Charges Against Philly Demo Worker Underscore Complexities of Legal Pot

How high is high?

Accusations that the operator of the excavator that led to the deadly building collapse in Center City last week was high on marijuana raise compelling questions about how governments will regulate pot as states continue to decriminalize its use. Prosecutors charged 42-year old-Sean Benschop with six counts of manslaughter after a toxicology test showed he was “unfit to perform safety-sensitive, job-related duties” due to the presence of marijuana in his blood stream. (The test also identified the presence of unspecified painkillers, which may or may not have been prescribed to him and may or may not have affected his ability to safely demolish a building.) Since his arrest, witnesses have come forward to lend support to the claim that Benschop was high on the job. That's good news for the D.A.'s office. Because, when it comes to marijuana impairment, forensic evidence alone is notoriously unreliable, and—if Benschop's defense attorneys are worthy of the name—would be unlikely to convince a jury that he was intoxicated at the hour the Salvation Army Thrift Shop at 22nd and Market Street came crashing down.

Can Reform Conservatives Save the GOP From Itself?

The house that David Frum built.

On Monday, political commentator David Frum announced he is taking an extended break from his blog at the Daily Beast to focus his attention on personal matters related to the recent death of his father. If you're not already familiar with him, Frum cut his teeth as a speechwriter in the administration of President George W. Bush, where he distinguished himself as a vociferous supporter of the Iraq War (a position he still appears to hold, albeit less vociferously) and gained notoriety for coining the phrase “Axis of Evil”—which Bush used in his 2002 State of the Union address to describe the perceived tripartite threat of Iran, Iraq and North Korea.

Sex Offender Registries: Good Idea Gone Bad?

PA’s sex offender registry lists 100 names within a one-mile radius of my house. Should I be worried?

The ongoing plight of a Florida teen underscores the dysfunction of state laws that require sex offenders to register in a national database, even when they are teenagers and their “crime” consisted of nothing more than having a consensual relationship with someone a few years younger than them. If you aren't already familiar with the story, here are the details, courtesy of the Huffington Post:

“A Florida teenager faces criminal charges stemming from her relationship with another young female student. Kaitlyn Hunt, 18, faces two felony counts of 'lewd and lascivious battery on a child 12 to 16' after the parents of her 15-year-old girlfriend pressed charges earlier this year.”

According to media reports, the two teens—who were basketball teammates—met when Hunt was 17 and the “victim” was 14 and had been dating openly for several months. The younger girl's parents, who opposed the relationship, filed a criminal complaint when Hunt became a legal adult. If convicted of the charges, Hunt faces more than a decade in jail and would be required to register as a sex offender. Last week she rejected a plea deal that carried a lesser penalty of two years of house arrest but still would have required her to register.

Is Education Reform Killing Gym?

The class we loved to hate is more important than we thought.

Spring in my neighborhood is announced by a variety of sights, sounds and smells—some delightful, like the first blooms on the lilac bush in our back yard, others not so much (the incessant jingling of the wretched Mister Softee truck that will plague our sleep for the next four months). Still others are downright sobering. The roving packs of scantily clad obese children that emerge red-eyed and pasty after a winter spent hibernating in front of the television set fall into this category. While childhood obesity is certainly not unique to my neighborhood, like most lower-income urban areas, it is endemic here. According to the Centers for Disease Control, the percentage of American children aged 6–11 who are overweight or obese increased from seven percent in 1980 to nearly 18 percent in 2010. Control for poverty and the proportion of fat kids rises to nearly a third. I'm not a betting man, but I'd be willing to wager that if you looked out my front window on any given summer day, you'd see two overweight children for every one who is physically fit.

Remember When 31 Flavors of Ice Cream Was a Novelty?

The tyranny of choice.

Last Saturday, I found myself at one of my favorite watering holes of yesteryear. Like many of the dives I used to frequent, I remembered the place having a really eclectic jukebox with just the right mix of classic country, old-school punk, and Motown. Excited to see what the selection looked like now, years on, I pulled a dollar from the bar and followed Eddie Vedder's voice to its source. To my dismay the freezer-sized box of music-thumping metal I remembered had been replaced by a shiny new digital player with the dimensions of a small television set and the aesthetic appeal of a boot box with a touchscreen.

There’s Something Rotten in Virginia Politics

How a primary election swindle opened the door to the GOP’s lunatic fringe.

Even if you haven't been closely monitoring the Virginia governor's race, chances are that by now you've heard something about the two characters the GOP is running to replace outgoing Republican Bob McDonnell and his number two, Bill Bolling, the current lieutenant governor.

How Far Is Too Far With Photoshop?

World Press Photo controversy exposes journalism double standard.

On Tuesday, Swedish photographer Paul Hansen, winner of the 2012 World Press Photo award for best picture, was vindicated of charges that his winning image was a “fraudulent forgery” following weeks of mudslinging by a handful of photo-purists who took issue with the way the picture was created.  The striking photograph, which depicts a group of Palestinians mourning two young victims of an Israeli missile strike, raised a stink due to its creative use of toning and Hansen's reliance on post-production processing techniques to add an emotive quality to the work. In a strongly worded rebuke published on the photography blog...

Are Christians Under Attack in America?

For a secular nation, America is actually pretty good to its faithful. So why all the fuss?

Fox News Radio host Todd Starnes is a man on a mission. For the past several years he's been leading a crusade to prove that Christianity in America is being undermined by a secular, anti-religious agenda at the behest of the libertine big-government of President Barack Obama and his heathen minions.

Before You Die Over Rats at Green Eggs Cafe, Look in Your Kitchen

Here, the FDA’s list of "acceptable" food contaminants.

Philadelphia's foodies are in a tizzy over video that surfaced this week showing a gaggle of rats enjoying after-hours pizza at the Green Eggs Cafe Midtown in Center City. The video has sparked an outpouring of revulsion on local social media, but I honestly don't know what all the fuss is about.