Capitol Fax.com - Your Illinois News Radar

Thursday, Nov 29, 2018 - Posted by Rich Miller

* From the governor’s office…

Gov. Bruce Rauner today asked the Illinois Investment Policy Board (IIPB) to investigate the listing practices of home-sharing company Airbnb to determine if there is a violation of Illinois state law prohibiting investment in companies engaged in boycott, divestment or sanction (BDS) against the Jewish state.

Airbnb Inc., the San Francisco-based online marketplace that its members use to list properties for lodging or other tourism experiences, recently decided to remove all listings in Jewish settlements in the West Bank, a development that Rauner called “abhorrent and discriminatory.”

“We find Airbnb’s decision highly disturbing and we are calling on the company to reverse its West Bank decision,” Rauner said. “We are also looking into ways that we can exert pressure on Airbnb to end its prejudicial policy against the Jewish state.”

“We must not — and will not — remain silent when we detect discrimination of the sort being practiced by Airbnb,” Rauner told the IIPB in a letter released today. “An investigation — and the scrutiny that accompanies it — could impact the behavior of investors around the country if Airbnb follows through with a reported potential public stock offering and these concerning policies remain in place.”

Under Rauner, Illinois became the first state in the nation to pass a law aimed at halting discriminatory business practices against Israel. The country is one of the state’s most important business, education and cultural partners.

* He’s holding a press conference right now on this and other things, including the veto session…

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The rest of the story

Thursday, Nov 29, 2018 - Posted by Rich Miller

* One of the oldest ploys by interest groups here is to trot out a preacher to use race to make their case for them and the Tribune fell for it hook, line and sinker…

Anti-marijuana forces warned Wednesday that legalization will allow white corporate exploitation of minority customers, comparing its effects to those of alcohol and tobacco.

The Rev. Gregory Seal Livingston of New Hope Baptist Church said that legalization will amount to marijuana companies “pimping” blacks and Hispanics.

“Profit is the motive,” he said. Livingston spoke in downtown Chicago with several other members of Healthy and Productive Illinois, a group that opposes legalization and is supported by Smart Approaches to Marijuana, a national anti-cannabis organization.

Illinois has already decriminalized the possession of small amounts of marijuana, which takes away much of the social justice argument in favor of legalization, said Livingston, who has been active in social justice issues in Chicago.

*Sigh*

* From that same Tribune reporter a few weeks ago…

[Kevin Sabet, head of Smart Approaches to Marijuana, which opposes legalization] said decriminalization of marijuana, which took effect in Illinois in 2016, addresses many of the social justice issues.

That sounds familiar.

Look, stopping at decriminalization means the supply and distribution chain will still be run by criminals, some of them violent criminals. We need to dry up these criminals’ revenue source as much as we can in order to get their operations out of neighborhoods.

* The Tribune used some of Rev. Livingston’s more “reasonable” quotes, but conveniently left out his comparison of legalizing marijuana to the use of alcohol “as an instrument of genocide” against Native American people…

Reverend @gslivingston spoke today at a press conference with @HealthyIllinois stating that @JBPritzker's push to legalize marijuana in Illinois is a weaponization of the drug for profit. pic.twitter.com/IFI8rMrgPN

— SAM (@learnaboutsam) November 28, 2018

I could say that SAM should stop enriching violent criminal networks, but I won’t. That would be as intemperate as yesterday’s press conference. /s

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