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Canada’s broadcasting regulator confirms proposed online censorship bill will apply to user-generated content

During a hearing on Canada’s attempt to regulate what users can say on the internet, Bill C-11 (The Online Streaming Act), the head of Canada’s broadcasting and telecommunications regulator again confirmed that the far-reaching regulations will apply to user-generated content.

Ever since the bill was announced, critics have been warning that it empowers the Canadian government to censor the content users post to social media platforms by forcing these platforms to abide by content rules set by Canada’s broadcasting and telecommunications regulator – the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC).

These fears were confirmed by CRTC Chairman Ian Scott earlier this month when he acknowledged that Bill C-11 would apply to user-generated content. And in an appearance at Tuesday’s Canadian Heritage committee hearing, Scott reaffirmed that Bill C-11 allows the CRTC to regulate “user uploaded content.”

CRTC General Counsel and Deputy Executive Director Rachelle Frenette subsequently attempted to downplay the CRTC powers under Bill C-11 by insisting that the regulations apply to platforms, not users. However, she admitted that the CRTC could “issue rules with respect to discoverability.”

Dr. Michael Geist, a law professor at the University of Ottawa, noted (link) that Frenette’s admission is “entirely consistent with the concerns of digital creators, namely that platforms will be required to develop outcomes that result in some content being prioritized in the name of discoverability.”

The critics of Bill C-11 include politicians, creators, and even pro-censorship Big Tech platforms.

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School System May Have 4,000 Materials About ‘Sex Work’ – But Parents Will Have To Pay $20,000 To See Them

The public school system in Virginia‘s capital says it may have more than 4,000 lesson plans, emails, and other materials about “sex work,” but if concerned parents want details, they will have to pay $20,000 to find out.

The Richmond district’s potential trove of disturbing materials was revealed when officials responded to a Daily Wire Freedom of Information Act request for all records and materials invoking the terms “sex work” or “sex worker,” including in teaching materials and communications between employees. The issue has raised concerns among parents who say library books and teaching materials increasingly normalize sex work.

“Given the broad scope of your revised request of the email search for the terms ‘sex work’ and ‘sex worker,’ our IT staff projects that upwards of 4,000 records may be retrieved in the search,” the district responded, adding that the “estimated charge that may be incurred by [Richmond Public Schools] to access, duplicate, supply, and/or search for records responsive your request, in the amount of $19,555.40,” half of which was required to begin searching.

District officials said that the hefty price was in part because it included the cost of bureaucrats deciding what information to withhold, despite matching the query.

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US To Sell Ukraine Advanced Drones Armed With Hellfire Missiles In Coming Days

Despite a mere days ago President Biden pledging in a New York Times op-ed that under his watch the United States would ensure it avoids supplying the Ukrainians with weapons which could penetrate deep inside Russian territory, given the potential for wider war with Russia, the White House is now said to be mulling the transfer of multiple MQ-1C Gray Eagle drones which can be armed with Hellfire missiles.

Reuters, citing unnamed sources, reports the Biden administration has notified Congress of the potential sale within “the coming days”. If it goes through, the sale would mark the largest and most sophisticated drones in Ukraine’s arsenal. It would also inch the US a bit closer toward President Zelensky’s prior request for the US and NATO to “close the skies” – or impose a No Fly Zone (NFZ) – despite Biden officials earlier admitting this would trigger automatic direct conflict with Russian.

The Pentagon is already supplying hundreds of AeroVironment’s Switchblade drones, which is a small, low-cost loitering munition or “suicide” drone. Ukraine has also already long deployed the Turkish-made Bayraktar, however, the General Atomics-made Gray Eagle is much faster and capable of carrying heavier munitions.

According to a brief comparative analsysis in Forbes,

The Gray Eagle carries up to four roughly 100-pound Hellfire missiles, whereas the Bayraktar can carry as many as four 49-pound laser-guided “smart micro” bombs.

Further, “The long-range model of the Gray Eagle drone is 28 feet long and can fly for over 41 hours with a top speed of about 173 miles per hour, while the Bayraktar is 21 feet long and can fly for 27 hours at up to 138 miles per hour.”

The potential transfer comes just as Biden authorized $700 million more in military aid to Ukraine. Reuters says the transfer is to include at least four Gray Eagle drones.

The Drive notes that with this type of advanced weapons system sale, there could be a few more hurdles along the way: “Typically a foreign military sale, even one financed by the U.S., as Reuters reports, has to be pre-approved by the State Department,” the report says.

And once again the Pentagon could be ordered by the administration to deplete its own crucial stockpile and arsenal in order to further arm the Ukrainians.

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Slippery Slope: New U.S. Advanced Weapons for Ukraine

Peace advocates are warning that the Biden administration’s newly unveiled decision to arm Ukraine with advanced missile systems further heightens the risk of a direct military conflict between the U.S. and Russia, which accused the White House of “adding fuel to the fire deliberately” as Moscow’s deadly invasion of its neighbor rages on.

“The slippery slope leading to a direct U.S. confrontation with Russia just got a lot steeper,” Medea Benjamin, co-founder of the progressive anti-war group CodePink, wrote in response to the Biden administration’s move, which was followed by news that Russian forces are holding nuclear drills northeast of Moscow on Wednesday. “The U.S. and U.K. governments show no efforts or desire to achieve peaceful settlement of the armed conflict between Russia and Ukraine.”

The U.S.-made High Mobility Artillery Rocket System, also known as HIMARS, will give Ukraine the capability to strike Russian targets roughly 50 miles away with powerful, satellite-guided missiles. The rocket system, the most advanced weaponry the U.S. has sent to Ukraine to date, is manufactured by Lockheed Martin, the world’s largest military contractor.

According to the Congressional Budget Office, the Pentagon has spent around $5.4 billion to buy more than 42,000 HIMARS rockets since 1998.

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Biden’s “Incredible Transition”: High Gas Prices, Supply Shortages Part Of Plan To Unleash Green Economy

As Americans bear the brunt of a sagging economy, the Biden administration appears to be  framing this as a good thing, believing that citizens will be better off in the future if current supply shortages and high gas prices spiral out of control.

The United States, according to President Joe Biden, is in the midst of an “incredible transition”—one that will pave the way for a green economy.

While the administration may tout the benefits of a sustainable future, the question remains as to what will happen to average Americans while this “transition” takes place.

More importantly, what’s the endgame of all this that Americans don’t know about?

Biden, during a May 23 joint press conference in Japan with the country’s Prime Minister Kishida Fumio, used the word “transition” to seemingly admit that soaring gasoline prices are just part of his administration’s overall plan for moving from hydrocarbons to renewables.

“When it comes to the gas prices, we’re going through an incredible transition that is taking place that, God willing, when it’s over, we’ll be stronger and the world will be stronger and less reliant on fossil fuels when this is over,” Biden said.

The comment seems to suggest that ensuring the country’s gas supply is not high on Biden’s agenda, though the administration did announce to release of 1 million barrels of crude oil a day for six months between May and August.

Biden’s remarks angered some Republican lawmakers, including Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-N.Y.) said the president is “painfully out-of-touch.”

“The pain at the pump every #NY21 family feels is a direct result of Joe Biden and House Democrats’ Far-Left agenda,” Stefanik wrote on Twitter.

Sen. Rick Scott (R-Fla.) also took exception, writing on Twitter, “the only ‘incredible transition’ we want from Joe Biden is his transition to retirement.”

“Every family in America is paying record-breaking high gas prices thanks to @JoeBiden’s war on American energy—but the president doesn’t care,” Scott added.

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Gov’t to Steal Elderly Man’s House Over $573K They Fined Him for Working on Car in His Back Yard

Dan Alstatt is a retired 83-year-old from California who may spend the rest of his life “homeless and penniless” because government claims what you can and can’t do with your own property. Alstatt never harmed anyone, nor did he destroy or other wise harm anyone else’s property, but these facts are irrelevant to the state who claims Alstatt owes them $573,000 for using his private property the way he wanted.

Alstatt worked on old cars in his own yard and according to the city of Sacramento, this is illegal. When Alstatt disputed the city’s claim, the city then told Alstatt he owed them money. Now, Alstatt is worried that the state will come and seize his home because he cannot afford to pay the ridiculously high fines.

According to an article in the SacBee, Alstatt’s nightmare began in 2014 when he brought a van into his backyard to fix them — a code enforcement penalty — according to the local government.

He also had at least five other vehicles on the property, some of which he inherited when his brother died, he said. A neighbor complained, and the city cited him, claiming all the vehicles appeared to be inoperable. It also issued violations for other backyard items — car parts, generators, propane tanks and fruit that had fallen off his orange and grapefruit trees. Altstatt has since removed the inoperable vehicles and other items.

To be clear, none of the vehicles could be seen as they were in his back yard behind a privacy fence and the front of Alstatt’s home is well kept and maintained. Absolutely no one is being harmed or was ever harmed by Alstatt working on vehicles but the state still pursued the case.

Despite the fact that Alstatt has since removed all the “violations,” the city still claims he owes them over a half million dollars. He appealed their fines but lost that appeal this month.

Alstatt argued that the fines totaling over a half million dollars were “excessive” and violate his Eighth Amendment right to be free from “excessive fines imposed.” The city claimed that Alstatt’s accusations of excessive fines for working on vehicles in his own back yard were “unfounded and unsupported.”

Alstatt also accused the city of using code enforcement as a predatory means to collect revenue which will render him “homeless and penniless.” The city also claimed this was unfounded.

Imagine the type of mental gymnastics it takes for a city code enforcer to think that fining a retiree $573,000 for working on a van in his back yard is not “excessive” or “predatory.”

Nevertheless, the court took Alstatt’s claims, threw them out, and used them as an opportunity to mock him in their dismissal of his appeal.

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SWAT Team Deployed to Cop’s House After He Threatened a Mass Shooting Against Fellow Officers

Anyone who can apply logic and reason knows that banning guns in the United States will have the sole effect of disarming law abiding citizens while keeping guns in the hands of criminals and cops. There are hundreds of millions of guns on the streets, 3D printed guns get better every day, and enough ammo already made to start a war. The cat is out of the bag and this is a massive wrench in the gear of the anti-gun folks as it renders their entire argument moot.

But let’s say, for the sake of argument, that all guns are pulled from the streets. Somehow, using magic, the state is able to disarm every single citizen and no one has guns any longer. What then? Well now, only the state has guns.

Never mind the fact that this would now make it impossible to resist any future tyrannical regimes but it also ensures that cops — with a history of horrific criminal violence in this country — would be the only ones with guns.

While this seems to be the goal of the anti-gun movement — who aren’t anti-gun at all, they are just pro-gun centralization in the hands of the state — the implications would be frightening. Though statists often think that government is this infallible tool that can be wielded like a magic wand to bend society in their utopian direction, the fact is that government is made up of humans — many of whom are evil and corrupt.

To highlight the problem of only the cops having guns, and how this wouldn’t stop mass shootings, we can look at a case this week from Nephi, Utah. A Saratoga Springs police officer was taken into custody this week after threatening to kill a former supervisor and anyone else who got in his way.

Sgt. Spencer Cannon with the Utah County Sheriff’s Office said deputies were contacted by the Saratoga Springs Police Department regarding the threats around 5:30 p.m. Monday. A statewide bulletin was issued for Saratoga police officer Jared Chuchran, 42, detailing his specific threats to kill the Saratoga Springs assistant police chief and “hurt any officer who gets in his way,” said Cannon.

A SWAT team was then dispatched Chuchran’s home but nobody was there. Police would later use cellphone tracking technology and found Chuchran holed up at a camp ground 40 miles away in his pickup truck full of weapons.

Because Chuchran was a cop, some of his fellow cops were sent in to negotiate and he was taken into custody without violence. He’s since been placed in a mental health facility.

“Anyone making threats to kill somebody is also an indication they may be a threat to themself,” Cannon said, according to Gerhardt Daily.

According to KSL, Saratoga Springs police confirmed Tuesday that Chuchran was an officer with the department for over 10 years but has not been employed by the city for several months. Police declined to comment on the circumstances surrounding Chuchran’s departure from the department and referred all other questions to the Utah County Sheriff’s Office, which is handling the threats investigation.

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College prof who fantasized about massacring whites gets promoted

The professor nominated at Emerson College to be its new dean of graduate and professional studies is a woman who has fantasized about killing white people. Lots of white people.

After all, her writings confirm that she believes black woman and white women never will be involved in “true friendships.”

It is Sam Neves, a correspondent for Campus Reform, who has written at the Federalist about Kim McLarin, a “racially divisive professor” who has been nominated by college chief William Gilligan.

The report noted that it was in an article published only a few weeks before her nomination in which went into a fantasy:

“If a civil war breaks out, I say, if violent white mobs begin roaming the country as they have done in the past, I will not worry about precision shooting. I intend to sit on my porch with my legally acquired handgun and as much ammunition as I have and perhaps a bottle of Scotch and take them as they come,” she wrote.

That followed her article in the Washington Post in which she charged black women and white women never will have “true friendships.”

The article was, in fact, headlined, “Can Black Women and White Women be True Friends?”

“Generally speaking, it’s not that I dislike white women. Generally speaking, it’s that I do not trust them. Generally speaking, most black women don’t,” she charged.

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