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Michigan Senate Dems Pass Bump Stock Ban, ‘Ghost Gun’ Regulations

Michigan Senate Democrats in the Judiciary Committee passed bills Thursday that will ban bump stocks and require serialization on so-called “ghost guns.”

WVNEWS reported that state Sen. Dayna Polehanki (D) sponsored SB 224, which is the bump stock ban.

Polehanki described bump stocks as “destructive weapons of war,” adding, “And let me be clear: these are not tools for sport or self-defense. Bump stocks are used to inflict maximum harm in seconds, and their continued availability puts every one of our communities at risk. That’s unacceptable, and it’s time for a change.”

The bills related to so-called “ghost guns” were sponsored by state Sen. Mallory McMorrow (D). These pieces of legislation ban “the purchase, possession and distribution of firearms without valid serial numbers.”

McMorrow contended that gun control laws must change as quickly as does the technology to build guns, saying, “Just as rapidly as new weapon production methods emerge and evolve, so too must our laws and public safety efforts. Our communities deserve nothing less.”

More gun control, pushed by state Sen. Rosemary Bayer (D), would ban open and concealed carry on Michigan Capitol grounds and in the Anderson House Office Building.

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State Department Weighing $500 Million Grant to Controversial Gaza Aid Group: Report

According to The New Arab, the State Department is considering a massive distribution to the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF). The new Israeli and US-backed agency has been accused by human rights groups of being a tool of Tel Aviv to complete the ethnic cleansing of Gaza rather than an organization attempting to feed the starving people of the Strip.

Citing two current and two former officials, the outlet reported that the State Department is considering a $500 million transfer to the GHF. The money would fund the organization for about six months.

Responding to an inquiry by the Libertarian Institute, the State Department press office declined to confirm the report, only stating that the GHF is “an independent organization” that “currently does not receive [US government] funding.” It directed further questions to the organization itself, which did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Some US officials have opposed the large grant, raising concerns related to incidents when Israeli forces killed scores of Palestinians near GHF aid sites.

The GHF has met intense criticism for being unprepared to provide food and other desperately needed supplies in Gaza. UN and other aid agencies previously used established distribution networks to feed the millions of people languishing under the Israeli blockade. However, since the GHF was established in February, Israel has refused to allow UN and international agencies to bring aid into Gaza in favor of the new organization.

In the first weeks of the GHF operations in Gaza, Israeli forces killed scores of Palestinians attempting to get food, prompting top officials and firms to cut ties with the agency. GHF’s previous executive director, Jake Wood, resigned just hours before the organization began operating in the Strip, arguing the group’s plans were not in line with “humanitarian principles.”

Reverend Johnnie Moore, an American evangelical Christian leader and staunch Zionist, took over Wood’s role last week.

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Israel Unveils Unprecedented Transfer To Ukraine Of ‘Several’ Patriot Missile Batteries

In early May it was first reported that a US-supplied Patriot air-defense system that was based in Israel would be refurbished and sent to Ukraine. This was despite what the White House’s National Security Council said at the time in a statement: “President Trump has been clear: he wants the war in Ukraine to end and the killing to stop.”

But American and Western arms for Ukraine have continued flowing, with no end in sight, despite what was a very brief stoppage of maybe a couple days earlier in Trump’s term. Israel has just revealed that it wasn’t merely “one” Patriot battery transferred to Ukraine, but “several”.

Israeli Ambassador to Ukraine Michael Brodsky unveiled in a Sunday interview with Pravda USA that Israel has delivered several MIM-104 Patriot surface-to-air missile systems to Kiev, in a clear significant escalation in its military support to the Zelensky government.

During the opening years of the war Israel largely remained on the sidelines, for fear of damaging sensitive relations with Russia, which has maintained a military presence on the Mediterranean, along Syria’s coast. But times have changed, and Russia could be packing up its Syrian naval and air bases, given the December overthrow of its ally Assad and the Jolani regime being installed in Damascus.

Ambassador Brodsky told the Ukrainian media publication (according to machine translation):

The Patriot systems that we once received from the United States are now in Ukraine. These are Israeli systems that were in service with Israel in the early 90s. We agreed to transfer them to Ukraine. And unfortunately, not much was said about this. But when they say that Israel did not help militarily, this is not true. This is not true,” Brodsky emphasized.

This appears to be confirmation of what Axios reported in late January:

The U.S. military transferred around 90 Patriot air defense interceptors from storage in Israel to Poland this week in order to deliver them to Ukraine, three sources with knowledge of the operation tell Axios.

These are apparently older US-supplied systems which remained in Israel’s stockpile. Still, the NY Times had presented that merely one Patriot battery was being prepped, in this May 4 report for example:

A Patriot air-defense system that was based in Israel will be sent to Ukraine after it is refurbished, four current and former U.S. officials said in recent days, and Western allies are discussing the logistics of Germany or Greece giving another one.

The officials, speaking on the condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the discussions, declined to describe President Trump’s view of the decision to transfer more Patriot systems to Ukraine.

Israel is perhaps only making this public now in the context of Russia’s air war against Ukrainian cities, and the capital in particular, heating up.

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‘Boil in a bag’ funerals that dissolve bodies and flush them down the drain to become available in Britain after catching on around the world

Putting a loved one to rest in the UK typically involves either a ground burial or a flame-based cremation. 

But an alternative method could finally get the go-ahead. 

A new consultation into funerary methods by the independent Law Commission could finally result in legal approval of ‘boil in a bag’ funerals in the UK. 

At the moment, there is no regulatory framework for the method, officially known as water cremation or alkaline hydrolysis – effectively banning it from use in the country. 

Water cremation involves rapidly decomposing a corpse in water and alkaline chemicals under high temperatures, leaving only liquid and bones.

The liquid, known as ‘effluent’, can go down the drain with other wastewater and bones that can be ground to ash for the bereaved owner to take home. 

Advocates say the method is better for the environment, but others believe it is an undignified way to dispose of the dead. 

Here’s a look at how the controversial method works. 

Water cremation uses water, alkaline chemicals, heat, and sometimes pressure and agitation, to accelerate natural decomposition, leaving bone fragments and a neutral liquid called effluent. 

The effluent is sterile, and contains salts, sugars, amino acids and peptides – but no tissue or DNA is left. 

This effluent is discharged with all other wastewater, while the softened bone can be ground up for the owner to take home and lay to rest, much like ashes – although any metal hip and knee joints come out unchanged. 

At the Bradshaw Celebration of Life Center in Minnesota, there’s an alkaline hydrolysis machine located in the basement that cost $750,000 (£580,000) to install about a decade ago. 

Bodies go into the rectangular steel box, which is about six feet high and four feet wide and looks like part of a high security ‘bank vault’. 

With just the press of a few buttons, the machine locks and starts to fill with water – and the 90-minute process can begin. 

By the end, all tissue has dissolved and is free from DNA – and is a brown colour that somewhat resembles ‘tea or an ale’. 

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SETI Researchers Report Potential Discovery of ‘Communication’ by Non-Human Intelligence in Earth’s Oceans

For the first time, scientists have documented a unique behavior in the animal kingdom that provides new insights into non-human intelligence and potential clues in the search for intelligent life from other worlds.

The intriguing discovery, made by scientists with the SETI Institute in collaboration with scientists at the University of California at Davis, involves large bubble rings produced by humpback whales. These bubble rings are not unlike the smoke rings produced by tobacco enthusiasts, which the cetaceans make while interacting with humans.

Although known from past observations, the researchers say this behavior, which had never been significantly studied until now, could represent a unique form of interspecies communication.

Bubbling Bursts of Communication?

In the past, humpback whales have been observed using bursts of bubbles under a range of different circumstances, including corralling prey and during mating, when males produce trails of bubbles while escorting females.

In the recently documented behavior, researchers with the WhaleSETI team say humpback whales also generate these bubble rings while interacting with humans during friendly encounters.

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Marijuana Users Are Nearly 5 Times As Likely To Regularly Exercise Than Eat Fast Food, Stereotype-Busting Survey Shows

Marijuana consumers are more than three times more likely to regularly exercise than drink alcohol—and they’re nearly five times more likely to routinely work out than eat fast food—according to another stereotype-defying survey.

The poll from the cannabis telehealth platform NuggMD looked at the habits of cannabis users, who were asked about the frequency they engage in seven different activities—from alcohol consumption to movie theater attendance.

One of the takeaways was that marijuana consumers reported regularly engaging in exercise (27.4 percent daily and 34.9 percent multiple times per week) significantly more often than using alcohol (6.1 percent daily and 11.3 percent multiple times per week).

Another finding from the survey was that cannabis consumers are 4.8 times more likely to regularly exercise than to eat fast food (1.5 percent daily and 11.5 percent multiple times per week).

“This finding is yet more evidence that today’s cannabis consumers defy the prohibitionist stereotype of layabouts munching Doritos and then crossfading with booze to get their fix,” Andrew Graham, head of communications at NuggMD, told Marijuana Moment.

“The data shows that cannabis consumers self-report several healthy lifestyle habits. When compared with federal data on exercise and fast food consumption, our poll shows that cannabis consumers are in fact more likely to exercise and less likely to eat fast food than the average U.S. adult,” he said. “Previous polling we’ve done shows cannabis has a distinct replacement effect on alcohol use, and this poll charts a similar direction.”

“For millions of wellness-focused Americans, cannabis is simply part of the routine. It’s kind of mind-blowing how wrong the prohibitionist crowd is about everything,” Graham said.

Several other studies have similarly found that cannabis users exercise at average or above-average levels compared to non-users, bucking the long-held stigma that marijuana makes people lazy. This is one of the latest data points to show the same.

Notably, the new poll also found that relatively few marijuana consumers frequently use food delivery services, with just 3.3 percent reporting that they order delivery daily and 8.3 percent saying they use such services multiple times a week.

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Former KPD officer gets 25-year prison sentence in pay-for-porn child materials case

Noting what he did was “appalling,” a federal judge Thursday sentenced a former Knoxville police officer to 25 years in prison for conspiring to get and receiving more than 40 sexually explicit images of a child starting when she was 6 years old.

Dan Roark, 48, will be 73 when he gets out of prison. After that, he faces the rest of his life on supervised released.

U.S. District Court Judge Katherine A. Crytzer accepted a specific sentencing agreement reached by defense attorneys and Assistant U.S. Attorney Jennifer Kolman that called for a punishment range of 262 months to 300 months.

Crytzer chose the top of the range, which amounts to 25 years. Roark cried quietly at one point during the sentencing hearing and declined a chance to speak on his own behalf.

He is represented by Gregory P. Isaacs and Ashlee Mathis of the Isaacs Law Firm.

Roark is seeking imprisonment at a federal facility in Kentucky.

Starting in 2019, Roark received explicit images of the Virginia child from her mother. Roark paid for images, the investigation showed.

Crytzer noted the investigation showed he got at least 41 pornographic images.

Roark, a KPD officer 16 years, disguised his identity to the mother, altering his name and claiming falsely that he was a Tennessee Highway Patrol officer, Kolman said.

To the child, he was “Daddy Dan,” Kolman said. He also listed a fake address in Knoxville from which he sent money to the mother in Virginia.

KPD fired Roark in 2023 after learning of the accusations against him.

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250,000 Texans Voted to Decriminalize Marijuana, So Why Are Politicians Trying To Override Them?

As the executive director of Ground Game Texas, I lead a team organizing working-class Texans to pass movement-driven local policies at the ballot box. In a state where our elected officials are openly hostile to justice, and voter suppression is rampant, we take the fight directly to the people. And the people are showing up.

Through our local campaigns, we’ve gathered hundreds of thousands of petition signatures and earned a quarter of a million votes to decriminalize marijuana across Texas—from Austin to Killeen, Lockhart to Dallas. In a state with low voter turnout, marijuana decriminalization has earned a supermajority of the vote in every city, and over-performed compared to the rest of the ballot. But instead of respecting the will of the voters, politicians in this state are doing everything they can to overturn these democratically elected policies.

We are fighting locally, fighting statewide, and fighting crony courts. Last year in Lockhart, the city attorney tried to split our single policy into 13 separate ballot items to bury it in bureaucracy. We stopped them. A state appeals court just upheld a lawsuit designed to stop our cities from implementing our marijuana decriminalization. And at the legislature, five separate bills were introduced this session to gut local control and block citizens from changing the law through ballot initiatives.

This is about more than plants with healing properties. It’s about power. It’s about democracy. And it’s all connected.

The war on drugs isn’t a failed policy—it’s a successful tool of oppression. A tool used to criminalize poverty. A tool used to lock Black and Brown Texans into cycles of incarceration. A tool used to destabilize families, punish veterans and disabled people and make survival a crime.

And when we rise up to change those laws, the people in power rewrite the rules to keep control. That’s not new. It’s a familiar playbook.

From Jim Crow poll taxes to modern-day gerrymandering and felony disenfranchisement, this country has always created new systems to block the people most impacted by oppression from changing it. What’s happening in Texas right now is just the latest chapter.

Let’s be clear: The issue isn’t that Texans don’t care. The issue is that the system was designed to keep most Texans out.

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The PayPal Mafia

Some may have heard of the tech geniuses who compose “The PayPal Mafia.” The mainstream media glamorizes them as “tech visionaries,” a band of rebellious geniuses who disrupted finance and went on to build empires. Yet, beneath the surface of the so-called PayPal Mafia is not innovation for the public good, but the construction of a new form of oligarchy—one more dangerous than the robber barons of the 19th century. Why? Because this new class of elites doesn’t merely build companies. These men influence monetary systems, shape global narratives, and fund policy engineering through unelected channels.

PayPal emerged in the late 1990s during the dot-com bubble, which I had warned would crash by 2000. PayPal became a clever workaround to bypass the traditional banking system, cloaked under the premise of convenience. This so-called “mafia” includes Peter Thiel, Elon Musk, Reid Hoffman, Max Levchin, David Sacks, Scott Banister, Roelof Botha, Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, Jawed Karim, Premal Shah, Yu Pan, and Yishan Wong, among others who had roots in PayPal. Each went on to build their own tech empire spanning across biotech, social media, space, venture capitalism, and surveillance.

Fortune Magazine ran an article about these men in 2007, and even asked them to dress up as traditional mafia gangsters. These men are the new tech elite who wield immense power and influence. Elon Musk’s deep ties to Donald Trump shone a new light on how deeply the so-called PayPal Mafia has become embedded in politics and geopolitical affairs.

I reported how Peter Thiel provided J.D. Vance a platform to enter politics. Thiel introduced Vance to Silicon Valley and welcomed him into the scene of the tech elite. Theil’s Palantir was recently awarded a massive contract to create the first US federal centralized government database that will house every piece of data on every American citizen. Again, this is happening under the premise of convenience.

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Russian Forces Reach Donetsk’s Western Border and Enter Dnipropetrovsk, Taking the War Into Another Ukrainian Region

During the Istanbul talks between Russia and Ukraine, when presented with Moscow’s demand that Kiev’s troops must withdraw from territory of the four regions that they have partially conquered (Luhansk, Donetsk, Zaporozhie and Kherson), the Ukrainian delegation reacted with a strong rejection of this point.

It’s been widely reported that, at this point, Russian negotiators warned their foes: ‘Next time, it won’t be four regions, but six or eight’.

That could, of course, be nothing but bragging, except that today the Russian Ministry of Defense announced that units of the 90th Tank Division have reached & crossed the western border of the Donetsk People’s Republic, and that their offensive continues deeper into Dnipropetrovsk Oblast.

That the Russian offensive has now breached into a brand-new region is a serious setback for the Kiev regime, who really depends on a constant PR effort to keep allies engaged and prevent further deterioration of public morale in their country.

So, at this point, besides the four regions mentioned above, there are also Russian successes in the northern Sumy and Kharkov regions – and now Dnipropetrovsk.

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