OZY Daily Dose

Tom Crosslin fought for the legalization of marijuana, but the ambitious pot advocateand his life partner were gunned down in Michigan long before his dreams came true. Thick, black smoke rose above Rainbow Farm on Aug. 31, 2001, visible for miles in every direction. The cause: a nine-building fire set by the farm’s owner, Tom Crosslin, clad in camouflage and armed with his Ruger assault rifle.

When Gen. Wei Fenghe, China's defense minister, took to the stage at the Xiangshan security forum organized by the People's Liberation Army (PLA) in Beijing last month, he assured delegations from 64 countries that China's military "has always been a staunch defender of world peace."Yet in the same breath, he issued a sharp warning: "Taiwan is China's core interest," Wei said. "On these issues, it's extremely dangerous to challenge China's bottom line repeatedly.

There's a reason you call a guy named Jake Action, Jake Action. Sitting in the front seat of some kind of Japanese imported station wagon, Jake, with a full medical face mask, was huffing what someone had said was butane from a large, cylindrical and silver gas canister in the back seat."Gas?" He offered me the clear mask kitted out with a flexible hose connecting it to the source. I shook my head.

Tune in tonight at 8 p.m. EST on YouTube, Facebook Watch, or your local PBS station for OZY's innovative and compelling town hall series, Take On America, where we tackle the nation's toughest issues. This week we bring together Latino families in New York, plus special guests.AndreaThe Bronx, New YorkThe following is a condensed version of an interview, translated from Spanish. Andrea is not her real name. We agreed to withhold her real name to protect family members who are undocumented immigrants.

Troy Smith leaned in toward the microphone, eyes downcast, wide smile fixed. “I just can’t believe this is happening,” he said. The hands that clutched both sides of the podium in front of him were the same hands that had thrown 30 touchdown passes with the Ohio State Buckeyes in the 2006 season, helping Smith win the Heisman Trophy by a record voting margin that stands to this day.

The vintage rotary telephone rings. Should I answer it? After all, I've only just walked into what looks like an old-fashioned perfume shop on this hideaway street in New Orleans' Central Business District. There's not another soul in sight. The phone rings again. Nervously, I pick it up. "Hello?" A woman's voice responds with a strange request: She recently bought a love potion here for her cat and dog who were fighting like, well, cats and dogs.

OZY and JPMorgan Chase have partnered to take a deeper look at how businesses can impact society for the better. Enjoy the rest of our special series here.When you think of major tech hubs in the U.S., San Francisco, Seattle or Austin likely come to mind. But just as Uber, Spotify and Airbnb are hardly the only tech companies around, booming tech cities extend far beyond the obvious suspects.

At the Los Angeles Lakers’ media day in September, LeBron James showed up to his first press conference with his new team wearing a gold jersey and a white armband. Asked if LA could beat the Golden State Warriors in the NBA’s Western Conference, James wasn’t optimistic. “We’ve got a long way to go to get to Golden State,” he replied. Despite the hype, his inexperienced Lakers have a steep hill to climb this season.

I'm aware that kids can be difficult, and I've heard some children, even older children, occasionally need to be subdued if they are having a tantrum. But while I was on the sidelines at my daughter's indoor soccer practice last spring, I noticed a mother of a girl on the team standing there with her 12-year-old son.The boy was not part of the team, and I had never seen him before, but as I was standing close to them I could feel that there was a tension between them.

With more than half the college football season in the rearview mirror, some reflection is in order. We've seen expected dominance (Roll Tide) and surprising national power adjustments (the entire Big Ten, for instance), but football fans know the madness has only just begun. For several College Football Playoff contenders, this season has gone according to plan. But history dictates that won't last.The College Football Playoff committee announces its first rankings on Oct. 30.