A BIGOTED BITCH IN THE TRUMP ADMINISTRATION

Pentagon rep has called for curbing aid to Israel, posted hateful messages

Kingsley Wilson, the deputy press secretary at the Defense Department, “is clearly unfit for her role,” the AJC said. 

 

JNS

Mar 6, 2025

 

Pentagon spokeswoman Kingsley Wilson has a ‘long history’ of bigoted social media posts and now faces calls to resign

 

 

Before working for the Pentagon, a spokeswoman for the Trump administration posted that the United States should spend its money domestically rather than aiding Israel, Ukraine and Taiwan and, among other things, that Leo Frank, who is widely considered the victim of an antisemitic blood libel, was guilty, Jewish Insider reported.

The Anti-Defamation League told the publication that it hopes that Kingsley Wilson, the deputy press secretary at the U.S. Defense Department, will retract her comments immediately.

“We are deeply disturbed that any public official would parrot these hateful and false conspiracy theories,” the nonprofit told Jewish Insider. (JNS sought comment from the Pentagon.)

“Anyone who posts antisemitic conspiracy theories lifted right out of the neo-Nazi playbook should not be in public office,” wrote the American Jewish Committee, adding that Wilson “is clearly unfit for her role.”

“It’s horrible; it’s just not appropriate,” Sen. Deb Fischer (R-Neb.) said, per Politico. “Sometimes people think they’re anonymous when they’re on social media, that they can comment or post on whatever may be their attitude at the time and then they later regret it.”

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) said that U.S. President Donald Trump “doesn’t believe any of the things she’s talking about, and I’ll leave it up to them to determine if they think she’s the right spokesperson,” according to Politico. “If what you say about these posts are true, then she’s completely off-script with President Trump.”

Wilson was sworn in on Jan. 20.

ISRAEL DEMONIZED AT THE OSCARS ..... THE AUDIENCE CHEERED WHEN OSCAR WINNER SPOKE OF THE NEED TO STOP 'INJUSTICE AND THE ETHNIC CLEANSING OF PALESTINIAN PEOPLE'

The myth of Masafer Yatta

From Hollywood to the BBC, a genocidal narrative of lies is promoted as factually true. 

 

By Melanie Phillips

 

JNS

Mar 6, 2025

 

Palestinians and activists clash with Israeli security forces during a protest in the Arab settlement of Masafer Yatta near Hebron on Jan. 20, 2023.

 

The regular outbreak of narcissistic anti-Zionist derangement among Hollywood’s useful idiots plumbed new and hallucinatory depths with this year’s Oscars.

The award for Best Documentary Feature Film at the annual Academy Awards ceremony on March 2 went to “No Other Land,” a film created by a Palestinian Arab activist, Basel Adra, and an Israeli Jewish activist, Yuval Abraham.

The film depicts the apparently heroic resistance by Palestinian Arabs against Israel’s alleged attempt to destroy Adra’s community in Masafer Yatta, a collection of Arab settlements in the disputed territories of Judea and Samaria.

To whoops and cheers from the audience, Adra spoke of the need to stop “injustice and the ethnic cleansing of Palestinian people,” and of “always fearing [Israeli] settler violence, home demolitions and forcible displacements” in Masafer Yatta “under the harsh reality of occupation.”

For his part, Abraham called Adra his brother, denounced the “atrocious destruction of Gaza and its people which must end” and in the next breath linked this to “the Israeli hostages brutally taken in the crime of Oct. 7, which must be freed.”

At least he mentioned them.

The reality of Masafer Yatta, however, is radically different. The area was never under Palestinian Arab control. The only people with any legal or historical claim to it are the Jews.

In the 1920s, the Jews alone were promised a homeland by the League of Nations throughout what is now Israel, the disputed territories and the Gaza Strip—a binding treaty obligation that has never been abrogated.

In 1999, Arabs illegally erected homes in Masafer Yatta but failed to obtain building permits from Israel’s civil administration. This violated the Israel and Arab agreed-upon Oslo Accords that gave Israel full control over this area.

In 2022, Israel’s High Court ruled that these homes must be demolished. As a result, the residents moved into nearby alternative dwellings. Many of these condemned structures, however, remained in place in order to provide the illusion of a permanent Arab presence.

None of these facts, of course, was mentioned in the film because they would instantly destroy the lie of helpless Arabs victimized by cruel Israeli oppression.

Masafer Yatta has produced numerous terrorists who have murdered Israeli civilians. Moreover, with the connivance or backing of NGOs such as B’Tselem and Amnesty, its activists harass Jews living in the area by trespassing, damaging property and provoking fights that they film and post online with titles like “settler violence” and “Jewish supremacy.”

In 2021, during a violent incident in Masafer Yatta, an Israeli Defense Forces officer filmed a young Arab setting fire to Arab structures and shouting: “The Jews did it.”

The Jewish Voice reported that this young Arab was none other than the future Oscar-winner Basel Adra, whom it described as a B’Tselem activist and “a known provocateur in the Hebron mountains.” In a succession of contradictory claims, Adra later denied that he had committed arson.

The mythology that has developed around Masafa Yatta is one of many lies that have shaped support for the Palestinian cause throughout the West, investing it with the status of a heroic fight for justice. Obscenely, this big lie has come to define the claim by Western “progressives” to moral and centrist attitudes.

In Britain, the BBC, whose endemic animus against Israel has caused it for decades to transmit Palestinian propaganda demonizing Israel as entirely credible, has finally been caught in such an egregious abuse of its duty to tell the truth that even the Palestinian-supporting Labour government is demanding an explanation.

Last month, BBC TV aired a documentary entitled “Gaza: How to Survive a Warzone.” This was directed by a production company in London that relied on two cameramen based in Gaza.

The synopsis described the documentary as “following the lives of four young people trying to survive the Israel-Hamas war as they hope for a ceasefire—a vivid and unflinching view of life in a war zone.”

It took the indefatigable pro-Israel blogger David Collier just three hours to discover that Abdullah, the 14-year-old narrator who had been schooled as a Palestinian child propagandist for years, was the son of a senior Hamas government minister in Gaza who had supported the murder of Israelis by Hamas terrorists.

Collier revealed that the BBC show was “one of the worst Palestinian propaganda pantomimes you will ever get to see.” One of the co-directors in London was a Palestinian propagandist. One of the cameramen had saluted the Oct. 7 massacres and in 2021 had shared “resistance” videos full of terrorists, rockets and Israeli funerals. Two girls who took part in the film were the daughters of a Hamas police officer. Another child was pictured standing next to a Hamas terrorist holding weapons.

The child narrator, Abdullah, has said the production company gave him a script to read and paid him $1,000 for his performance. The police are now investigating whether the BBC has broken the law by paying members of a terrorist organization—with public money originating in the BBC license fee imposed on all who watch its output.

The Hamas links to this film should have come as no surprise. Every media report drawing on information from Gazan sources has to adhere to what the terrorist group wants to be said on pain of either death or withdrawal of access.

Neither the BBC nor any other media outlet issues a routine health warning on reports out of Gaza advising the public that these are produced under duress. Instead, they report these falsehoods (and staged “Pallywood” tableaux of Israeli brutality) as credible, while routinely suggesting that Israeli statements are not to be believed.

Worse still, the Committee for Accuracy in Middle East Reporting and Analysis (CAMERA) found that on several occasions, the BBC Gaza film mistranslated the Arabic words “Yahud” or “Yahudi” (meaning “Jew” or “Jewish”) as “Israeli.” The words of one individual who praised Hamas’s former leader, Yahya Sinwar, for waging “jihad against the Jews” were translated as Sinwar “fighting and resisting against Israeli forces.”

The intention was to conceal the fact that the Palestinian Arabs are driven not just by the aim of destroying Israel but by the desire to exterminate Jews. Arab antisemitism gets in the way of the Palestinian narrative.

Over the years, the BBC has repeatedly mistranslated the Arabic for “Jew” as “Israeli” in this wicked way. And it can’t claim to be unaware of what it’s doing.

In 2015, the news outlet’s chief international correspondent, Lyse Doucet, defended a similar translation, saying: “We talked to people in Gaza, we talked to translators. When [the children] say ‘Jews’, they mean ‘Israelis.’ … We felt it was a better translation of it.”

In a controversy of unprecedented seriousness for the BBC over the Gaza film, it has admitted to serious flaws but so far has failed to hold anyone to account.

It’s clearly hoping that it can contain the damage by treating this as a one-off aberration. It is not. It is rather the most blatant example of its profound animus against Israel—a distorted view to which it is so deeply wedded that it treats all factual evidence to the contrary as proof of extremism.

Through its unique global reach and reputation for fairness and balance, as a result of which millions around the world trust it more than any other broadcasting organization, the BBC has been responsible for gross incitement to hatred and worse against Israel and the Jewish people. It has blood on its hands.

As the broadcasting arm of the intelligentsia, however, the BBC merely reflects a view that cultural elites regard as axiomatically true. They believe that Palestinianism is a just cause and that the “Palestinian people” are the victims of Israeli colonialism.

As a result, from the Hollywood red carpet to BBC Broadcasting House in London, the people who shape the West’s cultural narrative have been promoting genocidal antisemitism posing as conscience.

They aren’t in fact useful idiots at all. They are instead active accomplices of evil.

$870,000 FOR LEADING 1,000 STUDENTS IN THREE SCHOOLS? ..... THE NYC SCHOOL SUPERINTENDENT MAKES AROUND $213,000 AND PRESIDES OVER 1,596 PUBLIC SCHOOLS WITH 912,000 STUDENTS

This charter school superintendent makes $870,000. He leads a district with 1,000 students.

On paper, Salvador Cavazos earns less than $300,000 to run Valere Public Schools, a small Texas charter network. But taxpayers likely aren’t aware that his total pay makes him one of the country’s highest-earning superintendents.

 

By Ellis Simani, ProPublica, and Lexi Churchill

 

The Texas Tribune

Mar 6, 2025

 

 

Superintendent Salvador Cavazos runs Valere Public Schools’ three charter campuses

 

Over the last three years, the head of a small charter school network that serves fewer than 1,000 students has taken home up to $870,000 annually, a startling amount that appears to be the highest for any public school superintendent in the state and among the top in the nation.

Valere Public Schools Superintendent Salvador Cavazos’ compensation to run three campuses in Austin, Corpus Christi and Brownsville exceeds the less than $450,000 that New York City’s chancellor makes to run the largest school system in the country.

But Cavazos’ salary looks far more modest in publicly posted records that are supposed to provide transparency to taxpayers. That’s because Valere excludes most of his bonuses from its reports to the state and on its own website, instead only sharing his base pay of about $300,000.

The fact that the superintendent of a small district could pull in a big-time salary shocked experts and previewed larger transparency and accountability challenges that could follow as Texas moves to approve a voucher-like program that would allow the use of public funds for private schools.

Cavazos’ total pay is alarming, said Duncan Klussmann, an associate professor at the University of Houston Department of Educational Leadership & Policy Studies.

“I just can’t imagine that there’d be any citizen in the state of Texas that would feel like that’s OK,” Klussmann said.

Details concerning Cavazos’ compensation, and that of two other superintendents identified by ProPublica and The Texas Tribune, drew a sharp rebuke from the association that advocates for charter schools across the state.

“It’s not acceptable for any public school to prioritize someone’s personal enrichment ahead of students’ best interests,” Brian Whitley, a spokesperson for the Texas Public Charter Schools Association, said in a statement. He added that any payment decisions made at the expense of students should be reversed immediately.

“The public charter school community has long embraced strong accountability and transparency. That’s what Texans deserve, both for academic outcomes and taxpayer dollars,” he said. “To that end, the full picture of superintendent compensation at all public schools should be made clearer.”

Texas lawmakers have filed legislation that would cap public school superintendents’ annual salaries, but most bills would not restrict bonuses. Those bills also don’t apply to private schools that stand to receive an influx of taxpayer dollars if lawmakers pass legislation this session approving education savings accounts, a type of voucher program. Private schools wouldn’t be subject to the same level of state oversight as public schools.

Lawmakers who advocate for vouchers won’t be able to gauge whether the investments were worthwhile if they don’t mandate that private schools follow the same financial and academic reporting requirements as public schools, said Bruce Baker, a professor at the University of Miami Department of Teaching and Learning.

Cavazos’ compensation proves that even those reporting standards are “woefully inadequate,” Baker said.

Texas school districts must post all compensation and benefits provided to their superintendent online or in public annual reports, according to rules set by the Texas Education Agency. They must also report superintendents’ salaries and any supplemental pay for extra duties to the state. But Valere excluded more than a dozen bonuses and additional payments it awarded Cavazos, some of which its board granted to him in perpetuity.

ProPublica and The Texas Tribune uncovered the total amount the district paid Cavazos by combing through federal tax records that the charter network must file annually with the Internal Revenue Service to maintain its nonprofit status. The news organizations then gathered additional details through public records requests to the district and the state.

 

Cavazos’ July 2022 employment letter states that his base annual pay would be $285,887, but Valere Public Schools reported in its tax filings that he was paid $870,714 that year.

Cavazos, who has overseen the charter district since 2014 and previously served as superintendent in two other public school systems, declined an interview and did not answer written questions for this story.

Board members provided written responses to questions through attorney Ryan Lione, who serves as outside counsel for the district. In defending Cavazos’ compensation, they likened his role to that of a corporate CEO, which they said comes with “many more day-to-day duties,” including fundraising, overseeing expansion and guiding the charter through a 2020 split from its parent organization.

“We believe that the benefits that Dr. Cavazos brings to Valere through his vast experience and knowledge justify the compensation that the Board has and continues to award him,” the Valere board’s statement read.

Board members said that they did not believe the district had run afoul of any state reporting requirements because no one from the state had told them that they had.

But Jake Kobersky, a spokesperson for the state’s education agency, said it does not monitor whether districts post their compensation information online and that it only follows up if it receives tips about violations. He declined to comment on whether the district’s omission of bonuses paid to Cavazos in its reporting to the state or on the district’s website was a violation, but after questions from the news organizations, Kobersky said the agency is now reviewing the district’s reporting to “determine what next steps, if any, are necessary.”

Bonus After Bonus

At least two other Texas charter school districts have also paid their superintendents hundreds of thousands of dollars on top of what they publicly reported in recent years, our analysis found.

Dallas-based Gateway Charter Academy, which serves about 600 students, paid its superintendent Robbie Moore $426,620 in 2023, nearly double his base salary of $215,100, the latest available federal tax filings show. Pay for Mollie Purcell Mozley of Faith Family Academy, another Dallas-area charter school superintendent, hit a high of $560,000 in 2021, despite a contracted salary of $306,000. She continued to receive more than $400,000 during each of the two subsequent years, according to tax filings.

The districts didn’t publicly post the additional payments on their websites, and only Faith Family Academy has reported any extra pay to the state. Moore, Mozley and Faith Family Academy did not respond to requests for comment. In a statement, Gateway Charter Academy did not address questions related to the superintendent’s compensation. Without providing any details, the statement said the district has made mistakes but is implementing “corrective measures.” Since it was contacted by the newsrooms, the district has updated its website with a new document that lists an undated $75,000 bonus for Moore. The Texas Education Agency did not answer questions about either school district.

Valere, however, stands out among the charter school districts identified by the news organizations.

Board members have voted to increase Cavazos’ pay or other financial benefits in 14 of their 24 meetings since 2021.

In one instance, the board granted Cavazos a bonus of $20,000 after taxes for every month that he continued to work for the district. The increase, described as a “retention incentive,” bolstered his take-home pay by an additional $240,000 annually.

“It’s almost like they’re just convening just to keep giving away their school’s money to this individual,” said David DeMatthews, a professor at the University of Texas Department of Educational Leadership and Policy. “I don’t think teachers that work in that school would feel so great that rather than make those investments into their children, they’re making it into this gentleman’s bank account.”

Board members defended their decision to dole out repeated bonuses to Cavazos, including payments totaling roughly half a million dollars to fully reimburse a withdrawal he made from his retirement fund in 2018 for a “personal emergency.”

They declined to discuss the nature of the personal emergency but said the payments were “the right thing to do” to ensure that Cavazos could retire one day. Board members claimed that a “significant” portion of Cavazos’ compensation came from private donations but would not say how much or provide documents to support their assertion.

The board also said that it rewarded Cavazos for his work leading the district through a “difficult” 2020 separation from its former parent organization, Southwest Key Programs, the Texas-based nonprofit that provides housing for unaccompanied minors who arrive at the southern border.

The split came after The New York Times revealed that Southwest Key’s leaders, including then-CEO Juan Sanchez, had used money from the charter district and its for-profit companies to bolster their pay well beyond the $187,000 federal cap for migrant shelter grants. Sanchez, who also served on Valere’s school board at the time, received $1.5 million in 2017 as the charter struggled with debt and students contended with deteriorating buildings, the Times found. In response to the reporting, a Southwest Key spokesperson disputed that the nonprofit had unfairly taken money from the schools. Sanchez, who resigned in 2019, denied wrongdoing, saying in an interview with ProPublica and the Tribune that his salary did not come from the charter’s coffers.

State records show that the state education agency closed an investigation in 2022 into “conflict of interest, nepotism, and misuse of funds” at Valere. The agency would not provide details on what prompted the probe or share information about its findings.

To piece together Cavazos’ compensation, the newsrooms filed public records requests for payment records and meeting minutes, which the district had not posted online for years. On at least two occasions, Cavazos received payments that initially appeared to have no record of board approval.

Minutes from a January 2024 meeting showed that the board did not vote on a $73,000 payment he later received. When the newsrooms asked about the discrepancy, the board said it provided the reporters with the wrong copy of the minutes and pointed to a different version the district had later posted online that included approval of both the payment, for a life insurance plan, and a car lease.

Another bonus came after a November board meeting attended by a reporter from the news organizations who heard no discussion of the payment. Questioned about when the board approved the bonus, members said they had done so during a closed-door portion of the meeting. After the reporter pointed out that such an action was against state law, board members said they voted after ending the closed session but before allowing the public, including the reporter, back into the meeting room.

Student Performance Lags

Three academics who study school performance and compensation data said they have never seen a school board fully reimburse any employee’s retirement account or approve so many hefty bonuses in such a short period.

Experts, including Klussmann, a former superintendent of a district in Spring Branch, Texas, said that the money should be put toward students’ education. The vast majority of Valere’s students qualify for free and reduced meals and more than a third are English-language learners, which education experts say are often clear indicators that students are at a learning disadvantage.

Valere’s student performance on state exams also lags behind statewide averages, data shows.

Last year, Valere teachers left at a higher rate than in most schools across the state. The turnover has been difficult for Marisol Gauna’s son, who has autism and ADHD. Gauna says he no longer has a special education teacher who works with him one on one to help overcome learning hurdles. As a result, she worries he could fail the eighth grade.

A parent of three children in the district, Gauna was flabbergasted when she learned about Cavazos’ pay from ProPublica and the Tribune. Those funds, she said, could be used to retain teachers, improve sports facilities and provide healthier cafeteria food.

“It should go to the school or even to the teachers so that way there can be good, responsible teachers that want to stay there,” Gauna said.

TEXAS SEX OFFENDER RELEASED FROM PRISON TO RESIDE IN TDCJ HALFWAY HOUSE, REARRESTED ON NEW SEX OFFENSE

Convicted sex offender arrested after attempting to meet minor

 

By Michael Horton

 

Click2Houston

Mar 5, 2025

 

David Lee Sims after his arrest

 

A convicted sex offender who was recently released from prison is now back in custody after attempting to meet with an undercover officer posing as a 15-year-old girl.

David Lee Sims, 46, of Houston, was arrested Tuesday and charged with online solicitation of a minor, a first-degree felony. At the time of his arrest, Sims had a box of condoms and a package of Skittles candy.

The arrest followed a two-month investigation by the Internet Crimes Against Children Unit of the Office of Alan Rosen, Harris County Constable Precinct 1.  

Sims used a social media application to communicate with the undercover officer, whom he believed to be a minor, in a sexually explicit manner. He sent explicit images and videos and arranged to meet the minor at her home.

Sims is currently on parole for a previous conviction of online solicitation of a minor, which resulted from a 2020 arrest in Montgomery County. In that case, he attempted to meet a 12-year-old for sexual purposes. Since his release from prison on Dec. 6, 2024, Sims has been residing in a Texas Department of Criminal Justice halfway house.

He had requested permission to leave the halfway house to obtain a driver’s license from the Texas Department of Public Safety. Instead, he traveled on a Houston METRO bus to meet with the minor.

Sims was booked into the Harris County Jail without incident, and his parole will be revoked due to the new arrest, according to the Texas Department of Criminal Justice.

TEXAS SENATE BILL 3 IS A MOST WORTHWHILE BIL THAT SHOULD BE PASSED ... THC IS A DELETERIOUS SUBSTANCE

Hemp industry pushes back against Senate bill to ban THC

There is little doubt that a ban will sail through the Senate. But its prospects are far less certain in the House.

 

By Jasper Scherer

 

The Texas Tribune

Mar 5, 2025

 

 

THC products that are now available from thousands of stores in Texas would be outlawed under a bill under consideration in the state Senate

 

Six years after Texas lawmakers inadvertently triggered the state’s booming consumable hemp market, one chamber of the Legislature is pushing to shut down the industry by barring products that contain tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC.

Yet even with the backing of Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, the powerful Texas Senate leader, the proposal to ban THC faces uncertain prospects in the House, where the hemp industry is bullish about getting lawmakers to tighten regulations rather than quashing most of their products altogether.

In the lower chamber, efforts to ban THC products have failed to gain traction, and this session no House lawmaker has filed anything akin to Senate Bill 3, which would outlaw products containing any amount of THC. House leadership has avoided weighing in on the matter, including Speaker Dustin Burrows, R-Lubbock, who did not respond to a request for comment.

Mark Bordas, executive director of the Texas Hemp Business Council, said his group is “cautiously optimistic” that House lawmakers will forgo a ban and accept “thoughtful regulations” such as restricting THC products to Texans 21 and older, requiring tamper-proof packaging, and barring sales within a certain distance of schools. Some have also proposed tighter and more consistent testing requirements to ensure hemp products do not contain excessive levels of THC.

“We think at the end of the day, cooler heads will prevail,” Bordas said. “We hope the Legislature will recognize that there are more than 50,000 jobs and lots of small businesses at stake, people's livelihoods as well as lives. People that have problems with alcohol or opioid addiction have turned to hemp so that they can be functional members of society again.”

Thousands of cannabis dispensaries have popped up across Texas since 2019, when the GOP-controlled Legislature authorized the sale of consumable hemp. That law, passed one year after hemp was legalized nationwide, was intended to boost Texas agriculture by allowing the commercialization of hemp containing trace amounts of non-intoxicating delta-9 THC, the psychoactive element in marijuana.

What ensued was a proliferation of hemp products, ranging from gummies and beverages to vapes and flower buds, that can now be bought at more than 8,300 locations around the state, from dispensaries to convenience stores. The products are not allowed to contain more than a 0.3% concentration of THC; anything higher is classified as marijuana, which remains illegal in Texas aside from limited medical use. Still, the hemp-derived products look, taste and sometimes have intoxicating effects similar to their more potent sibling. (Hemp and marijuana plants are both cannabis plants; the difference lies in their THC levels.)

Sen. Charles Perry, a Lubbock Republican who carried the 2019 hemp legalization bill, says lawmakers did not intend to allow for such an explosion of consumable products. His latest proposal, SB 3, would make it illegal to possess or manufacture products containing THC outside the state’s medical marijuana program. Violators would face up to a year in jail for possessing such products and 2 to 10 years in prison for manufacturing them under Perry’s bill, which is among Patrick’s top priorities this session.

At a hearing on SB 3 this week, Perry blasted the hemp industry, saying that they had “exploited” the 2019 law he helped pass “to the point that it has endangered public health” with dangerously high THC concentrations.

“From a credibility perspective, the current industry providers — and there are several that are controllers of this industry — have shown not to be trustworthy,” Perry said. “And now what they're all screaming about is, we want regulation, but we want it the way we want it.”

It is now time, Perry said, to “get the genie back in the bottle.”

Not everyone is on board with the idea. Critics say the ban would effectively eliminate Texas’ hemp industry and its roughly 50,000 jobs, along with tax revenue from the $8 billion it generates annually, by one estimate. And instead of solving public health concerns, critics argue, a ban would make things worse by forcing consumers into an unregulated black market, promoting easier access to even more potent products.

“You don't cure alcoholism by banning light beer,” Bordas said. “Hemp is the light beer of cannabis offerings. If Texas has a THC problem, doesn't it stand to reason that the source of that THC problem is the high-potency marijuana with higher concentrations of THC?”

Supporters of Perry’s bill say those high THC levels are already found in retail products that purport to be under the legal limit. Steve Dye, chief of the Allen Police Department in north Texas, said recent undercover operations in his city found THC concentrations “that tested up to 78%” in some products — well above the 0.3% threshold. (The manager of one shop raided by Allen authorities has filed a lawsuit challenging the legitimacy of the search warrants and lab tests.)

“Labels on many products do not reflect the actual level of THC inside the packaging, which is leading to accidental intoxications, overdoses and increased addiction for these psychoactive products, particularly to our youth,” Dye told Senate lawmakers at Monday’s hearing on SB 3.

For now, state and federal law places no age limits and loose and inconsistent testing requirements on Texas’ hemp industry. While SB 3 would ban THC products, it would continue to allow the non-intoxicating, non-psychoactive cannabidiol known as CBD. And it would place firmer restrictions on those products — along the lines of what hemp industry leaders propose for THC consumables, including barring sales or marketing to minors under 21 and requiring “tamper-evident, child-resistant, and resealable” product packaging.

Throughout the several-hour hearing, scores of people urged senators to impose tighter regulations to rein in high THC levels, rather than banning the products. Law enforcement cleared the Senate gallery after multiple outbursts from attendees cheering on witnesses who criticized the bill.

Kevin Hale, legislative coordinator for the Texas Libertarian Party, said Perry’s bill amounts to “blatant government overreach” and “pulls the rug out from under” hemp business owners who spent the last six years “investing in storefronts, payrolls, marketing and supply chains.”

“These products are in demand by your constituents. They are not dangerous,” Hale said. “Libertarians believe in a free and open, transparent market. This bill does the opposite, pushing consumers and suppliers back into the black market, where the labels and ethics are unchecked.”

Some patients and doctors say the THC in cannabis can be used effectively to combat pain, depression, anxiety, appetite problems and nausea. Under the state’s Compassionate Use Program, lawmakers have allowed some Texans to use medical marijuana to treat conditions that include epilepsy, seizures, autism, cancer and post-traumatic stress disorder.

Though some veterans use the medical marijuana program for PTSD and other conditions, a number of veterans groups oppose Perry’s bill, with some telling the Senate committee Monday that they prefer to use the more affordable and accessible THC products found at everyday retailers.

But David Bass, an Army veteran who founded a group called Texas Veterans for Medical Marijuana, said it would be expensive to properly regulate the hemp industry. He urged lawmakers to support SB 3 and focus on expanding the state’s Compassionate Use Program.

“I do not want our veterans using these hemp derivatives,” Bass said. “The reason is, they have no idea what they are taking and they are not using these products under the care of a physician.”

Under Texas’ Compassionate Use Program, Bass said, “we know exactly the origin and formulation of our meds. DPS inspects and certifies CUP meds, and we use CUP meds under the care of our doctors.”

As things stand, however, the hemp industry has “overwhelming advantages” over the state program, said Jervonne Singletary, senior director of government relations at Goodblend, one of three medical marijuana providers in Texas. For one, she said, patients have to jump through so many hoops to place and receive orders that some may opt to simply pick up THC products from the gas station around the corner.

“Right now, hemp businesses can really locate anywhere throughout the state that they want. They can be next door to your child's school,” Singletary said. “Most liquor stores can’t do that, we certainly can't do that, and we think it only makes sense to bring them in line.”

Another Perry bill, SB 1505, would take aim at the issue by allowing medical marijuana providers to operate satellite storage facilities designed to make it easier for patients to access their prescriptions. The bill would also double the cap on licensed medical marijuana dispensers, to six from three.

THE PERILS OF BELIEVING YOUR OWN BULLSHIT

By Bob Walsh

Hunter Biden announced today that he is effectively flat-ass broke.  For some reason passing comprehension his "art work" has pretty much zero value now that his daddy clearly is known to have dementia and is no longer President   In addition all of the speaking fees and book sales he was counting on for income have mysteriously not been there.

Too bad.  So sad.

UC DAVIS CONVERTING LOCKER ROOMS

By Bob Walsh

 

The University of California at Davis has just announced that they are moving ahead with a program to get rid of gender designated locker rooms.  All locker rooms will be used by anyone of any of the 30+ genders that the state of California recognizes.

Even in Davis that may turn out to be a bridge too far.  This could be amusing.

WILL TRUMP KILL THE DOE TODAY ?

By Bob Walsh

 

It is being speculated in the media that Trump will issue an executive order to kill the Department of Education later today.

Pretty much everybody agrees that the president can not actually totally dismantle the agency without the approval of congress.  He can, however, pretty well gut it into ineffectiveness.  Not that it is particularly effective right now.

ANOTHER BRICKBAT AT SIG P320

By Bob Walsh

 

Those who follow such things will know that the SIG P320, a popular police and self-defense pistol, has caught considerable heat of late.  It is alleged that the gun has been known to fire itself while in the holster.  Some of these incidents appear on body cam footage and are pretty solid.  People have been injured when this has happened.  Lawsuits have been fired, some of them successful so far.  Some of these incidents were witnessed in training environments and appear to have actually happened in the manner that is claimed.

The Washington State Criminal Justice Training Commission has just banned the pistol from it's training facilities.  A temporary ban was enacted back in October due to a witnessed incident at one of their facilities.  That temporary ban has now been made permanent. 

It is not known how many agencies in Washington use the weapon, but it is informally guesstimated at slightly less than 10% of the total law enforcement officers in the state carry the P320.

UNDERCURRENTS OF CRIMINALITY ?

By Bob Walsh

 

 

There is, according to noise from the media, some interesting excrement about to hit the air circulation device in Sacramento.  It seems at least possible and maybe likely that a significant number of legislators in the formerly great state of California are under federal investigation.  It further seems that they are using taxpayers money to defend themselves and the legislature is going to GREAT LENGTHS to keep the whole thing buried.  This includes precisely who is being investigated, for what, and how much taxpayer money is being used to defend them.  Several media outlets have attempted to use FOIA and other mechanisms to find out and the powers that be are telling them to fuck off.

It is being speculated that much of the focus is on the incredible money pit that is laughingly called the California High-Speed Rail authority.  That boondoggle is currently running about 300% over budget and 200% over time projections with not one mile of track yet laid and not one of the legally mandated performance objectives completed.  

There is an open attempt at the federal level to defund federal participation in what has become essentially a government funded union construction make-work project.   

AL GREEN CENSURED

By Bob Walsh

 

Today the Congress of the United States voted to censure Representative Al Green of Texas over his embarrassing theatrical idiocy during Donald Trump's speech.  What is interesting is that ten Democrat-Socialists voted to join the Republicans in the vote to censure.

IDAHO MOVING BACK TO THE FIRING SQUAD

By Bob Walsh

 

The state of Idaho is moving to go back to the use of a firing squad in executions.  For the last two years the firing squad has been the fallback when/if lethal injection drugs were not available.  Assuming the bill passes fully into law, which seems likely, the firing squad will be the default method of rehabilitating seriously bad people in Idaho.

UC SYSTEM UNDER FEDERAL INVESTIGATION

By Bob Walsh

 

 

The University of California system is under investigation by the feds over alleged Title VII violations.  Specifically it is asserted that the system has engaged in and allowed a system of rampant anti-Semitism to pervade their operation to the detriment of Jewish students and employees. 

The allegations are clearly accurate.  The only real question is how deep it goes, how official it is, and how hard the feds will kick them in the ass when it is all over.

THROW THE CROOKED BITCH OUT

By Bob Walsh

 

There was an interesting special election in San Mateo County, CA.  Tuesday. There was only one item on the ballot, Measure A.  If passed it would grant the county Board of Supervisors the power to throw out the elected County Sheriff if the board voted by at least 80% to do so.  The measure passed by about 86% to about 14%.  This authority would be temporary and would evaporate at the end of 2028. 

Regular readers will remember I have written several times about Sheriff Christina Corpus.  She has dismissed an investigation into her conduct and refused to step down despite requests from the board and several of the cities within the county.  Former Judge LaDoris Cordell conducted an investigation into the Sheriff's activities and found significant fault with her, including a very high-paying job handed to her boyfriend.  

The county has until April 3 to finish the official vote count.  The Board of Supervisors could then act, assuming they choose to do so and of course assuming the issue passes, which looks like pretty much a sure thing at this point.

KENNEDY'S TAKE ON TRUMP'S CONGRESSIONAL ADDRESS

Is 'Pocahontas' Warren on the warpath? KENNEDY's hilarious rant on the Dems so blinded by hatred of Trump...that they've gone utterly mad

 

By Kennedy

 

Daily Mail

Mar 5, 2025 

Americans have grown addicted to political theater and President Donald Trump 's speech to Congress (pictured) scratched that itch... and then some.

 

Make Joint Addresses Great Again!

Americans have grown addicted to political theater and President Donald Trump's speech to Congress on Tuesday scratched that itch... and then some.

I hadn't been that entertained by a president since Joe Biden gnawed off a baby foot on Halloween. 

 

I hadn't been that entertained by a president since Joe Biden gnawed off a baby foot on Halloween (pictured). 

 

But, on Tuesday, it was donkey on the menu.

Forty-seven strode valiantly to the House rostrum really feeling himself and ready to do battle in the ongoing culture war. Little did he know that his opponents would simply just drop their guard. The Left's pushback was more confused than a Kamala Harris word salad.

First, crusty impeachment enthusiast, Texas Rep. Al Green, stood and shouted and waved his gold-handled cane at the president. When he ignored Speaker Mike Johnson's warning to pipe down, he was booted out.

'Who the heck is producing this thing?' I thought. 'WWE co-founder-turned-Education-Secretary Linda McMahon?'

And folks, we were just getting warmed up.

 

Senator Pocahontas clapped like a harbor seal on speed when Trump lamented about billions in taxpayer money that Biden sent to Ukraine.

Some Dems wore yellow and blue in support of Ukraine. Others wore black, perhaps in mourning for their political careers.

The Democratic Women's Caucus cleverly cloaked themselves in pink as some sort of protest but ended up looking like discarded wads of bubblegum stuck to the seats from which they refused to budge. And while these electoral losers sat looking like they'd just been forced to drink curdled milk Trump called them out for it.

'I realize there is absolutely nothing I can say to make them happy or to make them stand or smile or applaud,' he said. 'I could find a cure to the most devastating disease… or announce the answers to the greatest economy in history or the stoppage of crime… and these people sitting right here will not clap, will not stand and certainly will not cheer.'

At the very least, they could have perked up when Trump announced that DOGE daddy Elon Musk had discovered jaw-dropping numbers of Americans listed as alive by the Social Security Administration despite being more than 130 years old. Believe it or not, Trump said, that government databases even listed one recipients as older than the United States of America itself.

'So, what?' grumbled Joe Biden from Delaware. 'He's a spring chicken.'

 

 

And when Trump cited 130,000 Social Security recipients over 160 years-old the president had one of the lines of the night, turning to Health and Human Services Secretary RFK Jr. and joking, 'We have a healthier country than I thought, Bobby!'

It's funny because there's only one thing that the Left hates more than rooting out waste, fraud and abuse – a Kennedy who refuses to carry their water.

Meanwhile, Hamas-adjacent Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib was very busy scribbling dimwitted phrases on whiteboard that she held up for the cameras to see.

It read 'Start paying your taxes' and 'Stopping lying to the American people.' I half expected her to write 'Any spare change?'

The most telling moment of the night came when Trump announced that Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelenskyy had sent him a box of chocolate and flowers to apologize for their bad date on Friday. Apparently, Zelenskyy is finally ready to make a commitment... to peace.

 

Crusty impeachment enthusiast, Texas Rep. Al Green (pictured), stood and shouted and waved his gold-handled cane at the president.

The Democratic Women's Caucus cleverly cloaked themselves in pink as some sort of protest but ended up looking like discarded wads of bubblegum stuck to the seats that they refused to budge from. 

Hamas-adjacent Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib was very busy scribbling dimwitted phrases on whiteboard that she held up for the cameras to see. 

 

But, for some utterly bizarre reason, progressive, race-faker Senator Elizabeth Warren began to applaud like harbor seal on speed when Trump lamented about billions in taxpayer money that Biden sent to Ukraine.

'Do you want to keep [the Ukraine-Russia war] going for another 5 years?' Trump asked Loony Liz. 'Pocahontas says 'Yes!'

Indeed, Warren's political principles seem as sincere as her genealogy.

Weren't the Democrats once the party of peaceniks? I supposed they were also once the party of workingman.

Boy, do times change.

But my laughter turned to anger – the best drug of all – when these silly Dems with paddles bearing slogans like 'Save Medicaid' and 'Musk Steals,' sat on their hands brazenly snubbing the families of murder victims slaughtered by illegal immigrant criminals.

It was painful to watch as the mother and sister of murdered 22-year-old nursing student Laken Riley stood for the kind of recognition no family ever asks for.

Laken was killed by illegal immigrant Jose Ibarra while she out on a morning jog near her Georgia college campus in February 2024. Ibarra had been arrested and released by multiple federal and state agencies in the months before committing his senseless crime. He was an associate of the Venezuelan prison gang, Tren de Aragua, that is now terrorizing US cities. Thanks, Joe.

Twelve-year-old Jocelyn Nungaray was also killed by Tren gangbangers. Her mother was in the audience on Tuesday as Trump – ever the showman – re-named a 34,000-acre wildlife preserve in Jocelyn's honor.

Teary eyed Republicans rose in applause.

 

It was painful to watch as the mother and sister of murdered 22-year-old nursing student Laken Riley (pictured) stood for the kind of recognition no family ever asks for.

 

But from the heartless Democrat-side of the aisle there was nothing but frowny faces and crickets.

For the truth is that aside from their childish antics, they have nothing left.

The once powerful matriarch of the House Nancy Pelosi simply glared at Trump chewing on her dental work, like someone who should've already been put to bed after her serving of Jello.

Stripped by the voters of a majority in the House, there would be no remarks for the former Speaker to dramatically rip to shreds. Neutered by audiences, who left in search of something more reliable, the Left's slavish media enablers are now just shrieking into the void.

This is the new normal in America. The Orange Man in the driver's seat boldly proclaimed to his seething haters, 'Every day we will stand up, and we will fight, fight, fight, for the country our citizens believe in and for the country our people deserve.'

'Get ready for an incredible future,' the President said, 'because the golden age of America has just begun. It will be like nothing that has ever been seen before.'

If it's anything like last night's joint address, it'll be a hell of a ride.

DEATH TO HAMAS?

Trump tells Hamas 'You are DEAD' as he warns terror group 'I am sending Israel everything it needs to finish the job' in Gaza

 

By Geoff Earle 

Daily Mail

Mar 5, 2025

 

President Donald Trump Trump issued a dire warning to Hamas amid talks to bring home an American hostage and bodies of the deceased

 

President Donald Trump has put out another dire threat to Hamas, after the White House confirmed direct talks with the group as part an of an effort to finally secure the release of hostages and bodies of the deceased. 

'"Shalom Hamas" means Hello and Goodbye - You can choose. Release all of the Hostages now, not later, and immediately return all of the dead bodies of the people you murdered, or it is OVER for you,' Trump wrote on his Truth Social site.

'Only sick and twisted people keep bodies, and you are sick and twisted! I am sending Israel everything it needs to finish the job, not a single Hamas member will be safe if you don't do as I say. 

'I have just met with your former Hostages whose lives you have destroyed. This is your last warning!'

Trump also told leadership of the terror group to leave Gaza 'now [...] while you still have a chance'.

He added: 'Also, to the People of Gaza: A beautiful Future awaits, but not if you hold Hostages. If you do, you are DEAD! Make a SMART decision. RELEASE THE HOSTAGES NOW, OR THERE WILL BE HELL TO PAY LATER!'

Trump issued similar warnings last month, saying there would be 'all hell' to pay if the group, which the U.S. government classified as a terrorist organization, did not send home hostages. 

Trump's angry threat came hours after a report that the administration was conducting secret talks with Hamas in an effort to release American hostages seized during the bloody October 7 terror attack on Israel. 

 

Pictured above is Donald Trump's Truth Social post warning Hamas to release all hostages or 'it is over for you'

An aerial view of Palestinians shopping at a market set up among the rubble in Jabalia Refugee Camp, northern Gaza, during the holy month of Ramadan on March 05, 2025 

 

The White House said U.S. hostage affairs envoy Adam Boehler had the authority to talk directly with Hamas, despite longstanding policy against negotiating with designated terrorist organizations. 

The two sides met in Doha, where prior cease fire and hostage talks had occurred, gut not directly between the parties. U.S. and Israeli negotiators had negotiated instead through third party Arab leaders. 

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt confirmed those talks when asked about them.

'First of all, the special envoy who engaged in this negotiation does have the authority to talk to anyone. Israel was consulted on this matter,' Leavitt said. 

'And look – dialog and talking to people around the world to do what's in the best interest of the American people, is something that the American people.' 

She wouldn't answer directly when asked if the talks also related to Trump's stated plan to rebuild and take over Gaza in a plan critics have called Gaza-lago.

'These are ongoing talks and discussions. I'm not going to detail them here, that are American lines at stake.'

On February 11, Trump warned 'all hell is going to break loose' if the group did not release all remaining hostages that week. 

 

Hamas fighters escort Israeli hostage Or Levy on a stage before handing him over to a Red Cross team in Deir el-Balah, central Gaza, on February 8, 2025, as part of the fifth hostage-prisoner exchange of a fragile ceasefire

Eli Sharabi (pictured) was freed on Saturday, February 8, after spending nearly 500 days in captivity. His gaunt appearance when he was released sparked concern that the 54-year-old had been mistreated or even tortured by Hamas

Crowds of Hamas fighters and civilians watch on as the coffin of one of the hostages is carried to a waiting Red Cross vehicle on February 20

 

In response, a Hamas spokesman lashed out at the US President and said there was no place 'for the language of threats'.

Sami Abu Zuhri, a senior spokesperson for the terror group known for its tight stranglehold over the Gaza Strip, boldly claimed Trump's comments did nothing but make negotiations for the end of the war harder.  

'The language of threats has no value and further complicates matters,' Zuhri remarked.

He added that Trump needed to 'remember that there is an agreement that must be respected by both parties and this is the only way to return the prisoners'. 

A few days later, Hamas released American-Israeli Sagui Dekel-Chen, 36 and two other hostages. 

Edan Alexander of Tenafly, New Jersey, is thought to be the last living American hostage, in an ordeal that has extended beyond 500 days. 

He appeared in a Hamas propaganda video in November 2024. Israel says four other American hostages died in captivity.

Israel says 24 living hostages remain, along with the bodies of 35 others. 

 

Hamas posted a harrowing video showing weeping American-Israeli hostage Edan Alexander

Edan Alexander (pictured) of Tenafly, New Jersey, is thought to be the last living American hostage, in an ordeal that has extended beyond 500 days 

Varda Ben Baruch, whose grandson Edan Alexander is held hostage in the Gaza Strip by Hamas militants, poses for a portrait at home in Tel Aviv, Israel, November 14, 2024

Trump met with released hostages at the White House Wednesday

 

The threats come days after Secretary of State Marco Rubio invoked 'emergency authority' to send an additional $4 billion in security assistance to Israel.

Trump also met with hostages released from captivity on Wednesday.

'Today, President Trump took time to meet with eight of the released hostages from Gaza,' Leavitt said. 

'The President listened intently to their heartbreaking stories. The hostages thanked President Trump for his steadfast efforts to bring all of the hostages home.'

They were Iair Horn, Omer Shem Tov, Eli Sharabi, Keith Siegel, Aviva Siegel, Naama Levy, Doron Steinbrecher, and Noa Argamani.

This comes after Trump promoted a controversial vision for what his 'Riviera of the Middle East' plan for the Gaza Strip could look like when the war between Israel and Hamas has ended. 

The President laid out an extraordinary plan at a press conference with Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu in February, stating: 'The US will take over the Gaza Strip, and we will do a job with it too.' 

Trump's proposal was met with global criticism by both lawmakers and analysts who fear the plan would forcibly displace Gaza's population of two million, while US critics wondered if the President's vision would plunge the nation into the potentially bloody role of occupying power.

 

The President is seen enjoying the company of a non-bearded belly dancer in a restaurant with chandeliers hanging from the ceiling

Donald Trump has offered an AI-created vision for what his 'Riviera of the Middle East' plan for the Gaza Strip could look like when the war between Israel and Hamas has ended

 

Aaron David Miller, a Middle East expert who advised secretaries of state across multiple administrations of both parties, said the immediate reaction among global lawmakers and leaders across the region was one of 'revulsion'.

But on February 25, Trump seemed to further promote the plan by posting a 35-second video to his Truth Social account that began with the question: 'Gaza 2025: What's Next?' It is unclear who created the video.

The AI-generated video - in a series of bold, gaudy images - shows a Trump hotel, a giant golden statue of Trump, and a child holding a Trump balloon among resplendent beach-front resort complexes.

'First Buddy' Elon Musk is seen tossing around cash to visitors and children, while Trump dances with a belly dancer and drinks cocktails with Netanyahu. 

The video has created uproar online with X users quickly branding it as 'absolutely horrifying' and 'filth on a world stage', while others argued that it is time for people to 'start taking Trump's plan for Gaza more seriously'.

The White House responded to the criticism in a statement to DailyMail.com: 'As President Trump has said, Gaza in its current state is unhabitable for any human being. 

'President Trump is a visionary, and his plan to have the United States involved in Gaza's rebuilding will allow for Palestinians to resettle in new, beautiful communities while improving conditions in the region for generations to come.'