Tag: police state

China Arrests Almost 30 Pastors, Members Of One Of Its Biggest Underground Churches

Nearly 30 pastors and members of China’s unsanctioned Zion Church were detained Friday in the biggest Christian crackdown since 2018.

Founder and Pastor Jin Mingri was also detained at his home, his daughter, Grace Jin, and church spokesperson, Sean Long, told Reuters.

“What just happened is part of a new wave of religious persecution this year,” Long said, adding that authorities have questioned more than 150 church members and have increased harassment during Sunday church services over the last few months.

Long said five pastors and church members have been released, but he showed Reuters an official detention notice saying Mingri is being held on suspicion of “illegal use of information networks.” The charge could potentially land Mingri in jail for up to seven years, the outlet reported.

Jin said she is concerned for the health of her 56-year-old father, who was previously hospitalized for diabetes.

“We’re worried since he requires medication,” Jin said. “I’ve also been notified that lawyers are not allowed to meet the pastors, so that is very concerning to us.”

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State Dept Revokes Visas of Foreigners Who Celebrated Charlie Kirk’s Murder, Says They ‘Wish Death on Americans’

The State Department has started revoking visas for foreigners found to have celebrated the murder of Charlie Kirk.

Following Kirk’s brutal assassination during a speaking event at Utah Valley University last month, many leftists took to social media to celebrate his death.

Some of those individuals happened to be guests in the United States.

In a post on the X platform, the State Department said it had “no obligation to host foreigners who wish death on Americans.”

“The State Department continues to identify visa holders who celebrated the heinous assassination of Charlie Kirk,” the department wrote.

The post then went on to provide the following examples:

— An Argentine national said Kirk “devoted his entire life spreading racist, xenophobic, misogynistic rhetoric” and “deserves to burn in hell.”

— A South African mocked Americans mourning him, writing that “they’re hurt that the racist rally ended in attempted martyrdom” and that Kirk “was used to astroturf a movement of white nationalist trailer trash.”

— A Mexican claimed Kirk “died being a racist, he died being a misogynist,” adding, “there are people who deserve to die. There are people who would make the world better off dead.”

— A Brazilian said “Charlie Kirk was the reason for a Nazi rally where they marched in homage to him” and that he “DIED TOO LATE.”

— A German tweeted, “When fascists die, Democrats don’t complain.”

— A Paraguayan wrote, “Charlie Kirk was a son of a b**** and he died by his own rules.”

Each message was followed by the same line: “Visa revoked.”

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Future of Selective Service Goes to House-Senate Conference – Again

Following approval by the House and Senate of different versions of an annual military policy bill, the future of the Selective Service System (SSS) will be decided behind closed doors by a House-Senate conference committee  –  for the sixth time in the last ten years.

When the Federal government shut down most agencies and activities at the start of October 2025, the SSS stayed in operation and continued to register young men for a possible military draft. Maintaining a fiction of readiness to activate military conscription is apparently considered “essential” to enabling planning for war without limits. And even during the “shutdown”, Congress has taken time out of its budget debates to act on legislation to plan and prepare for war. But major proposed changes to Selective Service laws, regulations, and procedures remain undecided.

By the end of this year, we could see the most significant changes in Selective Service law, regulations, and procedures since 1980. Or pending decisions might be postponed, continuing the current decades-old stalemate between massive noncompliance with the registration and address reporting requirements and Congressional reluctance to admit the failure of the program and repeal the Military Selective Service Act (MSSA).

Here’s what’s in the works:

(1) Changes in Selective Service law

A dangerous and unworkable proposal to have the SSS attempt to register all potential draftees “automatically” using other Federal databases was approved by the full House of Representatives as part of this year’s annual National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA). This year’s NDAA still has its traditional “Defense” title. But we can’t help wondering whether, if Congress renames the “Department of Defense” the “Department of War”, as President Trump has proposed, next year’s version of this bill will be titled the “War Authorization Act”.

The proposal for “automatic” draft registration in the House version of the NDAA would give the SSS unprecedented authority to obtain and aggregate any information from any other Federal agency or from potential draftees that the SSS believes might help the agency identify or locate potential draftees. Because whether an individual is required to register, under the current interpretation of the MSSA by the SSS, depends on both sex as assigned at birth and immigration and visa status, the SSS would be authorized and required to collect information held by other Federal agencies for other purposes and interrogate young people to try to create a master database of every young adult in the USA including their sex as assigned at birth, their immigration and visa status, and their current address.

Activists for peace and freedom need to sound the alarm now: The power to collect and aggregate personal information from any and all other Federal agencies that would be given to the SSS by the proposal for automatic draft registration would be unprecedented for any Federal agency, and would have unprecedented potential for weaponization and abuse, especially against immigrant and transgender young adults. Members of Congress should care about, and should oppose, this proposal, even if they aren’t worried about a military draft.

The Department Of Government Efficiency (DOGE) has already gained access to the SSS registration database. There’s no telling what damage DOGE would do with the additional data the SSS would be authorized and required to compile in order to try to register potential draftees “automatically”.

The House version of the NDAA for Fiscal Year 2026 including the provision for “automatic” Selective Service registration was approved by the full House on 10 September 2025 and finally forwarded to the Senate, after clerical corrections, on 30 September 2025, just before the Federal government partially shut down. A bipartisan amendment to replace the provision for “automatic” draft registration with a provision to repeal the MSSA was introduced in the House, but the House Rules Committee chose not to allow a floor vote on this amendment.

No comparable proposal for automatic registration or expansion of SSS data-gathering authority is included in the version of this year’s NDAA approved by the Senate on 10 October 2025. The fate of the House provision for “automatic” Selective Service registration will be decided during closed-door House-Senate conference negotiations on the NDAA, the outcome of which probably won’t be known until much later in the year.

(2) Changes in Selective Service regulations

During the Biden Administration, the SSS conducted its first comprehensive review in decades of the regulations spelling out its contingency plans for a draft, if Congress were to authorize a draft without at the same time making any other changes to the MSSA. The SSS planned to publish a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) for its revised regulations in early 2025. But this update to SSS regulations has been held back indefinitely by President Trump’s ongoing freeze on promulgation of new Federal regulations. Little is known concerning the content of the planned revisions to the regulations.

(3) Changes to draft boards

Lists of draft board members and draft board jurisdictions by county released in February and March of 2025 in response to one of my Freedom Of Information Act (FOIA) requests revealed that many local and appeal boards lack a quorum and/or lack a member from each county over which they have jurisdiction. As a result, they would lack authority to adjudicate claims for deferment, exemption, or classification and assignment to noncombatant or alternative service as a conscientious objector in the event of a draft.

Within weeks after I reported on the implications of these draft board vacancies for SSS (un)readiness to actually carry out an on-demand draft, the SSS quietly replaced the application for draft board membership on its Web site with a statement that, “The Selective Service System is currently reviewing the structure and operations of the Board Member Program. As part of this reassessment, we are temporarily pausing the acceptance of new volunteer applications.”

No further information has been released concerning the reasons for the “pause” or what the SSS plans to do about draft board vacancies. The mandate for appointment of draft boards and the entitlement of draftees to have claims heard by local boards and to appeal administrative denials to state and national appeal boards remain part of the MSSA and the SSS regulations, so the SSS couldn’t carry out a draft without filling these vacancies. Current board members continue to serve until their terms expire or they resign or die, but the number of boards that lack a quorum and would be unable to function in the event of a draft will grow with attrition as long as no new board members are being appointed.

It’s unclear whether decisions will be made this year on any of these issues or if these proposals will merely be carried over to, or reintroduced, next year. But these issues won’t go away until Congress acts, and Congress won’t act unless and until it feels public pressure, whether from lobbying or from direct action such as continued passive but massive noncompliance with the draft registration law.

There’s growing recognition that current SSS contingency plans for a draft, especially the registration program, are a paper tiger that won’t stand up to even cursory critical scrutiny. Sooner or later, something has to change. The direction of that change depends on what we do now and in the months and perhaps years ahead to organize and resist ongoing planning and preparation for military conscription that makes larger wars and military adventurism more likely.

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Congress collected 30 million lines of phone data in Trump J6 probe, raising civil liberty concerns

Congressional investigators collected a stunning 30 million lines of phone data mapping contacts between conservatives and the Trump White House in the name of investigating the Jan. 6 Capitol breach, a massive dragnet that raises civil liberty concerns about the lack of limits on the ability of lawmakers to snoop on Americans’ private phone calls.   

The mountainous collection of phone records were revealed to the FBI led by Chris Wray in late 2023 by former Rep. Adam Kinzinger, a GOP member on the Democrat-run House Jan. 6 select committee. The cache was offered to the bureau on the eve of the 2024 presidential election as evidence without requiring a warrant, according to an FBI document memorializing the offer that was reviewed by Just the News.

The memo says Kinzinger told the FBI that the phone data had been collected by then-former Rep. Denver Riggleman, an ex-Republican who was a staffer on the Capitol riot committee and who later helped Hunter Biden’s legal team in its efforts to cast doubt on the laptop belonging to Joe Biden’s son.

Congressional powers used to conduct lawfare against Trump

The FBI memo does not reveal whether the bureau ever took Kinzinger up on his offer, but it does reveal the sheer magnitude of a phone surveillance project the Democrats ran by using congressional subpoenas to gather phone records about Americans’ contacts with the Trump White House.

Kinzinger told the FBI that the J6 committee “collected and linked a substantial amount of telephone data, and noted the FBI may already possess such data. While former congressman Denver Riggleman worked with the Select Committee he (Riggleman) had a contact and was able to obtain toll information including for White House root or switchboard numbers via congressional subpoena,” the FBI agents wrote in their memo summarizing the offer.

“Kinzinger noted that he (Kinzinger) did not conduct the analysis himself but that Riggleman had identified certain telephone connections between numbers identified as being associated with the White House and certain individuals,” the memo continued.

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UN, Gates Foundation push for digital ID across 50 nations by 2028

The 50-in-5 campaign to accelerate digital ID, fast payment systems, and data exchanges in 50 countries by 2028 reaches a 30 country milestone.

Launched in November 2023, the 50-in-5 campaign is a joint effort of the United Nations, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, and their partners to rollout out at least one component of Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI) in 50 nations within five years.

DPI is a civic technology stack consisting of three major components: digital ID, fast payment systems, and massive data sharing between public and private entities.

50-in-5 started with 11 first-mover countries, and with the count now at 30 the participating countries include:

Bangladesh, Brazil, Cambodia, Dominican Republic, Estonia, Ethiopia, France, Guatemala, Jamaica, Kazakhstan, Lesotho, Malawi, Mexico, Moldova, Nigeria, Norway, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Singapore, Sri Lanka, South Africa, South Sudan, Somalia, Togo, Trinidad and Tobago, Uganda, Ukraine, Uruguay, Uzbekistan, and Zambia.

The 50-in-5 campaign celebrated its 30-country milestone during a sideline event at the U.N. General Assembly in New York on September 22.

There, government officials, like Ukraine’s deputy prime minister, praised the work of 50-in-5 while the ministers of digital economy from Nigeria and Togo called for an interoperable digital identity system for the entire African continent.

Nigeria’s Minister of Communications, Innovation and Digital Economy Bosun Tijani said that each country could build their own digital identity scheme, but that they should all be interoperable with one another – demonstrating both the digital ID and data sharing as good potential use cases for DPI.

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Rumble is Restored in France After Court Rejects Government’s Censorship Demand

Rumble, the video-sharing and cloud services platform, has reopened access to its site for users in France following a decisive legal development.

A court ruled that a French official’s demand for content removal, delivered via email, held no legal authority.

In response, Rumble has restored full access to its platform across the country.

The dispute dates back to 2022, when a French government representative attempted to pressure the platform into censoring certain videos.

Rather than complying with the demand to erase content under threat of legal consequences, Rumble took the bold step of withdrawing service from France entirely.

That stand against political interference has now been vindicated by the court’s finding that the email in question could not be treated as an enforceable action.

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As Ohio’s Intoxicating Hemp Product Ban Takes Effect, Business Owners Brace For Impact

Ohioans who sell intoxicating hemp products are worried what the 90-day ban that goes into effect on Tuesday will mean for their businesses and customers.

Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine (R) recently announced a 90-day executive order that bans the sale of intoxicating hemp products that starts October 14.

Intoxicating hemp products are items that contain THC that are sold anywhere other than licensed marijuana dispensaries including gas stations, smoke shops and CBD stores, among others.

Todd Hicks opened his new CBD store in Columbus days before DeWine announced the ban.

“It’s been heartbreaking,” he said. “Honestly, it’s been totally heartbreaking. I don’t know which direction to go.”

Hicks said he will likely have to close his new shop and let go of his three employees.

“I can’t afford them,” he said. “Well, there’s nothing for them to do, right? They can’t sell the product. There’s no one going to be answering the door or coming to the door to actually buy the product. So I don’t need them.”

Children getting ahold of intoxicating hemp products is a parental issue, Hicks said.

“They’re digging it out of their parents’ purse or something like that,” he said. “It’s not a sale issue.”

Mark Fashian, president of hemp product wholesaler Midwest Analytical Solutions in Delaware, Ohio, said the ban will put him out of business. He works with more than 500 stores around Ohio that sell intoxicating hemp products.

“We typically will sell to smoke shops or gas stations or convenience stores or drive-thrus, and every one of those have a mechanism for carding anyone,” Fashian said. “There is definitely carding happening all over the place.”

He said those shops are worried about how the ban will impact them.

“They’re just worried,” Fashian said. “They don’t know what to do. They don’t know what to do with their products.”

Jim Higdon, co-founder of Cornbread Hemp in Kentucky, which sells its products in more than 300 Ohio retail stores, said the intoxicating hemp ban has caused lots of confusion.

“Our retailer and distributor partners are very unhappy,” he said. “It’s really frustrating to watch the Republican Party be an anti-business party… To see the governor and members of the legislature be anti-business on this front is very concerning when other states have been able to figure this out.”

Kim Bryant, a salesperson at Your CBD Store Marion, said the average age of their customer is 50 years old.

“They want gummies for pain and gummies for sleep,” she said. “People want that instead of opioids or prescription drugs… The older people, they have no desire to go to a medical marijuana or recreational marijuana facility.”

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Newsom Vetoes California Bill To Let Marijuana Businesses Deliver Products Directly To Patients

The governor of California has vetoed a bill that would have allowed certain marijuana microbusinesses to ship medical cannabis products directly to patients via common carriers like FedEx and UPS, stating that the proposal “would be burdensome and overly complex to administer.”

After advancing through the legislature last month, the measure from Assemblymember Patrick Ahrens (D) was rejected by Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) on Saturday.

“This bill would authorize a limited number of cannabis microbusinesses to ship certain medicinal cannabis products directly to patients using a common carrier,” the governor said in a veto message.

An analysis of the legislation says supporters argue that “a small population of patients in California requires specific medicinal products that retailers do not stock, as only a handful of individuals seek them, and these products are perishable.”

“This bill is intended to create flexibility for medical patients and caregivers for whom it is a hardship to travel to purchase medicinal cannabis products. However, prior amendments narrowed the scope of the bill by prohibiting the shipment of medicinal cannabis goods to patients who live within 60 miles of a cannabis retailer or delivery option. It is unclear how many patients currently stand to benefit from this bill.”

The bill sponsor, Ahrens, said in the analysis that “the availability of medical cannabis products has declined significantly due to regulatory burdens, high taxation, and the prioritization of adult-use recreational products over medicinal formulations.”

“As a result, many patients—particularly those with intractable epilepsy, advanced cancers, multiple sclerosis, and neurodegenerative disorders—are struggling to obtain appropriate and effective medical cannabis products,” he said. “California’s vast geography further exacerbates this issue, as many seriously ill patients live in areas where specialized medical cannabis products are not available locally and these patients are not able to travel long distances to dispensaries that carry the products they need.”

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Canada’s Privacy Watchdog Not Consulted on Bill C-8, Enabling Secret Internet & Phone Shutdowns

Legislation that would allow federal ministers to secretly order telecom providers to cut off a Canadian’s phone or internet access is advancing without any input from the country’s top privacy authority.

Privacy Commissioner Philippe Dufresne told a Commons committee that his office was never asked to review Bill C-8 before it was introduced.

The bill would authorize the cabinet to compel telecom companies to block services to individuals considered a security threat, without needing a judge’s approval or any public disclosure.

“The issue never came up,” Dufresne said during testimony before the House of Commons ethics committee. He confirmed, “We are not consulted on specific pieces of legislation before they are tabled.”

Bill C-8 would allow the federal cabinet to direct a telecom provider to deny all services to a specific person, based solely on the government’s assessment of a threat. No warrant would be required. No independent body would be tasked with reviewing the decision.

Conservative MP Michael Barrett raised an alarm over what he described as a dangerous overreach. He said the bill would allow the government to quietly seize control of individuals’ communications, with no transparency and no legal checks.

“Without meaningful limits, bills like C-8 can hand the government secret powers over Canadians’ communications,” said Barrett. “It’s a serious setback for privacy and for democracy.”

He pressed Dufresne on whether Parliament should be required to conduct privacy assessments before passing legislation with such broad surveillance potential.

“Isn’t Parliament simply being asked to grant sweeping powers of surveillance to the government without a formal review?” Barrett asked.

Dufresne responded, “It’s not a legal obligation under the Privacy Act.”

While acknowledging the importance of national security, Dufresne warned that such measures must not override core privacy protections. “We need to make sure that by protecting national security, we are not doing so at the expense of privacy,” he said.

A previous version of the idea, Bill C-26, failed in an earlier Parliament after concerns over its civil liberties implications.

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Israel Is the Excuse To Snatch Away Freedoms We Once Took for Granted

In interviews and a comment article over the weekend, the UK education secretary Bridget Phillipson made clear she plans to exploit the pause in the Gaza genocide to snuff out criticism of Israel’s criminal actions – and, of course, her own government’s collusion in that criminality.

Naturally, the British establishment media have been keen to amplify her message that there will be painful consequences both for individuals who continue protesting against Israeli atrocities and for institutions, such as universities, that mistakenly assume they have a duty to uphold centuries-old freedoms by tolerating such protests.

These protests, let us remember, are fully in line with a ruling last year from the International Court of Justice, the world’s highest court, which declared:

a) Israel is illegally occupying Palestinian territory and enforcing a system of apartheid rule over the Palestinian populations there – and has been doing so for decades.

b) Western governments are obligated to do what they can to bring that illegal occupation and Israel’s apartheid system to an end as quickly as possible.

Instead, those same governments are violating the ruling, and international law, both by continuing to support Israel’s criminality and by preventing their own citizens from putting pressure on them to end their support.

The government of Keir Starmer, a former human rights lawyer, has even categorized protest against genocide as “support for terrorism”. For the first time in British history, a direct-action group, Palestine Action, has been banned as a terrorist organization – in its case, for targeting weapons factories in Britain arming Israel’s genocide. It is now illegal to express any support for the group.

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