Red Wing Daily: February 27, 2024
"the more you know..."
State
Last week (Feb. 20), AG Tim Griffin accepted the proposed constitutional amendment now called the “Arkansas Medical Marijuana Amendment of 2024” for November’s ballot, after substituting the word “marijuana” for the word “cannabis” in the submitted paperwork. Signatures are now being gathered for this initiative, which supporters say is aimed at “correcting” parts of Amendment 98, passed by voters in 2016, that legalized medical marijuana.
Griffin’s office also rejected the proposed changes for the referendum system in our Arkansas (the “Amendment to Amend the Initiative and Referendum Process”) due to “ambiguities” in the proposal. Little Rock attorney David Couch and the League of Women Voters submitted a “direct democracy” proposal that would restrict the General Assembly from amending citizen-passed initiatives, clarify the legislature’s emergency clause voting process, prohibit monopolies through the initiative process, and state rules for the Attorney General’s role in reviewing ballot titles."
Dr. Michael Pakko, Chief Economist and State Economic Forecaster at the Arkansas Economic Development Institute at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock and frequent commentator in Arkansas Business, Roby Brock’s Capitol View, the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette and Arkansas Times, announced his candidacy for State Treasurer on the Libertarian ticket.
Plaintiffs suing to return LGBTQ books the children’s section in the Crawford County Library have asked for a summary judgment in their lawsuit against the County, saying the plaintiffs’ choice to agree to moving the objectionable books to a more protected location “infringed on Plaintiffs’ ability to receive information.” Their request cites a 2000 Texas lawsuit (Sund v. City of Wichita Falls, Tex.) where a federal court overturned previous actions to relocate and remove LGBTQ books from a public library.
National
Democrats say that “national Republicans are working to convince their voters to take advantage of mail and early voting this year” while “the party’s army of lawyers is, more quietly, sending a very different message. The RNC is fighting in courtrooms and legal filings in key election battlegrounds across the country to make it harder to cast a mail ballot and to have it counted….” The narrative confuses the issue of early voting (going to a poll place to vote before Election Day) with the flood of mail-in ballots that are not secure, not validated by ID, not signed, etc. etc. — and asserts that the Republicans are unfairly using lawfare “aimed at convincing judges to interpret the law in ways that are explicitly adverse to voters.”
Tech
Be on the lookout for copycat websites when you’re searching the Internet. Cybercriminals are feeding fake company websites into Google searches. The most impersonated brands are Amazon, Rufus, Weebly, NotePad++, and TradingView. Be wary of unusual company names and suppliers. BE SURE you are visiting the actual, real website for the item you want. An easy way to do this is to not click on search results — instead when you see an item on, say, Amazon, go directly to that website and and search again within the website itself.
Have you ever found a "lost” USB stick? Be safe — never stick that USB into your laptop or computer because it could be loaded with malware or viruses! (If you want to be a good neighbor, you might turn it in at customer service wherever you found it.) Do you use any USB-rechargeable devices? Never use your computer to charge that device, as security experts are now warning about USB devices spreading malware while being plugged in for charging. Easy prevention: just always use an AC plug socket to charge and there’s no chance of getting infected.