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Rhode Island Democrats Ban Sale, Manufacture of ‘Assault Weapons’

Rhode Island’s Democrat-run legislature passed a bill Friday banning the instate sale and manufacture of “assault weapons.”

The measure now heads to Gov. Dan McKee’s (D) desk.

The Associated Press reported that state Rep. Rebecca Kislak (D) contended for the ban, suggesting it is “an incremental move that brings Rhode Island in line with neighboring states.”

The ban “only applies to the sale and manufacturing of assault weapons and not possession.”

Gov. McKee reacted to Friday’s passage of the ban with an X post, saying: I’m proud that Rhode Island took an important step forward in protecting our communities from gun violence. I included an assault weapons ban in my budget for this very reason — and as a result, tonight we saw progress.

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Harvard hired a researcher to uncover its ties to slavery. He says the results cost him his job: ‘We found too many slaves’

Jordan Lloyd had been praying for something big to happen. The 35-year-old screenwriter was quarantining in her apartment in North Hollywood in June 2020. Without any work projects to fill her days, she picked up the novel Roots, by Alex Haley, to reread.

The novel tells the story of Kunta Kinte, Haley’s ancestor, who is captured and sold into slavery in the Gambia and then brought to Virginia, where he is forced to labor on a plantation. It was adapted into an Emmy-award winning television series in the 1970s, and while reading it again, Lloyd thought to herself, “Wouldn’t it be nice if they could make another Roots?”

A few days later, out of the blue, she received an email from an undergraduate student at Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The email was short. The woman introduced herself as Carissa Chen, a junior at the college studying history. She was working on an independent research project to find descendants of enslaved people connected to the university. By using historical records and modern genealogy tools, she had found Lloyd.

“I have reason to believe through archival research that you could be the descendant of Tony and Cuba Vassall, two slaves taken from Antigua by a founding member connected to Harvard University,” the email read. “Are you available anytime for a call?”

The note linked to a website containing a family tree that Chen had created, tracing the lineage of people enslaved by Isaac Royall Jr, an Antiguan planter and businessman whose endowment would eventually create Harvard Law School.

Chen hadn’t expected to find any living descendants, she told the Guardian, but through dogged research, she managed to uncover 50 names and found Lloyd through an old website she had made when she had first moved to Los Angeles.

“It all felt too specific to be a scam,” Lloyd recounted, so she agreed to a call that would eventually blow open everything she thought she knew about her family history, linking her with one of the nation’s most prestigious institutions and launching a phase in her life that would be colored with equal parts joy and pain.

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Trump’s attack on Iran is ‘unconditional surrender’ to Israel

Since his election in 2016, Donald Trump’s political opponents have portrayed him as a dangerous, unstable fabulist doing the bidding of a malign, nuclear-armed foreign power.

Having returned to the White House this year, Trump is proving his detractors correct on all counts but one: the location on the map. The rogue state that he’s colluding with — at great peril to the planet — is not Russia, as his most vocal detractors alleged, but Israel.

Israel’s June 13th attack on Iran sabotaged the then-ongoing talks on a new nuclear deal with the United States, and Trump has gone to unprecedented lengths to support its aggression. Trump undercut his own Secretary of State’s claim that Israel had undertaken “unilateral action” by acknowledging that “we knew everything” in advance of what he called a “very successful attack.” Administration officials then disclosed that Trump had previously authorized giving Israel intelligence support for the bombing. Trump then called on Tehran’s 9.8 million residents to evacuate, mused about killing Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, and declared that “we” – meaning Israel – “have complete and total control of the skies over Iran.”

After Iran rejected his demand for “unconditional surrender”, Trump imposed a new deadline of two weeks, only to break it three days later by ordering a US military attack on three Iranian nuclear energy sites, including the deeply buried mountain complex Fordo, which he quickly hailed as a “great success.” Just as with Trump’s diplomacy with Iran, his two-week deadline turns out to have been a ruse whose “goal was to create a situation when everyone wasn’t expecting it,” a senior administration official said.

To wage war on Iran, Trump and his allies have employed the traditional Iraq WMD playbook of ignoring or manipulating the available evidence to fear-monger about a foreign state marked for regime change. Unlike the Iraq war, where the fraudulent case for invading was mostly concocted in-house, Trump has outsourced the job to Israel, while not even pretending to care about public opinion or Congressional approval.

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Missouri Marijuana Officials Are Reviewing Rules On Purchase Limits For Medical Patients

Cannabis advocacy organizations are sounding the alarm about guidance from state regulators limiting how much medical marijuana patients can purchase from licensed dispensaries.

By law, dispensaries are required to track how much medical marijuana patients buy so they don’t exceed their limit.

According to a FAQ that was added earlier this year to the website of the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services, the state’s cannabis regulatory agency, if patients reach their limit they are not legally allowed to buy marijuana like as a recreational consumer.

“…patient ID card holders are not allowed to purchase as a consumer in a licensed dispensary,” the website states. “These regulations help ensure patients and consumers stay within their allowed possession limits.”

In general, medical patients are limited to a 6-ounce allotment of dried, unprocessed marijuana every 30 days. Recreational consumers are allowed to purchase up to 3 ounces every day—but can’t possess more than 3 ounces.

The state is prohibited by law from tracking the purchases of people who don’t have patient ID cards without their permission.

Andrew Mullins, executive director of the Missouri Marijuana Trade Association, sent a letter to leaders of the Division of Cannabis Regulation in April claiming the policy is unconstitutional.

“We believe that DCR’s interpretation that a Missourian must either be an adult-use consumer or a medical patient is neither good public policy nor a constitutionally sound interpretation,” he wrote.

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Washington’s Strike on Iran: A Betrayal of Diplomacy, a Gift to War

While global diplomats were still exchanging draft terms to revive the nuclear agreement with Iran, the United States launched airstrikes on Iranian nuclear infrastructure. This sudden act of aggression shattered any illusions of American commitment to peaceful negotiation and revealed the enduring pattern of militarized policy in the Middle East.

U.S. officials justified the attack as a response to “escalating nuclear threats.” But Iran had been actively engaged in indirect diplomacy with Washington through European intermediaries. The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) had not reported any significant violations that would warrant such unilateral military action at this stage. By attacking during ongoing talks, the United States undermined the very framework it once helped build.

The parallels with the 2003 invasion of Iraq are hard to ignore. Once again, Washington leans on threat inflation and manufactured urgency to justify the use of force. Back then, it was Saddam Hussein’s alleged weapons of mass destruction. Today, it’s Tehran’s enrichment facilities – none of which, according to IAEA data, are currently weaponizing uranium.

Furthermore, the U.S. strike aligns seamlessly with Israeli strategic interests. The Israeli government, facing internal pressure and a prolonged war effort across Gaza and Lebanon, benefits politically from a broadened regional conflict that redirects international scrutiny and consolidates domestic support. As former Iranian diplomat Abbas Araghchi noted, “America’s intervention is a gift to Netanyahu.”

This is not the behavior of a peace-seeking nation. True diplomacy demands restraint, patience, and consistency – traits that Washington increasingly fails to exhibit. If Iran responds with military force, the U.S. will likely frame it as unprovoked aggression, continuing the cycle of demonization that justifies endless intervention.

If the world hopes to prevent another disastrous war in the Middle East, we must call out these reckless actions for what they are: a betrayal of diplomacy and an affront to international law. Instead of protecting global stability, the U.S. has once again opted to provoke instability – for reasons that serve neither peace nor justice.

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US Military Integration Means Canada Already at War With Iran

On X a former advisor to Quebec’s economics minister Jean Phillipe Fournier posted, “The US will likely join the Iran-Israel conflict eventually. Canada should stop morally equivocating and do all it can to help Israel defend itself as well, with whatever capabilities it can spare. Preventing Iran from getting a bomb is in the World’s interest.”

A few others have made similar statements. As I’ve written, Canada has emboldened Israel to attack Iran by isolating and demonizing that country. They’ve also justified Israel’s attacks and enabled Zionist expansionism.

But are Canadian soldiers directly involved in its attacks? That’s likely.

The Canadian military is so entangled with their US counterparts that if its forces are engaged significantly somewhere, it’s likely Canadians forces are as well. And we know the US military is assisting Israeli operations. While it’s probably far more extensive than what has already been reported, US forces are refuelling Israeli fighter jets, delivering it arms and providing significant intelligence assistance to Israel’s war on Iran.

How might Canadian forces be assisting?

Through NORAD hundreds of Canadian soldiers assist the US with monitoring West Asia. NORAD supports missions led by US commands stationed worldwide.

Through Operation FOUNDATION Canadian forces members directly support the US Central Command’s (USCENTCOM) Middle East operations. Eighteen Canadian forces members are deployed to support these efforts in Qatar, Bahrain, Tampa and Jordan.

A few Canadian troops have also been coordinating US-UK strikes on Yemen. Three Canadian officers were formally added to the US-led Operation Prosperity Guardian.

Other Canadians soldiers deployed at Canada’s base in Kuwait may also be assisting the US or Israelis.

The Canadian navy has also assisted US forces in the region. Through Operation ARTEMIS hundreds of Canadian personnel have been contributing to the Bahrain-based Combined Maritime Forces (CMF), a United States-led naval coalition of 44 member nations to monitor the region.

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6,000-Year-Old Ancient Venus Figurine Discovered in the Polish Baltic, Rewriting History

Deep in the peaceful countryside along Poland‘s Baltic shore, where the Parsęta River flows toward the ocean, a farmer unearthed a find that would rewrite northern Europe’s prehistory. In the sandy ground lay a small, beige sculpture — no more than 12 centimeters tall — given the title of the ‘Kołobrzeg Venus’, a 6,000-year-old limestone statuette.

Now celebrated as one of the most sensational archaeological discoveries in Polish history, the statuette has wide hips, prominent breasts, and absence of facial features. It recalls the ancient Venus figurine convention — female forms sculpted in the Neolithic and Paleolithic eras that have long fascinated and baffled archaeologist, reports  Muzeum Oręża Polskiego w Kołobrzegu.

The figurine was discovered in December 2022 by a farmer working the land near Kołobrzeg, a city that today is better known for its seaside resorts than its ancient past. The farmer passed the object to Waldemar Sadowski of the Parsęta Exploration and Search Group, an amateur archaeological team that collaborates with the Polish Arms Museum.

The discovery was finally shown to professional archaeologist Marcin Krzepkowski of the Relicta Foundation in 2023, who recognised its singularity at once.

“This is the find of the century,” said Aleksander Ostasz, director of the Polish Arms Museum in Kołobrzeg, in an interview with National Geographic. “It absolutely pushes the boundaries of our history of Kołobrzeg.”

Radiocarbon testing established that the figurine is Neolithic in age — around 6,000 years old — which makes it one of the oldest known artifacts associated with settled agricultural communities in this part of Europe. Previously, no such figurines were ever found north of the Carpathians, so Kołobrzeg Venus is a stunning exception and an anomaly in Poland’s archaeological history.

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“War Starts Right Now”: Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Vows Retaliation After Trump Orders Bombing of Three Nuclear Sites

President Donald Trump ordered the U.S. military to carry out precision airstrikes on three strategic nuclear facilities in Iran, declaring them “completely and totally obliterated”.

The targeted sites—Fordow, Natanz, and a facility near Isfahan—were struck using B-2 stealth bombers loaded with GBU‑57 bunker-buster munitions and Tomahawk missile fire from U.S. submarines and drones.

In his televised address and accompanying Truth Social proclamation, Mr. Trump justified the strikes as a critical blow to Iran’s nuclear ambitions, citing its status as the world’s “number one state sponsor of terror.”

The president asserted that U.S. forces “made it out safely” and warned that any Iranian counterattack would be met with “force far greater than what was witnessed tonight.”

Trump said during the press conference:

Tonight, I can report to the world that the strikes were a spectacular military success. Iran’s key nuclear enrichment facilities have been completely and totally obliterated. Iran, the bully of the Middle East, must now make peace. If they do not. Future attacks would be far greater and a lot easier.

For 40 years, Iran has been saying. Death to America, death to Israel. They have been killing our people, blowing off their arms, blowing off their legs, with roadside bombs. That was their specialty. We lost over 1,000 people and hundreds of thousands throughout the Middle East, and around the world have died as a direct result of their hate in particular. So many were killed by their general, Qassim Soleimani. I decided a long time ago that I would not let this happen. It will not continue.

[…]

There will be either peace, or there will be tragedy for Iran, far greater than we have witnessed over the last eight days. Remember, there are many targets left. Tonight’s was the most difficult of them all, by far, and perhaps the most lethal. But if peace does not come quickly, we will go after those other targets with precision, speed and skill. Most of them can be taken out in a matter of minutes. There’s no military in the world that could have done what we did tonight. Not even close. There has never been a military that could do what took place just a little while ago.

Last week, Tehran issued blunt threats, warning of an “all-out war” and specifically referencing American bases in Iraq, Qatar, Bahrain, Kuwait, the UAE and Syria as high-value targets.

Within hours of the attack, Tehran reacted sharply.

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Iran accuses US of violating nuclear treaty with airstrikes

Iran has accused the US of violating international law and the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) following overnight airstrikes on three of its key nuclear facilities. However, Tehran says preliminary inspections have found no signs of radioactive contamination.

In a statement issued early on Sunday, the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI) confirmed that US strikes targeted its nuclear sites at Fordow, Natanz, and Isfahan. The operation, conducted in coordination with Israel, was condemned by the Iranian authorities as an illegal and “brutal” act.

“This act of aggression was carried out under the shadow of international indifference, and with the apparent support or silence of the International Atomic Energy Agency,” the AEOI said.

Iran’s Center for the National Nuclear Safety System reported that emergency inspections had been completed at all three locations. “No signs of contamination have been recorded,” the agency said, adding that there is “no danger to residents living near the affected sites.”

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Enemies Within: Information Ties Top USAID Official to Dirty Eric Ciaramella and the First Bogus Attempt to Impeach President Trump

Trump Attorney Rudy Giuliani joined Jesse Watters in 2020 where he broke news about the January 2016 meeting in the Obama White House organized by the anti-Trump CIA whistleblower Eric Ciaramella.

This was previously reported at The Gateway Pundit in November 2019.

Records show Obama and his Deep State actors in the White House pressured Ukraine to provide dirt on candidate Trump and his team in early 2016.

Highly respected investigative reporter John Solomon called the 11 AM January 19, 2016 meeting in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building “one of the earliest documented efforts to build the now-debunked Trump-Russia collusion narrative and one of the first to involve the Obama administration’s intervention.”

Suspected Schiff whistleblower Eric Ciaramella chaired that meeting, which was also attended by his frequent collaborator Liz Zentos.

The meeting was ostensibly arranged by the Obama administration for anti-corruption training and coordination, but it didn’t take long for the Ukrainian participants, during the meetings and afterward, “to realize the Americans’ objectives included two politically hot investigations: one that touched Vice President Joe Biden’s family and one that involved a lobbying firm linked closely to then-candidate Trump.”

The Obama Department of Justice officials were interested in reopening a closed 2014 FBI investigation that “focused heavily on GOP lobbyist Paul Manafort, whose firm long had been tied to Trump through his partner and Trump pal, Roger Stone.”

Nazar Kholodnytskyy, then Ukraine’s chief anti-corruption prosecutor and a meeting attendee, said he saw evidence in Ukraine of political meddling in the U.S. election, when the “black ledger,” key evidence against Manafort, who had joined Trump’s campaign on March 29, 2016 and then was promoted to campaign chairman on May 19, 2016, was suddenly released to the media in May 2016.

According to Ukrainian official Andriy Telizhenko, who has communicated with The Gateway Pundit numerous times, then a political officer at the Ukrainian Embassy in Washington DC and a meeting attendee, U.S. officials told the Ukrainians they would prefer that Kiev drop the Burisma probe and allow the FBI to take it over (it is believed that the FBI attended the January 19, 2016 meeting).

Burisma Holdings, a Ukrainian energy company, was under investigation in Ukraine for improper foreign transfers of money. At the time, Burisma allegedly was paying then-Vice President Joe Biden’s son Hunter as both a board member and a consultant.

All of the above suggests that the Obama Administration used U.S. government personnel in an attempt to enlist a foreign nation to provide negative information about political opponents and to quash investigation of political allies.

And when the Ukrainians did not agree, it appears that the U.S. government pressured the Ukrainian government to replace obstinate Ukrainian officials with more compliant ones.

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