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CRAZY! White House Report May Encourage MORE Big Tech Censorship

Filed Under: INVESTIGATIONS, Newsbusters

The White House National Security Council released a report about domestic terrorism, and it may actually encourage more censorship online. 

The report, titled “National Strategy for Countering Domestic Terrorism,” included the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol in a list of examples of “domestic terrorist attacks.” In the report, the Biden administration also endorsed the “Christchurch Call to Action to Eliminate Terrorist and Violent Extremist Content Online.” The call has been linked to a left-wing push to restrict so-called “hate speech” online as well. 

The report discussed the motivations of so-called domestic terrorists. The White House said in the report: “[O]ne key aspect of today’s domestic terrorism threat emerges from racially or ethnically motivated violent extremists and networks whose racial, ethnic, or religious hatred leads them toward violence, as well as those whom they encourage to take violent action.” Specifically, the report noted that the motivations of terrorists can stem from “a perception of the superiority of the white race that call for violence in furtherance of perverse and abhorrent notions of racial ‘purity’ or ‘cleansing.’”

The report also detailed the Biden administration’s plans to curb the threat of domestic terrorism, particularly online. The report said that the administration is “[c]ontinuing to enhance the domestic terrorism–related information offered to the private sector, especially the technology sector,” in an effort to “facilitate more robust efforts outside the government to counter terrorists’ abuse of Internet–based communications platforms to recruit others to engage in violence.”

The White House’s report also specifically mentioned the controversial Christchurch Call: “We applaud language in the Christchurch Call emphasizing the importance of tackling the very real threat posed by online terrorist content while respecting human rights and freedom of expression.” Under the Christchurch Call, participating governments will use algorithms to monitor “extreme” speech.

The fact that the administration appeared to want to counter domestic terrorism online could actually lead to more censorship of conservative thought in general. Conservatives are already regularly censored online.  Former President Donald Trump was banned from 10 platforms, including YouTube, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Twitch, Stripe, Snapchat, Reddit, TikTok and even Shopify, following the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol after he called for “peace.” Facebook recently changed its rules to ban Trump for two years, effective from the date of his initial ban.  

Facebook recently bragged about the increased censorship of what it deemed “hate speech” in the first quarter of 2021. Big Tech’s massive push to censor conservative voices resulted in the industry receiving a “F” grade in the Big Tech Report Card from the Media Research Center for the first quarter of 2021.  

Conservatives are under attack. Contact your representatives and demand that Big Tech be held to account to mirror the First Amendment while providing transparency, clarity on “hate speech” and equal footing for conservatives. If you have been censored, contact us at the Media Research Center contact form, and help us hold Big Tech accountable.

 

Argentina Backs Animation as a Strategic Growth Sector (EXCLUSIVE)

Filed Under: ENTERTAINMENT, Variety

On the eve of Annecy’s MIFA market, Argentina’s National Film and Audiovisual Arts Institute (INCAA) has announced that it will launch three regional animation schools as it proclaims animation a strategic growth sector. Forming part of INCAA’s Enerc federal film school system, currently headquartered in Buenos Aires, the new animation training facilities will be based […]

NPR mocks capitalism, but is more than happy to take massive chunk of money from corporations

Filed Under: INVESTIGATIONS, WND

National Public Radio tried to mock capitalism, but ended up being the butt of its own joke.

In the finest tradition of contemporary journalism, NPR recently wrote a story about the maker of super-comfy Crocs sandals and the super-chic French fashion house Balenciaga joining forces on a product that was Croc with stiletto heels.

In order to promote the story on Twitter, NPR posted a tweet that read, “CaPitAliSm bReEds InNovAtiOn.”

Capitalism also funds public radio.

On its website, NPR itself reports that 35 percent of its money comes directly from corporations.

But capitalism’s support of public radio does not end there.

NPR further noted that 19 percent of local station revenues come from corporations.

Taxes also help out NPR. Local stations take in about 12 percent of their revenue through taxes, according to NPR.

That led many to mock NPR for calling out capitalism and flunking the rules of capitalization.

“The machine you’re taking this photo from, the machine you’re taking a photo of, this platform you’re putting it on, ALL beauty of CAPITALISM!” one user wrote.

“So yes, capitalism is innovation, you are right.”

National Review’s David Harsanyi summed up the situation nicely.

“Many contemporary journalists like to blame capitalism for all the alleged frivolousness and wastefulness of society,” he wrote Saturday.

“Me, I prefer consumerism and materialism to the utilitarianism of collectivist-induced poverty, but to each his own.”

This article appeared originally on The Western Journal.

The post NPR mocks capitalism, but is more than happy to take massive chunk of money from corporations appeared first on WND.

Teachers at war with district over Christian and conservative opinions take legal action

Filed Under: INVESTIGATIONS, WND

Children recite the Pledge of Allegiance at the Republican National Convention on Thursday, Aug. 27, 2020 (RNC video screenshot)

Two teachers in Oregon who proposed a policy to their district to address the complex issues when students struggle with gender identity have been placed on administrative leave by the district.

And they are suing for the retaliation they suffered when they expressed their opinions.

The case is being handled by the Pacific Justice Institute, which has filed the legal action against the Grants Pass School District.

The teachers, Rachel Damiano and Katie Medart, started a grassroots organization called “I Resolve” to address education policies on gender-identity disputes, and to offer solutions that would let teachers continue teaching without violating their consciences and honoring parental rights.

“This is an incredibly important case on multiple levels,” said Ray D. Hacke, the PJI lawyer based in Oregon.

“The Supreme Court has made clear that educators don’t check their freedom of speech at the schoolhouse gate when they accept employment with public school districts – they have as much right to speak out against district policies they consider harmful as any other citizen. The school district erred egregiously here in punishing Rachel and Katie for daring to take the stand they did.”

Damiano is an assistant principal at North Middle School in Grants Pass and Medart teaches science there, and they started the program to “promote a tolerant solution to gender identity education policy.”

They propose allowing staff and students to abide by their consciences and refrain from using preferred pronouns for students whose anatomic sex does not match the students’ pronoun of choice. Damiano and Medart also propose requiring parent involvement to change students’ pronouns.

Further, they proposed labeling restrooms and lockers “anatomically male” or “anatomically female” to correspond with students’ anatomic sex. Students also could request access to private restrooms or locker rooms.

They consulted with school officials in preparing their proposal and Kirk Kolb, the superintendent even indicated he’d bring it up to the board members, who are defendants along with him, Principal Thomas Blanchard and the district.

But when they promoted their ideas in a video that they created on their own, they were put on leave “pending an investigation.”

They were told that five other school workers had complained that their Christian beliefs were “anti-transgender” and therefore unacceptable.

The district’s decision to publicize the dispute led to threats against the two teachers. But Kolb failed to reveal that he had met with the women during the development of I Resolve, and provided feedback on a draft proposal.

The case seeks a court order returning the teachers to their jobs, a determination that such school censorship is illegal, and compensatory damages.

“Damiano and Medart are now facing termination of their employment for engaging in speech that the First Amendment protects,” the legal team explained.

“Educators, like everybody else, have ideas and opinions they should be free to express,” PJI President Brad Dacus said. “This expression is protected by our First Amendment. Advocating for solutions they believe in should stimulate conversation, not subject dedicated educators to disciplinary action.”

The complaint charges the school officials with “content- and viewpoint-based retaliation.”

Blanchard even “subjected them to questioning on whether their religious beliefs make them unfit to be public educators,” the complaint states.

Among the issues to be addressed is the “speech policy” of the district, which gives officials “unbridled discretion to regulate, suppress, and censor employee speech.”

But that, the lawsuit contends, violates the First and Fourteenth Amendments as well as the Oregon Constitution.

Their concerns developed as the Oregon Legislature moved toward an agenda of mandating multiple gender acknowledgments and requirements that little boys be addressed with feminine pronouns if they want.

The same issue recently was before a state judge in Virginia, who quickly ordered officials in the Loudoun County Public Schools to reinstate a teacher they had suspended for stating during an open comment period at a school board meeting his Christian beliefs that do not support transgenderism.

Judge James E. Plowman Jr. has ordered the school district to restore his status pending a full trial on the dispute.

“The court finds that the plaintiff’s speech and religious content are central to the determination made by the defendants to suspend plaintiff’s employment,” the judge wrote. “Defendants shall immediately reinstate the plaintiff to his position as it was prior to the issuance of this suspension and remove the ban that was placed upon him from all buildings and grounds of Loudoun County Public Schools.”

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The post Teachers at war with district over Christian and conservative opinions take legal action appeared first on WND.

Senate Republicans Move To Require Congressional Approval for New Iran Deal

Filed Under: Infowars

National Security

Bill is last-ditch effort to stop Biden from awarding Iran with billions of dollars in sanctions relief

Mohammed Javad Zarif and John Kerry in 2016 (Don Emmert/AFP via Getty Images)

• June 11, 2021 9:40 am

Senate Republicans introduced on Friday legislation that would require President Joe Biden to obtain congressional approval before he signs any new nuclear deal with Iran, according to a copy of that bill obtained by the Washington Free Beacon.

While Senate Republicans stand little chance of forcing the bill through a Democrat-controlled chamber, the measure represents a last-ditch effort by GOP hawks to stop the Biden administration from granting Iran billions of dollars in cash windfalls and sanctions relief. The bill also caps months of Republican maneuvering in both chambers of Congress to block the administration’s ongoing diplomacy with Iran.

The State Department on Thursday took the unilateral step of removing sanctions on several former Iranian officials and businesses, leading to speculation that a deal is on the horizon. State Department spokesman Ned Price slapped down such speculation, telling reporters there is “absolutely no connection” between negotiations and the decision to roll back sanctions. While senior Biden administration officials vowed earlier in the year that sanctions relief would not be provided until Iran agrees to significantly roll back its nuclear program, ongoing talks in Vienna have stalled. Iranian officials have been clear in their demand that all sanctions levied by the Trump administration be removed as a precondition for a revamped nuclear deal.

Sen. Ron Johnson (R., Wis.) and 21 of his GOP colleagues are spearheading the bill, which says that any deal reached by the Biden administration must be considered a treaty and be brought before the Senate for approval. Treaties must be ratified by two-thirds of the Senate, meaning that Democrats would not have the votes needed to pass it given their razor-thin majority. The Obama administration avoided bringing the original nuclear agreement before the Senate for ratification as a treaty because of concerns it would fail to garner enough votes.

The bill also sends a message to Iran: Without congressional approval, any deal inked by the Biden administration stands little chance of surviving into the next Republican White House. The Trump administration nixed the original 2015 deal in 2018 with little resistance since it was not a treaty. A future Republican administration could do the same, meaning that any sanctions relief granted by Biden’s team has little chance of standing the test of time.

“President Reagan was right when he said you achieve peace through strength. Unfortunately, our adversaries understand the Biden administration will chart the same weak and disastrous course as President Obama,” Johnson said in a statement. “It’s clear the Biden administration is in the business of appeasing adversaries like Russia, state sponsors of terrorism like Iran, and Iran’s terrorist proxies like Hamas. Instead of addressing the threats these actors pose, the administration will coddle the Iranian regime and ignore its malign activity throughout the region.”

Any potential agreement with Iran, Johnson said, “involves risks that affect our entire nation. It is critical to the security of America and to world peace that any deal Biden negotiates with Iran be deemed a treaty requiring approval by the U.S. Senate.”

The legislation is cosponsored by many leading GOP foreign policy voices in the Senate, including Foreign Affairs Committee ranking member James Risch (Idaho), Ted Cruz (Texas), Marco Rubio (Fla.), Tom Cotton (Ark.), Ben Sasse (Neb.), Mike Lee (Utah), Tim Scott (S.C.), Joni Ernst (Iowa), and John Barrasso (Wyo.).

In addition to requiring Senate approval for a nuclear deal, the GOP bill would prohibit the Biden administration from waiving, suspending, reducing, or providing Iran with relief from economic sanctions.

Biden’s military puts West Point cadets in solitary confinement if they refuse COVID vaccine

Filed Under: INVESTIGATIONS, WND

(NATIONAL FILE) – Military cadets at West Point Academy who refuse to take one of the controversial COVID vaccines are being put in solitary confinement, with more stringent restrictions than those who tested positive for the virus.

At West Point Military Academy, a number of cadets are currently rebelling against the push from the Biden administration and military higher-ups to take one of the controversial COVID-19 vaccines. 700 cadets who initially refused the vaccine were brought together into a meeting room, and were briefed as to the benefits of the vaccine. The number of cadets has now dwindled significantly after allegations of daily pressure by “senior officials” at the school, and rumors of reductions of leave. Some cadets relented and received the vaccine, while many left West Point due to the pressure.

Those who still refuse to take the vaccine are forced to wear masks everywhere, marking them out from everybody else who is vaccinated. A number of parents of those holdouts have now organized legal counsel on behalf of their children, with CDMedia reporting that they are “banding together to fight this perceived criminal behavior by those in power over their children.

Read the full story ›

The post Biden’s military puts West Point cadets in solitary confinement if they refuse COVID vaccine appeared first on WND.

Roblox Hit With $200 Million-Plus Lawsuit by Music Publishers, Alleging Unauthorized Song Use

Filed Under: ENTERTAINMENT, Variety

The National Music Publishers’ Association filed a lawsuit against Roblox, accusing the operator of the massively multiplayer online game of unauthorized use songs from numerous artists — and seeking a minimum of $200 million in damages. Songs that are being used in Roblox’s online game without compensating writers and copyright holders include those recorded by […]

ABC Finds it ‘Surprising’ ‘Defund the Police’ Not Bigger in NYC Mayor Race

Filed Under: INVESTIGATIONS, Newsbusters

In another example of the New York-based national media thinking their local activities and politics were a concern for the rest of the country, ABC’s This Week featured chief Washington correspondent Jonathan Karl (because D.C. is apparently New York now) examining the race for mayor. And while he only looked at Democrats, he found it “surprising” that the radical “defund the police” movement was only being actively pushed by one of the eight major candidates.

Karl described it as “Back to normal, but there is something surprising happening in progressive New York City.” He was shocked that they were trying to appeal to sensible people. “While you might think this would be a race to the left, the leading candidates are talking tough on crime. Opposing tax hikes and talking about keeping businesses in New York,” he reported.

Adding: “Last year’s defund the police rallying cry, not here, not now.”

Karl spoke with some of the top candidates to press them on why they didn’t want to dismantle the New York Police Department:

 

 

KARL: What you do to the overall budget for the NYPD?

KATHRYN GARCIA: I have not been planning to make changes to the budget. We will look at them from whether or not there are efficiencies to be found, but I believe we need to have our patrol strength on the streets of New York.

KARL: So, what happened with the whole defund the police movement that was so big just last year?

ANDREW YANG: Defund the police is the wrong approach for New York City. Most New Yorkers I talk to are very, very concerned about what is going on in their neighborhood and if anything they want to see more officers and we need to go on a recruitment drive city wide for more officers.

“Public safety. Because public safety is really the foundation for all the issues. We can’t turn around our economy if we’re not safe,” Brooklyn Borough President and form NYPD officer Eric Adams told Karl, explaining the number one issue in the race.

Karl also highlighted the campaign of Maya Wiley, the anti-police candidate who “got a big endorsement from Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.” “Wiley says she would take a billion dollars out of the police budget,” he noted.

It was only at that point did Karl admit how out of control crime had gotten in the city since the left’s defend the police movement took off:

That has been a tougher argument to make when the city is in the midst of a rise in crime. The overall crime rate in New York City is up more than 20 percent since last year. And shooting incidents up more than 70 percent.

In a later conversation with Yang, Karl seemed to admit how surprised he was by the messaging from most of the Democratic field. “But the tough on crime, pro-business, no tax increase approach sounds a little bit like the early Mayor Bloomberg and maybe even Mayor Rudy Giuliani back in the day.”

Jonathan Karl’s confusion on why defunding the police wasn’t more popular was made possible lucrative sponsorships from CarMax and Google. Their contact information is linked so you can tell them about the biased news they fund.

The transcript is below, click “expand” to read:

ABC’s This Week
June 6, 2021
9:46:55 a.m. Eastern

JON KARL: In New York this week, eight candidates vying for one of the biggest political prizes of 2021, spread apart, but in person and together, a sign that and in politics too, life is getting back to normal.

(…)

KARL: This race is a classic New York free for all, but it is also the largest election anyone in the country, by far, since the end of the Trump presidency and since we turned the corner on the pandemic.

Back to normal, but there is something surprising happening in progressive New York City. While you might think this would be a race to the left, the leading candidates are talking tough on crime. Opposing tax hikes and talking about keeping businesses in New York.

Last year’s defund the police rallying cry, not here, not now.

What you do to the overall budget for the NYPD?

KATHRYN GARCIA (D-mayoral candidate): I have not been planning to make changes to the budget. We will look at them from whether or not there are efficiencies to be found, but I believe we need to have our patrol strength on the streets of New York.

KARL: So, what happened with the whole defund the police movement that was so big just last year?

ANDREW YANG (D-mayoral candidate): Defund the police is the wrong approach for New York City. Most New Yorkers I talk to are very, very concerned about what is going on in their neighborhood and if anything they want to see more officers and we need to go on a recruitment drive city wide for more officers.

KARL: Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams is campaigning as a former cop, who was also a victim of police brutality as a teenager.

ERIC ADAMS (D-mayoral candidate, via political ad): I’m Eric Adams. I’ll be a blue collar mayor. I’ll rebuild our economy while tackling violent crime and bring New York back.

KARL: What is the number one issue in this race?

ADAMS: Public safety. Because public safety is really the foundation for all the issues. We can’t turn around our economy if we’re not safe.

KARL: There are Progressives in the race.

MAYA WILEY: Good afternoon.

KARL: Maya Wiley got a big endorsement from Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.

(…)

KARL: Wiley says she would take a billion dollars out of the police budget.

WILEY: We are going to stop the hiring in the next two police cadet classes and as I have said we have a police department that is bloated.

KARL: That has been a tougher argument to make when the city is in the midst of a rise in crime. The overall crime rate in New York City is up more than 20 percent since last year. And shooting incidents up more than 70 percent.

(…)

9:50:09 a.m. Eastern

KARL: Yang says public safety is not just about recruiting more cops, but also turning around the city’s pandemic ravaged economy.

What about taxes?

YANG: Right now would be the wrong time to raise taxes here in New York City. We do have $12 billion in federal aid or so and a lot of families right now are looking around wondering whether this is the place for them to raise their family, to build a business. We cannot give people more reasons to start looking at places like Florida because the reality is we need people who make a lot of money to pay their taxes right here in New York City.

KARL: But the tough on crime, pro-business, no tax increase approach sounds a little bit like the early Mayor Bloomberg and maybe even Mayor Rudy Giuliani back in the day.

YANG: I certainly admire Mike Bloomberg a great deal. And one thing I want to take from his example is hiring a group of world-class managers who are not ideological, just results-oriented, just solving problems and getting things done for New York.

(…)

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