Doris "Granny D" Haddock died peacefully today in her Dublin, New Hampshire family home at 7:18 p.m. Tuesday, March 9, 2010. She was 100 years old. Born in 1910 in Laconia, New Hampshire, she attended Emerson College and lived through two world wars and the Great Depression. She was an activist for her community and for her country, remaining active until the return of chronic respiratory problems four days ago

In the 1960s, she and her husband, James Haddock, Sr., were instrumental in halting planned nuclear tests that would have destroyed a native fishing village and region in Alaska. A public memorial service will be held this summer.

Video of Granny D when she was last in Portland December 2005

While the Friends of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) were holding a $1,000 a plate fundraiser at the ritzy Waldorf Astoria hotel in Manhattan, hundreds of Palestine solidarity activists from a wide array of organizations took to the streets to protest Israeli war crimes, the blockade of Gaza, and the occupation of Palestine. READ MORE | PHOTO: Ellen Davidson

RELATED: The Sixth Annual Israeli Apartheid Week 2010 | Israeli Aparthied Week at UH March 8th to 12th

On Tuesday, March 9th, the Santa Cruz City Council voted 6-0 to support a recommendation from the city staff which bans the opening of an additional medical marijuana dispensary in Santa Cruz. This was the first reading of the vote and there will be a second vote in two weeks to finalize the ruling.

Under the new ordinance, Greenway Compassionate Relief and Santa Cruz Patients Collective (SCPC), the two existing medical marijuana dispensaries, will be permitted to operate a cultivation facility up to 3,000 square feet, which must comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).

A few thoughts on last week’s G20 appeal hearings

Last week, I was in Pittsburgh again to deal with my appeal on my summary offense conviction of “disorderly conduct”. At this time, there were also a few other appeal hearings from other G20 arrestees for similar offenses. So on March 1st, I went into a hearing of four other G20 Arrestees to get an idea of how the summary appeal process works in Pennsylvania. There were three students and one non-student – all of whom were either arrested on the evening of September 25th near the University of Pittsburgh or the day earlier at Lawrenceville during the un-permitted march.

CHICAGO – Federal Judge Wayne R. Andersen issued an historic ruling on Friday in Chicago, allowing a lawsuit that charges former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld with authorizing torture to go forward. Rumsfeld argued that, as a high-placed government official, he was immune from allegations of torture and that the Constitution allowed a person in his position to order interrogation techniques that are widely considered by human rights experts to be torture. The Court rejected both arguments and held that high-placed cabinet officials can be held personally liable if they authorize the use of torture. Read more.