Tag: police state

GONE TO POT: Thailand Reverses Cannabis Decriminalization, Imposes Need for Doctor’s Prescription for Purchase

Thailand was the first country in Asia to decriminalize cannabis, but the experiment appears to have gone awry, as the Thai government this last week moved to backtrack the policies, and impose new rules designed to rein in the weed ‘scene’.

As of last Thursday (26), customers now need a doctor’s prescription to buy pot — limiting consumption of the plant to medical purposes only.

CNN reported:

“Thailand’s public health minister told CNN on Wednesday he hopes to eventually recriminalize cannabis as a narcotic, in what would be a major reversal from Thailand’s liberal approach since declassification, which saw a boom of dispensaries and weed cafes opening across the country, particularly in tourist areas.

‘This must be clearly understood: cannabis is permitted for medical use only’, Public Health Minister Somsak Thepsutin told CNN.”

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After Calling for “Death to the IDF” at Glastonbury, US Fall Tour by “Violent” British Punk Band Bob Vylan Being Looked at By DOJ Anti-Semitic Task Force Led by Leo Terrell

The Justice Department’s Anti-Semitic Task Force, led by Senior Counsel to the Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights Leo Terrell, is looking at a planned fall U.S. tour by the terrorist supporting, anti-Semitic and self described “violent” British punk band Bob Vylan after violence promoting, anti-Semitic remarks were made by the group at the Glastonbury Festival.

Terrell posted about the investigation on Sunday, saying he would be contacting the State Department and tagging President Donald Trump and Secretary of State Marco Rubio:

Statement from Leo Terrell on Antisemitic Chants by Bob Vylan:

Leo Terrell, Chair of the DOJ Task Force to Combat Antisemitism, strongly condemns the antisemitic chants made by Bob Vylan at the Glastonbury Festival. These abhorrent chants, which included calls for the death of members of the Israeli Defense Forces, are abhorrent and have no place in any civil society.

We understand that Mr. Vylan is planning to travel to the United States as part of the Inertia Tour. In response, Mr. Terrell’s Task Force will be reaching out to the U.S. Department of State on Monday to determine what measures are available to address the situation and to prevent the promotion of violent antisemitic rhetoric in the United States.

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She Got a Permit for Her Chickens. Now the City Is Fining Her $80,000.

The city of Douglas, Michigan, is determined to take the “free” out of “free range.” In 2023, Kathryn Sarkisian, a resident of the Lake Michigan tourist town, wanted to do something that seemed simple enough: raise chickens in her backyard. She then sought—and received—a permit directly from the city, authorizing her to do so. Barely a month later, the city pulled an about-face, telling Sarkisian that she would have to get rid of her chickens on account of a neighbor’s complaint.

Douglas originally passed its chicken ordinance in 2020, which gives neighbors a 21-day period within which to object to nearby chicken permit requests. This process wasn’t followed, though, since the neighbor’s complaint came after the city had already issued Sarkisian’s permit. The city claimed that it had forgotten to notify the neighbors of their right to object during the review process and had therefore done so retroactively. Since one neighbor ended up objecting, Sarkisian was told she’d have to get rid of her chickens.

In the meantime, Sarkisian had spent $23,000 building a chicken coop and a privacy fence to shield the chickens from view. When Sarkisian refused to budge, the city began assessing a $300-per-day fine in November 2024. This means she is currently facing nearly $80,000 in fines for her refusal to comply with the city’s demands. Worse yet, the city hasn’t even clarified when the tolling period for the fines started—if it started from the time she began raising the chickens, the fines would now total over $200,000.

Despite the immense financial penalties at play, Sarkisian’s six plucky chickens still stride outside her back door. “I was raised in a family that loves this country, that believes in our freedom, that’s grateful for people who fought and who still fight for our freedoms,” Sarkisian told MLive in a recent interview. “And those freedoms and rights are very near and dear to me.”

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Iowa Lawmaker Supporting Medical Psilocybin Bashes Bill That Would’ve Legalized Only A Synthetic Version Of The Psychedelic

An Iowa lawmaker who pushed for the passage of a bill to create a state program allowing the medicinal use of psilocybin said Gov. Kim Reynolds’s (R) decision to veto a bill pertaining to the psychoactive compound in magic mushrooms was a “great decision.”

Rep. Jeff Shipley (R-Fairfield) said rather than focus on rescheduling a synthetic version of the drug, the state should instead prioritize creating a state program legalizing the psychiatric use of naturally occurring psilocybin.

House File 383 would have allowed for the prescription and distribution of synthetic psilocybin immediately following federal approval of the drug, and mirrored a similar bill, which was signed into law, in Colorado.

The bill dealt with crystalline polymorph psilocybin, a compound commonly known as COMP360, which is a treatment developed by the biotechnology company Compass Pathways to help patients with treatment of resistant depression, post traumatic stress disorder and anorexia nervosa.

Shipley said he “condemns Compass Pathways” for its approach at creating, and patenting, a synthetic version of the “natural psilocybin that God has given us that everyone knows and loves.”

Compass Pathways declined to comment on the veto of the bill, which it lobbied in support of, and on Shipley’s comment.

Shipley’s emailed statement also apologized for his vote in favor of the bill, which passed unanimously in both the House and Senate.

“The proper legal framework is to reschedule psilocybin to schedule IV or III, and allow the relevant state regulatory boards to make it available as medicine,” Shipley said.

Reynolds, in her explanation of the veto, similarly said the state should have time to review any federal action on the synthetic version of the drug before it legalizes it at the state level.

Shipley was a vocal supporter of House File 978, which would have legalized the use of psilocybin for psychiatric treatment through a state program. The proposed program would have operated similarly to the state’s medical cannabis program.

The bill passed the House with an overwhelming majority in late April, but was not taken up by the Senate.

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France to Ban Smoking in Parks, Beaches, and Near Schools

France has struggled to kick its smoking habit. A new public health decree published Saturday aims to change that.

In the coming days, smoking will be banned in all French parks and sports venues, at beaches and bus stops, in a perimeter around all schools, and anywhere children could gather in public.

In a country where smoking has for generations been glamorized in cinema and intertwined with the national image, government crackdowns on tobacco use have met resistance.

“In France, we still have this mindset of saying, this is a law that restricts freedom,” Philippe Bergerot, president of the French League Against Cancer, told the Associated Press.

The ban aims “to promote what we call denormalization. In people’s minds, smoking is normal,” he said. “We aren’t banning smoking; we are banning smoking in certain places where it could potentially affect people’s health and … young people.”

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Police ‘assessing’ comments made by Kneecap and Bob Vylan after Glastonbury acts spark outrage with remarks

Avon and Somerset Police are examining video footage from Glastonbury Festival to determine if criminal offences were committed during performances by bands Bob Vylan and Kneecap on Saturday afternoon.

The force announced on social media: “We are aware of the comments made by acts on the West Holts Stage at Glastonbury Festival this afternoon.

“Video evidence will be assessed by officers to determine whether any offences may have been committed that would require a criminal investigation.”

The investigation centres on comments made by punk duo Bob Vylan and Irish rap trio Kneecap during their sets at the festival’s West Holts Stage.

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Moment Border Patrol use huge explosion to blast their way into house with woman and two children

A California mother-of-two was left in tears after Border Patrol agents used a massive explosion to blow down her front door during a terrifying early-morning raid caught on camera.

The shocking scene unfolded in Huntington Park, Los Angeles, where Jenny Ramirez and her two young children, ages one and six, were jolted awake by a deafening blast before a dozen armed agents in full tactical gear stormed the home.

Surveillance footage obtained by NBC Los Angeles shows agents planting an explosive device on the door before detonating it – shattering a window and sending shockwaves through the quiet neighborhood.

Moments later, around a dozen federal agents charged toward the house with weapons drawn.

Inside were Ramirez, her boyfriend Jorge Sierra-Hernandez, and their two children. Speaking through tears, Ramirez told NBC it was one of the loudest explosions she’d ever heard.

‘I told them, ‘You guys didn’t have to do this, you scared by son, my baby,’ Ramirez told NBC. 

Ramirez said she was given no warning about the raid and insisted that everyone in the home is a U.S. citizen.

According to Ramirez, the agents said they were searching for her boyfriend, who she claims was recently involved in an accidental collision with a truck carrying federal officers.

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Student Visa Applicants Will Now Be Forced To Make Their Social Media Accounts Public

In a Monday announcement, several U.S. embassies stated that student visa applicants will be required to turn the settings on their social media accounts to “public” in order to facilitate scrutiny of their posts, presumably for ideological screening. The change is part of a recent string of crackdowns on international students, which has targeted many who have participated in pro-Palestinian protests or expressed anti-Israel views.

In a social media post, the U.S. Embassy in London wrote that “every visa adjudication is a national security decision,” adding that applicants for several kinds of student visas would be required to “adjust the privacy settings on all of their personal social media accounts to ‘public’ to facilitate vetting necessary to establish their identity and admissibility to the United States.” Several other embassy social media accounts also posted the statement.

The directive comes after months of ramped-up efforts to ideologically filter prospective international students. Earlier this year, Secretary of State Marco Rubio began canceling the visas of some college students who participated in anti-Israel protests—or, in one student’s case, simply wrote an op-ed. In one March press conference, he estimated that his office had canceled more than 300 visas.

“Every time I find one of these lunatics, I take away their visa.” Rubio said. “At some point, I hope we run out because we’ve gotten rid of all of them, but, we’re looking every day for these lunatics that are tearing things up.”

A domestic cable sent to embassy officials in May telegraphed this latest development, ordering officials to scour social media posts from prospective Harvard students, noting that the order “will also serve as a pilot for expanded screening and vetting of visa applicants” and “will be expanded over time.” Last week, additional policy updates directed embassy officials to review F, M, and J visas (which are common student visas) for “any indications of hostility toward the citizens, culture, government, institutions or founding principles of the United States.”

This latest move in the Trump administration’s mission to prevent students with disfavored views from studying in the U.S. is nothing less than outright viewpoint discrimination. While the U.S. has a national security interest in vetting visa applicants for affiliations with outright terrorist groups, merely opposing Israel’s actions in Gaza hardly approaches that line. And, as many free speech advocates have pointed out, this precedent can easily be utilized to punish many other viewpoints.

“There is nothing stopping this or another administration from using that authority tomorrow against critics of other countries, whether they’re protesting Russia’s invasion of Ukraine or China’s oppression of Uyghurs,” reads a recent statement from the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE), a First Amendment group. “That’s wrong. Requiring foreign students and faculty to self-censor their views about American foreign policy in order to stay in the country violates American principles of free speech and the First Amendment.”

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Victim Blaming: UK Judge Uses Violence Committed Against Man as Evidence of His Guilt

A man in London was convicted of a “religiously aggravated public order offense” after HE was attacked by a triggered radical.

Hamit Coskun, a Kurdish-Armenian asylum seeker, was fined over $300 after burning a Quran outside the Turkish consulate as a protest against Turkey’s Islamist government.

Moussa Kadri attacked Coskun with a knife, knocked him down, and kicked him.

But it is Coskun, the victim of a physical attack, who is being punished.

The Westminster Magistrates’ Court held Coskun responsible, citing the violent reaction as evidence of his guilt.

Judge John McGarva stated, “Burning a religious book, although offensive, to some is not necessarily disorderly.”

“What made his conduct disorderly was the timing and location of the conduct and that all this was accompanied by abusive language. There was no need for him to use the ‘F word’ and direct it towards Islam.”

The Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE) noted the irony of the attacker’s actions being used to convict the victim.

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A Police State Coming to a Town Near You

We have seen this before.

A foreign entity attacks American persons or property and the government warns that its sleeper cells have infiltrated the United States and it is somehow necessary to expand the powers of the government and shrink protections for civil liberties — and this shrinkage will somehow keep us all safe.

The premise of this deeply flawed argument is that less liberty produces more safety. That premise is historically and morally erroneous. Even if we had cops watching us on every street corner or F.B.I. agents virtually in every home, who will keep us safe from them? And who would want to live, who could be private and free, in such an environment?

Here is the backstory.

When James Madison referred to the creation of the American republic as an inversion, he must have been met with quizzical looks and curious laughter. He meant that throughout history, popular governments came about by monarchs and despots — the sovereign — begrudgingly giving up power. This was, to Madison, power giving liberty.

In America, however, Madison argued — following his neighbor and good friend Thomas Jefferson, who maintained that individual persons are sovereign — the government came about by an inversion of the old way. In America, liberty gave power.

Thus, at the end of the American war for independence, which began 250 years ago, there was no central government here. The king’s agents and soldiers had been chased back to England, and many of his judicial and administrative officials retreated into private life or suddenly became patriots.

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