Free Republic

SACRAMENTO, Calif.— Agents have seized more than $2.6 billion worth of marijuana plants this year, already surpassing last year's season total by 20 percent, authorities said. The state Department of Justice's annual Campaign Against Marijuana Planting, or CAMP, is still a month away from wrapping up operations after the season peak at the end of September. The raids, many in remote, forested terrain, pit agents against often heavily armed guards protecting their marijuana plots. About three weeks ago, a grower was shot dead and a state Fish and Game warden was wounded during a raid on a 22,000-plant pot farm...

Unlike their mellow brethren in San Francisco, the half-dozen or so medical marijuana clubs that have sprouted up in the urban no-man's-land between San Leandro and Hayward have turned into something out of the Wild West. There's been a rash of armed robberies, a shootout that left one robber dead, and the possible attempted hit of a worker for cooperating with police. "I don't think this is what the voters had in mind when they passed the medical pot law, but that's what we're dealing with," said Alameda County Sheriff's Lt. Dale Amaral, whose Eden Township beat includes the 2...

People who packed the Union Theater on Monday night expecting to hear about the best-selling book "Fast Food Nation" were instead served a diatribe from the author about his thoughts since the presidential election."Three weeks ago . . . I went into a real funk," said Eric Schlosser, author of bestsellers "Fast Food Nation" and "Reefer Madness." "I really went into a depression. A really dark place."Schlosser unleashed his thoughts since the election to a crowd of about 1,100 as part of the university's distinguished lecture series. "My depression lasted until 9:30 or 10 the next morning," he said. "I...

MIDI - CATHY'S CLOWN He went off to Baghdad to show he's so smart He'd take some nice photos for peace and do his part But now he's mocked in every town Hey, dude, look…there is Sean Penn…he's Saddam's clown The man is a fool…though actor pals think he's cool He's gonna hear the refrain that he has **** for brains He's been used just like a tool They knew he'd be easy as pie to outwit Tarik Aziz knew he's a useful idiot Now he is mocked in every town Hey, dude, look…there is Sean Penn…he's Saddam's clown...