Tag: police state

Rhode Island Bills To Restrict Hemp THC Drinks Ignore Science And Current Regulations

As co-founder of Rhode Island’s only U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) organic hemp farm, and the largest outdoor cannabis farm in the state, I’ve spent the last eight years helping build the hemp industry from the ground up.

At Lovewell Farms, we’ve operated under one of the strictest regulatory frameworks in the country, subject to licensing, batch testing, tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) limits, secure packaging requirements and product traceability. Yet two recently proposed bills, H6056 and H6270, would cut licensed hemp farms like ours out of the very market we helped establish.

These bills, introduced by Democratic Reps. Jacquelyn Baginski of Cranston and Scott Slater of Providence, aim to regulate the sale of hemp-derived beverages containing delta-9 THC, the compound most commonly associated with cannabis intoxication.

Slater’s bill would specifically eliminate the sale of such beverages and drink mix powders in Rhode Island, unless these products are specifically included in the state’s cannabis laws. The bills misrepresent both the science behind these products and the legal infrastructure already in place.

During a recent House hearing, Rep. Baginski stated, “I was surprised to learn that hemp-based THC products are also available in the marketplace and largely sold unregulated…at any establishment with a retail sales permit. That could be a convenience store, a hair salon, a gas station, anywhere.”

Respectfully, this is inaccurate. In Rhode Island, consumable hemp products must be produced by licensed handlers and tested by certified labs. They are subject to strict limits on THC content, comprehensive labeling standards, and age restrictions. If some products are being sold outside these rules, that’s a failure of enforcement, not evidence of an unregulated system.

Rep. Slater’s testimony in support of his bill, which would effectively ban all hemp-derived THC beverages unless sold through a dispensary, also included misleading claims. He asserted that “the hemp-derived THC products are now being sold outside the regulated cannabis system with minimal oversight, including limited testing, weak labeling, no seed-to-sale tracking as well as avoidance of cannabis taxes.”

This characterization erases the work of licensed hemp producers who follow every requirement the state imposes, many of whom, like us, already distribute specific products through dispensaries and operate with full compliance under existing cannabis laws.

Slater went on to say that allowing hemp beverages undermines Rhode Island’s cannabis cultivators, whom he described as his constituents. “I really find it unfair that as soon as this market has started that we’re trying to undermine them…and allowing folks that found kind of a loophole with this synthetically altered hemp in drinks…without going through the same framework that everyone else has.”

But our farm has always followed the framework. There is no loophole for us, just increasing restrictions on products we’ve made legally, safely and transparently for years.

Both bills ignore a crucial scientific fact: Not all hemp products are intoxicating.

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Catholics fight government surveillance in confession after wins against abortion mandate, tax

Catholic physicians and social service workers won over the Trump administration and Supreme Court, respectively, last week against their compelled participation in emergency room abortions and a state unemployment compensation program that costs more than their own church’s.

Bishops hope to make it a trifecta against a Washington state law that violates the seal of confession, threatening priests with imprisonment and fines if they don’t report suspected child abuse or neglect when “penitents” confess, but not lawyers who learn the same from clients.

Diocesan leaders filed a motion for preliminary injunction Thursday against Democratic Gov. Bob Ferguson, Attorney General Nicholas Brown and county prosecutors in federal court in Tacoma to block SB 5375 at least 10 days before it takes effect July 27.

The Justice Department also quickly opened a civil rights investigation into the law as a prima facie First Amendment violation after Ferguson signed it, expanding the category of mandatory reporter to “member of the clergy,” defined as any regularly licensed, accredited or ordained minister, priest, rabbi, imam, elder, or similarly positioned religious or spiritual leader.

Denial of an injunction would likely fast-track the case to the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals and, if also rejected by the historically most liberal appeals court, to SCOTUS, which has rarely struggled to reach lopsided rulings upholding religious liberty.

The high court Thursday unanimously overturned the Wisconsin Supreme Court‘s ruling that found that a local Catholic Charities bureau’s work is primarily secular and hence it can’t get a religious exemption from paying into the state unemployment compensation system.

Justices unanimously ruled for Gerald Groff two years ago after the U.S. Postal Service threatened to fire the evangelical Christian for refusing to work Sundays under an Amazon delivery agreement, junking the “de minimis cost” standard that let employers easily deny religious exemptions but only appeared in a footnote in a 1977 ruling.

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Big Beautiful Bill hands AI industry free rein, strips local communities of power

The Big Beautiful Bill is making waves, and not in a good way. A provision tucked inside this massive legislative package would strip state and local governments of their ability to regulate artificial intelligence for the next decade. This isn’t just about tech policy. It’s about power, control, and the future of communities across America.

What’s really at stake?

Local governments have long played a crucial role in zoning decisions, ensuring that industrial developments don’t disrupt residential areas. But this bill would make it easier for corporations to secure zoning variances, allowing massive AI data centers to be built dangerously close to neighborhoods. These facilities require enormous amounts of electricity and water, often straining local infrastructure. Without local oversight, communities could be left powerless to push back against unwanted developments.

This isn’t hypothetical. It’s happening.

In one Congressional district, a proposed AI data center raised concerns among residents. The issue was resolved because local officials had leverage to negotiate terms. Under the Big Beautiful Bill, that leverage disappears. The ability of communities to decide where these centers will be built would be undermined, leaving decisions in the hands of corporations and federal regulators.

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‘The Agenda: their Vision, Your Future’: The digital prison that awaits us all

“The prophecies made in 1931 [in ‘Brave New World’] are coming true much sooner than I thought they would … The nightmare of total organisation … has emerged … and is now awaiting us, just around the next corner.”—Aldous Huxley, Brave New World Revisited, 1958

‘The Agenda: Their Vision, Your Future’ is a feature-length independent documentary produced by Mark Sharman; former UK broadcasting executive at ITV and Sky (formerly BSkyB).

In fiction and fact, there have always been people and organisations with ambitions to control the world. And now the oligarchs who pull the strings of finance and power finally have the tools to achieve their global objectives; omnipresent surveillance, artificial intelligence, digital currency and ultimately digital identities. The potential for social control of our lives and minds is alarmingly real.

The plan has been decades in the making and has seen infiltration of Governments, local councils, big business, civil society, the media and, crucially, education. A ceaseless push for a new reality, echoing Aldous Huxley’s ‘Brave New World’, or George Orwell’s ‘1984’.

‘The Agenda: Their Vision, Your Future’ examines the digital prison which awaits us if we do not push back right now. How your food, energy, money, travel and even your access to the internet could be limited and controlled; how financial power is strangling democracy and how global institutions like the World Health Organisation are commandeered to champion ideological and fiscal objectives.

The centrepiece is man-made climate change and with it, the race to Net Zero. Both are encapsulated in the United Nations and its Agenda 2030. A force for good? Or “a blank cheque for totalitarian global control”?

The Agenda presents expert views from the UK, the USA and Europe.

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Irish Government Admits No Free Speech Impact Assessment for “Misinformation” Laws

Irish authorities have moved ahead with extensive legislation aimed at tackling “misinformation,” yet they have not examined whether such measures might undermine free expression. The Department responsible for communications, media, and environmental policy has acknowledged that no analysis has been carried out to assess the consequences for free speech.

Responding to a media query from Gript, the Department of the Environment, Climate and Communications plainly admitted: “The Department has not undertaken any analysis or research on the potential impact of mis/disinformation laws on free speech.”

Despite this lack of evaluation, the government continues to defend its strategy. Speaking outside Government Buildings, Taoiseach (Prime Minster) Micheál Martin insisted the effort to curb online falsehoods is justified, arguing that some speech doesn’t merit protection. “It’s not freedom of speech, really, when it’s just a blatant lie and untruth, which can create a lot of public disquiet, as we have seen,” he said.

Martin downplayed the idea that regulating disinformation represents any serious threat to expressive freedoms, stating: “There are very strong protections in our constitution and in our laws and freedom of speech.” He added, “I wouldn’t overstate the impact on clamping down on blatant lies online as a sort of incursion or an undermining of freedom of speech.”

When pressed on whether the absence of impact studies was irresponsible, Martin referenced a recent RTÉ radio segment about social media claims related to a shooting in Carlow. “There was a researcher on identifying the blatant misinformation on truths and lies surrounding what happened in Carlow,” he said. “So I do think it’s absolutely important that government focuses on this issue.”

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Weaponized sugar pill? Homeland ends controversial and costly Quiet Skies domestic spying program

On Thursday, Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem announced via social media that the Transportation Safety Administration (TSA) is ending the pricey and oft-politicized Quiet Skies program.

“Today, I’m announcing TSA is ending the Quiet Skies Program, which since its existence has failed to stop a SINGLE terrorist attack while costing US taxpayers roughly $200 million a year,” she wrote in a press release.  

The Quiet Skies program, an initiative that began in 2010 and was officially launched in 2012 by the TSA, has sparked debate over its secretive monitoring of domestic air travelers deemed to be potential security risks. 

Originally intended to identify and track individuals who may pose threats to aviation, the program relied on behavioral analysis and data collection, often without passengers’ knowledge. Critics have long argued it raised privacy concerns and lacked transparency, while supporters have claimed it was a vital tool for ensuring safety in an era of evolving security challenges.

Agency used program as political tool

Noem went on to say, “DHS and TSA have uncovered documents, correspondence, and timelines that clearly highlight the inconsistent application of Quiet Skies. The program, under the guise of “national security,” was used to target political opponents and benefit political allies of the Biden Administration.” 

Noem also said that she is calling for a full Congressional investigation to examine corruption within the program.

Perhaps the most well-known case is that of Director of National Intelligence (DNI) Tulsi Gabbard. Gabbard, a decorated Army Reserve veteran who served in Iraq and Kuwait, and was later elected to the House of Representatives from Hawaii, was placed on the program’s watchlist in July 2024, prompting widespread controversy over allegations of political retaliation. 

Gabbard said on X that “I was put on a secret terror watch list after I publicly criticized [Kamala Harris]. No one will be safe from political retaliation under a Harris administration. I put my life on the line for this country. Now the government calls me a terror threat.”

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Palantir’s Value Soars With Dystopian Spy Tool that Will Centralize Data on Americans

During an end-of-year investor call this February, Palantir CEO, co-founder and militant Zionist Alex Karp bragged that his company was making a financial killing by enabling mass murder.

“Palantir is here to disrupt and make the institutions we partner with the very best in the world and, when it’s necessary, to scare enemies,” he stated, adding: “And on occasion, kill them.”  

On this front, Karp claimed Palantir was “crushing it,” and he professed to be “super-proud of the role we play, especially in places we can’t talk about.” 

Karp went on to predict social “disruption” ahead that would be “very good for Palantir.”

“There’s a revolution. Some people are going to get their heads cut off,” he warned, suggesting that his firm was producing the most vital technology enabling elites to restore control during the coming unrest.

Denver-based Palantir [which specializes in software platforms for big-data analytics] is already playing a decisive role in the besieged Gaza Strip, where its products assist Israel’s application of a ferocious AI targeting system known as Lavender which directs its ongoing genocide.

In the face of public protest, Karp has acknowledged that he is directly involved in killing Palestinians in Gaza, but insisted the dead were “mostly terrorists.”

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Key GOP Congressmen, Including Pro-Marijuana Legalization Member, Defend Effort to Ban Consumable Hemp Products

Key GOP congressional lawmakers—including one member who supports marijuana legalization—don’t seem especially concerned about provisions in a new spending bill that would put much of the hemp industry in jeopardy by banning most consumable products derived from the plant.

In interviews with Marijuana Moment, Congressional Cannabis Caucus co-chair Rep. Dave Joyce (R-OH) and House Agriculture Committee Chairman Glen Thompson (R-PA), as well as Rep. Lou Correa (D-CA), weighed in on the hemp language in the large-scale bill that cleared the the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies on Thursday.

Under the measure, hemp would be redefined under federal statute in a way that would prohibit cannabis products containing any “quantifiable” amount of THC or “any other cannabinoids that have similar effects (or are marketed to have similar effects) on humans or animals” as THC.

While Joyce backs legalizing and regulating cannabis for adult use, he said the language from the 2018 Farm Bill that federally legalized hemp and its derivatives “has been the stepping stone for the gas station delivery of intoxicants, whether that’s hemp or chemically manufactured [products] or whatever other shit it is that they sell at gas stations.”

“And there’s no age limit on it. So you’re handcuffing the regular cannabis industry that has strict standards that they have to meet everywhere, and yet this industry has flourished,” he said, adding that problems with the current law have been “exacerbated by people because there are some allegations that [intoxicating hemp products are] cannabis. It’s not hemp anymore.”

The congressman also seemed to endorse a push in Ohio to make it so intoxicating hemp products could only be sold to adults at licensed marijuana dispensaries. He said he told Gov. Mike DeWine (R) that, regardless of his views on the issue, the problem is the “gas station stuff that the kids are getting that all these people are up in arms about.”

That said, Joyce said while he does feel the 2018 Farm Bill’s hemp provisions included a “loophole” that’s been exploited, he hasn’t read the text of the latest legislation yet.

“I’m all for regulating the industry… It has to be regulated so that only adults are getting it,” he said.

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Trump’s Palantir-Powered Surveillance Is Turning America Into A Digital Prison

“We are fast approaching the stage of the ultimate inversion: the stage where the government is free to do anything it pleases, while the citizens may act only by permission.” — Ayn Rand

Call it what it is: a panopticon presidency.

President Trump’s plan to fuse government power with private surveillance tech to build a centralized, national citizen database is the final step in transforming America from a constitutional republic into a digital dictatorship armed with algorithms and powered by unaccountable, all-seeing artificial intelligence.

This isn’t about national security. It’s about control.

According to news reports, the Trump administration is quietly collaborating with Palantir Technologies—the data-mining behemoth co-founded by billionaire Peter Thiel—to construct a centralized, government-wide surveillance system that would consolidate biometric, behavioral, and geolocation data into a single, weaponized database of Americans’ private information.

This isn’t about protecting freedom. It’s about rendering freedom obsolete.

What we’re witnessing is the transformation of America into a digital prison—one where the inmates are told we’re free while every move, every word, every thought is monitored, recorded, and used to assign a “threat score” that determines our place in the new hierarchy of obedience.

This puts us one more step down the road to China’s dystopian system of social credit scores and Big Brother surveillance.

The tools enabling this all-seeing surveillance regime are not new, but under Trump’s direction, they are being fused together in unprecedented ways—with Palantir at the center of this digital dragnet.

Palantir, long criticized for its role in powering ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) raids and predictive policing, is now poised to become the brain of Trump’s surveillance regime.

Under the guise of “data integration” and “public safety,” this public-private partnership would deploy AI-enhanced systems to comb through everything from facial recognition feeds and license plate readers to social media posts and cellphone metadata—cross-referencing it all to assess a person’s risk to the state.

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OpenAI Is Ordered to Save Every ChatGPT Chat — Even the Ones You Delete

A federal court order requiring OpenAI to retain all ChatGPT conversations, including those users have deleted, should strong concern among privacy advocates and added pressure to a growing legal battle over the use of copyrighted material in AI systems.

On May 13, US Magistrate Judge Ona T. Wang directed OpenAI to “preserve and segregate all output log data that would otherwise be deleted on a going-forward basis until further order of the Court.” Although the order was issued several weeks ago, it only came to wider attention this week as OpenAI began taking formal steps to challenge it.

The ruling stems from multiple lawsuits filed by media organizations, including The New York Times, that accuse OpenAI of unlawfully using their copyrighted content to train and operate ChatGPT.

In response, OpenAI submitted a filing urging US District Judge Sidney H. Stein to overturn what it described as a “sweeping, unprecedented order.”

The company argued that the directive forces it to ignore user choices about data deletion, jeopardizing the privacy of millions. OpenAI also pointed to a statement from The New York Times editorial board asserting that Americans “should be able to control what happens to their personal data.”

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