Florida Department of Health to Accept Applications from African American Farmers for Medical Marijuana Licenses

Almost six months after the Florida Supreme Court upheld a law that designated a single medical marijuana treatment center (MMTC) license for an African American farmer with business ties in the state, the Florida Department of Health (FDOH) issued rules for the licensing process on Thursday.

Eligible applicants for $50 million MMTC license are African American farmers who were litigants in the Pigford vs. Glickman lawsuit from 1999 that successfully ruled the U.S. Department of Agriculture of discriminating against African American farmers when allocating farm loans and other financial assistance from 1981-1996.

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Commentary: ‘It’s Time to Stand Up for Ourselves and Our Country’

Close up of Capitol with Trump and America flag in the wind

The first thing Victoria White noticed after emerging from the tunnel where she was severely beaten by two D.C. Metropolitan police officers on January 6 was the floor of the U.S. Capitol. Dressed in jeans and a light red turtleneck, shoeless, White was soaked with whatever toxic chemical gas the police sprayed on protesters.

“I noticed that this beautiful flooring was all wet, soaking wet, like a pipe burst,” she told me this week in one of three lengthy interviews about her harrowing experience at the Capitol protest. Water, however, was not the culprit; the floor probably was drenched because law enforcement had doused Americans with chemical spray for hours inside the U.S. Capitol building.

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Commentary: The U.S. Might Lose the Tech War in Its Own Hemisphere

South America has sat within the U.S. sphere of interest since the Monroe Doctrine was enunciated in 1823. Now that may be changing, thanks to the inroads that Chinese telecom companies such as Huawei are making in the region’s economies. The advent of 5G networks is showcasing Beijing’s growing ability to rival Washington in South America.

That rivalry isn’t discussed too much in the region itself. Governments in Latin America mostly take a pragmatic approach, waiting for the lowest bidder while trying to remain as friendly as possible with each side. These tendencies hold true for most facets of U.S.-China competition in Latin America, but especially in South America, which is home to several major economies that are more politically and economically independent from the United States than closer neighbors such as Mexico.

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Pro-Life Leaders React to High Court’s Procedural Ruling on Texas’ Heartbeat Law

Pro-life leaders anxiously awaiting decisions in major abortion cases reacted Friday to news that the Supreme Court had dismissed one challenge to Texas’ ban on abortions after an unborn baby has a heartbeat. 

“Today, the Supreme Court refused to strike down the lifesaving and democratically popular Texas heartbeat law,” said Live Action founder and President Lila Rose. “While the court did give a road map for lower courts to put the law on hold, the opinion of the court was crystal clear that this case was not commenting on the constitutionality of the abortion restriction itself.”

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Texas Racial Equity Committee Co-Chair Resigns After Doxxing Parents and Leaving Profane Voicemail

Fort Worth Independent School District

The co-chair of a racial equity committee at a Texas school district resigned Wednesday after admitting she had doxxed parents who opposed her policies and left one a profane voicemail, Fox News reported.

While Norma Garcia-Lopez was co-chair of the Fort Worth Independent School District’s (FWISD) school board Racial Equity Committee, she shared parent information and encouraged others to call parents out for opposing mask mandates, Fox News reported. Garcia-Lopez shared the phone number and home address of one parent, Jennifer Treger, in addition to the employer, work email address and phone number of another parent, Kerri Rehmeyer.

“It’s astounding what the ‘White Privilege’ power from Tanglewood has vs a whole diverse community that cares for the well being of others,” Garcia-Lopez wrote publicly, according to Fox News. “These are their names: Jennifer Treger, Todd Daniel, Kerri Rehmeyer and a coward Jane Doe. Internet do your thang,” Garcia-Lopez wrote.

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U.S. Wins Appeal in Case to Extradite Wikileaks Founder Julian Assange

The U.S. won an appeal in its case to extradite Wikileaks founder Julian Assange from the United Kingdom.

The U.K.’s High Court ruled Friday that Assange could be returned to the U.S. where he will face multiple charges related to espionage and hacking, reversing a lower court’s decision blocking his extradition.

Assange’s fiancee Stella Morris said she plans to appeal the decision as soon as possible, calling the decision a “grave miscarriage of justice,” CNBC reported.

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TikTok Removes Video by Libertarian Organization Defending Kyle Rittenhouse

Libertarian organization Young Americans for Liberty says it recently posted a video in support of Kyle Rittenhouse that was subsequently censored by TikTok

In early December, the group posted a video in response to reports that members of the Arizona State University student body were protesting Rittenhouse’s online attendance at their university. The protestors called the acquitted teenager a “murderer,” and claimed he posed a threat to the student body.

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FBI Director Chris Wray Says Antifa Is an ‘Ideology’ Not an ‘Organization’

FBI Director Christopher Wray’s assessment that the far-left antifa network is an ideology, not a group or an organization, is coming under fire this week after prosecutors in San Diego charged several self-described anti-fascists in connection with eight alleged assaults.

Antifa is “not a group or an organization,” Wray testified before the House Homeland Security Committee last year. “It’s a movement or an ideology.”

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House Minority Leader McCarthy Faces Critical Legal Decision in Proxy Voting Lawsuit

The Supreme Court could decide as soon as Friday whether to take up a lawsuit brought by House Republican leader Kevin McCarthy to address the practice of proxy voting in the lower chamber.

House members from both parties have cited the pandemic as the reason they have failed to recently vote in person, though many of them vote in absentia for reasons that seemingly have nothing to do with the virus. Campaigning with high-profile candidates has often taken precedence over appearing in person to vote for certain members. For others, taking care of sick family members or attending to newborn babies have been reasons to vote by proxy.

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Top Ukrainian Military Official Considers Arming Citizens If Russia Gets Too Close

A senior Ukrainian military adviser floated the idea of handing over the country’s own weapons to its citizens in the event of a Russian invasion, The New York Times reported.

The official told the NYT that the government might have to open its weapons depots to its population so that people could defend their families if the Ukrainian military were to be defeated.

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Pennsylvania Supreme Court Strikes Down State’s School Mask Mandate

The Pennsylvania Supreme Court on Friday ruled to strike down Governor Tom Wolf’s statewide mask mandate for schools.

The challengers of the mandate, including Pennsylvania Senate President pro tempore Jake Corman (R-Centre) and State Representative Jesse Topper (R-Bedford), argued that the decision of masking should be left to local school boards or parents, not the state government.

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Florida Department of Education Begins Website Review Based on Florida Capital Star Report

Based on a report by the Florida Capital Star, the Florida Department of Education (DOE) has initiated a review of all links on the FDOE website “to make sure information is relevant, current, and appropriate.”

A report by the Florida Capital Star found that there were external links on the FDOE webpage related to bullying that redirected users to left-wing advocacy groups promoting controversial gender policies. After the report, FDOE officials took down the webpage.

Agriculture Commissioner and gubernatorial candidate Nikki Fried criticized the DeSantis administration for FDOE taking down the webpage. Fried said the move was dangerous for students.

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