Billionaire finance guru George Soros has donated $1 million to the Drug Policy Action Committee to Tax and Regulate Marijuana – Yes on Prop. 19,” according to Bloomberg. The publication confirmed the donation with Soros’ spokesman after finding a filing on the website of the California Secretary of State.

The donation news came on the same day Soros had an opinion piece published in The Wall Street Journal focusing on why he supports the legalization of marijuana. The decriminalization of marijuana will be on the California ballot next month.

Soros’ made a few points to defend his point.

1) Those arrested for possessing small amounts of marijuana account for 40% of drug arrests.

2) Decriminalizing marijuana would save billions of public funds spent on law enforcement and incarceration.

3) There is racial inequality among the arrests. According to the article, African Americans are no more likely than other Americans to use marijuana, but they are supposedly three, five, or up to 10 times more likely to be arrested for possession.

4) Classifying marijuana as an illegal drug indirectly supports the drug trade in other nations, specifically in Mexico. The Latin American Commission on Drugs and Democracy reportedly recommended the decriminalization of marijuana in the Americas.

5) Money might be better spent on education and prevention because it is already reportedly easier for teenagers to purchase marijuana than alcohol.

Click here for the Bloomberg article

Click here for The Wall Street Journal post

Click here for the full text of Prop 19.

Click here for the official Prop 19 website.

Cable network TLC, a unit of Discovery Communications (TreeHugger, Animal Planet), has hit a new ethical low that might lead to its new ratings high. The network is launching a reality show about Sarah Palin and her clan dubbed Sarah Palin’s Alaska. Apparently this new show from the people that brought us Sister Wives, a “reality” show on a family of polygamists (one husband, three wives & 13 children), is showing us folks in the Lower 48 how the Palins live in Alaska, where she says she’d rather be than immersed in politics.

Amy Winehouse might have a fighting chance thanks to a new drug called Vivitrol. U.S. government agency Food and Drug Administration approved Vivitrol to treat and prevent relapse after patients with opioid addictions complete detox.

The new drug is an extended-release formula based on naltrexone that is administered through an intramuscular injection monthly. Naltrexone functions by blocking opioid receptors in the brain, thereby blocking the effects of drugs such as morphine and heroin. In 2006, it was approved for use with alcoholics.

A study tested the safety of the drug for six months and 36% of the patients treated with the drug committed to their treatment for the six months, sans drugs, compared with 23% in the placebo group.

Those using Vivitrol must not have any opioids in their system. Those taking the drug are also cautioned about missing a dose or using after the treatment with Vivitrol concludes, as it can be easier to overdose if they start abusing drugs again.

Side effects of the drug include: nausea, tiredness, headache, dizziness, vomiting, decreased appetite, painful joints, and muscle cramps. Serious side effects include reactions at the injection site, liver damage, allergic reactions including hives, rashes, swelling of the face, and pneumonia, depression, suicide, suicidal thoughts, and suicidal behavior.

Vivitrol is made by Alkermes.

The spending power of wealthy Americans seems stable as luxury stores posted better September numbers than the usual big box retailers. Last week, the Financial Times reported that U.S. luxury department stores beat the rest of the retail industry in September.

Neiman Marcus said sales increased 4.7% last month, against September 2009, with big movement of accessories and men’s clothing. Meanwhile, Saks, which recently announced a few store closings, posted a 6.5% jump in same-store sales, while Nordstrom posted a sales increase 7.5% and saw transactions increase at its main stores for the 13th straight month.

Meanwhile, stores serving middle-class Americans, such as Macy’s, JC Penney, and Kohl’s, posted stable sales, while Abercrombie & Fitch saw comparable sales jump 13%.

International Council of Shopping Centers Chief Economist Michael Niemira noted that the ICSC Same store Sales Index for luxury retailers increased 6.6% in September, trumping the 2.6% increase for the index of 32 chain stores.

Niemira noted that the jump is encouraging ahead of the holiday shopping season because “the top 20% of households by income account for nearly 40% of total consumption.”

Still there are mixed feelings about the impending holiday season. The American Express Publishing survey of attitudes among the nation’s richest, conducted by Harrison Group, stressed a “subdued” approach to the holiday season. A monthly update based on interviews with 805 families with discretionary spending money of at least $100,000 said most plan to spend the same as last year. Meanwhile, the Survey on Luxury and Wealth in America predicted that spending by the rich would jump by $1.1 billion, or 4%, because another 400,000 families moved into the affluent bracket. All of this comes amid recent job reports, which left the unemployment rate at around 9.6%.

According to a recent U.K. survey from investment firm Skandia, all it takes is £5,ooo to make people happy. The Telegraph of London reports that according to the survey, 82% of respondents would be happy if they have £5,000 in savings, up from 66% six years ago. In U.S. dollars, £5,000 is about $8,000, which many Americans don’t have in cash.

The folks at Skandia attribute the survey results to the fact that most individuals are saving more amid the recession and recovery, so there are new expectations of the kind of savings that give people peace of mind. Still, the irony is that less people today could pay off their debts with that amount of savings. Just one-third of people would be able to settle their non-mortgage debts with £5,000 or less, a drop from 44% in 2004.

Scientists in England have successfully implanted a set of artificial corneas and hope the operation and development will eventually lead to widespread use of such products, which could help those with scarring and other damage that hinders sight. Click here for the complete article.

Chinese telecom manufacturer Huawei has hired U.S. startup Amerilink Telecom, which was founded by ex-Sprint execs, to help gain more business in the U.S. Click here for the original article.

U.S. researchers from Harvard University have discovered what appear to be two planets, which were orbiting a star. It’s possible there is a third planet about the size of Earth. Follow this link for the full report.

Billionaire and art benefactor Eli Broad is at it again, helping to foster the arts. In his latest move, he and his wife, Edythe, revealed plans to start a new museum in Los Angeles to house their collection. The downtown museum will be called the Broad Collection and will cost up to $100 million to make. Bloomberg has the complete report

FRIENDS WITH BENEFITS -- Pilot -- Pictured: (l-r) Ryan Hansen as Ben, Danneel Harris as Sara -- Photo by: Dean Hendler/NBC

NBC is hoping the countless single heterosexual men and women in America will tune into two new shows that demonstrate the many facets of modern love and what people do to find it. Or should we say lust. Based in Chicago, one new show, Friends with Benefits, stars five young adults searching for love, and satisfying lust cravings, sometimes, all in the same night.

The show comes from Executive Producers Brian Grazer and David Nevins of Parenthood and Arrested Development, Director David Dobkin of Wedding Crashers, and writers Scott Neustadter and Michael H. Weber of 500 Days of Summer. The storyline follows the hunt for love by the five protagonists: Ben, Sara, Hoon, Aaron and Riley, who often act as more than friends. If you’ve ever gone on a date, been disappointed, and then texted your friends with benefits partner from the bathroom to plan a post-date rendezvous, you’ll likely cozy up to this half-hour sitcom.

Another new show, with an impressive cast of producers and directors, is Love Bites. However, despite the impressive team and common theme, the acting seems forced and the writing predictable. Based in San Francisco, the one-hour drama from Cindy Chupack of Sex and the City and Working Title Films (Love Actually and Bridget Jones) is a new show about the fibs people make and games people play for love and sex, from fiances learning to use sex toys to pretending to be a virgin. The show stars Becki Newton, Greg Grunberg and Constance Zimmer with Executive Producers Chupack, Marc Buckland of My Name Is Earl and Felicity, Eric Fellner and Tim Bevan of Love Actually and Bridget Jones films, and Shelley McCrory. Both are new for the 2010-2011 season.

A new study published in the Tobacco Control journal suggests that the major tobacco companies are getting around the rules barring advertising to kids on television by tapping YouTube.

Cigarette manufacturing at the Philip Morris USA Manufacturing Center in Richmond, VA

Though the five major cigarette makers deny it, some suggest there are videos on YouTube with product placement-style promotions of certain brands, according to The Los Angeles Times. The companies deny this allegation but some say many videos appear professionally made and even use songs and images the companies own the rights to.

Click here for the complete article from The Los Angeles Times

Friday morning was pretty eventful since I learned that even gang members like Starbucks. In the East Village and Alphabet City, even in a post-Rudy Giuliani New York, one expects their fair share of shady folks, grifters and junkies. But in Gramercy Park, one expects a bit of suburbia in the city.

So imagine this, I’m on Third and 15th in the Starbucks getting what has become the usual–grande iced coffee unsweetened. I approach the milk bar and see a man standing next to me. He’s sporting a grifter kind of dress–baggy jeans, flip flops, shapeless shirt, ungroomed facial hair–you get the drill. But he’s in Starbucks. Bums usually save their pennies for Pabst.

So I’m pouring the skim milk and tossing the ice when I see three dots on his hand. Like a nice, apparently naive woman, I ask what they are. I know they are suspect but it does not occur to me that they might be something I should not ask about directly. However, without hesitation sir launches into a religious spiel about some religion and book that says we are descendants of a combination between aliens and humans. It’s at this moment I see the hospital bracelet on his left wrist. Recent Bellevue alum??

Image courtesy of http://www.njgangfree.org/

Now, I’m trying to get the right flavor coffee and find a way to exit, when likely because he saw my profile, (I do not have a cute Irish nose) he goes–you’re Jewish right? Given my paranoid parents and the fact that a Muslim cabbie just got sliced simply for being Muslim I hesitate. Why I ask him a few times until I acquiesce. Yes, I’m Jewish. To which he replies, So am I. I respond, well then happy new year soon. Bye.

The rest of the walk to work, I am looking over my shoulder. Once at the office a few minutes later, I commence Googling. I figure I should know what this is because after all, GASP shock horror-I’m moving to Jersey City. Much as people tell me I’m in the best area and it’s totally safe, I know the history and truth about JC’s reputation. There are some parts I will never visit or get close to. I’m old enough to know it’s not exploration-it’s unnecessary exposure.

So, ultimately I realize that the dots, in the shape of a triangle on the top of the hand between the index finger and thumb, are likely a gang sign. While Urban Dictionary naively labels it as a sign worn by some Latinos, the New Jersey Attorney General’s Juvenile Justice Commission office has kindly put together this Gang Awareness Guide. Turns out my fellow Starbucks customer is or was a Blood. The three dots are a dog paw sign.

It’s not as though I was totally naive. I’d like to think I knew more than most Americans. I’m familiar with MS-13, Bloods, Crips and Latin Kings, and their respective colors and tattoos like teardrops and spider webs. But, apparently there’s a lot to learn and with a shit job market, we better all be prepared for a decent amount of crime. More money may mean more problems, but it’s better than no money at all.

Click here for the Gang Awareness Guide. In addition to detailing tattoos, signs and phrases, it also details how parents can keep kids out the gang scene.

Click here for another resource for parents.

A Wall Street Journal article delves into the debate surrounding New York Fashion Week and its move to Lincoln Center, where unions are fighting fashionistas. The fashion week folks want to choose workers for setup but the union for stagehands says their members usually get jobs for work on the premises. Fashion Week starts September 9.

Click here for the full report.

Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick passed a law that aims to help women with postpartum depression. According to the Associated Press article,the law will force health insurers in the New England state to submit yearly reports on their work to screen for postpartum depression. Passed on August 10, it also forces the Department of Public Health to create regulations and policies to deal with the form of depression, including the development of public and professional education programs and screening tools.

Target is under the microscope for supporting an anti-gay Minnesota-based gubernatorial candidate. Now, a trio of major shareholders is among those slamming the contribution, and asking the retailer to change its donation process to prevent similar issues in the future. Click here for the Los Angeles Times report.

New research suggests that doing yoga three times a week may help calm people, as it boosts the levels of the amino acid, GABA. When interviewed, the subjects that did yoga were less anxious and reported being in a better mood. The Telegraph of London reports.

Alternative energy is the subject of much debate, with more countries attempting to find reasonably priced alternatives to fossil fuels, but one university is looking to liquor for the answer. According to a report from New Energy World Network, Edinburgh Napier University has developed a way to use the byproducts of whisky to create biofuel, in a project funded by the Scottish Enterprise’s Proof of Concept program. The technology for developing biofuel from whisky was inspired by a process developed by Chaim Weizmann, a Jewish refugee chemist that helped create the state of Israel. The university plans to create a spinoff company to make the fuel and sell it at the pumps. According to Biofuel Research Centre Director Professor Martin Tangney, the European Union aims to have biofuels comprise 10% of all fuel by 2020.