Published by an old curmudgeon who came to America in 1936 as a refugee from Nazi Germany and proudly served in the U.S. Army during World War II. He is a former law enforcement officer and a retired professor of criminal justice who, in 1970, founded the Texas Narcotic Officers Association. BarkGrowlBite refuses to be politically correct.
(Copyrighted articles are reproduced in accordance with the copyright laws of the U.S. Code, Title 17, Section 107.)
Escalation in the North: Hezbollah fires over 100 rockets at Israel
The barrage from Lebanon was part of an apparently coordinated attack with Iranian missiles on Israel.
Israel Today
Mar 12, 2026
A
man surveys a damaged house in Moshav Hani'el in the Sharon area after
rockets were fired at Israel overnight. March 12, 2026.
On Wednesday evening, a significant escalation occurred on Israel’s
northern front. According to Israeli media reports, Hezbollah fired more
than 100 rockets from Lebanon into northern Israel. Residents in
numerous locations in Galilee, Haifa, and other cities in northern
Israel had to seek shelter in protected areas.
The wave of attacks lasted several hours. In total, up to 150 rockets
and drones are said to have been launched from Lebanon. Israel’s air
defense intercepted a large portion of the projectiles, but debris from
intercepted rockets fell in several locations, causing property damage.
Emergency services reported several people with minor injuries,
mainly those who were on their way to shelters during the alerts. In
some places, buildings were damaged.
Parallel to the massive barrage from Lebanon, rockets were also fired
from Iran toward Israel. These triggered air raid sirens in various
regions of the country, including central Israel and the Jerusalem area.
Israeli security circles assume this was a coordinated wave of attacks
aimed at putting Israel under pressure from multiple directions
simultaneously.
According to the military, the Israeli Air Force responded that same
evening with strikes on Hezbollah targets in Lebanon. Among other
things, launch sites, weapons depots, and other military infrastructure
of the terrorist organization were attacked. The southern Beirut suburb
of Dahieh, a Hezbollah stronghold, was once again targeted by Israeli
airstrikes.
The Israeli Defense Forces stated that they would continue to act
decisively against any threat to Israeli civilians. At the same time,
interception operations by air defense systems are ongoing, while the
army works to eliminate additional launch positions in Lebanon.
In Israeli security circles, the coordinated attack is seen as
another attempt by Iran and its regional allies to pressure Israel from
multiple fronts simultaneously. Observers warn that this could lead to
further regional expansion of the conflict.
Israeli media also report that the army has deployed additional
forces to the northern border. Military observers view this as a
possible sign that Israel is preparing for further escalation on the
Lebanese front.
The Mamdani victimhood narrative and the American future
The embrace of terror supporters by the mayor and his wife,
coupled with the media’s efforts to confuse the public about an Islamist
terror attack, is a tipping point in American society.
Emir
Balat is seen attempting to light an explosive device while Ibrahim Kayumi stands by. Mamdani refused to condemn the two Islamist terrorists.
Last week was a tumultuous one for New
York City, its mayor and its Jewish population. Over the course of
several days, the city was confronted with events that in any other era
might have been considered not only deeply shocking but would have
resulted in immediate and serious consequences.
Reporting about the fact that Rama Duwaji, the wife of Mayor Zohran Mamdani, had liked social-media posts celebrating
the Hamas-led terrorist attacks in Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, and denying
the rape of Israeli women, was followed by the news that the city’s
first couple had hosted
two well-known terror supporters at their Gracie Mansion official
residence. But before the public had a chance to absorb any of that, the
mayor and most of his liberal-media cheering section sought to downplay
and then confuse the public about the fact that Islamist terrorists,
apparently inspired by ISIS, had attempted to bomb an anti-Mamdani
demonstration.
Taken as a whole, it painted a dismal
picture of how the mayor and his supporters were not only doubling down
on support for terrorism against Israelis and Jews, but also seeking to
treat domestic Islamist terror as a minor issue. The fact that these
events, like so much else about Mamdani, were generally treated as not
that big of a deal says volumes about where Americans are as a society.
And that, as much as anything else, is something that ought to be
sounding alarm bells for Jews and everyone who cares about the
consequences of cultural decline, as well as tolerance for antisemitism
and violence.
The mayor’s popularity
Mamdani’s ability to shrug off these incidents while being proclaimed by The New York Times
as “one of America’s most popular politicians” is an indication not
only of how left-wing media and the Democratic Party have his back. Like
his election victory in November, it’s also a sign that American
society may be at a tipping point when it comes to tolerance for
antisemitism. And anyone who thinks that won’t have an impact on Jewish
life and the country as a whole hasn’t been paying attention to what has
been happening in recent years.
At such a time, it’s essential to remember
that when Mamdani was elected mayor of New York City last year,
optimists told everyone not to be too upset about it.
It’s true, they conceded, that the
34-year-old was a longtime opponent of the right of Israel to exist as a
Jewish state and a supporter of the discriminatory BDS movement. It’s
true that he was a founding member of the Students for Justice in
Palestine chapter at Bowdoin College in Maine, a campus group that
routinely traffics in Jew-hatred. And it’s true that his brief political
career was rooted in activism targeting Israel and its Jewish
supporters. He’s also backed left-wing economic and cultural doctrines
associated with some of the worst horrors of the 20th century and the
collapse of liberalism in the 21st.
But as everyone was told, having a mayor
with such repugnant views wouldn’t really affect Jewish life in New
York, let alone impact what goes on in the rest of the United States or
its foreign policy. The mayor would be too busy trying to run the
country’s largest city to do any real harm to the Jews or anyone else.
In fact, it was predicted, he would soon sink under the weight of the
costly and misguided boondoggles that his long-discredited socialist
policies would create.
Some of that is true.
The most hysterical predictions on social
media of what his arrival at Gracie Mansion would entail were
overwrought and inaccurate. New York in 2026 is not Berlin in 1939. Jews
are not being rounded up; anything even remotely like that is not
possible. Jewish life in all its complexity and vibrancy continues, and
there’s no reason to believe that’s about to come to an end. It’s also
true that—as has been the case throughout most of its 400 years of
existence—New York is, in many ways, both good and bad, a very different
place from the rest of America. What happens there doesn’t necessarily
impact the nation as a whole.
Still, as the Times asserts and polls confirm,
Mamdani is viewed favorably by most New Yorkers. And if his conduct
doesn’t change that—and there’s little reason to believe that it
will—then that illustrates the shift in public opinion about Jews in the
city with the largest demographics outside of Israel.
Spinning terror support
Let’s acknowledge that there is nothing really new concerning the revelations of Duwaji or the couple’s decision to host Mahmoud Khalil, the organizer of the pro-Hamas demonstrations at Columbia University, or Abdullah Akhil,
another cheerleader for the genocidal group, at their home for Ramadan.
Mamdani has tried (with help from sympathetic left-wing journalists) to
spin his opinions about the Middle East as support for the “Palestinian
cause.” Their backing for the ideology behind Oct. 7 goes beyond his
tolerance for the genocidal chants of “Globalize the intifada” and “From
the river to the sea” heard on college campuses. Even a cursory look at
his conduct and his statements demonstrates that his views are no
different from those of his wife, both of whom cheered for and also
denied the victimization of Jewish women and even the kidnapping of children. Whether his media fans admit or not, they are Hamas supporters.
His unwillingness to condemn the
social-media posts endorsed by his wife, even as he tried to say her
opinions were not necessarily his own, spoke loudly about his stance.
And by inviting in those who also cheered for the largest mass slaughter
of Jews since the Holocaust, they also demonstrated that in Mamdani’s
New York, such sentiments are not only considered within the bounds of
acceptable opinion but are actually laudable. He’s now made it clear
that the house that mayors of New York have lived in for the past 80
years is a place where such persons are not merely welcome but honored.
Just as with his qualified encouragement of a siege
of a Manhattan synagogue last fall, in which he sought to argue that
Jewish support for Zionism “violates international law,” the new mayor
has laid down a marker that has normalized Jew-hatred.
Perhaps even more ominous, however, was
the way the mayor and much of the media reacted to the terror attack
that took place on March 7 outside of Gracie Mansion. On that day, two
Muslim Americans from Pennsylvania threw bombs (fortunately, they didn’t
explode) at demonstrators who had come to protest Mamdani.
Two groups had gathered outside the Upper
East Side landmark—one composed of right-wing demonstrators protesting
an alleged “Muslim takeover” of New York, and another supporting Mamdani
and the influx of Muslim immigrants. In a scene that can only be
described as surreal, one of the terrorists came up behind a Mamdani
supporter speaking through a bullhorn about the need to welcome everyone
to the city and shouted Allahu Akbar” (“God is great”). He then hurled
the explosive device with anti-personnel shrapnel over his shoulder.
After another failed attempt to explode a device in the midst of the
anti-Mamdani group and a brief scuffle with police, the assailant and
his accomplice were arrested.
Muslim victimhood
narrative
What is key about this incident is the way
that most media in New York and nationally, as well as the Mamdani
administration, sought to blame the violence on the peaceful
demonstrators, who were the terrorists’ intended victims. It’s true that
the initial scene was confusing, but for days, leading media outlets
and leading left-wing commentators, like CNN’s Ana Navarro and Abby Phillip, have continued to obfuscate the truth about which side the terrorists were on.
The same was true of most New York City politicians, including Mamdani, who, as the Times diplomatically put it, “chose his words carefully”
when speaking about what happened in an effort to deflect the blame for
the crime on his critics, rather than those who shared his enthusiasm
for the “cause” of attacking Jews and other opponents of political
Islam.
This was disgraceful in and of itself. But
it also showed the commitment of the mayor and much of the liberal
media to a narrative of Muslim victimhood in which the real problem is
“Islamophobia,” rather than the troubling support for Islamist hate and
terror. Had the violent culprits been those extremists who had turned
out to oppose Mamdani, no one can doubt that the condemnation of their
conduct and their ideas from both the mayor and the liberal media would
have been unqualified and vehement. Instead, the crime was depicted as
mainly the result of the allegedly bad opinions and behavior of the
victims.
So successful was this media campaign to spin the incident as an attack on Mamdani that Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro
actually called him to sympathize and ask if he was alright. Shapiro
was the intended victim of a firebombing at his official Harrisburg
residence last year during Passover. He has sought
to push back against growing tolerance for antisemitism within the
Democratic Party that he hopes to lead in 2028 and has criticized
Mamdani for his stands. But even he is vulnerable to being influenced by
a narrative in which Islamophobia is the real threat, rather than the
Jew-hatred and rhetorical support for Islamist violence that Mamdani and
others have promoted.
That there is a direct connection between
this and Mamdani’s attempts to depict the unspeakable orgy of murder,
rape, torture, kidnapping and wanton destruction of Oct. 7 as primarily
the fault of the Jewish victims. The mayor would, no doubt, prefer it if
Muslims did not toss bombs, whether they explode or not, in the
vicinity of his residence. Still, the effort to portray him as a victim
of anti-Muslim intolerance, rather than as someone who gives his
official seal of approval to those who applaud such actions when Jews
are the victims, isn’t merely outrageous. It essentially normalizes and
distorts the debate about anti-Jewish hate.
A dystopian scenario
The main takeaway from this story must be a
realization that the dystopian fantasies about the consequences of a
Mamdani mayoralty are already starting to come true. Had his opponents
in the 2025 election said that if he were elected, Islamist thugs would
be tossing bombs aimed at their critics on the streets of New York, they
would have been denounced as hysterics trying to foment anti-Muslim
hate. Yet that is what has happened, and the response from much of the
media has been to do everything they can to twist the discussion about
it to one about the awfulness of the mayor’s political opponents.
At the moment, there is little that New
York’s Jews or anyone else can do about the mayor, who continues to
enjoy the enthusiastic backing of his party and its leading media
outlets like the Times. But they can draw conclusions from these incidents and act accordingly.
At the very least, no self-respecting
member of the Jewish community or anyone else with claims to a moral
compass should accept an invitation from Mamdani as long as he hosts
those who cheer for Jew-killers and condones his wife’s pro-Hamas
stands.
Jews—or at least those who are willing to
be dubbed as “bad Jews” by leftist media because they oppose terrorist
murderers either in the Middle East or the United States—should not
serve in a Mamdani administration. And it should also be said that his
political opponents, like President Donald Trump, should stop cozying up
to Mamdani or treating him as if he were a normal politician on the
other side of the aisle with whom one can agree to disagree.
The normalization of Mamdani’s conduct may
be inevitable in a political culture where antisemitism has become
fashionable orthodoxy on the political left. The costs of that attitude
will become increasingly apparent in a city and a national culture where
tolerance of hate for Jews is regarded as either nothing out of the
ordinary or an acceptable opinion. A city where people like Zohran
Mamdani and Rama Duwaji are not held accountable for supporting the
atrocities of Oct. 7 and Jew-hatred in general is one in which, sooner
or later, Islamist violence will not only occur but be tolerated,
rationalized and excused in the same manner as Hamas’s crimes.
Russia is counting on Iran distracting the United States from Ukraine.
By Jeanne Shaheen
The Washington Post
Mar 10, 2026
For the last week, the United States and its partners have been fighting
in the Middle East. President Donald Trump says the conflict will be
over within a few weeks. But wars rarely end on Washington’s timetable.
Ukraine’s resilience shows how wrong those predictions can be.
Ukraine was predicted to fall in a matter of weeks. Instead, four years
on, Ukrainian forces have retaken territory in places such as
Zaporizhzhia and along the southern front. Troops under Russia’s
command, including many drawn from Russia’s poorest communities,
alongside North Korean units and coerced African fighters, have suffered staggering losses in a campaign that has bogged down.
When Russia’s invasion of Ukraine first stalled, the Kremlin turned to
Tehran for help. Iran began supplying Shahed drones in 2022 and helped
establish a production facility in the Russian town of Yelabuga that now
manufactures thousands of these weapons each month. In 2025, Russia
launched more than 53,000 drones against Ukraine — up from about 11,000 in 2024.
That
Russia-Iran partnership is now shaping the war in the Middle East as
well. According to The Washington Post, U.S. officials believe Russia is sharing intelligence with
Iran as Tehran targets American and allied interests in the region.
Russia is not a bystander in this crisis. It is helping Iran challenge
the United States.
Moscow
has a history of doing exactly that. In 2020, U.S. intelligence reports
indicated Russia may have offered Taliban fighters bounties for killing American and coalition troops in Afghanistan. More recently, Russia provided satellite imagery to Iran-backed Houthi militants to help them target Western ships in the Red Sea.
Already in the first week of the Iran war, Iranian Shahed drones killed American troops in
Kuwait. Hotels frequented by Americans in Dubai, along with U.S.
military, intelligence and diplomatic facilities throughout the Middle
East, have also come under attack. Given Moscow’s growing role in
supporting Tehran, it is hard to escape the conclusion that Russian
President Vladimir Putin’s intelligence agencies had a hand in planning
these strikes.
This
reality echoes what I saw in Odesa, Ukraine, last month, where I met
with executives of American businesses that had come under Russian
attack. As I left Ukraine, two more facilities were hit, including an American facility producing Oreo cookies. This was no accident. Russia is deliberately targeting American businesses.
Just
as Ukraine’s defenders and first responders were there when Russia
attacked American factories and facilities in Ukraine, it is Ukraine now
helping the United States protect our citizens and interests in the
Middle East. After four years of defending its cities from
Iranian-designed drones used by Russia, Kyiv has developed advanced
counter-drone systems. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky
highlighted this expertise when the war with Iran began and offered his
government’s battle-tested experience immediately. Ukrainian military
experts are now discussing with the United States and Gulf partners how
to leverage Ukrainian expertise and technology to counter Iranian
attacks across the Middle East.
The United States could have entered this conflict already drawing fully
on Ukraine’s hard-earned experience. But Trump’s insistence on
cooperating with Putin instead of strengthening Ukraine militarily and
diplomatically has become a self-inflicted setback. It also reflects the
administration’s broader lack of strategy as the Iran conflict unfolds.
Our military is now having to learn in real time what Ukraine spent
years mastering in combat.
Beyond
the battlefield, a widening war gives Putin a financial lifeline at a
moment when his economy was teetering. Oil and gas generated about 30 to 50 percent of
Russia’s federal budget over the past decade, and rising energy prices
from the war with Iran are already boosting the Kremlin’s revenue. The
conflict will also strain Western military resources that might
otherwise support Ukraine and consume air defenses and interceptor
missiles needed elsewhere. The deeper the war becomes, the greater the
risk of American boots on the ground. That is precisely the kind of
prolonged entanglement the Kremlin wants.
The
Trump administration should be doing all it can to disabuse Russia’s
leader of such hopes. Stopping Iran’s attacks on Americans must go hand
in hand with tightening pressure on the Kremlin. Enforcing sanctions on
Russia’s oil exports, cracking down on the shadow fleet that funds
Putin’s war and deepening cooperation with Ukraine’s battle-tested
military are not favors to Kyiv. They are steps that protect American
troops and interests.
Yet
instead of tightening pressure on Moscow, this administration is moving
in the opposite direction, with the U.S. Treasury Department offering
Putin a green light to export previously sanctioned oil to India.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has even said more sanctions relief beyond that may
be under consideration. The administration is loosening sanctions and
continuing negotiations with Russia as though Putin does not already
have American blood on his hands.
When
Americans are targeted abroad, the United States must respond with
clarity and resolve. Vladimir Putin has chosen to stand with and aid
those attacking Americans. Recognizing that reality and responding to
Putin is now the test facing this administration.
Texas executes man for 2013 stabbing deaths of woman, 8-year-old boy
Cedric Ricks addressed the surviving child he stabbed 25 times before receiving a lethal injection at the Huntsville Unit
By Juan A. Lozano and Michael Graczyk
Associated Press
Mar 12, 2026
Cedric Ricks
HUNTSVILLE, Texas — A Texas man was put to death
Wednesday evening for fatally stabbing his girlfriend and her
8-year-old son in 2013, apologizing profusely to her older son who
survived with multiple stab wounds and witnessed the execution.
Cedric Ricks,
51, was pronounced dead at 6:55 p.m. CDT following a lethal dose of the
sedative pentobarbital at the state penitentiary in Huntsville.
He
was condemned for the May 2013 killings of 30-year-old Roxann Sanchez
and her son Anthony Figueroa at their apartment in the greater
Dallas-Fort Worth suburb of Bedford. Sanchez’s 12-year-old son, Marcus
Figueroa, was stabbed 25 times and feigned death in order to survive.
Ricks
apologized repeatedly to seven relatives of his victims who looked on,
particularly Marcus Figueroa. The attack survivor showed no emotion,
watching through a glass window just steps from where Ricks was strapped
to a gurney. On the back of Marcus Figueroa’s neck, visible above his
shirt collar and below his hair, were several scars apparently from the
attack.
“I want to say that I’m sorry for taking Roxann and Anthony from
y’all,” Ricks said when asked by the warden if he had a final statement.
“I’m glad to be able to speak to tell y’all that face to face.”
He
said he hoped one day that his victims’ relatives would be able to find
it in their hearts to forgive him. He also addressed Marcus Figueroa,
saying he hated that he took his mother and brother away.
“I
always thought about you and I’m sorry that I took your mom and your
brother away. I hate that you had to experience that, I just can’t
imagine, but I’m truly sorry for what I’ve done, and I wish y’all peace
and joy as much as you can but I’m sorry, that’s all I can say,” Ricks
said. His voice cracking and tear forming in his eye, he added that he
hoped to find the woman and her son in heaven and “tell them I’m sorry
face to face.”
“I hope y’all go in peace. I really do. I’m sorry,” he concluded before the injection began.
As the drug took effect, he took 19 quick breaths, then made 10
snoring sounds, followed seconds later by some intermittent gurgles.
Then all movement and sounds stopped, and he was pronounced dead 30
minutes after the injection had begun.
Among the other witnesses
were Roxann Sanchez’s stepfather and brother, and Anthony Figueroa’s
father, brother and grandmother. None of them showed any emotion in the
death chamber witness area and declined to speak with reporters
afterward.
The night of the killings, prosecutors said, Ricks and
Sanchez had been arguing in their apartment when the woman’s two sons
from a previous marriage tried to break up the fight. Ricks grabbed a
knife from the kitchen and began to stab Sanchez multiple times, court
records showed.
Marcus Figueroa ran to his bedroom closet and
tried to call police. After killing Anthony Figueroa, Ricks began
stabbing Marcus Figueroa, who played dead until his attacker left the
apartment, authorities said. Ricks did not harm his own then-9-month-old
son Isaiah, according to court records. Ricks fled and was later
arrested in Oklahoma.
At his ensuing capital murder trial, Ricks testified that he had
anger issues and had been defending himself against the two boys after
they had come to their mother’s defense.
“Explaining my rage, I
was upset. Things happen. I don’t know. I don’t know. I don’t know. I
wish I could bring them back, like, right now,” said Ricks, who also
apologized at the time for the killings.
A day before the
stabbings, Ricks had appeared in court after having been charged with
assaulting Sanchez during a previous incident.
On Wednesday, the
U.S. Supreme Court rejected Ricks’ final appeal without comment. His
attorneys had argued that prosecutors violated Ricks’ constitutional
rights by eliminating potential jurors on the basis of race while
selecting the trial panel.
The Texas Attorney General’s Office said court records show the
prosecution’s jury selection decisions were “race neutral” and lower
courts have already concluded that prosecutors’ actions were not
discriminatory.
And earlier this week, the Texas Board of Pardons
and Paroles denied Ricks’ request to commute his death sentence or grant
a 90-day reprieve.
Ricks was the second person put to death this
year in Texas and the sixth in the country. Texas has historically held
more executions than any other state.
Charles “Sonny” Burton, a 75-year-old inmate in Alabama, had been scheduled for execution Thursday. But Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey on Monday commuted his death sentence
to life in prison without the possibility of parole. Burton had been
condemned for a fatal shooting during a 1991 robbery at an auto parts
store even though he didn’t pull the trigger.
A
jar of THCA flower at locally owned hemp shop ATX Organics. Such
products would no longer be permitted for sale or manufacture under
state rules taking effect March 31.
Smokable cannabis products must be removed from Texas stores by the end of the month under new rules adopted by the state's health department.
Virtually
all edible hemp products will still be allowed with stricter packaging
and testing requirements. But sharply higher fees on retailers and
manufacturers, while lower than initially proposed, could lead to more
expensive products or force some companies out of business.
The sweeping regulations for the state's hemp industry were first recommended in December. They were created based on an executive order issued by Gov. Greg Abbott after the Texas Legislature couldn't agree whether to regulate THC products more strictly or ban them entirely.
Last
week, the Texas Department of State Health Services adopted its final
version of the rules and said they would take effect March 31.
The
new regulations effectively ban the sale of smokable hemp and extracts
by changing how DSHS measures Delta-9 THC, the primary psychoactive
ingredient in cannabis.
Live
resins and rosins extracted from cannabis, such as these sold at
Austin's ATX Organics, have become popular in part because they're
faster acting and easier to dose than edible hemp products.
Under the state's 2019 hemp law, cannabis with no more than 0.3% Delta-9 by dry weight is considered legal hemp.
The adopted DSHS regulation includes a new "total THC" rule,
which counts a cannabis compound known as THCA in the Delta-9
calculation. THCA converts to Delta-9 when heated or smoked, which is
why a product known as THCA flower has become widely popular in Texas.
During
the public comment period, hundreds of people told DSHS they oppose
counting THCA as Delta-9. THCA is not explicitly banned by state or
federal law.
In its response,
DSHS said the "total THC" policy follows existing state and federal
regulations, which are the rules written by government employees tasked
with interpreting law.
The Texas Agriculture Commission adopted regulations in 2020 requiring that tests account for the potential conversion of THCA to Delta-9. The U.S. Department of Agriculture proposed a similar rule on the last day of President Trump's first term. The rule was adopted two months later by the Biden administration.
The
state's new hemp regulations slash a proposed 10,000% increase in the
annual fees charged to retailers and manufacturers of what Texas calls
"consumable hemp products." But the adopted fees — $5,000 per year for
each retail location and $10,000 per year for each manufacturing
facility — are still 33 and 40 times higher, respectively, than existing
levies.
More than 9,100 retail locations in Texas are registered to sell consumable hemp products, according to state health records.
Smoke
ATX off of West Slaughter Lane is among 9,100 locations registered with
the state to sell hemp products. The annual fee for hemp retailers will
increase from $150 per location to $5,000 under the new rules adopted
by DSHS.
Some retailers say the fees are still crippling, especially coupled with the new prohibition on smokable products.
"It's
a high rate, but it would still be feasible, but then we come into the
[THCA] regulations," said Estella Castro, owner of the hemp store Austin
Cannabis Co. "If you don't have the flower, and the flower is going off
completely, I don't think you're going to have the $5,000."
Castro said smokable products account for about 40% of her sales.
Cannabis
advocates say they are glad to see new product recall standards and a
process to track consumer complaints, but they believe high licensing
fees and a ban on flowers and extracts will power up the unregulated
market.
"We know that consumers will be able to still acquire
these products either from out of state operators who are not restricted
by DSHS regulations or from the illicit market, which causes the most
concern for us," said Heather Fazio, who leads the Texas Cannabis Policy
Center. "The illicit market doesn't have age restrictions. It doesn't
have safety mechanisms and consumer protection."
The new DSHS
rules only affect the manufacture, distribution and sale of hemp
products. They don't affect state law allowing for possession of them.
Mark
Bordas, head of the Texas Hemp Business Council, compared the $10,000
fee annual on hemp manufacturing facilities to the Texas Alcoholic
Beverage Commission's fee on distillers: $3,000 every two years.
"Our
concern is some of these measures are so draconian that you are going
to drive people out of the business and then folks' access to the
products," Bordas said. "Invariably, we're going to have to bring forth a
[lawsuit], and the state has to defend what it's done, and that's
taxpayer money, and it's a waste."
Two men were attacked by three
men on Sunday afternoon outside of a Santana Row restaurant in San Jose,
CA. The incident is being investigated as a hate crime.
At
about 3:38 the local constabulary responded to the fight. The three
attackers were apparently incensed that the two victims were speaking
Hebrew while waiting to be seated at the restaurant. Both were wearing
Star of David necklaces. The two victims were described as
Israeli-Americans. There is pretty good video of the incident, which
began verbally but quickly escalated. One of the victims was beaten
unconscious.
The three attackers fled the scene before the cops arrived.
Kathryn
Nance was the Deputy Chief of Police in Stockton, CA until 2023 when
she was hired as the Chief for the Reno, Nevada P D. As of three days
ago she and five of her officers are on administrative leave. The
Nevada Dept of Public Safety is investigating the situation.
Undersheriff of Washoe County, Corey Solferino, is currently serving as
the Acting Chief until the issue is sorted out.
According
to Mayor Hillary Schieve and City Manager Jackie Bryant the issues are
policy-administrative in nature and not criminal. The five officers
have not been named nor have their ranks been specified. The Reno
Police Protective Association lawyer has said that the five are NOT
members of the association, which represents officers and detectives.
The
Department has about 440 employees. It isn't really clear if that is
peace officers or total employees. Nance's current compensation is
$434,000 including benefit costs.
As of right now Washington State has no state income
tax. In a few days, assuming the Governor signs the bill (which he has
said he will) there will be a 9.9% income tax on persons who earn $1
million a year or more.
This tax will effect about 20,000 households in Washington.
It appears that a number of those high earners are already fleeing the state or are preparing to do so.
According to various media
outlets the FBI has notified police organization in the formerly great
state of California that there is as realistic possibility that CA will
come under attack by Iranian drones launched from off the coast.
Maybe they will blow up San Francisco.
It
would be rough on Bay Area traffic if they managed to damage any of the
major bridges and I suspect from a purely technical stand point it
would not be that hard to do.
Kash Patel enlists UFC stars to train FBI special agents as Dana White reveals line-up for 'historic training seminar'
By James Cohen
Daily Mail
Mar 11, 2026
Kash Patel is bringing in UFC fighters to help train the FBI's special agents
The FBI has officially partnered with the UFC to host a high-profile training seminar, enlisting some of the world's most elite fighters to train prospective special agents.
In a first-of-its-kind collaboration, current and former UFC stars will descend upon the FBI Special Agent Academy in Quantico, Virginia, on March 14 and 15.
The
sessions are exclusive to academy students and senior FBI staff. During
the sessions, selected athletes will 'demonstrate specific techniques
and tactics', as well as 'provide insight into how they train for
competition', as per a UFC statement.
'I'm thrilled to announce this historic
seminar,' FBI Director Kash Patel stated, calling it a 'tremendous
opportunity' for agents to learn from the world's greatest athletes.
Patel emphasized that the partnership with Dana White and the UFC will help the law enforcement agency be 'even better prepared to protect the American people.'
UFC
CEO Dana White echoed the sentiment, noting his fighters are 'some of
the baddest men and women on the planet' and are proud to support
national defense.
The FBI has officially partnered with the UFC to host a high-profile training seminar
'It’s an incredible opportunity
for our athletes to experience, and we’re proud to support the FBI in
strengthening their defense techniques,' Dana White said
'It’s an incredible opportunity for our
athletes to experience, and we’re proud to support the FBI in
strengthening their defense techniques,' the UFC chief added.
The
all-star crew heading to Quantico includes interim lightweight champion
Justin Gaethje, Michael Chandler and the UFC's first-ever 'BMF'
champion, Jorge Masvidal.
They will be
joined by former middleweight champion Chris Weidman, Claudia Gadelha,
Manel Kape and Renzo Gracie to lead the specialized sessions.
UFC
matchmaker Mick Maynard will also be on-site to provide unique insights
into the mental and physical preparation required for elite-level
hand-to-hand combat.
The athletes will
demonstrate specific tactics and techniques, offering a unique
perspective to students as they prepare to enter the field office after
graduation.
This partnership has been rumored since Patel took office in February 2025, following his frequent appearances at UFC events alongside the promotion's leadership.
By
training with professional fighters, the Bureau aims to improve their
skills so they can continue to be the 'best of the best' in global law
enforcement.
The likes of current UFC star Justin Gaethje, right, will be in attendance this week
'Dana White has changed the game in the mixed martial arts industry,' Kash Patel added
The
UFC stated that the collaboration offers a unique experience for their
athletes to give back to the country while strengthening the FBI's
defensive arsenal.
'Dana White has
changed the game in the mixed martial arts industry,' Patel added,
expressing pride in partnering with the professionals and the UFC.
'We are grateful for their shared love of our nation, so that we can better defend her,' the Director continued in his official statement regarding the deal.
White
noted that the opportunity for his fighters to experience the inner
workings of Quantico is a significant milestone for the mixed martial
arts community.
Washington, Jerusalem split over when to stop fighting Iran
Officials cite growing divergence
on war aims, oil-price risks, and political fallout as key concerns
driving Washington's unease.
Israel Hayom
Mar 11, 2026
People walk past a sign reading “Thank you God & Donald Trump” in Tel Aviv, March 10, 2026.
White House officials have privately raised concerns that Israel intends to continue fighting Iran even after the United States decides to wind down its own role in the campaign, according to a report in the Wall Street Journal.
Information that reached the newspaper indicated that Trump told his
aides he wants to end the war on his own terms, as he did in "the 12-day
war". The statements reflect significant disagreements between the
administration and the Israeli government, which has continued to insist
the operation could last weeks and has spoken openly about regime
change in Tehran.
US
administration officials who spoke with the newspaper said Trump and
Netanyahu speak nearly every day, sometimes more than once. Secretary of
State Marco Rubio and Jared Kushner also participate in those calls.
Despite the close coordination, the gaps on the ground are widening.
Israel expanded its target bank to include Iran's oil industry and has
continued eliminating senior officials – moves that drew criticism in
Washington.
On
Monday, the administration made clear to Israel that it was "not
satisfied" with the strikes on energy infrastructure and ordered that
they not be repeated without prior approval.
Distinguishing Israeli actions from American ones
"The
end of American involvement in this conflict will ultimately be
determined by the commander in chief when he feels the military
objectives have been fully achieved and the threat from the rogue
Iranian regime has been completely destroyed," White House press
secretary Karoline Leavitt said. Even so, Trump told reporters the
military campaign was "very complete, more or less," adding, "We're way
ahead of schedule."
Elbridge
Colby, the Pentagon's top policy official, told Congress last week that
the strike that killed Iran's Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei,
was part of a series of "Israeli operations." Colby drew a distinction
between that Israeli strike and the "limited and reasonable" targets the
US attacked, noting that Washington concentrated its firepower on
Iranian missiles, drones, and naval assets.
The
administration shifted its stated objectives from the outset. Trump
initially called for regime change in Tehran but has not repeated those
remarks since. Like the US military and senior Pentagon figures,
Secretary of State Marco Rubio laid out more limited goals – among them
degrading Iran's nuclear and missile programs. Senior military officials
and analysts have repeatedly argued that airpower alone has never
succeeded in toppling a foreign government.
The
Pentagon also confirmed the divergent approaches to the air campaign at
a Tuesday briefing by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Gen. Dan
Caine. Hegseth said the Israeli military had been a good partner but
added, "Where they had different targets, they pursued them."
The public opinion divide keeps growing
"Bibi's
dream – and Israel's dream for decades – is a joint war to bring down
the Islamic Republic. But leaning on Trump for everything is always a
risky proposition," said Chuck Freilich, a former deputy national
security adviser in Israel and a senior researcher at the Institute for
National Security Studies.
The
two leaders are speaking to very different domestic audiences, and
polling data reveals a widening gap between the two countries. An INSS
survey conducted in early March found that 82% of Israelis support the
war. By contrast, a Quinnipiac University poll published Tuesday found
that 53% of Americans oppose the war, compared with only 40% who support
it.
The
shifting objectives of the Trump administration have eroded American
public support for the war, with various polls showing that a minority
of Americans back it. Trump faces criticism from parts of the Democratic
Party and from the right flank of his own party, who are pressing him
to stick to a more isolationist foreign policy vision. He opposed the
American invasion of Iraq early in his political career and has in the
past promised to end America's "endless wars" in the Middle East.
Some
of Trump's advisers raised the issue in private conversations and urged
him to seek an exit plan, citing rising oil prices and fears of the
political damage a prolonged war could bring.
In
Israel, officials understand that the window of opportunity could close
without warning. "Bibi understands that Trump can end the war at any
moment, so Israel is fighting as if every day is the last," said a
source familiar with the details. Next week, special envoy Steve
Witkoff is expected to arrive in Israel to try to coordinate the
continuation of military operations and the exit strategy from the
conflict.
Israeli security forces operate in the West Bank city of Hebron,
The Israel Defense Forces has ramped up operations in Judea and
Samaria since the start of Operation Roaring Lion on Feb. 28, to ensure
that would-be terrorists living under the Palestinian Authority don’t
take advantage of the situation to launch a new front.
As part of the effort, the IDF is closely coordinating with
individual communities and their security personnel to prevent terrorist
attacks.
During an exclusive briefing with JNS, Cpt. Adi Stoler,
head of the International Department of the IDF’s media branch, said
that since “Operation Rising Lion” in June 2025, the military has put
emphasis on keeping the situation in Judea and Samaria quiet, so it can
focus on other arenas.
Stoler said that the IDF has been working offensively, conducting
mass operations and pushing farther into terrorist hubs in PA villages
and population centers. And on March 6, it announced that it had apprehended more than 200 Palestinian terrorists over the course of the previous week.
Among those arrested were bomb makers, weapons dealers, Hamas
affiliates, terrorism inciters and suspects planning to carry out
attacks, according to the IDF.
At the same time, the army has been taking defensive measures, such
as ensuring that roads, bus stops and commercial centers are protected,
while working to make sure that individual communities have functioning
observation systems and appropriate fencing to prevent infiltrations.
Furthermore, Stoler claimed, since the Hamas invasion and massacre on
Oct. 7, 2023, the Islamic Republic has been trying to ignite
Palestinian terrorism in Judea and Samaria.
“Iran saw the area as Israel’s soft underbelly, and transferred
millions of dollars to its proxies there, for the purpose of recruiting
terrorists and purchasing weapons,” she said. “This forced us to work
differently. We know that we must take out the terrorist hubs entirely.”
Binyamin Regional Council governor and Yesha Council chairman Ysrael Ganz
conveyed to JNS that Judea-Samaria is working in close and full
cooperation with above security forces to reinforce the protection of
the communities, especially at this time.
He explained that the IDF has increased its deployment along the
country’s eastern border and the seam line, with additional battalions
stationed in the communities and along the roads.
“The guiding principle is clear: increasing deterrence and delivering
an unequivocal message that alongside the campaign on the various
fronts, the IDF is fully prepared and ready here in Judea and Samaria as
well,” Ganz said.
In addition, he stressed, “It is important to note that residents are
demonstrating extraordinary resilience. The council is operating around
the clock to ensure the most stable emergency routine possible, while
strictly adhering to all security guidelines.”
Requesting anonymity, the director of regional security for a
municipality in Judea and Samaria told JNS that upon the start of the
current war, the IDF deployed two additional battalions of reservist
combat soldiers—roughly 1,000-2,000 troops—to each region in the area.
He stated that this is particularly necessary during the ongoing
Muslim month of Ramadan, which he said has been a period, historically,
when terrorists have targeted Jews in Israel.
“One of my main concerns is the possible threat of attempted
terrorist infiltrations from nearby Palestinian villages into Jewish
communities, by those seeking to show solidarity with Iran during the
war,” he added.
Natalie Sopinsky, spokesperson and director of
development for Hatzalah Judea and Samaria, which provides
volunteer-based emergency medical services, told JNS that she is aware
of at least four new encampments or observation points established by
residents over the past week in strategic locations across Binyamin,
Samaria and the Jordan Valley to enhance security.
She also pointed to several new agriculture farms that have been
established recently along the Jordanian border, to boost security and
safeguard Israel’s state lands. However, she bemoaned the fact that none
of these farms has a bomb shelter or protected space for taking cover
during missile attacks.
She went on to highlight another aspect of the situation: the role of
women. Since many men have been called up for reserve duty, she said,
it is the women who are protecting the home front and taking on
first-responder shifts.
“Our women medics, paramedics and ambulance drivers are bearing a
heavy burden now with resolve,” she said. “While also protecting their
families, they are doing a ‘man’s job’ by taking on all the medical
emergencies—during wartime. They are Wonder Women.”
Stopping Iran is not a violation of international law
The Iranian regime’s decades-long campaign of terror, nuclear
ambition and proxy warfare posed a clear and present danger—one that
critics of Israel and the United States often choose to ignore.
Women from the "Non Una Di Meno" feminist movement demonstrate in Rome, Italy, on March 9, 2026. The group expelled Iranian women from their marches because those women supported confronting the regime in Tehran.
The Iran of the ayatollahs has long been
dangerous—and ready for war. If the world wished to prevent it from
attacking its enemies with lethal weapons, including potentially nuclear
ones, then action to stop it was not only justified but necessary.
International law does not forbid
self-defense. Yet in practice, it often condemns the act of preventing
an enemy’s aggression, even when the threat is clear and events are
already in motion.
When actors such as the United States and
Israel take steps to stop such a threat, the institutions that claim to
safeguard international law—first and foremost the United
Nations—frequently declare them outside the bounds of that very law.
This approach is not only dishonest. It is self-defeating.
The danger posed by Iran has been clear
and present for decades. Ignoring it would have been an invitation to
catastrophe—potentially even nuclear aggression. Tehran’s ambitions were
not hidden. They were developed methodically over the years and
accompanied by constant acts of war carried out directly and through
proxies.
Yet in much of the international
conversation, anti-Americanism, pacifist reflexes and hostility toward
Israel dominate the narrative. Iran is no longer described as the
world’s leading sponsor of terrorism, governed by a dictatorship that
brutally violates human rights. Instead, it is often portrayed as the
victim.
The result can be grotesque.
In recent demonstrations in Europe,
activists from the feminist movement “Non Una Di Meno” expelled Iranian
women from their marches because those women supported confronting the
regime in Tehran. The reason offered was that war “violates
international law.”
Apparently, the rights of Iranian women oppressed by that regime matter less than ideological slogans.
Critics of Israel and the United States
insist that confronting Iran undermines the global code of justice and
morality. But such arguments reveal how compromised that framework has
become. If international law cannot recognize the need to defend oneself
against a war already being waged against you, then it has lost its
relevance.
The attempt to equate the campaign against
Iran with Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine is one of the more
absurd claims in this legalistic narrative. Iran has not been a peaceful
country suddenly attacked without provocation.
Since the Islamic Revolution of 1979,
Tehran’s hostility toward the United States and Israel has been explicit
and constant. It began with the seizure of the American Embassy in
Tehran and the 444-day hostage crisis involving 66 Americans. The
slogans “Death to Israel” and “Death to America” soon became permanent
features of the regime’s rhetoric.
The consequences are visible everywhere.
Iran has developed ballistic missiles and
advanced its nuclear program while building a network of proxy forces
across the Middle East. Hezbollah in Lebanon, Hamas in Gaza and the
Houthis in Yemen have all received Iranian support, weapons and
training.
Missiles built or supplied by Tehran have
been aimed deliberately at civilians in Israel. Terrorist attacks
supported by Iran have struck Jewish and Western targets around the
world—from Buenos Aires to Burgas.
American soldiers were killed in the 1983
bombings in Beirut. Hijackings of international flights, suicide
bombings and attacks on buses, cafes and shopping centers in Israel
followed. Thousands have died in operations carried out by
Iranian-backed groups.
Yet the institutions tasked with
determining “international legitimacy” often focus only on the narrow
rule that a state may respond only after suffering a direct attack.
The problem is that the modern world no longer fits that formula.
Today’s conflicts involve terrorism, proxy
militias and covert cooperation among authoritarian powers—including
Russia, China and North Korea. Billions of dollars flow through these
networks to finance violence while maintaining a thin layer of
deniability.
International law, designed for a different era, struggles to address these realities.
Meanwhile, a vast campaign of accusations
against Israel has flourished. Even after the massacre of Oct. 7, 2023,
Israel was dragged before the International Court of Justice and accused
of violating international law.
Such claims reveal how urgently the international legal system needs reform.
The world is already confronting a war
that ignores borders and targets civilians. Pretending otherwise does
not protect justice—it weakens it.
And the victims of that blindness may
include everyone—even the activists who believe they are defending moral
purity while turning away the Iranian women who know the regime’s
brutality best.
BUCKS COUNTY, Pa. — Dispatch logs obtained by Fox
News Digital show that three calls to law enforcement were made from the
home of one of the New York City terror suspects in suburban
Philadelphia after the foiled attack.
The first
call to law enforcement came in at 4:15 p.m. Saturday from Ibrahim
Kayumi's family home, the logs showed. The second came in at 9:19 p.m. A
third call to law enforcement was placed on Sunday at 8:54 p.m. The
calls were made to 911 or non-emergency lines, according to the log.
It's unclear what was said on the calls or why they were made.
The
calls surfaced as details emerged about the suspects’ families. The two
men lived just 10 miles apart but came from very different worlds,
leaving neighboring communities stunned.
Emir Balat, 18, of Langhorne, and Ibrahim Kayumi, 19, of Newtown, are accused of throwing live explosive devices
into a protest outside Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s residence, Gracie
Mansion, on Saturday after making the almost two-hour drive into New
York City, federal officials said.
In a
complaint, prosecutors said a series of pictures showed the two men
handling the alleged bomb, which authorities later determined to have
contained triacetone triperoxide, or TATP, and had nuts and bolts
attached with duct tape.
According to The Associated Press, a
license plate reader captured the two men entering New York City from
New Jersey less than an hour before the foiled attack, which took place
at around 12:15 p.m. Kayumi's mother said she last saw him at around
10:30 a.m. on Saturday when she filed a missing person report.
Ibrahim Kayumi
Kayumi's parents came to the U.S. from Afghanistan and became naturalized citizens in 2004 and 2009, according to CBS News.
A LinkedIn belonging to Shaysta, Kayumi's mother, states she's a manager at Popeyes.
The father, Khayer Kayumi, attempted to buy a Popeyes location in Brooklyn, New York,
in 2010, but wasn't able to open it because of a previous tax balance
on the property, which was at least $200,000, according to court
documents. The restaurant location was taken over by Bank of America in
2013.
According to Zillow, the Kayumis' home in Newtown is worth over $2.2 million.
Emir
Balat, left, and Ibrahim Kayumi, right, were arrested in New York City
March 7, 2026, after an explosive was thrown at a protest outside of
Mayor Zohran Mamdani's home Saturday, March 7, 2026.
Khayer told The New York Times they became worried after their son didn't come home Saturday.
"Maybe he had killed himself," he said. "We didn’t know what was going on. … If he’s going to be five minutes late, he calls."
Ibrahim Kayumi family's home in Pennsylvania Monday, March 9.
Emir Balat
Balat’s parents, who were born in Turkey, became naturalized U.S. citizens in 2017, according to the report.
Prior to getting citizenship, Balat's father, Selahattin, sued Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly in 2017 over delays regarding their citizenship application. They initially applied for citizenship in 2015.
Emir
Balat flees after allegedly throwing a homemade explosive device toward
police as NYPD Chief Aaron Edwards and Sgt. Luis Navarro take action
during a protest in front of Gracie Mansion, New York Mayor Zohran
Mamdani's official residence, in New York March 7, 2026.
Violeta Sadauskiene, one of Balat's neighbors, told Phillyburbs.com the Balat's are "absolutely lovely people."
"There
was zero suspicious stuff going on at their house," she said.
"Everybody was just in shock. Everyone. I could not believe it when I
heard it. We thought it must be a mistake."
Emir
Balat family's home in Pennsylvania. Emir Balat, 18, and Ibrahim
Kayumi, 19, were being held without bail after a court appearance Monday
on charges that include attempting to provide material support to a
foreign terrorist organization and using a weapon of mass destruction.
Balat's lawyer, Mehdi Essmidi, claimed to reporters that the two men didn't know each other prior to the attempted attack.
"They're
strangers as far as I know," Essmidi said. "I'm saying they're from
different parts of Pennsylvania. They're in different age groups. They
are not known to each other. They do not live together. They do not have
family or school ties."
The suspect, identified as Emir Balat, was seen holding the alleged bomb in front of Gracie's Mansion in New York City.
Though Balat is in high school, his attorney told reporters he was finishing classes remotely.
"He's 18. He's finishing school remotely because he has only, like, three classes left to do. He's in his senior year," Essmidi said.
A district spokesperson told Fox News Digital that Balat is in 12th
grade in the Neshaminy School District. Kayumi graduated in 2024 from Council Rock High School North, school officials confirmed.
