A new FBI report released Monday is brimming with startling figures about the four-decades-old War on Drugs. Shockingly, in the United States, there is a drug arrest every 19 seconds, making for a total of 1.6 million drug arrests in 2010 alone.

Demonstrators gathered in downtown Manhattan on Saturday to protest the influence of Wall St. and corporate interests in our nation's politics.  The assembly, which has occupied a park in the financial district for the last two days, has yet to disperse, and protesters say they're in it for the long haul. 

Is there anyone less popular today than a sitting politician?  Well, yes.  Someone else’s politician.  Today’s generalized numbers about Congress, the President, Democrats and Republicans go out the window when it comes to your local guy or gal. 

After spending months squabbling about a budget that turned out to be a train wreck because of the usual wildly over-optimistic revenue estimates, the California legislature is focusing its attention on vastly more important matters, like regulating and monitoring the behavior of the citizenry in all manner of silly, foolish, and intrusive ways.

The annual California grape harvest is in full swing and so far field reports are positive, with few weather related issues. Raisin grape growers are picking their produce at its peak this week. Wine grapes and table grapes have already started moving to market earlier this month.

 

Tomorrow will mark the close of dove season in the greater Phoenix Metropolitan area. The past two weeks have been a trial run for a new state law that has opened over one million acres of city-owned land to small game hunters. The relaxed regulations have allowed hunters to avoid congestion and potential accidents by spreading out, wildlife professionals say.