First they tell you they are going to protect you from misinformation, and then they decide what is misinformation… The government here does not want you to comment on what they are doing to Australia…
It’s a very tough ask to stuff the Social Media Genie - back into the bottle…Considering modern society has now accepted the use of Internet Technology as indispensable… Good luck with that…
“We’ll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the US public believes is false.” - William J Casey - Former CIA Director 1981
The FISA 702 bill has been described by critics as a “dramatic and terrifying” expansion of the United States government’s surveillance powers… The United States National Security Agency (NSA) is only days away from “taking over the internet” with a massive expansion of its surveillance powers, according to NSA whistle-blower Edward Snowden…
In an April 16 post to X, Snowden drew attention to a thread originally posted by Elizabeth Goitein — the co-director of the Liberty and National Security Program at the Brennan Centre for Justice — that warned of a new bill that could see the U.S. government surveillance powers amplified to new levels…
In her view, the amendment could even see service providers such as cleaners, plumbers and IT service providers that have access to laptops and routers inside people’s homes be forced to provide information and serve as “surrogate spies,” claimed Goitein.
The bill has seen strong pushback from both sides of the political aisle, with several government representatives claiming the bill violates citizen’s constitutional rights.
Democratic Senator Ron Wyden described the bill as “terrifying” and said he would do everything in his power to prevent it from being passed through the Senate…
‘Totalitarian tiptoe’ just did the long jump… The Bill exempted the US Congress… Imagine that…
The NSA and surveillance … made simple - animation
Confused about the NSA revelations? Do you wonder how the activities of GCHQ and the NSA affect you? Why spies have been monitoring Facebook, Gmail and Skype? And even if are being watched online, how does that affect what we do online? This animation, narrated by Jemima Kiss, explains what the disclosures mean for all of USA
When Edward Snowden revealed that the U.S. government was running massive spying operations on its own people, the country was shocked. But few remember that the origins of America’s modern surveillance apparatus began more than 115 years ago, half a world away in the Philippines.
Today, we are still playing this century-old spy game. Despite changes in national agendas and leadership over the years, the U.S. government’s desire for total information control has remained the same but with one difference – it has become increasingly reliant on private companies to operate this surveillance complex.
Iran attacked Israel - the world knew about 3 hrs in advance that ‘aerial missiles’ are headed from Iran to Israel - and surprisingly 99% of same were intercepted.
Then Israel’s turn - Western allies urged restraint but PM Netanyahu said his Govt would do it’s own thing - and it did.
Finally, on the Russian front - the USSR ( sorry, old hand, meant Russian Federation) foreign ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova said today that the US will face a similar humiliation as was in Vietnam and Afghanistan after the recent US House vote on support for Ukraine.
There was no mention made of the Soviet–Afghan War 1979-89 - a TF of 6 months was envisaged wherein the People’s Democratic Party of Afghanistan wld be established as Govt & Russian troops be extracted.
Israel and Iran directly struck each other on their own territory for the first time in history this week… The weapons, tactics and targets each side chose just revealed a lot to us about their respective capabilities and the message each side intended to send to the other. …
The target that was attacked in Iran was a Russian S-300 air defence radar, this proved that the most advanced anti-missile system available in Iran can’t stop even a single Israeli missile for self defence…
And now the Iranians have only one remaining S-300 site active…
Lets not forget… Iran and Iraq were basically military equals… And we all know how well Iraq’s military held up…
US, UK and Jordan intercept many of the Iranian drones headed to Israel
Israeli official says American forces stopped over 100 aircraft outside the country; Jordanian jets shot down dozens of drones in kingdom’s airspace; France also assists defense
IDF Spokesman Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari confirmed on Sunday morning that France was also involved in Israel’s defense, though he said he did not have exact details on whether French jets had shot down any of the missiles launched by Iran.
“France has very good technology, jets, radar – and I know they were contributing in patrolling airspace,” he said.
US President Joe Biden said Saturday that US forces helped take down “nearly all” the drones and missiles fired by Iran at Israel, adding that he had reaffirmed his “ironclad” support to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
He said he had ordered US military aircraft and ballistic missile defense destroyers to the Middle East in recent days as the likely Iranian threat to the key US ally became clear.
“Thanks to these deployments and the extraordinary skill of our servicemembers, we helped Israel take down nearly all of the incoming drones and missiles,” Biden said.
It’s much easier to make this decision when you know the US and UK will help with your air defense and provide Israel with cutting-edge military technology.
Israel’s defense system with assistance from the U.S. and Britain is credited with preventing serious damage or casualties.
The Arrow
This system developed with the U.S. is designed to intercept long-range missiles, including the types of ballistic missiles Iran said it launched on Saturday. The Arrow, which operates outside the atmosphere, has been used in the current war to intercept long-range missiles launched by Houthi militants in Yemen.
David’s Sling
Also developed with the U.S., the David’s Sling is meant to intercept medium-range missiles, such as those possessed by Hezbollah in Lebanon.
Patriot
This American-made system is the oldest member of Israel’s missile-defense system – used during the First Gulf War in 1991 to intercept Scud missiles fired by Iraq’s leader at the time, Saddam Hussein. The Patriot is now used to shoot down aircraft, including drones.
Iron Dome
This system, developed by Israel with U.S. backing, specializes in shooting down short-range rockets.
It has intercepted thousands of rockets since it was activated early last decade – including thousands of interceptions during the current war against Hamas and Hezbollah. Israel says it has a success rate of over 90 percent.
I mean life is expensive, but you can still start a business for next to nothing. There are jobs if you’re willing to work. Transportation might be tough, might be easy depending on where you live. Housing completely sucks. I’m sure that’s very different than 40 years ago. Healthcare has to be more expensive I bet, but it’s there if you can afford it.
But you can have your religion, you can protest your government, you can vote. Can’t say that for many places in the world.
There’s a legal system that allows you to sue people. Banking system. I’m not saying those things are all great, but we have them.
Not Just state and local elections but also Presidential Elections.
These 4 Presidential Elections Were Decided by Just a Few Hundred Voters
Given that more than 129 million people voted in the last presidential election, it’s easy to feel like your vote won’t count.
But thanks to the Electoral College, you can end up having a much greater impact on the outcome than you think.
TIME went over all 48 presidential elections since 1824, which many scholars say was the beginning of the modern two-party system, and we found four in which just a few hundred voters in one or two states could have swung the race in the other direction.
Here’s a closer look.
Everyone remembers the 2000 election for the tight race in Florida, where a contested recount eventually led to a Supreme Court decision. But the margin was even closer in New Mexico, where just 366 voters who backed Republican Gov. George W. Bush of Texas helped him defeat Democratic Vice President Al Gore.
Other than some Arab countries, this is true when you have poor people and drug problems, which leads to crime. I live in a nice area in Ohio and we are having problems with meth heads and pill heads, which, ultimately, will lead to crimes.
Voting results are generally useless because all existing political parties want to oppress people.
If there is a privatician who actually wants to reduce government, then vote for a privatician or a group of them. The trick is that privaticians are not allowed to register as political candidates.
Texas government refused to accept Derrick Broze as a mayor candidate because he is clearly going to be a privatician. Derrick Broze sued texas government for refusing his mayor candidate registration. Politicians want to increase government tyranny slowly over time. Privaticians want to do the opposite.
The elections are already manipulated at the level of candidate registration. People who actually will improve the world are not allowed as candidates. If every candidate allowed to register as a candidate serves the ruling class instead of people, governments are merely a middle management layer for the ruling class. Actually, governments were made as a middle management layer for the ruling class because the ruling class needs middle managers and needs to make people think they are in control. People who think they are in control do not challenge their oppressors.
If the oppression is obscured and covert, oppressed people think they are in control. It is easier to manage and control people that way in the long term. In the long term, if the oppression is overt, people will rise up and keep challenging the ruling class. Even if the ruling class is an alien civilization that has advanced weapons that can wipe out earth, constant rebellions will make it difficult for them to manage humans.
The imaginary alien ruling class would say
Why are humans not working productively for us? They are constantly rebelling against us. Should we wipe them out and start over? Perhaps, we should dumb them down with chemicals and genetic engineering and control them covertly behind the scenes? We want them to be productive slaves.
Essentially, privatization is the result of lobbying the government on behalf of the ruling class, which created the military industrial complex, private prisons, etc. The government guarantees contracts with some industries, so they continue to lobby for their interests. Who benefits from privatization more? The people or the ruling class?
