Author: HP McLovincraft

Seeker of rabbit holes. Pessimist. Libertine. Contrarian. Your huckleberry. Possibly true tales of sanity-blasting horror also known as abject reality. Prepare yourself. Veteran of a thousand psychic wars. I have seen the fnords. Deplatformed on Tumblr and Twitter.

Vermont Senate Committee Approves Bill to Cut Marijuana Tax, Double Purchase Limits and Allow Events and Deliveries

A Vermont Senate committee has unanimously approved a bill that would make changes to the state’s marijuana laws, including reducing the excise tax, expanding possession and purchase limits, and allowing cannabis events and deliveries.

The Committee on Economic Development, Housing and General Affairs voted 5 to 0 to send Senate Bill 278 to the full Senate after adopting a revised version of the proposal. The bill was originally filed by a bipartisan group of lawmakers as a measure to expand marijuana sales and make Vermont’s regulated market more competitive.

Under the amended version, the bill would cut Vermont’s marijuana excise tax from 14% to 10%. It would also double the retail transaction and personal possession limits, allowing adults 21 and older to buy and possess up to two ounces of marijuana or its equivalent in a single sale. It would also increase the legal possession limit for cannabis concentrates from 5 grams to 10 grams.

Another notable change in the amended bill is a higher THC cap for cannabis products. The proposal would increase the limit for a single package from 100 milligrams to 200 milligrams of THC.

The measure would also create new event and delivery permits, though in a more limited way than the original version may have suggested (the committee amended the bill before giving it approval). The Cannabis Control Board would be allowed to issue up to 10 public event permits and 10 private event permits per year, with each permit valid for a single event lasting no more than 24 hours. The bill would also authorize up to 15 delivery permits annually for tier 1 cultivators and tier 1 manufacturers. Both the event and delivery permit sections would be repealed on July 1, 2028, making them temporary pilot-style programs unless lawmakers act again.

The amended bill would also prevent municipalities from using ordinances or bylaws to completely prohibit cannabis establishments, although it does not appear to include the earlier concept of requiring local votes in municipalities that have not yet considered whether to allow retailers.

If approved by the full Senate and later enacted into law, most of the bill’s provisions would take effect July 1, 2026.

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Israel confirms Michigan synagogue attacker’s brother was Hezbollah terrorist commander

The brother of a terrorist who rammed a vehicle into a Michigan Jewish preschool was a Hezbollah commander, Israel Defense Forces have said.

Ayman Muhammad Ghazali, 41, was shot dead after driving the vehicle into Temple Israel in West Bloomfield Township, Mich., on Thursday.

His brother, Ibrahim Muhammad Ghazali, was responsible for managing weapons operations within a specialized branch of Hezbollah’s Badr Unit, the IDF said in a statement Sunday morning.

This unit of the Lebanese terror group is responsible for launching hundreds of rockets toward Israeli civilians throughout the recent war with Iran, the IDF said.

Ghazali’s two brothers, a niece, and a nephew were killed in an Israeli airstrike on March 5 in the town of Mashgharah, Lebanon, just days before the attack, a local official told AP Friday.

The family had sat down for their fast-breaking meal during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan when they were struck.

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Transgender Reddit Moderator Deletes Account After Being Exposed As Registered Child Sex Offender

Reddit users are expressing outrage after learning that a moderator involved in three of the largest trans-focused subreddits is a child sex offender, and may have received protection from another transgender moderator. Branden Michael Dunleavy, also known as Brynn or u/ranshin-da-anarchist, has deleted his Reddit account since the revelations.

Information about Dunleavy’s identity first began circulating on Reddit on Saturday after user u/Living-East-8486 posted a warning on his account claiming that u/Cedarwolf, the top moderator at r/MTF, “attempted to keep a convicted child predator on the r/MTF moderator team.”

In his post, u/Living-East-8486 described a dispute that had emerged on r/MTF involving u/Cedarwolf, hinting that the two had a falling out that ultimately had prompted u/Living-East-8486 to come forward and clarify the allegations.

“The primary thing I’ve been pondering is how on earth I can actually bring this to light without making it seem like I’m just trying to get revenge. To be honest, I don’t think there is any foolproof way for me to do that. Frankly, I’m furious over this situation,” u/Living-East-8486 wrote. “This moderator’s primary reasoning for excluding me from the community was to ‘protect the children’ from my weird ass kink posts (which were always marked 18+). Then I find out that they are openly defending a child predator being on the mod team.”

u/Living-East-8486 included a number of screenshots from what appeared to be private Discord conversations in late 2025.

In one message, top r/MTF moderator u/Cedarwolf, under the handle Cedarpaw, expresses a reluctance to remove Dunleavy from the team because “the next few years are going to be very hard for trans folks,” and instead suggests Dunleavy change his username to better hide his identity.

u/Cedarwolf suggests Dunleavy can establish a fresh Reddit reputation under the “new” username by “spending a week” on other subreddits.

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CIA Prepares Criminal Referral of Tucker Carlson, as Israel and its Loyalists Demand His Arrest

On Friday morning, I taped an appearance on Tucker Carlson’s program to discuss the ongoing Iran War, growing Israeli influence in the U.S., and proliferating attacks on free speech in the West in the name of shielding that one foreign country from critique (I presume it will air in the next few days). Perhaps the most notable part of our conversation was what Tucker told me prior to the cameras rolling.

Tucker said he had learned from several high-placed sources — and he obviously has many within the Trump administration — that the CIA was preparing a criminal referral about him to the DOJ. The subject of the agency’s report of suspected crimes: conversations he allegedly had with Iranian officials and others in Iran prior to the start of the Trump/Netanyahu war. The clear implication was that Tucker had committed acts of subversion or even treason by speaking to Iranians in advance of the war that was about to be launched on their country.

Despite how innately shocking this claim is, I had and still have zero doubt that Tucker was telling the truth about what he heard. I have known him for many years, spent much time talking to him both in front of a camera and away from one, and never once has he lied to me or mislead me. Tucker has been in public life as a journalist and media figure since his 20s. There have been many harsh criticisms launched against him during those decades, many of which — as he will be the first to tell you — were ones that were quite valid.

Notably, many of the harshest attacks on Tucker came from me during my first decade after becoming a journalist (last year, Tucker discussed our friendship in a podcast conversation Chris Cuomo and he noted that, during the War on Terror and his ongoing war cheerleading, “nobody was meaner to me than Glenn Greenwald”; Cuomo said the same was true of him).

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Texas Could See A Spike In Raids On Hemp Businesses Under New Rules, Industry Advocates Fear

Dallas attorney Chelsie Spencer specializes in making sure Texas businesses that sell hemp-derived THC products know how to stay in compliance with state and federal rules and regulations, an area that can be very confusing. She offers them a monthly service where her law firm rigorously vets distributors and helps to independently test their products to ensure they are safe and legal to sell in her clients’ stores.

“They pay us a phenomenal amount to stay compliant,” Spencer said.

That is why when Spencer learned that one of her North Texas clients had been raided by local police and the Drug Enforcement Administration, and his home surrounded, like he was a major narcotics dealer, she was shocked.

“They took everything from my client…his children’s cellphones, every computer in the house, took all the vehicles, seized all assets, and froze all cash,” Spencer said of the raid that occurred in July.

Since August 2024, local and federal law enforcement agencies have raided more than 15 businesses across the state that were accused of selling consumable hemp products that had illegal levels of THC, according to attorneys for these cannabis retailers. During these raids, law enforcement officials seized products and cash that businesses have still not recovered, and customers were scared away. Many of those retailers have not yet been found guilty of any crime, according to their attorneys.

“You always see the headlines about the raids, but you never see these huge headlines about charges and indictments,” said Andrea Steel, a Houston attorney for several THC businesses.

Even though they have affected a small fraction of 8,000 hemp retailers registered in Texas, these raids by law enforcement agencies have ramped up over the last two years to help some lawmakers build public support for banning hemp-derived THC products, Steel said. Over the summer, Gov. Greg Abbott (R) vetoed a bill the Legislature passed to ban hemp-derived THC and told state agencies to better regulate those THC products instead.

But, she said her clients fear these types of raids will continue because the new regulations being considered could create THC limits that will be nearly impossible to meet, shuttering THC businesses and deterring businesses from selling THC products.

“The same number of raids are occurring after the veto as before. In fact, there will likely be an increase in raids once the new rules and regulations are finalized because one of them is an increase in licensing fees for enforcement; they are going to need to justify that,” she said.

Law enforcement agencies deny that these raids were politically motivated. They have said these raids were based on concerns that these retailers were selling dangerous products, especially to children, and engaging in other unscrupulous activities such as money laundering, according to a news conference from Allen police, as well as a joint one between Temple and Belton police departments. Allen Police Chief Steve Dyes, whose department raided at least a dozen businesses and warehouses since 2024, was a fixture at the Texas Capitol during the legislative session, warning lawmakers that the hemp industry was corrupt and couldn’t be trusted.

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Tucker Carlson Says CIA Has Been Reading His Texts and is Preparing a Criminal Referral Against Him for Alleged FARA Violation – “You Should Know What the Stakes Are”

Tucker Carlson alleged in a video statement on Saturday that the Central Intelligence Agency has been spying on him and is preparing a criminal referral against him for alleged violations of the Foreign Agent Registration Act (FARA).

Under the law, it is a crime to act on behalf of a foreign principal without proper registration.

Carlson has come under fire recently for his criticisms of Israel and the war in Iran, even prompting Trump to disavow him. Following the initial Operation Epic Fury strikes in Iran on February 28, Tucker responded, calling the war “absolutely disgusting and evil.”

Trump responded to Tucker, saying he “has lost his way” and is “not MAGA.”

Many of Tucker’s other critics on the right, including Fox News host Mark Levin, have attempted to claim that Tucker is paid by Qatar to broadcast his opinions on Middle East conflicts. Most notably, failed presidential candidate Ted Cruz has ramped up his attacks on Tucker, recently smearing him as an antisemite and “the single most dangerous demagogue in this country.”

Carlson said he was “talking to people in Iran before the war,” and the CIA read his text messages to prepare a criminal referral to the Department of Justice, but that he’s “not too worried about an actual criminal case.”

“One, I’m not an agent of a foreign power. Unlike a lot of people, commenting on US politics and global affairs, I have only one loyalty, and that’s the United States and have never acted against it. Its interests are the only interests I care about because I’m from here and I have a lot of kids, so that’s not a concern. I’ve also never taken money from anybody. Don’t need it, don’t want it, and that’s provable,” he said.

“And moreover, it’s my job to talk to everybody all the time and try and figure out what’s happening around the world. That’s literally what I do for a living. And I’m not going to stop doing that, nor should I, I don’t think. I’m also an American. I can talk to anybody. I have no secrets to divulge. So, legally, I think the case is ludicrous, and I doubt it will even become a case.”

He says, “there are some people who are mad at me for my views about Israel,” and they may be filing a criminal referral to justify a warrant or as part of a humiliation and intimidation campaign, the existence of which may be leaked to the media in the near future.

“None of this, in my judgment, as of right now, is a huge threat to me. So, I’m not making this video to complain about it or whine or ask you to send me money because I’m under attack. I’m saying it because it’s true, and you should know what your own government is doing, and you should know what the stakes are, and you should know that a lot of what happens in this country that affects outcomes happens behind the scenes. Some of it is legal; some of it is not, including what I’m describing now, but it has an effect,” Tucker added, comparing the apparent investigation to the Russiagate scandal.

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U.S. State Department Cuts Fee to Renounce American Citizenship

It is now 80 percent cheaper for Americans who choose to renounce their U.S. citizenship to make it official.

The U.S. State Department on Friday published a rule that cut the cost from $2,350 to $450 after it was promised in 2023. However, the rule did not take effect until now, the Associated Press (AP) reported.

“The Department of State (‘Department’) is proposing to amend the Schedule of Fees for Consular Services (‘Schedule’) to reduce the current fee for Administrative Processing of a Request for a Certificate of Loss of Nationality of the United States (CLN) from $2,350 to $450,” the rule on the Federal Register website read.

The cost is once again what it was in 2010 when federal officials began charging a fee for the action, the AP report said.

“The fee was raised from $450 to $2,350 in 2015 to cover the administrative expenses as the number of people wanting to renounce their citizenship surged in part due to new U.S. tax reporting requirements for American expatriates that angered many,” the article noted, adding the process to renounce one’s U.S. citizenship is not always easy.

“Applicants must repeatedly confirm in multiple written and verbal attestations to a State Department consular officer that they understand the implications of the step before being allowed to take a formal oath of renunciation. It must then be reviewed by the department,” the AP stated.

In July, President Donald Trump told legalized immigrants they were accepting the “highest responsibility” in becoming citizens, according to Breitbart News.

The president then emphasized how special the moment was for them.

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Amsterdam: Explosion at Jewish school condemned by mayor as ‘deliberate attack against the Jewish community’

A bomb has gone off in a Jewish school in the capital city of the Netherlands, Amsterdam, in “a deliberate attack against the Jewish community,” according to the city’s mayor.

Mayor Femke Halsema said in a Saturday press release that an overnight explosion in a residential area on the south side of the city, which caused some damage to the school.

“This is a cowardly act of aggression toward the Jewish community,” Halsema said. “I understand the fear and anger of Jewish Amsterdammers. They are increasingly confronted with antisemitism, and that is unacceptable.

No injuries were reported in the incident.

Halsema reported that police obtained Closed-Circuit Television (CCTV) surveillance footage of an individual planting the explosive near Cheider, a Jewish school.

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London Buses Must Now Be Equipped With Stab-Kits

Calls for “bleed kits” to be rolled out across London’s bus network have gained traction, with the London Assembly unanimously backing a motion to install them in major bus stations and trial them on high-risk routes.

These kits, designed to stem severe bleeding from deep wounds, are pitched as a lifesaver in emergencies—yet their sudden necessity speaks volumes about the city’s descent into chaos under unchecked policies.

The push comes from the London Youth Assembly, highlighting how young people feel increasingly unsafe on public transport.

As Hugo Maxwell, chair of the London Youth Assembly, put it: “These kits are already in lots of Underground stations but buses are the mode of transport most used by young people and therefore it’s essential that we start the rollout there.”

Labour’s transport spokesperson Elly Baker added: “I’ve heard too often from young people that they don’t always feel as safe as they should do travelling… Passing this motion will show that we are listening to young people and backing the investigation of a potentially valuable method of saving lives.”

BBC reports frame this as a proactive safety measure, but online reactions cut through the evasion.

One X user quipped: “The English will be wearing mail armor again. Return to feudal times.”

Another noted: “Their police are too busy arresting people for memes.”

A commenter added: “Self Defense should be available to everyone.”

And one simply stated: “Ready for my commute to work in London,” alongside an image of protective gear.

This rollout underscores a low-trust society where stabbings are dismissed as background noise, a grim reality fueled by open borders and soft-on-crime approaches.

Instead of tackling the root of this horrific reality, it is just being accepted that commuters are somewhat likely to be attacked and killed, as if it’s an accepted part of everyday life in London.

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