The pope, the pot and the Castros

The very best and very worst of the week ending March 1.

By Rich_Maloof Mar 1, 2013 4:28PM

Every week, the Daily Dose reviews the news for three very best and very worst stories to come across our desk.
—The Very Best —

• The Violence Against Women Act was approved in the House of Representatives yesterday. The bill, which outlines protections against domestic abuse and the prosecution of abusers, is a renewal of a 1994 law that had lapsed in 2011 due to partisan bickering. On the eve of Women's Rights Month, the bill headed to President Obama to be signed.

• The Castro era in Cuba, begun in 1959, is coming to a close. That is, in five years. Shortly after being elected by the Cuban National Assembly to a second term, president Raul Castro announced in a broadcasted speech that he will retire when the term ends in 2018. Brother Fidel made a rare public appearance around the announcement. Vice President Miguel Díaz-Canel Bermúdez is expected to succeed Raul.

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• Though congressional blowhards expelled a lot of hot air stalling his confirmation, Chuck Hagel has been sworn in as Defense Secretary. The former Army sergeant told a gathering of Defense Department workers and members of the military, "I'll never ask you to do anything I wouldn't do."

—The Very Worst —

• Clarksdale, Mississippi, birthplace of blues music, is reeling from the news that Marco McMillian, a young and well-liked candidate for mayor, was found murdered along a Mississippi River levee. News reports repeat that McMillian was the first openly gay candidate for public office in Mississippi, but it is not known whether his orientation played a role in his killing. A suspect is in custody.

• A 30-year-old law designed to squeeze drug dealers is slamming legal marijuana dispensaries with federal income tax rates as high as 75 percent. Purveyors are working to overturn a statute that says they can't deduct rent, payroll and other hefty overhead expenses like other businesses can. What's it going to be, Feds — close them down or rob them blind?

• The world is popeless now that Benedict XVI has officially abdicated the throne. In a farewell address to his last general audience, Benedict told the tens of thousands gathered in St. Peter's Square that when elected in April 2005 he recalled telling God, "It's a great burden that you've placed on my shoulders."

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Photo: Raul Castro / Luis Hidalgo/AP

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