issue. But there's also the question of if it's actually an advantage to play at home."

Infantino said the change was a one-off decision to celebrate the 60th anniversary. "It is a decision only about 2020, it is not going forward forever.

26 lawmakers flying to US in time for Pacquiao’s fight

Twenty-six lawmakers from the House Representatives are going to the United States to watch world boxing champ and Sarangani Rep. Manny Pacquiao’s fourth fight against Mexican Juan Manuel Marquez this Sunday (Manila time).

An "Unang Balita" report Friday morning quoted House Majority Leader Neptali Gonzales II as saying the 26 lawmakers will not be able to attend Monday's session as they will be back either Monday evening or Tuesday morning.



However, Gonzales expressed confidence there will be quorum for the scheduled debate on the controversial Reproductive Health Bill next week.

But a staff of House Speaker Feliciano Belmonte Jr., citing official records, on Thursday said 16 lawmakers from the House have been granted authority to travel to the United States in time for Pacquiao's fight.

Lawyer Sherry Gonzalvo from Belmonte’s office, however, said that only two House members—Northern Samar Rep. Emil Ong and BUTIL party-list Rep. Agapito Guanlao—have explicitly stated they are going to Las Vegas, the venue of Pacquiao’s fight, for “personal reasons.”

The rest of the lawmakers who are going are supposed to have speaking engagements or seminars in the US, Gonzalvo added.

“Nagugulat nga kami kasi hindi na ganoon karami like before. Karamihan will really have to attend to official business sa states na malayo talaga sa Las Vegas,” the lawyer said.

She added that the lawmakers who explicitly said that they are going to Las Vegas in time for Pacquiao’s fight will “definitely get no funding from the House.”

Pacquiao is set to face off for the fourth time on Sunday in a non-title welterweight bout at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas.

NDRRMC: 'Pablo' death toll rises to 418, damage pegged at P4B

The death toll from Tropical Cyclone Pablo (Bopha) exceeded 400 on Friday, even as the estimated damage caused by the cyclone hit the P4-billion mark, the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council said.

 

In its 5 a.m. update, the NDRRMC said most of the fatalities were from Compostela Valley, which was hit by flash floods brought by Pablo.

 

Of the fatalities, only 73 had been identified, even as 445 were injured and 383 are still missing.

 

A breakdown of the 418 dead included:

- 110 from New Bataan in Compostela Valley

- 27 from Boston, Davao Oriental

- 21 from Compostela, Compostela Valley

- 10 from Montevista, Compostela Valley

- 9 from Caraga, Davao Oriental

 

As of 4 a.m., 1,710 passengers, 227 rolling cargoes, 79 vessels and 15 motor bancas were stranded.

 

The NDRRMC also said Pablo had affected 1,033,364 families or 5,141,356 people in 1,862 villages in 188 towns and 29 cities in 26 provinces.

 

Of these, 64,470 families or 306,451 people are still being served in 569 evacuation centers.

 

Seven bridges and 12 roads remain impassable while some parts of Surigao del Sur, Lanao del Sur, Agusan del Sur and Agusan del Norte are experiencing power outages.

 

There is still no water supply in San Francisco and Poblacion Esperanza in Agusan del Sur as of Thursday.

 

Damage

 

The estimated damage caused by Pablo stood at P4,001,924,688.02, including P630.970 million in infrastructure, P3,365,534,688.02 in agriculture, and P5.42 million in private property.

 

At least 10,320 houses were destroyed while 5,530 were damaged in Southern Luzon, Central Visayas, and Regions 10, 11 and Caraga.

 

Local officials of some 26 towns and four provinces have declared their areas as calamity zones.

PACQUIAO AND MARQUEZ SAID TO BE IN TOP SHAPE, BOTH PROMISE VICTORIES

LAS VEGAS, Nevada - Boxing super stars Manny Pacquiao (54-4-2, 38KO's) and Juan Manuel Marquez (54-6-1, 39KO's) promised victories during today's final press conference ahead of their 12-round clash for the "WBO Champion of the Decade" Belt this Saturday night at the MGM Grand Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada. 

Bob Arum anticipates that the fight will be "spectacular," even better than the previous three fights, mainly because none of the fighters want to leave the work of deciding the winner in the hands of judges. 

Marquez speaking both in Spanish and English promised in both languages that this Saturday's clash will be an all out "war" that no fan should miss. "I want to say thanks to team Pacquiao for accepting this rematch. It will be a violent fight, a tough fight. I know Pacquiao so as well. And he knows me too. I have trained really hard and I am ready." 

Pacquiao also said to be ready and thanks to fans. "I must say thanks to fans. Without them, I am not Manny Pacquiao. Without them (fans), we wouldn't be here," said the hugely popular Pacman, who remind the audience that the undercard fights are exciting fights as well. 

Hall of Famer trainers Freddy Roach and don Ignacio "Nacho" Beristain assured the audience at the MGM Grand's Hollywood Theater that their fighters are in top physical shape for the much awaited combat. 

Marquez training was entirely in his native Mexico City at "La Romanza Gym," the training facility of his long-time coach the legendary "Nacho" Beristáin, 73, one of the greatest trainers in the history of boxing, himself a boxer in his younger years. 

So both Pacquiao and Marquez are said to be in excellent condition. 

Juan Manuel "Dinamita" Marquez (five years older than the Filipino icon), has been lifting weight to develop strength, though at 39 years of age some analysts wonder if that is a wise thing to do. 

"Lifting those heavy weights go along with boxing? commented to this authoer Mr. Horacio one of Pacquiao's photographers, who incidentally is from Mexico. 

"Boxing greats like Leonard, Hagler, Duran did not lift those heavy weights during their trainings, and they were tough as rocks and they could punch so hard. So, that insistence on Marquez to do weightlifting....I just wonder if its a good idea. Maybe its good for Marquez. We'll find out." 

On the other hand, Pacquiao has gone through a successful training regime at the Wild Card Gym and is reported to be in the best shaped he could be. 

For Pacquiao-Marquez 3 in November of last year, it was reported that the Pacman suffered some cramps and that his mind was not in the right focus prior to his fierce 12-rounds battle with Marquez, also at the MGM Grand. 

"This time all is under control," assured Horacio. 

"I have seen him in the gym with Freddy doing those stuff day after day, seen it with my own eyes. I've seen what Manny can do when he is in good shape... and he is in good shape. Eating well, relaxed. No weight problems at all. Could not be better," said the veteran boxing photographer Horacio, a Mexican-American who lives in Santa Anita, California. 

As a matter of fact, during today's presser, Pacquiao was repeatedly spotted drinking water, which leads to believe that the Filipino Congressman and future Hall of Fame has his weight in perfect control two days prior to the weight-in ceremony, a sharp contrast with Pacquiao's past struggles with weight during the years he used to fight in lower weight classes. 

The weight-in ceremony will be Friday Dec 7, 2:30pm at the MGM Grand Arena.