Hasta La Gadget!

Communities are rising up green and steeling for a “states’ rights” battle over the cultivation and sale of recreational marijuana — despite a warning about a crackdown by the federal government.

“There’s still a federal law that we need to abide by when it comes to recreational marijuana,” White House press secretary Sean Spicer said last week. “Recreational use … is something the Department of Justice will be looking into,” he said, emphasizing: “I do believe you’ll see greater enforcement” of federal law.

Pot remains illegal under the federal Controlled Substances Act, even though recreational use of marijuana has been approved in eight states and Washington, D.C. It’s legal for medical use in 30 states.

Now growers, smokers and even state officials are preparing to guard the crop across the nation. A major concern is revenue. The non-profit Tax Foundation estimates that a mature legalized marijuana industry would generate up to $28 billion in tax revenue for federal, state and local governments. Colorado raked in $70 million in taxes in 2015, exceeding expectations.

A report on jobs predicts that the legal marijuana industry in the U.S. could create more than 250,000 jobs by the year 2020, Forbes reports. That’s more than projected job gains from manufacturing, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

In Washington, the first state with Colorado to legalize recreational use of the drug, the state attorney general vowed to defy a federal crackdown.

“I will resist any efforts by the Trump administration to undermine the will of the voters in Washington state,” Ferguson told the Seattle Times.

Ferguson and state Gov. Jay Inslee sent a letter Feb. 15 to U.S. Attorney Jeff Sessions outlining the arguments for keeping pot legal in the state, not least of which is that the legitimate marijuana industry is expected to generate a whopping increase of $272 million in taxes in 2017.

A federal crackdown would only force the industry “back underground, returning bumper profits to criminal groups while once again depleting government resources,” the letter adds.

Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper opposed legalizing marijuana until voters approved it in his state and it’s “now part of our constitution,” he said on NBC’s “Meet The Press” on Sunday. “Over 60 percent of American people are now in a state where either medical or recreational marijuana is legalized. It’s become one of the great social experiments of our time.”

He told MSNBC on Friday: “I think it’s the wrong time to pull back from this experiment, and if the federal government’s going to come and begin closing in and arresting people that are doing what’s legal in different states, my god, it creates a level of conflict that’s going to be very difficult.”

In California Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom fired off a letter on Friday to Donald Trump urging him to “work in partnership with California and the other … states that have legalized recreational marijuana for adult use.” The government “must not strip the legal and publicly-supported industry of its business, and hand it back to drug cartels and criminals,” he added.

California legalized recreational use of the drug in the last election. Officials for the state agency formulating specific pot regulations said last week that they’re proceeding with plans to license growers and sellers, despite Spicer’s warning.

“Until we see any sort of formal plan from the federal government, it’s full speed ahead for us,” Alex Traverso, a spokesman for the California Bureau of Medical Cannabis Regulation, told the Los Angeles Times.

Republican California Rep. Dana Rohrabacher has introduced a bill called “Respect State Marijuana Laws,” H.R. 975, which would block enforcement of federal laws against local operations that comply with states regulations on legalized pot. It has been co-sponsored by 14 members of Congress. 

Rohrabacher is part of a new Congressional Cannabis Caucus which also includes GOP Rep. Don Young of Alaska and Democrats Earl Blumenauer of Oregon and Colorado’s Jared Polis, Fortune reports.

Democratic Oregon Sen. Ron Wyden has also called on the federal government to “respect the decisions of Oregon voters.”

“Instead, the Trump Administration is threatening states’ rights, including the rights of one in five Americans who live in a state where marijuana is legal,” Wyden said. “I will fight hard against ridiculous federal government intrusions into our state.”

Recreational growers and users could switch horses for a time and move into the medical marijuana field, which doesn’t seem high on the administration’s radar. Or the business will simply go underground.

During his presidential campaign Donald Trump said marijuana use should be left “up to the states,” reinforcing a common Republican battle cry of “states rights.” Asked specifically in an interview in 2016 about legalized recreational use of marijuana in Colorado, Trump responded: “I think it’s up to the states, yeah. I’m a states person. I think it should be up to the states, absolutely.”

But he’s apparently changed his tune now, no doubt because of Sessions’ antipathy to the drug. Sessions said in April that “good people don’t smoke marijuana.”

Spicer came under fire for linking marijuana use to opioid addictions. “You see the opioid addiction crisis blossoming, the last thing we should be doing is encouraging” marijuana use, Spicer said. A 2017 analysis of research literature by the National Academy of Sciences found little evidence linking marijuana use opioid addictions. Some medical experts even believe that marijuana could be used to help addicts wean themselves from opioids.

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There’s been a deluge of late-night TV hosts named Jim helming award shows lately (Jimmy Fallon at the Golden Globes, James Corden at the Grammys). While the other Jims took a few shots at Donald Trump throughout their respective nights, Jimmy Kimmel unloaded in a yuuuge way at the Oscars on Sunday.

Kimmel started the show by talking about the divide within the country and explaining how to actually make America great again.

“If every one of you took a minute to reach out to one person you disagree with, someone you like, and have a positive, considerate conversation — not as liberals or conservatives, as Americans — if we would all do that, we can make America great again,” said the host.

Kimmel didn’t exclusively pick on Trump. He also heroically called out Mel Gibson.

And he, of course, poked fun at his No. 1 frenemy, Matt Damon, ripping on him for giving the role in “Manchester By The Sea” to Casey Affleck and taking a part in “The Great Wall.”

“He handed what turned out to be an Oscar-caliber role over to his friend and made a Chinese ponytail movie instead. And that movie, ‘The Great Wall,’ went on to lose $80 million. Smooth move, dumbass.” said Kimmel.

Things always went back to Trump.

“I want to say thank you to President Trump. I mean, remember last year when it seemed like the Oscars were racist?” said Kimmel.

The host brought the segment to a close recalling how President Trump called Meryl Streep overrated after she spoke out against the president during the Golden Globes. 

“From her mediocre early work in ‘The Deer Hunter’ and ‘Out Of Africa’ to her underwhelming performances in ‘Kramer vs. Kramer’ and ‘Sophie’s Choice,’ Meryl Streep has phoned it in for more than 50 films over the course of her lackluster career,” quipped Kimmel before calling on the audience to applaud for the legendary actress.

It was a bigly way to open the Oscars.

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The White House on Monday will send federal departments a budget proposal containing the defense spending increase President Donald Trump promised, financed partly by cuts to the U.S. State Department, Environmental Protection Agency and other non-defense programs, two officials familiar with the proposal said.

One of the officials said Trump’s request for the Pentagon included more money for shipbuilding, military aircraft and establishing “a more robust presence in key international waterways and chokepoints” such as the Strait of Hormuz and South China Sea.

A second official said the State Department’s budget could be cut by as much as 30 percent, which would force a major restructuring of the department and elimination of programs.

The officials requested anonymity because the draft budget had not been made public yet. The White House had no immediate comment.

Trump, in a speech to conservative activists on Friday, promised “one of the greatest military buildups in American history.”

Some defense experts have questioned the need for a large increase in U.S. military spending, which already stands at roughly $600 billion annually. By contrast, the United States spends about $50 billion annually on the State Department and foreign assistance.

The amounts that Trump is proposing to add to the Pentagon budget and trim elsewhere are not yet publicly known.

The budget plans that the White House is expected to send to departments and agencies on Monday are just one stage in a lengthy process.

The agencies can argue for more funding, and final spending plans must be approved by the U.S. Congress.

Trump’s budget assumes annual economic growth of 2.4 percent, the second official said. While campaigning for the presidency last year, Trump called for a “national goal” of 4 percent economic growth.

Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, speaking on Fox News earlier on Sunday, said Trump’s budget would not seek cuts in federal social programs such as Social Security and Medicare.

(Reporting by Washington Newsroom; Writing by Warren Strobel; Editing by Peter Cooney)

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There’s no telling how far Auli’i Cravalho will go after getting through this.

While singing the Oscar-nominated “How Far I’ll Go” during Sunday’s Academy Awards, the 16-year-old star from Disney’s “Moana” experienced an unexpected onstage gaffe, appearing to get hit in the head by a flag-like stage prop. 

Cravalho just finished singing the lyric, “What is wrong with me?” before seemingly getting brushed in the dome. The ocean kept helping Moana throughout the movie. Where were you on that one, dude?

Despite getting nailed in the noggin, the actress kept on singing. And she killed it.

That’s how you go from on-screen Disney hero to one in real life.

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Lin-Manuel Miranda began his Oscar night tearing up while watching a prerecorded message from the cast of “Hamilton,” who performed a medley of his songs — including the Oscar-nominated “How Far I’ll Go” from “Moana.”

It’d be fair for him to assume that would be the highlight of the night, but Seth Rogen gave that moment a run for its money.

While presenting the award for Best Film Editing with Michael J. Fox, Rogen remarked, “I’m at the Oscars with Michael J. Fox, a DeLorean, and I’m wearing future shoes. All I have to do is sing the ‘Schuyler Sisters’ song from ‘Hamilton’ in front of the world, and I will have completed my entire bucket list.”

Cue amazing, joyful reaction from Miranda:

But Rogen didn’t stop there.

“Look around, look around, at how lucky we are to be alive right now,” he sang — sounding just a bit different from the Broadway performers who play the Schuyler sisters in the musical.

“Angelica …” Rogen continued, clearly waiting for Fox to chime in.

”Eliza,” Fox added, making theater nerds worldwide squeal with delight. “And Peggy!” Rogen finished. 

Let’s cut to Lin for another reaction:

How lucky we are to be alive right now, indeed. Also, Seth: Hook us up with tickets? Please?

Check out the entire moment below.

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