Good documentary on Sandy Hook lawsuits. Alex Jones similar to Trump has monetized lying. Mixing entertainment with news. These guys will never miss a beat with their followers. Continuing to rake it in while claiming victimhood and fighting for you.

That she plans on seizing as much of Lying Donnie Sexual Abuser's cash, if he has any, before she starts to seize his properties. I'm glad to hear that strategy, because that's a lot more certain of the actual amount and easier to get. I wonder how soon Trump is going to learn how to spell and pronounce bankruptcy?

I have on particularly expensive RX I use to treat my skin cancer issues. It’s called “fluroroacil” or some such thing…it’s a crème and with my MediCare/RX insurance it costs Around $160/ tube…..
If I use a “RX drug app” I can get the same med, filled by the same pharmacy for $46/tube….
Why the price difference….where does the money go and to whom?
I’m old…be patient….can anyone who knows, explain?

Holy cow! They win 100...going to the play-offs AND according to baseball experts, the O’s have 8 of the Top 100 players in the minor leagues....
I watched Alex Cora the other night being interviewed after he stayed postgame to watch Baltimore celebrTe clinching their play off spot. Cora was highly complimentary of the O’s ownership and management, as he talked about their patience and their desire to (re)build the “right way”. Cora mentioned he could tell back in ‘21 the O’s were going to be players as there pitching even then was very impressive.
Ironic that this week is the week God chose to draft Brooks Robinson. Baseball is a funny game.

7pm ESPN

These two schools haven’t played since Nov 2018 (84-81 Iowa victory).

WVU plays some string defense but I don’t think they enough offensive power. I’m seeing a 87-72 Hawkeye win tonight.

15 teams...1 Trophy. The newly named NATURALMWA Trophy!

Orange and Grape will receive a First round bye. We will begin with the three play in games tomorrow and then start the field of 8 on Thursday. Good luck to all of our competitors. And to those who didn’t make it, good luck next year.

1- Orange
2- Grape
3- Apple
4- Watermelon
5- (Play in) Banana vs. Peach
6- Berries
7- Avocado
8- Lemon/ Lime
9- Cherries
10- Pear
11- (Play in) Mango vs. Pineapple
12- Plum

Looked through the comments section of a lot of articles on Facebook about Caitlin Clark breaking Stephen Curry’s NCAA 3-point record and Pistol Pete’s NCAA Division 1 scoring record.

Wow! Talk about fragile egos. A lot of comments that go something like…

“Caitlin is a great women’s player, BUT she could NEVER compete with men and blah blah blah.”

“Not to take anything from Clark and her accomplishments, but Pistol Pete didn’t have a 3-point line or shot clock or blah blah blah.”

“Curry would destroy Clark in a real game and blah blah blah.”

“But, but, but Pistol Pete blah blah blah.”

“Typical woke leftists thinking a woman is actually a better basketball player than Pistol Pete or Stephen Curry or any man and blah blah blah.”

We get it Bill with the goatee and dark sunglasses as your profile pic, Caitlin Clark isn’t as good as guys who play in the NBA. No one said she was.

And no, Kevin with the goatee and dark sunglasses and NRA hat as your profile pic, Caitlin Clark probably couldn’t compete against men who play college basketball at the NCAA division 1 level. No one said she could.

BUT, she now holds the record for most points and most 3-pointers scored by an NCAA Division 1 basketball player. Oh, and we get it Steve with the goatee and sunglasses as your profile pic, Caitlin is just a woman and would get destroyed against men.

CSB

Western Journal​

Three Months After Dish Network Chair Donated $113,000 to Biden, the Company Gets Welcome News from the DOJ: Lawsuit to Be Dismissed​

Allegations are flying after the Justice Department intervened to send a $3.3 billion lawsuit against Dish Network into legal limbo.

The Justice Department’s action ended claims by Vermont Telephone that Dish and other companies wrongly manipulated Federal Communications Commission rules to obtain wireless communication licenses, according to the New York Post.


The March decision by the Justice Department came about three months after Dish founder and chair Charlie Ergen and his wife, Candy, donated more than $113,000 to President Joe Biden’s re-election campaign. The $113,200 in donations all were recorded on Dec. 15, according to the Federal Election Commission.

Bennett Ross, the lead attorney for the company, noted what he believed was a very suspect bit of coincidence, the Post reported.

In a letter to the Justice Department, Ross said contributions such as that make the dismissal of the lawsuit seem less than coincidental.

“We do not believe it is a coincidence that Mr. Ergen, his wife (who also is scheduled to be deposed next week), and DISH’s Political Action Committee collectively contributed in excess of $5 million to Democratic candidates and causes between 2008 and 2022,” he wrote.

“With the upcoming election, this case looks like just the latest example of the DOJ’s two-tiered justice system under which the well-heeled, politically connected are treated one way, while everyone else is treated differently,” he wrote.


Dish also received $50 million from the Biden administration to increase 5G coverage, with the money coming from the CHIPS and Science Act.

Ross said the intervention was very rare.

“As far as we are aware, relators have filed approximately 4,000 [similar] actions under the False Claims Act since 2018, and the DOJ moved for dismissal in approximately 65 of those cases, which is less than two percent,” Ross said, using the term used in the False Claims Act for a whistleblower bringing a lawsuit.

“And in those cases where the DOJ has sought dismissal, it generally was because the case suffered from a fatal defect, which is not the case with Vermont Telephone’s claims against Dish,” he said.

Jeff Blum, executive vice president of external and government affairs for Echostar, which acquired Dish Network in December, said that the “fraud claim has always been frivolous, and the DOJ was absolutely justified in moving to dismiss it.”


“It’s a matter of record that EchoStar and Charlie Ergen have supported both Republicans and Democrats for many years,” Blum said of donations made to politicians. “Because EchoStar has built the world’s largest Open RAN wireless network, we have worked closely with policymakers on both sides of the aisle to bring back US leadership to telco and provide a real alternative to the dominance of Chinese vendors.”

A report on Bloomberg Law noted that the False Claims Act allows the Justice Department to intervene because a claim is made in the name of the government, and therefore the government can decide to prosecute or not.

On March 6, Republican Sen. Chuck Grassley of Iowa sent a letter to Attorney General Merrick Garland seeking information about False Claims Act lawsuits in which the Biden administration has intervened to have the case deep-sixed.


Grassley wrote that “concerns have been raised that the Justice Department, after initially declining, will intervene and dismiss False Claims Act cases during the late stages of litigation after the relator has spent years and resources litigating the case.” In the language of the False Claims Act, “relator” is synonymous with a whistleblower.

“Denying relators the right to pursue False Claims Act cases if the government doesn’t initially intervene is counter to the basic, essential purpose of the Act, which is to empower private citizens to help the government fight and deter fraud,” he wrote.

Being on Gulf beaches has been my favorite place to vacation since I was a wee lad. We typically vacationed from Bonita springs down to Marco. More recently I enjoyed Clearwater beach tremendously. I love the crash of the waves, the birds, the sun, the soft sand, etc. As I stare at 50 and think about playing the back 9 of life, I do think about getting a second place on the beach if the money is there. I don’t want to move into a waiting room to die, but for those you who have done it, did it live up to expectations? Disappoint you? When the time is right we will probably rent a condo for a month just to see how we like it on a test run, but I was curious what the collective experience here has been.

With Americans living longer and spending more years in retirement, the nation's changing demographics are "putting the U.S. retirement system under immense strain," according to BlackRock CEO Larry Fink in his annual shareholder letter.

One way to fix it, he suggests, is for Americans to work longer before they head into retirement.

"No one should have to work longer than they want to. But I do think it's a bit crazy that our anchor idea for the right retirement age — 65 years old — originates from the time of the Ottoman Empire," Fink wrote in his 2024 letter, which largely focuses on the retirement crisis facing the U.S. and other nations as their populations age.

Fink's suggestions about addressing the nation's retirement crisis come amid a debate about the future of Social Security, which will face a funding shortfall in less than a decade. Some Republican lawmakers have proposed raising the retirement age for claiming Social Security benefits, arguing, like Fink, that because Americans are living longer, they should work longer, too.

Libertarians are ‘confused’ by RFK Jr’s VP pick​

The chair of the Libertarian National Committee said its members are “confused” by Robert F. Kennedy’s Jr. vice presidential pick, which he announced Tuesday.

“I think that a lot of libertarians are a little bit confused over why he chose Nicole Shanahan. I’m sure she’s a lovely person, but she doesn’t necessarily fit into alignment with any of our views,” Libertarian National Committee Chair Angela McArdle said on NewsNation’s “The Hill.”

Kennedy announced tech attorney and entrepreneur Nicole Shanahan as his pick for vice president during an event in Oakland, Calif. on Tuesday. When pressed further on why Libertarians are unsure about Kennedy’s choice, McArdle noted that she had supported President Biden and now-Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg.

“So I’m really unsure how she’s going to fit in with the Libertarian Party. You know, I’m anxious to hear about it,” she added.

Kennedy switched to an independent White House bid in the fall after first launching his campaign in the Democratic presidential primary against President Biden. During remarks on Tuesday, Shanahan said she would be leaving the Democratic Party.

In recent months, Kennedy has fueled speculation that he will join the Libertarian Party’s ticket for the presidential election in November. When asked about conversations McArdle has had with Kennedy, she emphasized that any Libertarian presidential candidate would need to make an effort to get the support of the party.

Earlier this month, McArdle said no decision has been made on whether to put Kennedy on the ticket. McArdle said Tuesday that while picking Shanahan may not disqualify Kennedy from joining the Libertarian ticket, it definitely does not help him.

more here

Just for fun let's look at the head to head and likely outcomes. Weight classes dont align perfectly so we'll go in order. I'll try to be fair .

118/125 Whitmer vs Davis - decision Whitmer, 3-0. No chance Davis score a td on Jesse.

125/133 Mena vs Nagao - dec Mena, 6-0. (I don't think this one would come down to a decision to take down vs Nagao ). Mena was just better.

134/141 Ironside vs Bartlett - this year's Bartlett keeps it to a reg decision but Mark was on another level. 9-0.

142/149 Gillis vs Kasak, toss up but Gillis wrestled well in the tourney, ended up 6th, I take Gillis in a close match 12-0.

150/157 Lincoln Mac vs Haines - I'd pay admission to watch this match all alone but SR yr LM wasn't being denied. Regular Dec 15-0 Iowa.

158/165 Joe Williams vs Messenbrink. Mess is a prodigy but Joe was in another level in 97. His reshots and defense too damn good. Reg decision JW, 18-0.

167/174 Uker vs Starocci - Uker was a grinder in '97 and while he likely keeps it to a regular decision, I'll give Star the major here under 2024 scoring rules, 18-4.

177/184 Ersland vs Truax, Eastland was tough to score on but lacked offense, reg decision Truax, 18-7.

190/197 Fullhart vs Brooks, Lee was one of my favorite all time Iowa bigs but Brooks on another level. Fullhart keeps it to a reg decision though, 18-10.

Hwt Hand vs Kerk, Hand was just a pup in '97 but big advantage Kerk, he probably majors him.

18-14 Iowa would be my final score prediction.

The NPR show "The 1A" did a segment about this. Really cool. What's your favorite cover song? What's the worst cover song?

www.the1a.org/shows/2018-01-18/take-me-on-the-art-of-the-cover-song

This was mentioned on the show. Pretty awesome.

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Hatred for both fan bases I know I know .. however imho I want ISU to beat the snot out of Illinois regardless of being from the BIG… I would rather root for ISU as many will hate and mock me for this I would rather see the home state little brother win….

Illinois has to be the most Illanoying program around both in BB and FB and if it were any other BT team playing ISU I would go for them but I definitely want ISU to win this one… no joke ISU could make the final four this year as I think they’re that damn good …

Go CyCLOWNS 🤡

On Friday the big man turns the ol 50. So, I'm gifting myself And the board a like whore thread with a different theme for each day. Who's with me!?!?!?

Day 1 Theme: Underboob! The best boob of all.
DAY 2: Guinness Book of World Records
DAY 3: My favorite move scenes
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It is all beginning to look a bit like the Volkswagen scandal: you remember, when regulators caught out the German car company for installing software which detected when diesel engines were in test mode and adjusted performance so that it flattered emissions figures.

A test by What Car magazine has revealed that the official figures for the range of electric cars over-estimates their real-life range by around a third. Vehicles were driven around a test track in Bedfordshire until they ran out of juice.

The result? A Lexus UX 300e (official range 273 miles) managed just 170 miles before slowing to a halt – 37.9 per cent less than advertised. A Volkswagen ID7 Pro (official range 383 miles) managed 254 and a Volvo XC40 Recharge (official range 331 miles) managed 252. Moreover, these are all supposedly long-range vehicles which retail at over £50,000 new.

I am no petrol-head. I would much rather have a clean electric vehicle, but sorry, I am still not buying one. Last week I drove up and down to the Scottish Highlands, with a door-to-door distance of 480 miles. With generous stops, it took me 11 hours. It was no problem in my diesel Volvo estate. I didn’t even have to fill up on the way up: the car averaged 59 miles to the gallon, giving it a range of around 700 miles. I simply don’t know how I am supposed to complete such a journey in an electric car, even if I was minded to pay £55,000 for one.

Say I was in that Volvo XC40 Recharge. Theoretically I could do the journey – just about – on a single charge. But that would require an overnight stop exactly half way because a rapid charger, assuming I could find one that was vacant and working, would only take the car from a 20 percent to 80 percent charge in a reasonable timeframe. In practice I would need to stop at least twice, and probably three times, spending around hour a time at some miserable service station.

And that is in a premium model. I once sat down and worked out how I could get to Scotland in a Nissan Leaf, fully-loaded and in cold weather, when even the advertised range for the car dropped to 99 miles. It was going to take at least seven hour-long stops – and even that relied on sites which in many cases offered only a single charger. Too bad if someone else was using it.

Even worse would be when I eventually reached Scotland. Last week I took a trip down the 22 mile single track road which leads to the back end of the Knoydart peninsula. I didn’t see any electric vehicles there, and no wonder. There is no hope whatsoever of charging a vehicle anywhere along that road – to attempt the journey I would end up feeling like Captain Scott fretting whether his rations were going to last to the South Pole and back.

Electric cars are practical as local runabouts, for motorists who have access to off-street parking within reach of an electric socket. But they are still not a practical solution for most of us. Nor are they likely to become so in the near future. If we plastered the country with rapid chargers it would blow out the grid. As the chief of Toyota recently pointed out, Western governments have been trying to push for a complete transition to electric vehicles in ignorance of the fact that many parts of the world do not have effective electricity grids.

Trying to jump straight to electric cars has condemned the whole effort to decarbonise road transport to failure. What I really wanted to buy, by the way, was not a diesel car but a hybrid petrol one, with a 50 mile electric-only range and a small petrol engine to provide back up for longer journeys. But no such vehicle seemed to exist when I was looking, and further innovation on hybrids has been undermined by the government’s pre-announced ban from 2035 onwards. As a result, manufacturers are being condemned to make vehicles which few of us will ever want to buy.

Democrats appear to be in panic mode as they scramble to save President Biden's re-election hopes from the threat of independent candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s campaign, a call hosted by the Democratic National Committee (DNC) revealed Tuesday afternoon.

The call with members of the press took place immediately after Kennedy announced tech entrepreneur Nicole Shanahan as his vice presidential running mate at a rally in Oakland, California, and included Rep. Robert Garcia, D-Calif., Pennsylvania Lieutenant Gov. Austin Davis, and Michigan state Sen. Mallory McMorrow, who all fretted that Kennedy would likely ruin any chance of Biden being re-elected.

"We are doing everything in our power to get President Biden and Vice President Harris reelected. It's critical that we take seriously every possible obstacle to that goal. And let me be clear, that's exactly what Robert F. Kennedy is in this election. He's a spoiler," Davis said.
McMorrow agreed, saying it was important for her to be on the call to share "how horrifying this campaign is and what it really means on the ground for Michigan."

"Him being in the race means that there is a greater likelihood that Donald Trump will become president again," she said.
"He's turning to Trump mega-donors to really support this, really, spoiler campaign. I think he's likely interested in trying to get Donald Trump elected. Maybe that's what this is about. And many of us are not sure, but he is someone that should not be taken seriously as a serious person. I mean, certainly his campaign is quite dangerous," Garcia said, appearing to launch his own conspiracy theory about Kennedy's candidacy.

His reference to former President Donald Trump's donors supporting Kennedy was likely referring to Timothy Mellon, the heir to the Mellon banking fortune who has given millions to outside groups supporting Trump's third run for the presidency. Last year, Mellon donated millions to American Values 2024, a super PAC backing Kennedy.

"The truth is that he was drafted into this race by Donald Trump's top supporters and is being financed in this race by Trump's largest donor. That isn't merely a coincidence," he said. "He has no realistic path to victory in Pennsylvania. All he can do is take away votes from President Biden and make it easier for Donald Trump to win, and we simply can't afford to let that happen."

Davis went on to accuse Kennedy of "deliberately" targeting Black people "with dangerous lies and conspiracy theories" about vaccines, and claimed that any suggestion he was an ally of the Black community was "frankly outrageous, and it's offensive."

McMorrow later added, "We cannot afford Donald Trump to be back in the White House, which is what is going to happen if people don't see RFK for what he actually is, which is Donald Trump with a Kennedy name slapped on him."

She went on to fret that Kennedy — like Green Party presidential candidate Jill Stein in 2016 — could spoil a key swing state like Michigan for Biden.

"You don't need significant support to throw an election to Donald Trump. We saw this play out in 2016 where Jill Stein got 50,000 votes and Hillary Clinton lost by 10,000 votes in Michigan. So it is this type of a campaign — and Kennedy should be smart enough to know better. But I don't think he does. I think his ego is in the way," she said.

Earlier this month, the DNC launched an effort to silence the threat from third-party candidates, namely Kennedy, in the form of a team that is expected to actively combat them with legal challenges and opposition research.

Democrat strategist Lis Smith, who helped lead Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg's 2020 campaign and is consulting for the DNC on the project, set off a storm of X posts and reposts following Kennedy's Tuesday speech, referring to the candidate as a "spoiler," and sharing a video where she accused Shanahan of buying her inclusion on the ticket by donating millions to boost Kennedy before she was named his running mate.

Recent polls have shown Kennedy, Stein and independent candidate Dr. Cornel West would pull significant support from both Biden and Trump, but with Biden appearing to be at risk of losing the most potential votes.

The latest RealClearPolitics average of polls has Kennedy reaching 15% in a three-way race against Biden and Trump. The average shows Trump ahead of Biden by 4 points.

During oral arguments in a case about social media censorship, Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson voiced concerns that the First Amendment restricts government too much, especially during important times like the COVID pandemic.

She questioned if the government should be able to pressure platforms to remove "harmful information" and worried the First Amendment operates in a way that hamstrings government action.

Critics have noted that during Jackson's confirmation hearings, she was unable to define the term "woman" when questioned by Sen. Marsha Blackburn.

Definition of 'woman
When asked to provide a definition for the word "woman," Judge Jackson responded that she couldn't do so.

As a judge, Jackson claims her role is to address disputes, consider arguments, and apply the law to make decisions. Sen. Blackburn expressed dissatisfaction with Judge Jackson's response.

'My biggest concern'
In response to questions surrounding the First Amendment, Jackson said, “My biggest concern is that your view has the First Amendment hamstringing the government in significant ways in the most important time periods. You seem to be suggesting that that duty cannot manifest itself in the government encouraging or even pressuring platforms to take down harmful information. So, can you help me?” she said.

'I’m really worried'
Jackson continued, “Because I’m really worried about that because you’ve got the First Amendment operating in an environment of threatening circumstances, from the government’s perspective, and you’re saying that the government can’t interact with the source of those problems.”

However, the Louisiana solicitor general responded that government can provide information to platforms but must comply with the First Amendment, and Rep. Jim Jordan criticized Jackson's view, noting the First Amendment is meant to restrain government overreach and censorship of political speech.

Compliance with the First Amendment
“Our position is not that the government can’t interact with the platforms there. They can and they should in certain circumstances like that, that present such dangerous issues for society and especially young people. But the way they do that has to be in compliance with the First Amendment. And I think that means they can give them all the true information that the platform needs and ask to amplify that,” Louisiana Solicitor General Benjamin Aguiñaga said.

Jackson's comments
Jackson's comments suggested she believes government should have more power over online speech during certain circumstances. “She said you’ve got the First Amendment ‘hamstringing the government.’ Well, that’s what it’s supposed to do, for goodness sake. It was literally one of the craziest things I’ve ever seen, that you could have a Supreme Court Justice say that in the oral argument made no sense to me,” Jordan said.

'That is frightening'
“That is frightening because if she really believes that, that is scary where we are heading. Understand what took place here. This was censorship by surrogate. This was big government telling big tech to take down speech that they disagreed with, and it was the most fundamental kind of speech. It was political speech," Jordan added.








I'm frightened also that we have someone on the U.S. Supreme Court who feels so indifferent to our rights granted under the 1st Amendment to the United States Constitution. Especially considering this person doesn't know the difference between a man and a woman.

She's in over her head for sure.

The NFL’s owners on Monday ratified a proposal by the league’s competition committee to prohibit hip-drop tackles. Such tackles now will be subject to 15-yard penalties during games and potential fines afterward.

The NFL is enacting the ban over the objection of the NFL Players Association. League leaders said they respected the players’ opinion on the matter but they could not, they said, ignore an injury rate for the technique that is 20 to 25 times higher than that for standard tackles. Members of the NFL’s health and safety staff said they studied 20,000 tackles over recent seasons to make that determination.

The new rule defines a hip-drop tackle as occurring when a tackler grabs a ballcarrier, swivels and leaves the ground, then falls on the back of the ballcarrier’s lower leg. The technique resulted in high-profile injuries last season to Baltimore Ravens tight end Mark Andrews and Miami Dolphins wide receiver Tyreek Hill, among others.

Rep. Annie Kuster (D-N.H.), chair of the influential New Democratic Coalition, will not seek reelection this year.
Kuster, who was first elected to Congress in 2012 and has served six terms on the Hill, said in a statement Wednesday that she will retire at the end of this Congress.

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“This work has been many things — rewarding, frustrating, inspiring, and challenging. But, more than anything, it has been an honor,” Kuster said in the statement. “As your congresswoman, I have had the chance to meet directly with the people who make New Hampshire such an incredible place to live, work, and raise a family. From our small business owners to our first responders, farmers, teachers, veterans, health care providers, seniors, and local leaders, every conversation has been insightful and has guided my efforts in Washington.”




Kuster has led the centrist New Democratic Coalition in a thinly divided House, which gave the group more influence in the chamber. In her statement, she said she plans to chair the caucus until her term ends “to help pass comprehensive, bipartisan legislation to move our country forward.”

Follow Election 2024
During her time in Congress, Kuster has pushed for legislation to address addiction and mental health, and, as a survivor of sexual assault, she founded a task force to work on policy that would reduce sexual violence and provide survivors with support.
In the House, she was a member of the Veterans’ Affairs Committee, where she helped shepherd legislation to protect veterans’ small businesses. She also sat on the Agriculture Committee and is a current member of the Energy and Commerce Committee.

The congresswoman has also been open about her experience during the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection at the U.S. Capitol.


“What I think about every day is what would have happened to our democracy if a group of members of Congress were either killed or taken hostage,” Kuster told WMUR9 days before the third anniversary of the attack.
In 2022, Kuster won reelection by a little more than 11 points in New Hampshire’s 2nd District.
The district — which includes the state capital, Concord, and its second-largest city, Nashua — has voted for Democratic candidates in the last six presidential elections, most recently supporting Joe Biden with 54 percent of the vote against then-President Donald Trump, who received 45 percent of the vote.

Yesterday at the beach, a young woman with a spectacular body and a very small bikini paraded around for awhile to make sure everybody saw her. Then she got onto her chaise lounge and removed her top.

I was tempted to go over and tell her she really got her money's worth on the boob job. I mean, she laid flat, but they didn't. However, I thought that might not be proper behavior.

I saw one guy immediately turn his chair so he was looking away, clearly so he wouldn't have to keep trying to not look at her. I simply kept trying not to be seen looking at her. The women on the beach spent a lot of time furtively talking to one another.

Two points (no pun intended):

1. Nudity on this particular beach is technically illegal. You don't see it often. I do not know if any arrests, though.

2. Taking a pic would definitely have not been appropriate. Sorry. Not sorry for you guys. Sorry for me.

A study published last year, looking at data from more than 7,400 U.S. high school seniors who said they had used alcohol or marijuanaat least once, found drinking alcohol was associated with more unsafe driving, damage to relationships with friends and romantic partners, and regret about actions while under the influence of alcohol, especially among females.

"We always worry about pot as a gateway drug," Carroll said, "but research shows us that about 9 percent of people who experiment with pot will become dependent or abuse it. The percent that later become dependent or abuse alcohol is greater than 20 percent. So more people who use alcohol are actually going to have a problem with it later in life."


Which is worse?

A Coralville woman has been charged with stealing nearly $30,000 from a youth softball association while she worked as the organization’s treasurer.



Laura Margaret Mangrich, 41, is charged with first-degree fraudulent practice, first-degree theft and unauthorized use of credit card.


Mangrich was the treasurer for the Iowa City Girls Softball Association between January 2020 and January 2024. Between May 19, 2020 and Oct. 30, 2023, she stole $29,569.34 from the association, according to a criminal complaint.




She withdrew $25,410.25 from the association’s bank account in cash, made $1,422.05 worth of unauthorized purchases on the association’s debit card and wrote $2,737.04 in unauthorized checks, according to the criminal complaint. She also falsified an end-of-year report in 2022 to hide her thefts, it states.


According to 2020 public tax forms filed by the nonprofit, the association’s net assets at the end of the year were $54,194. Mangrich’s position and other board member positions were unpaid.


Mangrich was arrested Monday and released from jail for pretrial supervision after having her first appearance in court.