Bad News For The Internet: Congress Looking To Sneak In Dangerous ‘Save The Kids!’ Internet Bill Into Year-End Omnibus

Over the last week or so, I keep hearing about a big push among activists and lawmakers to try to get the Kids Online Safety Act (KOSA) into the year-end “must pass” omnibus bill. Earlier this week, one of the main parents pushing for the bill went on Jake Tapper’s show on CNN and stumped for it. And, the latest report from Axios confirms that lawmakers are looking to include it in the lameduck omnibus, or possibly the NDAA (despite it having absolutely nothing to do with defense spending).

Bad News For The Internet: Congress Looking To Sneak In Dangerous ‘Save The Kids!’ Internet Bill Into Year-End Omnibus

Related:

KOSA Would Let the Government Control What Young People See Online

Attorney General Knudsen Calls On YouTube To Stop Censoring Firearms-Related Speech

HELENA – Montana Attorney General Austin Knudsen today called on YouTube to stop censoring legal firearm-related content on its platform, restore videos it removed which were all related to legal products and activities, and to “start acting like the platform it claims to be, instead of the publisher that it wishes it was.”

In a letter to YouTube CEO Susan Wojcicki, Attorney General Knudsen explained that the company recently removed a video from The Rogue Banshee’s channel, a Montana-based content creator, that provided instructions on how to finish construction of an “80% lower.” Even though incomplete lower receivers are not regulated as firearms by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and are legal, five Democrat U.S. Senators wrote a letter to YouTube asking them to censor and remove about a dozen videos related to them. YouTube complied.

Attorney General Knudsen Calls On YouTube To Stop Censoring Firearms-Related Speech

The Straw That Broke the Camel’s Back: The Best Way to Respond to Saudi Arabia’s Embrace of Putin

The Best Way to Respond to Saudi Arabia’s Embrace of Putin

But this claim is unjustified. OPEC has never cut production in such a record tight market and these production cuts will lead to unsustainably low oil inventories, sending the price of oil skyrocketing out of any “acceptable band.” Furthermore, the G-7 oil price caps plan is not targeted at OPEC; it is strictly limited to Russian oil.

Nor can this Saudi move be justified by the non-existent global recession its leaders cite. Presently markets are very tight, with lush 73 percent profit margins for Saudi Arabia. In other words, there was no immediate need for Saudi Arabia to reduce supply unless they were seeking to harm the U.S. to the benefit of Russia.

Non-existent global recession?!? Low oil inventories?!? Maybe Biden shouldn’t be releasing our oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve?! As for never cutting production, before, looks like they have!? 🤷🏼‍♀️

US officials gave Ukraine public green light to bomb Kerch bridge

US officials gave Ukraine public green light to bomb Kerch bridge

Completely excluded from any account in the New York Times, Washington Post, Wall Street Journal was the fact that senior US officials not only publicly authorized, but a former US official publicly encouraged, the attack to take place.

“Bomb Russia’s bridge to Crimea, Ukraine urged,” read the headline in the Times of London on July 7, reporting the statements of US General Philip Breedlove, NATO’s former Supreme Allied Commander Europe.

The next day, July 8, clearly referencing Breedlove’s comments, a reporter identified only as “Howard” asked at a Pentagon background briefing, “can you talk about any preclusions? Would the — would the Kerch Bridge be not precluded as a potential target?”*

The defense official replied, “As I said, there aren’t any preclusions that I’m aware of about the Ukrainians fighting on their sovereign territory against Russia.”

Related:

* [07-08-2022] U.S. Says Russia’s Prized Kerch Bridge Is A Fair Target For Ukrainian Forces

At a press briefing held this morning, The War Zone asked a senior U.S. official whether or not there were any preclusions about the use of High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems, or HIMARS, in Ukraine against certain targets. Speaking to reporters on the condition of anonymity, the official responded by saying that they couldn’t reveal any further information about specific targets, but that “Russian forces’ capabilities and logistics nodes within Ukraine are absolutely fantastic” targets. The War Zone followed up, asking if there were any hesitations about using the HIMARs against the Kerch Bridge. The official responded as follows.

“As I said, there aren’t any preclusions that I’m aware of on Ukrainians fighting on their sovereign territory against Russia.”

The Myopic Focus On TikTok Privacy Issues Remains Kind Of Weird + Facebook-Hired PR Firm Coordinated Anti-TikTok Campaign To Spread Bogus Moral Panics

Generic Disclaimer: The statements, views and opinions expressed in the following articles are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of this site.

The Myopic Focus On TikTok Privacy Issues Remains Kind Of Weird

Related:

Facebook-Hired PR Firm Coordinated Anti-TikTok Campaign To Spread Bogus Moral Panics

The NATO to TikTok Pipeline: Why is TikTok Employing So Many National Security Agents?

If TikTok is such a threat, why did the Biden Administration train TikTok influencers to propagandize others about Russia’s special military operation?! Even though TechDirt makes some good points (privacy laws and the xenophobia), it seems like they—and Buzzfeed—are just creating another moral panic!

Graham, Blumenthal say they’re making progress on “red flag” talks + Pro-gun group improving access to mental health

Graham, Blumenthal say they’re making progress on “red flag” talks

Discussions centered around offering grants to states that impose “red flag” firearm seizure laws are slowly progressing, according to Republican Lindsay Graham and Democrat Richard Blumenthal, who first teamed up to push the federal gun control legislation in 2019. CBS News reported on Wednesday that the pair have had multiple discussions around potential changes to their previous legislation with an eye towards attracting at least 10 Republicans, which would allow the bill to overcome a potential filibuster.

Another issue with red flag laws is the lack of mental health resources for those deemed by a judge to be a danger to themselves or others. None of the 19 red flag laws on the books in various states require the state to help that supposedly dangerous individual find treatment or counseling, and only Maine’s version of a red flag law requires a mental health evaluation from a medical professional in addition to a judge’s determination.

Red flag laws are ultimately a gun control solution to a mental health problem, which is one of the reasons I continue to oppose them. They do nothing to stop truly dangerous individuals from harming themselves or others, but they do allow lawmakers to avoid addressing our crumbling mental health systems by claiming they’re “doing something” to block dangerous people from doing bad things. Maybe Graham and Blumenthal’s final proposal will find a way to address each and every one of these fundamental flaws, but I’m not holding my breath.

Related:

Pro-gun group improving access to mental health:

While politicians in Washington D.C. are looking to find some sort of gun control “compromise” in the wake of the horrific murders in Uvalde, Texas, gun owners and Second Amendment advocates involved in the grassroots effort known as Walk The Talk America are taking on the challenge of improving access to and removing the stigma around mental health and gun ownership. I’m so glad that WTTA founder Michael Sodini could join me on today’s Bearing Arms’ Cam & Co to talk about the program and how it’s helping to save lives, and I hope you’ll check out the entire conversation in the video window above.

US weapons supply to Ukraine prepped in January

© Congress.gov/screenshot

Samizdat | April 29, 2022

A scheme to send US weapons to Ukraine, using the “lend-lease” formula pioneered during WWII to skirt neutrality laws, was officially approved by Congress this week. However, it was put together all the way back in January – more than a month before Moscow recognized the Donbass republics as independent and sent troops into Ukraine.

US weapons supply to Ukraine prepped in January