He's a wise man

[Odds]

Poo Tin got what he wanted, and much more. The Trump u-turn looks bad for Ukraine unfortunately.

Trump's ceasefire pivot will cause dismay in Kyiv

The US president demanded a ceasefire before he met Putin. His change of mind flies in the face of what Europe and Ukraine want.

www.bbc.co.uk

While Trump is chewing on his chess pieces, Putin has moved his nicely into position to leave America in a tenuous position: what will Trump do if Zelensky decides to ignore the 'peace deal' and, backed by the EU, decide to fight on. Trump will be isolated in the CoW and Putin will create a split in NATO, and get to keep his war going.

 

[denso13]

While Trump is chewing on his chess pieces, Putin has moved his nicely into position to leave America in a tenuous position: what will Trump do if Zelensky decides to ignore the 'peace deal' and, backed by the EU, decide to fight on. Trump will be isolated in the CoW and Putin will create a split in NATO, and get to keep his war going.

Europe should take the initiative and ditch orangina before he ditches us. But European leaders are probably just going along with it for now, hoping it will all change in just over 3 years, if not sooner.

 

[Odds]

According to a Pew survey in January, nearly 90 percent of Americans believe marijuana should at least be legalised medically, if not entirely, including 66 percent of Democrats and 43 percent of Republicans. Last Friday, Democrat lawmakers re-introduced the Marijuana Opportunity Reinvestment and Expungement (MORE) Act before Congress, which, if passed, will finally lift the decades-long ban on the drug. The plan Trump is considering, which was first proposed but not implemented under his predecessor, Joe Biden, is to reclassify cannabis from Schedule I to Schedule III, significantly softening the penalties involved, although stopping short of full legalisation.

The legal cannabis industry was estimated to be worth $32bn last year, according to Bloomberg. Since 1996, cannabis has been gradually legalised in the US on a state-by-state basis. Twenty-four out of 50 states, plus Washington, DC, have fully legalised the plant, with another 12 allowing it for medical use only.

“These things are important because when they are criminalised, they can be the reasons why people are denied housing, education, healthcare, even custody of their children. And when we’re establishing legalisation, it’s not just about ensuring that adults can have access to purchase cannabis, but that we’re also giving cannabis consumers rights and ensuring that they’re not being discriminated against under the law because of their cannabis use.”

Go Green @ Al Jazz