Congress and Big Tech: Hypocrisy and Blindness all on Sides

https://breakpoint.org/big-tech-families-and-the-role-of-government/

As we've come to expect, Stonestreet is less than helpful in addressing the salient issues. This time it's about families, technology, and the state. It continues to astonish me that parents have so little oversight or influence over their children that they are unable to curtail the problems associated with Smartphones and social media.

The Revival of the Bin Laden Letter

I've enjoyed following some of the recent furor surrounding the so-called Bin Laden Letter which first emerged (I believe) in 2002.

The Information Gatekeepers and Assange

Western Mainstream Media continues to largely ignore the situation with Julian Assange. He has now spent more than a decade effectively (and actually) imprisoned without ever facing any kind of trial or due process – the bogus charges being used as a pretense to seize him being found without merit and dropped. But by then he was caught in a series of legal traps and in order to avoid the snares laid for him by the CIA – he became a fugitive and asylum seeker.

A New App in China

https://www.christianpost.com/news/chinese-christians-must-register-to-attend-church-service-report.html

No, this isn't about TikTok but about a state sponsored registry app for Christians within China and the reporting failures of the Evangelical infotainment, tabloid, and spin factories that try to pass themselves off as news.

A Ukraine Miscellany (V): A Dangerous Moment of Manipulations and Intensifications

In something of a cultural watershed the US government is openly allowing for and promoting crowd-funding for the Ukrainian army. Viewed as a just cause, once again it's clear Washington has no desire for this conflict to end in the near term.

Covid Disinformation and a Viral Video

https://www.newz.com/fight-breaks-out-as-catholic-priest-asks-unmasked-man-to-leave-washington-church/

Some readers will have seen the 'viral' video that appeared in October of a fight that broke out in a Lakewood, Washington Roman Catholic Church.

Confused Ethics and Evil Library Displays in Pennsylvania

Northwestern Pennsylvania has been the site of a recent controversy that is starting to appear in some national media outlets. A school board member referred to a pro-sodomite library display as evil and as you might imagine this generated a significant backlash prompting both support and calls for his removal.

Tech Resistance in the Face of Orwellian Surveillance

One might say it's a case of fighting technology with technology or perhaps one could view it as a type of counter espionage. While most of the public willingly surrenders their information to the state and/or the corporate entities which exist in a symbiotic relationship with it – some of us are more than a little concerned.

A Pilgrim Watching the Fallout from Coronavirus

In terms of the grander scale, I have very little fear of Coronavirus. Besides as a Christian I know that if my number is up (so to speak), then I trust in Providence and am at peace knowing that my death or suffering was in God's time and glorifies Him.

Data Collection, The Watchtower and the Judiciary

http://evangelicalfocus.com/europe/3671/Jehovahs_Witnesses_doortodoor_preaching_does_not_comply_with_new_EU_data_protection_laws

The Jehovah's Witnesses are breaking the law. They're keeping data files on the houses they visit. They must be stopped.

There are many Christians and non-Christians that would agree with these statements and yet there's an inconsistent bias at work.

Navigating the Media Storm: Skripal, Trump and Syria

Sometimes it's hard not to be cynical.

Fiendish Facebook

https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2017/sep/19/facebooks-war-on-free-will

This article/extract should be read by all. Franklin Foer does well in explaining the transformational nature of power in our new social dynamic and how people [sic] like Zuckerberg are able to wield it.

The Smartphone Generation

https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2017/09/has-the-smartphone-destroyed-a-generation/534198/

Some of you will have already read this article from The Atlantic. Written by an unbeliever and full of worldly and thus flawed wisdom it is nevertheless worthwhile.

Authoritarianism Transcends the Pseudo-Political Divide

Here are a couple of recent postings from The Intercept that I found to be relevant.

https://theintercept.com/2017/08/25/even-wikileaks-haters-shouldnt-want-it-labeled-a-hostile-intelligence-agency/

While the author (Biddle) is hardly friendly to Wikileaks, he raises some interesting points with regard to the direction the US government is heading. Mike Pompeo, head of the CIA seems to be leading the charge. Of course as I and many others have pointed out, there's been quite a reversal on Wikileaks by figures within the GOP and Trump Administration. During the campaign they praised Assange, now they want him dead.

Inbox: How do you protect yourself from Fake News?

or: How to respond to the Fake News hysteria and protect yourself from being brainwashed by the Establishment or manipulated by activists or those with other than truth-seeking agendas?

I hope to offer some practical points. I'm not going to shroud this discussion in the facade of so-called Christian Worldview which all too often promotes false understandings of both the news and history.

Western Media Clampdown and the Cyber-Power Grab

https://www.euractiv.com/section/global-europe/news/german-spy-agency-warns-of-rise-in-russian-propaganda-and-cyber-attacks/

The media is filled with calls for investigations into Russian hacking but no evidence is produced. Instead we're provided with 'secret assessments' and calls to trust the intelligence apparatus, despite the fact they have a long and proven track record of lying and attempting to manipulate the public.

Like the many narratives strung together in the wake of 9/11, this present attempt at spin is false and patently so on many levels.

Homeschooled Stormtroopers

Homeschooled young men joining the military...

It seems like it's been happening a lot lately and it grieves me to no end.

I have witnessed several incidents of homeschooling families who have laboured for years to raise their children 'different' who have separated from family, churches and friends in order to maintain the standards and ideals they believed were right...

Only to hand over their sons to the US military.

The Dystopian Moment

Newt Gingrich wants to curtail free speech and expand government surveillance. The implications of his statements are staggering. He's advocating religious tests. The government will judge the nuances of your belief system. If the Christian Right and their Right-wing allies every gained absolute power, how long before 'heretics' like me would face their wrath and reading websites like this one would be illegal?

TPP, the Internet and the Establishment Agenda

There's such a profound difference in the way the TPP has unfolded in the media vs. what happened when NAFTA was being put together in the early 1990s. There was a lot of resistance to NAFTA and the unions were a little stronger then and able to get the word out, but the educational campaign is paltry compared to what's happening with the TPP. The Internet has opened up a new world in dissent and challenge to the establishment narrative. Of course there's also a lot of false information out there. That's the risk isn't it?

Trash Talking and the 2016 Election

It's funny. I really don't care about the US presidential election but being a news junkie I can't help but watch it unfold. It's like passing a car accident. You can't help it, you have to look.