Bokhari: With RESTRICT Act, the Deep State Seeks to Beat China by Becoming China

Tell me if this story sounds familiar: there’s a national security panic. Foreign adversaries threaten the homeland. Petty bipartisan disputes are put aside, and draft legislation is rushed out. At last, Congress is doing something.

But, lo and behold — the bill that magically emerges, evading the usual partisan disputes that doom legislation, makes no attempt to restrict itself to the foreign adversary in question. What it does do is grant sweeping new powers to the Deep State to punish, harass, spy on, and otherwise trample on the rights of American citizens, with zero transparency or accountability.

The RESTRICT Act allows the federal government to define new countries and regimes as “foreign adversaries,” and then restrict almost all online activities by any U.S. citizens to services even “indirectly” controlled by entities “subject to the jurisdiction” of that foreign adversary.

If you even attempt to “circumvent” the controls (by using a VPN to mask your IP address, for example) you will face extraordinarily draconian punishments.

In fact, even if you plan to use a VPN, you’ll face those penalties. The bill prohibits “potential future transactions” too — whatever that means.

What are the penalties that American citizens could face? Here is a short list:

a fine of up to $250,000, imposed by the federal government

a criminal penalty of up to $1 million

up to 20 years in jail

And then there’s asset seizure: bill allows the feds to seize and access a laundry list of devices and services of American citizens.

These include hardware devices like phones and computers, access points to the internet including cable and wireless, “e-commerce technology and services, including any electronic techniques for accomplishing business transactions” (a definition sufficiently broad to include every cryptocurrency), and even “quantum computing, post-quantum cryptography,” “advanced robotics,” and “biotechnology.”

On top of all that, the bill grants the government immunity from public oversight, restricting Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests related to the enforcement of the bill.

The RESTRICT Act is essentially an American version of the Chinese “Great Firewall,” which cuts its citizens off from a wide swathe of the world wide web.

But even in China, where numerous apps are banned, VPN does not automatically lead to imprisonment, with large numbers of Chinese citizens using VPNs to access popular apps and video games — and largely getting away with it.

The RESTRICT Act may go further than the Chinese firewall, in that its authoritarian penalties apply to apps and services “designed or intended to evade or circumvent the application of this act.”

So, simply possessing the capability to evade the provisions of the Act — a capability that all VPNs have — could put you in the government’s firing line.

Once again, Americans have been duped. For well over a year, we have been bombarded with news stories about the dangers of TikTok.

We have been told it contributes to teen suicides and mental health issues, even though the same charges can be (and have been) levelled at Facebook, Instagram, and Snapchat.

We have been told that it spies on us and hoovers up our data, sharing it with governments, even though Google and Facebook behave in exactly the same way.

Most importantly, though, we were told that it is a threat to the rights of Americans, a mechanism for the Chinese government to take away their privacy and the rights.

However valid these concerns, in the context of the monstrously authoritarian RESTRICT Act, they take on the appearance of a Trojan Horse. Today, the most pressing danger to Americans’ rights and the freedom of the internet comes not from Beijing, but from Washington D.C.

https://www.breitbart.com/tech/2023/03/30/bokhari-with-restrict-act-the-deep-state-seeks-to-beat-china-by-becoming-china/

US base hosting president’s plane in lockdown over ‘active shooter’

Joint Base Andrews has been put on lockdown after an active shooter was reported at the housing complex of the site

An active shooter incident has been reported at Joint Base Andrews (JBA) near the US capital, with an armed individual spotted near housing units of the installation. Located in Maryland on the outskirts of Washington DC, the base is home to a fleet of US government aircraft, including the presidential Air Force One.

“An armed individual has been reported near base housing. Stay away from base housing. Initiate Lockdown Procedures. Individual is a white male, wearing a purple sweatshirt, black shorts, carrying a AR-15 style rifle with no orange tip,” JBA said in a Facebook post on Thursday.

It was not immediately clear whether there were any casualties at the base. Shortly after announcing the lockdown, JBA urged the public to call 911 “if you see any people out moving.” The base’s law enforcement, as well as foot and mobile security patrols are continuing the search for the suspect, it added.

Later in the day, JBA further elaborated on the incident, clarifying that there was actually “no active shooter" as there had not been any shots fired on the base. Still, the security of the base continued its search for the “armed individual” spotted earlier on.

Early in February, JBA premises were penetrated by an intruder, who gained “unauthorized access” to the base’s housing area. The intruder was confronted by a resident of the base, who discharged a firearm. The suspect was promptly apprehended by security forces afterwards, with no injuries or damage reported.

https://www.rt.com/news/573883-maryland-military-base-shooter/

‘Extremely critical situation’ in NATO member's military – general

The Danish military “lacks soldiers like never before,” according to a top commander

The Danish military’s second-in-command has warned that the country is “years” away from having a combat-capable army, according to comments he made this week to the government-owned TV 2 broadcaster.

Brigadier General Henrik Lyhne said Denmark’s military is facing what he referred to as its worst staffing issue in decades – a factor which he said will complicate efforts to meet Copenhagen’s NATO obligations. He added that low wages and below-par personnel housing have contributed to an exodus from the armed forces. This, in turn, has led to problems in Denmark supplying troops to the US-led military bloc’s eastern flank in Latvia.

“This is an emergency call,” Lynhe said in an interview broadcast on Monday. “The situation is extremely critical, especially because we lack soldiers like never before. I have been in the armed forces for 40 years, and it has never looked so bad.”

He added that approximately 20-25% of positions in the Danish military are currently vacant, and that even if “more money is injected soon” it would take years to restore it to previous standards.

A key issue, Lyhne said, is the unpreparedness of Denmark's 1st Brigade, known as the ‘Army’s First’, which is around 1,000 soldiers short of its expected complement of 4,000, according to an internal memo from the Ministry of Defense.

According to TV 2, which reported on the memo, the document states that Denmark is meeting just three of NATO’s 17 strength objectives. This relates to various military hardware goals, such as delivering short-range air defense systems to the army. This has led to rebukes from NATO staff as well as the UK and the US, according to TV 2’s reporting of the ministry memo.

NATO determined in a 2020 evaluation of Denmark’s military that there was already a “critical deficit” in its military which would likely render it “practically useless in a sharp conflict.”

In response to Lyhne’s comments, Danish acting defense minister Troels Lund Poulsen told TV 2 this week that the country’s military situation was “critical.” Danish military analyst Jens Wenzel Kristofferson questioned, also to TV 2, if Denmark can consider itself a “core ally” to NATO when it lags so far behind in military requirements.

https://www.rt.com/news/573878-denmark-nato-military-obligations/

Police State: French Woman Arrested for Calling President Macron ‘Trash’ on Social Media

A woman has been arrested for allegedly comparing French President Emmanuel Macron to “trash” on social media, in the latest crackdown on free speech in the supposed home of liberté in Europe.

Last Friday, Valérie, a middle-aged woman in the Saint-Martin-lez-Tatinghem commune of the Calais region of France, was greeted at her home by three police officers, who arrested her for supposedly insulting French President Macron on Facebook under the controversial criminal code that criminalises spreading “contempt of public officials”.

Valérie first came onto the police’s radar after she was pictured in front of some graffiti calling the French leader “trash”, which officers believed she was responsible for writing, a claim she denies. The police went on to confront her with a post on Facebook that she wrote on Tuesday of last week, which said ahead of a Macron press conference: “The trash will talk tomorrow at 1 p.m., for people who are nothing, it is always (sic) on TV that we find the trash.”

For this, she was arrested and will be tried on June 20th, when she faces up to a year in jail and a fine of up to €15,000. The vaguely worded statute under which she will be charged, criminalises statements deemed to “affect the personal dignity or the respect owed to a public official”.

Speaking to the local La Voix du Nord newspaper, Valérie claimed that she was being made an “example of”, adding that when police showed up at her door: “I asked them if it was a joke; it’s the first time I’ve been arrested… I am not public enemy number one.”

Valérie went on to tell the newspaper that she had not even intended to call the head of state “trash” in her post, claiming that it was a result of an autocorrect function, claiming that she had intended to refer to Macron has “hard gold” (l’or dur in French) but the autocorrect changed to “trash” (l’ordure) and that she did not check it over before posting.

Despite the arrest and potential prison time, the veteran protester of the Gillet Juanes (Yellow Vests) vowed to continue her activism, saying: “We are in a period when intimidation is strong and it is done on activists… We will continue to demonstrate and publish but I will read more carefully.”

She said that she will continue the fight against “this totally unfair pension reform. I am fighting for social justice. I have been an activist for about twenty years and if necessary, I will be for another two years.”

The arrest comes amid nationwide protests, riots, and labour union-led strikes in response to President Macron’s government using a constitutional loophole to pass through its controversial pension reform plans without a vote.

According to a previous Amnesty International report, despite professing to believe in principles of freedom, the government of France uses “vague laws” to target protesters such as “contempt of public officials”, “participation in a group with a view to committing violent acts” and “organising a protest without complying with notification requirements”, with over 40,000 people being convicted of such offences between 2018 and 2019, alone.

“Participation in protest in France today carries the risk of exposure to tear gas, rubber bullets and other dangerous weapons; receiving a fine; spending a day or two in pre-charge detention; and facing criminal charges without having committed violent acts,” the report noted.

https://www.breitbart.com/europe/2023/03/31/woman-arrested-for-calling-president-macron-trash-on-social-media/

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English Schools Not Telling Parents If Kids Switch Gender, Require Other Kids to Accept Gender Swaps

Research suggests a majority of English schools are not reliably informing parents when children change gender, and are requiring other pupils to go along with supposedly trans classmates’ gender swaps.

Citing previous research that “found that one in four young people (18-20) identify as LGBT”, a report by Policy Exchange said it was likely that “many school leavers [were] exploring their identity at school” — and raised questions about “the appropriateness of current RSHE” — Religious and Sexual Health Education — “and the impact of this teaching on children’s beliefs about their own sex and gender.”

Using the Freedom of Information Act, the think tank asked a representative sample of 304 schools a range of questions regarding supposedly transgender pupils, including whether they inform parents of the gender their children are adopting at school, how gender transitions are facilitated with respect to, for example, single-sex sports, changing rooms, and toilet facilities, and how gender issues are taught in class.

Ninety-one schools did not respond and three refused to respond, compared to 154 which responded “either fully or in part” — with a further 56 special schools excluded from the data “on the basis that many of the issues raised are not applicable or relevant” to them.

Policy Exchange found that fully 62 per cent of schools were not reliably informing parents if their children were transitioning, with a further 10 per cent providing “insufficient detail” — and an even higher 69 per cent of schools required all pupils to “participate” in the social transition of transgender pupils.

Another 18 per cent provided “insufficient detail” as to whether or not accepting transgenderism was mandatory, with only 13 per cent claiming they did not require pupils to indulge their trans peers.

While requiring pupils to go along with gender transitions raises concerns related to freedom of speech and possibly freedom of religion, other policies raise more immediate safeguarding and safety concerns.

For example, the research found only 35 per cent of schools “maintain single-sex toilets”, with 28 per cent admitting they do not and a curiously high 32 per cent providing “insufficient detail”.

Only 40 per cent of schools said they maintained single-sex changing rooms, with 19 per cent admitting they did not and an again 30 per cent providing insufficient detail.

A mere six per cent of schools maintained single-sex sports — potentially dangerous, when rough and tumble games such as rugby are taken into consideration, as well as unfair to biologically female school athletes — with at least one endorsing the controversial practice of chest-binding as “important to psychological and emotional wellbeing.”

In terms of how children are being taught about gender in English schools, over 50 per cent had used materials from third-party “providers” — with the likes of ‘The Proud Trust’ and ‘Rainbow Flag Award’ among the most popular.

Highly-contested woke ideas were among some of the materials uncovered by the research, including one listing 16 “sexual and gender identities” including “pansexual”, “genderqueer”, “homoromantic”, “demisexual”, and “questioning genderfluid” — and with pupils expected to be able to define at least five of them.

Schools also made use of the infamous “genderbread person”, whose creator has suggested “that childrens’ innate identities are based on heavily regressive and somewhat sexualised gender stereotypes,” according to Policy Exchange.

The think tank noted that some of these ideas, centred on eating cereal “like a Viking” being masculine and “prowling” like Catwoman being feminine, among other bizarre behaviours, directly contradict government guidance, which warns that “[m]aterials which suggest that non-conformity to gender stereotypes should be seen as synonymous with having a different gender identity should not be used and [schools] should not work with external agencies or organisations that produce such material.”

Led since 2010 by the misleadingly named Conservative Party, the government has never been known to actually take enforcement action against state schools propagating far-left concepts, however, with respect to either transgenderism or similarly contested ideas rooted in ideologies like Critical Race Theory (CRT) — although leading Conservatives will on occasion publicly complain about such brainwashing without following up against it to persuade their voter base the party is on their side.

https://www.breitbart.com/europe/2023/03/31/english-schools-not-telling-parents-if-kids-switch-gender-require-pupils-accept-gender-swaps/

Joe Biden: ‘Transgender Americans Shape our Nation’s Soul’

Transgender Americans “shape our nation’s soul,” according to President Joe Biden, who made the assertion Thursday as part of a White House Proclamation on Transgender Day of Visibility. The proclamation came mere days after a transgender shooter allegedly murdered six individuals at a Christian school in Nashville, Tennessee.

A proclamation from the Biden White House celebrates the “Transgender Day of Visibility,” deeming transgender individuals the “bravest people” the president apparently knows.

They are people who “have too often had to put their jobs, relationships, and lives on the line just to be their true selves,” the proclamation reads, deeming gender confused individuals as those who “shape” America’s soul.

Transgender Americans shape our Nation’s soul — proudly serving in the military, curing deadly diseases, holding elected office, running thriving businesses, fighting for justice, raising families, and much more. As kids, they deserve what every child deserves: the chance to learn in safe and supportive schools, to develop meaningful friendships, and to live openly and honestly. As adults, they deserve the same rights enjoyed by every American, including equal access to health care, housing, and jobs and the chance to age with grace as senior citizens. But today, too many transgender Americans are still denied those rights and freedoms. A wave of discriminatory State laws is targeting transgender youth, terrifying families and hurting kids who are not hurting anyone. An epidemic of violence against transgender women and girls, in particular women and girls of color, has taken lives far too soon. Last year’s Club Q shooting in Colorado was another painful example of this kind of violence — a stain on the conscience of our Nation.

Notably, the proclamation made no mention of the violence that occurred at the Christian school in Nashville on Monday, as the suspected shooter — a woman who believed she was a man — allegedly opened fire, murdering three children and three adults before police fatally shot her. Instead, Biden’s proclamation only spoke of what it described as perceived “injustices” committed against transgender individuals.

“Meanwhile, we are also working to ease the tremendous strain that discrimination, bullying, and harassment can put on transgender children — more than half of whom seriously considered suicide in the last year,” the proclamation continued, adding that the Department of Justice is “pushing back against extreme laws that seek to ban evidence-based gender-affirming health care.”

Gender-affirming care is the left’s way of pushing hormone therapy, puberty blockers, and surgeries – including but not limited to mastectomies and phalloplasties on those suffering from gender dysmorphia.

The proclamation continued:

America is founded on the idea that all people are created equal and deserve to be treated equally throughout their lives. We have never fully lived up to that, but we have never walked away from it either. Today, as we celebrate transgender people, we also celebrate every American’s fundamental right to be themselves, bringing us closer to realizing America’s full promise.

NOW, THEREFORE, I, JOSEPH R. BIDEN JR., President of the United States of America, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and the laws of the United States, do hereby proclaim March 31, 2023, as Transgender Day of Visibility. I call upon all Americans to join us in lifting up the lives and voices of transgender people throughout our Nation and to work toward eliminating violence and discrimination against all transgender, gender nonconforming, and nonbinary people.

The proclamation comes days after the massacre and the establishment media testing a new narrative on the shooting rampage, speculating that Hale — a woman who believed she was a man — was “rejected” by her Christian parents. According to reports, they purportedly did not approve of her lifestyle, refusing to allow her to dress as a man under their roof. The great irony is that the 28-year-old still lived with the Christian parents who supposedly rejected her.

From the Daily Mail’s report, Hale would leave the home to change outfits. The outlet cited a “well-placed” source who said the parents “did know about it” but “they just didn’t accept it.”

The Daily Mail framed it this way on March 28: “Twenty years later, after being rejected by her Christian family when she came out to them as gay, Hale had turned into a killer.” The tone appears to place at least partial blame on the shooter’s Christian family. Ironically, based on reports, Hale still lived with her parents, so it remains unclear how much they could have “rejected” her as they continued to put a roof over her head.

https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2023/03/30/joe-biden-transgender-americans-shape-our-nations-soul/