Austin Democratic Rep. Elliott Naishtat today filed HB 1534, which would create an affirmative defense to prosecution for pot possession by bona fide medi-pot patients. The bill is a reprisal of HB 658, which Naishtat filed in 2005 with co-sponsor Rep. Suzanna Gratia Hupp, R-Lampasas, and former Austin GOP Rep. Terry Keel (legislation that was itself a reprisal of a medi-mari bill Keel filed in 2001), and would put the onus on the patient defendant to prove their suffering – and that a doctor counseled about the use of medi-pot in order to alleviate said suffering – in order to enact the medi-mari defense, Naishtat said in a press release.

For sure, the bill is a far cry from medi-pot legalization, but it’s a good, solid start. Indeed, as it stands, a medi-pot patient could raise a medical defense to pot possession prosecution – such as the defense contemplated by Naishtat’s bill – but there’s no guarantee the court would allow it, which, to date, leaves patients vulnerable to the whims – and prejudices – of the criminal justice system.

Says the Blotter, "About 30 units from the Austin Fire Department are on the scene of a three-alarm restaurant fire inside the Inter-Continental Stephen F. Austin Hotel downtown. A fire department spokesman said hotel residents on the third, fourth and fifth floors were evacuated and have been unable to return. Traffic is blocked on Congress Avenue between Sixth and Seventh Streets and is being rerouted through side streets."

Glad you noticed.

The ice-skating children, that is. Yesterday, Chaparral Ice - the folks that operate the Northcross ice-skating rink, popular for its children's skating and hockey leagues, anchoring the few remaining tenants at Northcross Mall - sent out a press release describing how they've been "caught in the crossfire" between Wal-Mart and Responsible Growth for Northcross.

"A threatened court injunction seeking to halt the opening of a new Wal-Mart Supercenter at the site by … RG4N and local neighborhood associations will interrupt the locally owned ice-skating business’ longstanding plan to move their current operations at Northcross to a standalone rink at the site this August," says Chaparral President Charles Collins in the release, warning the injunction will cost him "up to a million dollars," putting Chaparral on ice - bankrupt ice. You see, they apparently planned to move into the vacant Bealls department store in Northcross prior to the controversy and now fear if RG4N succeeds, they'll be out.

“We want all those who are contributing to RG4N’s litigation against the city of Austin and Lincoln Properties to know that they are helping to fund the possible bankruptcy of at least one of the local businesses they claim to be protecting,” says Collins. Burn!

Full release below the fold.

In case you couldn't tell, it's a new day around these parts. That's right … Stephen Colbert has his own ice cream!

Speaking of which, it was quite an Austintacious episode of the Report last night, with Colbert weighing in on the Perry human-papillomavirus vaccination controversy in "The Word" and a surprisingly hilarious interview with Lance Armstrong. "Being retired from biking, isn't that like being retired from recess?" In case you missed it, The Colbert Report replays tonight at 7:30pm, on Comedy Central.

Oh yeah, we got a new Web site, too.

UPDATE: Here are the clips.

Colbert on the guv's executive order:



Colbert "nails" Armstrong:

This whole business about Iran is, of course, complete bullshit. And like most everything about the Bush administration, it was predicted by Orwell. Always keep shifting the focus, always keep moving to a new enemy. This is not exclusive to Bush by any means, but his administration by far has proven the most adept of any American regime at proving Orwell to be a prophet. As Daniel Kurtzman wrote early in the war on terrorism: "[1984] was intended to be read as a warning about the evils of totalitarianism – not a how-to manual."

When we shifted our focus from al Qaeda to Iraq, I thought of the following passage from 1984. And as Bush now tries to move our gaze from Iraq to Iran, I think of it again.

The other night, TCB's dreams of one day going to sleep before dawn were dashed yet again when The Last Picture Show came on at 2:45am. On TCM, no less, meaning Cybill Shepherd's iconic (once upon a time, anyway) diving-board scene wasn't digitally blurred and, more importantly, zero commercial interruptions. Released in 1971, this movie has been a longtime favorite for many reasons: the unforgiving black-and-white cinematography, Ben Johnson's bravura Oscar-winning performance as deceptively gruff Sam the Lion, even the idea that back then a trip to Wichita Falls was a big night on the town. But as good as the acting, direction, and screenplay are, The Last Picture Show really belongs to Hank Williams Sr.

As you may have heard by now, U.S. senator and Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama is coming to Austin: Feb. 23 at 2pm at Auditorium Shores. (Ed. note: it was originally scheduled on the UT campus, but has since been moved.) Your best hope for free tickets is probably here.

This is not his first trip to Austin: Salon.com has this story about Fox News' attempt at its own version of The Daily Show, and it contains a skit mocking Obama that even we'll admit is mildly funny (better than most of what we've seen on Saturday Night Live's "Weekend Update" this year). But what really caught our eye when we clicked on the YouTube is that several shots from the skit appear to be in and on the grounds of the Texas Capitol, including a hug between Obama and Texas Monthly Editor Evan Smith, and punctuated by the dead giveaway of an Obama fan in burnt orange flashing the "Hook 'Em Horns" sign.

We were lucky enough to miss the president's news conference earlier today, but, suffice to say, there was saber-rattling a'plenty at Iran. For a concise explanation and delineation of all the facts from the bullshit, please read this post over at Talking Points Memo:

"A reporter friend told me recently that the administration is saying on background that the really slam-dunk evidence they're not yet able to release. But as I told this person, after the experience of 2002 and 2003, mere self-respect prevents me from putting any credence whatsoever in such claims.

If they had the evidence, we'd be seeing it. But without any solid evidence, the president still wants to fool the American public into believing these bogus claims.

After the Iran war, we'll probably be walked back and shown that President Bush never really said that (Iran) was giving these weapons to the people using them against U.S. troops. He didn't fib. We just didn't listen closely enough. So before all our soldiers die and before the president makes yet a million more screwups for which we'll pay for decades into the future, let's look closely at what he's actually saying."

Amen.