Author: J.P. Knowles

The Mississippi Supreme Court shut down a voter-approved medical marijuana initiative on Friday, which passed with overwhelming support in November.

The state’s high court ruled 6-3 that the proposal, known as Initiative 65, was improperly placed on the ballot last year due to an “odd flaw in the state constitution’s voter initiative process.”

According to the Daily Journal, “The court found that the Constitutional provisions for a voter referendum require that signatures be gathered equally from five congressional districts.” The state, however, only has four congressional districts after losing one seat following reapportionment after the 2000 U.S. Census. Lawmakers never updated the constitution’s language. The outlet reports that the court’s decision “invalidated…the ability of voters to directly amend the state constitution.”

“Whether with intent, by oversight, or for some other reason, the drafters of section 273(3) wrote a ballot-initiative process that cannot work in a world where Mississippi has fewer than five representatives in Congress,” wrote Justice Josiah Coleman in the majority opinion. “To work in today’s reality, it will need amending – something that lies beyond the power of the Supreme Court.”

Justice James Maxwell stated that the high court could not amend the state constitution.

“Yet the majority does just that – stepping completely outside of Mississippi law – to employ an interpretation that not only amends but judicially kills Mississippi’s citizen initiative process,” wrote Maxwell.

Mississippi was the first state in the Deep South where residents chose to legalize marijuana for medical use, with 73% of voters supporting Initiative 65 last fall. The proposal required the state Health Department to create a medical marijuana program.

“The Mississippi Supreme Court just overturned the will of the people in Mississippi,” said Ken Newburger, executive director for the Mississippi Medical Marijuana Association. “Patients will now continue the suffering that so many Mississippians voted to end. The Court ignored existing case law and prior decisions. Their reasoning ignores the intent of the constitution and takes away people’s constitutional right. It’s a sad day for Mississippi when the Supreme Court communicates to a vast majority of the voters that their vote doesn’t matter.”

The only thing standing in the way of California releasing 76,000 inmates, most of whom are violent offenders, from state prisons, are more than 40 district attorneys who reside over California.

These prosecutors filed a petition through the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) requesting the immediate repeal of temporary emergency regulations that made changes to whom good behavior credits could be applied to shorten their prison terms.

According to the San Francisco Chronicle, “more than 63,000 inmates convicted of violent crimes are eligible for good behavior credits that shorten their sentences by one-third, an upgrade from the one-fifth that had been standard since 2017.”

“Allowing the early release of the most dangerous criminals, shortening sentences as much as 50%, impacts crime victims and creates a serious public safety risk,” said Sacramento County District Attorney Anne Marie Schubert. “This petition asks CDCR to repeal these regulations, begin the process anew, and allow for transparency and public input. Victims, their families, and all Californians deserve a fair and honest debate about the wisdom of such drastic regulations.”

A statement from Schubert’s office says, “the regulations were passed under a claim of an emergency.” But the petition signed by 41 of the state’s 58 district attorneys says the move does not comply with requirements of the Penal Code, which mandates “a description of the underlying facts and an explanation of the operational need to use the emergency rulemaking procedure.” Schubert said by claiming an “emergency,” the state could bypass public comment on the controversial regulations.

“We want public input before they institute these drastic changes,” Schubert told FOX News. “That’s what we’re asking for. There was no emergency. They imposed them on a Friday at three o’clock without any real notice. And now, we just want an opportunity to be heard.”

Schubert said some crime victims and their loved ones were “devastated” when learning of the new regulations.

A trailer just dropped for a mental health documentary brought to you by Prince Harry and Oprah Winfrey. The film shows them opening up about their own personal pain along with many other people, some famous, some ordinary people.

The clip of “The Me You Can’t See” begins with the executive producers talking about the mental health crisis that has gripped the world, especially during the pandemic. Things get emotional for Prince Harry and Oprah while talking about their battles with mental health.

As Oprah puts it, “The telling of the story … being able to say, ‘This is what happened to me,’ is crucial.” The Apple TV+ series features other celebs, like NBA star DeMar DeRozan, Glenn Close and Lady Gaga … who’s using her real name, Stefani, for the project.

The trailer also features several images of Robin Williams, so it appears his battles with depression will also be discussed when the series premieres this Friday.

 

The Palace seems fed up with Harry baring his emotional scars. As we reported, royal aides are reportedly pissed off and demanding he be stripped of his titles.

During the productions of this documentary, Prince Harry has opened up a lot about his own mental health issues, including criticizing his father, Prince Charles, for his lack of parenting skills.

A report published by The New York Times on Friday claims that the Democratic President Joe Biden, 78, quite regularly has profane outbursts against his aides. This shocking revelation comes after he promised on his first day in office to get rid of anyone that was disrespecting other members of his administration, guess that only applied to Republicans.

“I’m not joking when I say this: If you’re ever working with me and I hear you treat another with disrespect, talk down to someone, I promise you I will fire you on the spot,” Biden said on his very first day in office. “On the spot. No if, ands, or buts.”

Biden said at the time that his remarks were “not hyperbole” and that the only things he expects with “absolute certitude is honesty and decency.”

The report described Biden as someone who struggles to make even the smallest of decisions and who often second-guesses himself.

The Times’ report said that Biden demands lots of detail when making decisions, but that he becomes frustrated by it and he lashes out at aides in outbursts “often laced with profanity.”

“Let’s talk plain English here, he will often snap,” the report said, adding that Biden is “quick to cut off conversations” and that he “even occasionally hangs up the phone on someone who he thinks is wasting his time.”

While on the campaign trail, Biden repeatedly snapped at people, including just a few of the following moments:

Joe Biden EXPLODED in anger at a retired farmer who asked about his son's payouts from a Ukrainian gas company.

"You're a damn liar," Biden said before challenging him to "an IQ test."

Biden also called the man "jack" and "fat" and "too old."

Biden never answered the question. pic.twitter.com/zPTcnghfTB

— Trump War Room (@TrumpWarRoom) December 5, 2019

After a New Hampshire voter asks @JoeBiden why they should trust he can turn his campaign around, he asks if she’s ever been to a caucus before; when she says yes, Biden snaps: "No you haven’t. You’re a lying dog-faced pony soldier." pic.twitter.com/3uxOAu0Ues

— Tom Elliott (@tomselliott) February 9, 2020

A letter that warned the U.S. of the “deep peril” that it was entering under Biden’s leadership surfaced earlier this week. The letter, written by more than 120 retired generals and admirals from the United States Armed Forces, called into question the physical and mental health of the president.

“The mental and physical condition of the Commander in Chief cannot be ignored,” the letter stated. “He must be able to quickly make accurate national security decisions involving life and limb anywhere, day or night. Recent Democrat leadership’s inquiries about nuclear code procedures sends a dangerous national security signal to nuclear-armed adversaries, raising the question about who is in charge. We must always have an unquestionable chain of command.”

Ford is planning on trying to catch lightning in a bottle again as it announces its plan to unveil on May 19th at the automaker’s global headquarters in Dearborn, Michigan its answer to Tesla’s Cybertruck; its very own full-size electric pickup, the all-electric F-150 Lightning.

“Every so often, a new vehicle comes along that disrupts the status quo and changes the game … Model T, Mustang, Prius, Model 3. Now comes the F-150 Lightning,” Ford President and CEO Jim Farley said in a news release. “America’s favorite vehicle for nearly half a century is going digital and fully electric.” According to Farley, the F-150 lightning can even power your home during an outage.

Here is the teaser released earlier today:

https://youtu.be/3iS5f716oYQ

Ford will begin production on the new F-150 Lightning next spring.

“The truck of the future will be built with quality and a commitment to sustainability by Ford-UAW workers at the Ford Rouge Complex — the cathedral of American manufacturing and our most advanced plant,” Farley added.

The ‘Lightning’ name has previously been used on high-performance versions of the F-150, most recently in 2004. This time around the all-electric version will be even quicker than the original F-150 Lightning performance truck and will constantly improve through over-the-air updates. It appears that the Lightning will be a real truck for Americans and Farley seems to agree.

“Simply put, this isn’t a gimmick. It’s a workhorse, not a show horse destined for a shiny garage filled with four other luxury cars. It’s not for never-nevers — never tow, never haul – it’s for serious truck owners,” he said.

“Anaconda” star Nicki Minaj showcased how well “sex” sells after reportedly increasing sales of Crocs footwear by over 4,900 percent on Tuesday after sharing a photo on Instagram showcasing the star wearing nothing more than a “hot pink bedazzled pair of Crocs.”

“The Anaconda star had intended the image to be a teaser for an upcoming project, as she shared it on her social media pages alongside the cryptic caption ‘Friday,’” reported WENN, adding, “But what Nicki perhaps hadn’t predicted was that the picture – which featured her wearing a hot pink bedazzled pair of Crocs and using fluffy cushions to otherwise protect her modesty – would lead to a massive spike in sales for the footwear company.”

F R I D A Y 🤞🏽 pic.twitter.com/jsSVSYlUIX

— Nicki Minaj (@NICKIMINAJ) May 10, 2021

After the star shared the image over social media, the influx of new customers to the Croc website crashed the site as fans rushed to buy their very own pair of “Nicki Minaj Crocs.”

“Nicki Minaj has crashed the official crocs website after her comeback photo,” tweeted a Nicki Minaj fan page.

https://twitter.com/HARDWHlTE/status/1391900611701002242

“It’s unclear whether the pic is a hint that Minaj will be collaborating with Crocs, following in the footsteps of Post Malone, Justin Bieber, and Bad Bunny — all of whom have had wildly successful launches with the footwear company in the past year,” noted Page Six.

Crocs rose in popularity during the COVID-19 pandemic, with The Wall Street Journal reporting, “The foam plastic footwear, known for being easy on the feet if less so on the eyes, is one of the few major retail brands to navigate the COVID-19 era successfully. For some, Crocs are the perfect shoes to wear when no one can see you wear them. For others, a pair of the colorful clogs is a fashion statement.”

The Wall Street Journal added, “Crocs was the only footwear brand among the top 30 tracked by researchers at NPD Group to record sales growth in March, a 14% increase compared with the same month in 2019.”

Former MSNBC host Touré Neblett publicly celebrated the death of a 77-year-old white man after the man died from being punched by a black employee at a Dunkin’ Donuts.

Corey Pujols, the 27-year-old who punched the man, is now facing a manslaughter charge. Pujols claims that he only punched the man after being called a racial slur by the 77-year-old.

“Corey Pujols, 27, said he punched the 77-year-old man after the man called him a racial slur, according to an arrest report,” the Tampa Bay Times reported Tuesday. “The man later died. Pujols faces a manslaughter charge.”

Touré, who goes by his first name, hit up social media to celebrate.

“A [77-year-old] white customer at Dunkin Donuts was upset about something and he called a Black 27 yo employee the n-word,” he wrote. “The brother told him to say it again. The old man did. The brother knocked him out. The old man fell, lost consciousness, and died.”

“He f***ed around and found out,” the activist added.

A 77 yo white customer at Dunkin Donuts was upset about something and he called a Black 27 yo employee the n-word. The brother told him say it again. The old man did. The brother knocked him out. The old man fell, lost consciousness, and died. He fucked around and found out.

— Touré (@Toure) May 12, 2021

 

Apparently just saying the N-word as a white male is now grounds to be killed according to Touré. The left-winged politico justified the physical assault classifying Pujol’s actions as “self-defense.”

“How else will white people learn???” the left-wing politico notably questioned in one of his many tweets justifying the physical violence.

“If there was actual justice in this country, as opposed to white justice, then if you went to someone’s minimum wage job and called them the n-word twice, whatever happened after that would be legally acceptable,” he posted to Twitter Wednesday morning.

If there was actual justice in this country, as opposed to white justice, then if you went to someone’s minimum wage job and called them the n-word twice, whatever happened after that would be legally acceptable.

— Touré (@Toure) May 12, 2021

Emphasizing his own position, Touré posted a poll only for “black people.” And the results shouldn’t surprise you considering the demographic over Twitter.

“Black people—You’re on the jury. The Black defendant was at work. A white customer called him the n-word. Defendant knocked out the customer and he died. How are you voting?”

Black people—You're on the jury. The Black defendant was at work. White customer called him the n-word. Defendant knocked out the customer and he died. How are you voting?

— Touré (@Toure) May 12, 2021

“The n-word is not ‘rude,’ it’s a threat to my humanity, it’s a disregard of my life, it’s a rejection of my dignity,” Touré wrote. “It’s far beyond rude, it’s as violent as language can be. F*** around and find out.”

“You call someone the n-word twice you’re taking your life for granted,” he wrote in another tweet. “I salute anyone who knocks someone out for that. How else will white people learn???”

“Let’s not lose sight of the fact that a man lost his life here. He called a Black man the n-word twice and now he’s dead. Serves him right,” Touré reiterated. “He f***ed around and found out.”

Anybody could take a guess of what Touré would do in the same situation.

A video posted on social media Thursday shows a heavily armed anarchist activist protest in Portland, Oregon, holding up a man in his truck at gunpoint.

After the man breaks through the activists, they tackle him to the ground and begin to assault him.

The video was originally posted by a radical left-wing activist’s Twitter account Durham Operations. It later went viral amassing over half a million in views after being reposted by One America News Network’s Jack Posobiec.

“You better f***ing not! You better f***ing not! You better f***ing not!” one of the numerous activists, gun-in-hand, yells at a man in a red truck. “Put your f***ing gun down! Put your f***ing gun down!”

A little after 1pm, a man decided to run his truck through the weekly Justice For Patrick Kimmons March, then got out of his truck with a gun before he was disarmed by volunteer security. https://t.co/SyYNJLKI0e

— We Out Here Magazine (@weoutherenet) May 6, 2021

Video then shows the elderly man in a brown jacket being surrounded by at least a dozen armed activists. They begin to assault the man before eventually shoving the man into his truck causing him to fall to the pavement. The man pulls out his handgun to defend himself which causes the crowd of “anarchists” to swarm the man to the ground.

Earlier this month the Portland Police Department (PPD) and the FBI are investigating a video message by the left-wing Antifa activists threatening the city of Portland’s Mayor Ted Wheeler.

https://youtu.be/OeVHqrMLKr0

Here’s the transcript of the message:

Hello. We come to you as a small collective within the anarchist and antifascist community and I speak for the whole. As each individual may carry different ideologies and beliefs about how things could or will be accomplished, we hope with this message to simply convey a few points that are commonly agreed upon within this community.

The mayor of this city is undeserving of his position. He has made it abundantly clear that windows to him are more important than human lives. But we are not just challenging the idea of having Ted as a mayor. We are challenging the idea of having mayors at all. We want abolition. Abolition is absolute. If peaceful marches, speeches and voting were enough to bring about a goal, then we would have already been there. Window smashing and riots are a necessary escalation when those in power have proven that they are unwilling to listen and have made the choice to ignore you. We are moving with a sense of urgency because not only is the system destroying us, it is destroying the very planet that we live on.

This movement encompasses the very liberation of all those oppressed by the system whether it be black, indigenous, Hispanic, etc. Nobody owns this movement, and wanting to or trying to claim ownership of this movement just leads to more division, which is counterproductive to all of our goals. We are on the same side though, and the more time we spend fighting each other, the less energy we have to fight the true enemy. So let’s start local with our own city’s failed leadership.

Ted, we are asking for the last time that you resign. If you ignore this message outright, the destruction to your precious way of life is going to escalate. Blood is already on your hands, Ted. The next time it may just be your own.

Jerusalem experienced a multi-missile attack from Hamas during the Yom Yerushalayim Day celebration on Monday.

Yom Yerushalayim celebrates the Jews taking Jerusalem back in the 1967 Six-Day War. It commemorates the reunification of Jerusalem and the establishment of Israeli control over the Old City, where the Temple Mount is located.

During the celebration, shocking videos that show children and women scrambling for cover as the air raid sirens go off have surfaced online.

Shocking footage out of Israel – children and their mothers scramble for shelter as rocket sirens go off. 

In the last hour alone, more than a dozen rockets have been fired from Gaza, including at Jerusalem. pic.twitter.com/IBMjVvHO0t

— StopAntisemitism (@StopAntisemites) May 10, 2021

Reports of at least ten missiles have been confirmed to be launched from Gaza at Jerusalem. Seven of those missiles have been intercepted by the Iron Dome Defense system.

VIDEO: Hamas fires multiple rockets toward Jerusalem and central Israel.pic.twitter.com/9N9krg6GPP

— Avi Mayer אבי מאיר (@AviMayer) May 10, 2021

Many different factors have been at play in Israel in recent weeks, including a canceled Palestinian Authority (PA) election. The PA was supposed to hold elections on May 22, but after it became clear to PA President Mahmoud Abbas that he would lose to Hamas for control, elections were canceled. Abbas blamed Israel, saying, “We have decided to postpone the election until the participation of our people in Jerusalem is guaranteed.”

“Since the elections were announced, divisions within the Fatah party had emerged, there were dozens of tickets to vote for, and Hamas was likely to do well. So Abbas pulled the plug, blaming Israel for his decision on the ground that it would not permit voting in Jerusalem,” Elliott Abrams, former Deputy National Security Advisor for Global Democracy Strategy, wrote on April 30. “This is an old ruse, useful whenever Fatah leaders decide to call an election off.”

Hamas does not recognize Israel’s right to exist, reported: “The last elections, held in 2006 with international support and Israeli cooperation, saw Hamas win a landslide victory after campaigning as a scrappy underdog untainted by corruption. That sparked an internal crisis culminating in Hamas’ seizure of Gaza the following year, which confined Abbas’ authority to parts of the Israeli-occupied West Bank. Hamas’ popularity has fallen in the years since, as conditions in Gaza have steadily deteriorated.”

A “significant” incident occurred in the Strait of Hormuz when Iranian military gunboats associated with the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps, a designated terrorist organization, attempted to swarm six U.S. warships, including the guided-missile submarine USS Georgia, on Monday while the warships were escorting the submarine through the strait.

“Over a dozen Iranian gunboats harass the formation of six U.S. warships including guided-missile submarine Georgia,” Pentagon correspondent Lucas Tomlinson said. “U.S. Coast Guard Cutter fired warning shots in response in the Strait of Hormuz.”

BREAKING: Over a dozen Iranian gunboats harass formation of six U.S. warships including guided-missile submarine Georgia. U.S. Coast Guard cutter fired warning shots in response in Strait of Hormuz: Pentagon

— Lucas Tomlinson (@LucasFoxNews) May 10, 2021

John Kirby, Pentagon press secretary, referred to the incident as very “significant” due to the amount of Iranian military vessels involved. Thirteen Iranian vessels have been reported to come within 150 yards of the U.S. warships. Over 30 warning shots were fired at the Iranian vessels.

Toward the end of last month, the U.S. Navy released a video of Iranian military vessels harassing U.S. Forces in the Arabian Gulf.

.@US5thFleet has released video and images of an April 2nd unprofessional interaction by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Navy in #ArabianGulf. pic.twitter.com/0tGJbffFJR

— U.S. Navy (@USNavy) April 27, 2021

“The activities we typically see from the IRGC Navy are not necessarily activities that are directed by the supreme leader or from the Iranian state,” U.S. Central Command’s General Kenneth “Frank” McKenzie said. “Rather [they are] irresponsible actions by local commanders on the scene. We’re very careful to ensure that we don’t get into a provocative cycle as a result of that. Luckily, our guys are pretty good … they’re very mature and they’re able to de-escalate the situation.”

The Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD) says that Democrat President Joe Biden is struggling in numerous national security and foreign police issues, including Iran.

FDD concluded that Biden’s work on Iran was “very negative” in their latest bi-monthly tracker on the Biden administration’s policies. Here is an exemption from that report:

The Biden administration reportedly offered to lift U.S. terrorism sanctions on Iran in exchange for Tehran’s agreement to rejoin the 2015 nuclear deal. The offer, which includes sanctions relief for the Central Bank of Iran (CBI), the National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC), and other entities and sectors behind the financing of Iran-sponsored terrorism and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, would breach earlier commitments made by Secretary Blinken. In 2020, he vowed that if elected, the Biden administration would “continue non-nuclear sanctions as a strong hedge against Iranian misbehavior in other areas.” During his 2021 Senate confirmation hearing, Blinken was asked whether he believed it was in America’s national security interest to lift terrorism sanctions currently imposed on Iran, including the CBI and NIOC. “I do not,” Blinken responded, “and I think there is nothing … inconsistent with making sure that we are doing everything possible – including the toughest possible sanctions, to deal with Iranian support for terrorism.” Last week, however, State Department Spokesperson Ned Price suggested terrorism sanctions imposed on Iran were inconsistent with the nuclear deal – a departure from Blinken’s testimony and a troubling sign that the White House is prepared to cave to the regime’s key demands while gaining nothing tangible in return.