The Censorship Industrial-Complex is Winning.

The faux western democratic governments in Europe, Australasia, Latin America, and the United States have been cracking down on free speech in the guise of protecting its citizenry from “dangerous information” or “misinformation” to protect democracy. On face value this is an absurd claim. There is no doubt that the biggest purveyors of disinformation or down-right lies are these governments and their corporate media puppets.  

There is only one reason our “democratic” governments desire censorship, and that is to utterly control the narrative.  

Imagine only receiving news about current politics and war from a sole source? Imagine your only source of information was your government and their state media. That is exactly what they want and are succeeding in achieving this goal.  

It was only last week that the social media platform X relented to the Brazilian Supreme Court Judge, Alexandre de Moraes’ demands for censorship in Brazil. This came as a surprise to many because of X’s owner, Elon Musk’s outspoken view on free speech. Musk was highly criticized for this “turn-around” on his views. However, there is more to the story.  

Space X’s Starlink enabled millions of Brazilians to access the internet. When Alexander de Moraes banned X from the people of Brazil, he also seized millions from Starlink, in other words stole from the company, forcing, I would deduce, many Space X stockholders to raise concerns about their money. This unelected Judge held Starlink hostage, blackmailing the company, pushing X to relent on his censorship demands. This is unadulterated fascism, a criminal act.  This tyrant of “democracy” now can ban his political opponents on the X platform. Did Musk have a choice, yes. But at what cost?  

The scandal here is not the decision of Elon Musk to back down, but the extent these democracies will go to prevent free speech.  

France’s neoliberal president Emanuel Macron jailed the creator and founder of Telegram, Pavel Durov, on spurious charges. Now, after fighting the establishment on free speech issues from the platform's beginnings, Durov has relented to allow the government access to users on the site. The government has stated they only want access to criminals and criminal activity, however, never take any government’s word on face value. I am positive political dissidents will also be targeted.  

Those of us who are concerned about constitutional issues like human rights and free speech, should have learned after the imprisonment of Julian Assange. Assange revealed the many war crimes of government including political corruption. As a result, only a portion of independent media will report the truth about such issues. Social media and the internet have enabled the free voices of the people to be expressed and heard, and now, in the name of “democracy” our governments want to shut these voices down. Their true intentions are obvious.  

Since 2016, disinformation experts have popped-up in many democratic countries in the world. Most of these Dis info experts and organizations are extensions or tools of our establishment governments.  

Personally, the thought of anyone telling what to believe in terms of what is true or not is an insult. Critical thinking and evaluation in any subject, particularly on political issues and war, is essential to one’s value as a citizen of the world. For some twit in government to tell me what is false or dangerous is ludicrous. When I watch the corporate media, I believe half the time, the talking head has not a clue as to what they are spewing to the masses. Really, it is hilarious if it was not so dangerous.  

What has now been termed the Censorship Industrial-Complex is rearing its reptilian head and chasing us and seems to want to swallow our democratic rights whole.  

These are truly dangerous times for the rights of the human being.  

Briody - The Halliburton Agenda: The Politics of Oil and Money- Comment.

Political cronyism has been part of western democracy since the hay days of Ancient Greece. It is extremely naïve to believe otherwise, "jobs for the boys"; political portfolios for the "mates", and lucrative contracts for family members are an unfortunate aspect of the system, which has not changed, and will not change, soon. Moreover, another unfortunate reality is that war is good business. One only must look back at the Civil War, those "damn Yankee carpet baggers", filtering down from the north at the end of the war and exploiting the defeated Southerners, in the name of "reparations". Many made a fortune from the defeated south, just as a few companies are currently making millions from the spoils of the Iraqi war. What Briody calls in this book, the "iron triangle", the collusion of government, military and corporations, he targets the Halliburton Corporation and its subsidiary, Kellogg, Brown & Root, describing a long history of political back scratching, war profiteering, illegal campaign contributions, and a long and lucrative relationship with key political figures, such as Lyndon B. Johnson and currently, Vice President Cheney, which is making a few individuals extremely rich, unjustly, from the hard-earned tax dollars of the American people. 

 Most of the book is devoted to illustrating the business history of Halliburton and Brown & Root, providing a long and entrenched business practice of political back scratching through illegal campaign contributions, in this case, the long and successful relationship between Lyndon B. Johnson and the Brown brothers through the 40's 50's, 60's, turning Brown & Root into one of the most successful construction companies in American history. The evidence of this collusion between the company and Johnson is without question. But the current relationship between Halliburton and Vice President Cheney, once CEO of this lucrative corporation, to my mind, is even more ethically devastating, as their relationship continues today, while the company has sole contractual rights with the government, supporting the military and "rebuilding" the war-torn country of Iraq. 
 
Why has Halliburton been given these lucrative contracts while other companies are pushed out of the bidding process? One can say that they have a proven record of accomplishment of getting the job done, but there is also evidence of overcharging (gas supplies to Iraq) that is currently under investigation. It is also well known that Halliburton has done business with known terrorist countries such as Libya and manage to wriggle out of the legal spotlight. One would have to be a blind man not to see the connection between the Bush administration and these companies, no matter how many times Cheney denies the relationship exists in present time. As an ex-CEO, he continues to be on their payroll and is in possession of numerous stock options. These facts should certainly raise a few red flags.  
 

This book illustrates the political and corporate machinations that go on behind the scenes, and that "jobs for the boys" is an unfortunate reality of our system, and war, regrettably, is a profitable business option.  

Michael Crichton – Airframe – Comment

 

Crichton once admitted in an interview that he always had a pile of books by his bedside on the subject for the novel he was about to write. Some of his novels, but not all, has a reference page in the back revealing his main sources of research. Reading Airframe again after almost 30 years, it occurred to me the amount of research he must have done for this book. Airframe is technical, and for the neophyte- aircraft- engineering-geek, like me, an educational experience.  

Apart from a deep dive into the airline industry, the novel is also a scathing critique on the mainstream media. The author focusses on the television media, lamenting the slow demise of print, and the total disregard of TV journalists for the facts. Television is about the image, the soundbites, and the specifics about a story, the real facts are ignored all for a sensational 5 minutes of a talking head ranting opinion. In present day, these "journalists” spread disinformation and present their opinions as facts. One of the main reasons the corporate media is attacking social media is because they are no longer trusted.  

The novel begins with a graphic description of a midair air disaster where fifty-six passengers are injured and three are reported dead. The commercial airliner inexplicably nose dives then turns upward, climbing, and nose dives again. The cabin is total mayhem. Anyone who has travelled on a commercial airline after reading Crichton's descriptions will be terrified.  

The plane is a N-22, built by Norton Aircraft and it is up to our protagonist, Casey Singleton, along with her expert team of engineers, to figure out what caused the accident. The point is: was it an accident or something else nefarious? 

Again, the technical aspects of this novel reveal to the reader how complex the building of an aircraft really is. People jump on any flight and have no idea the amount of machinery is involved to get the plane off the ground, travel thousands of miles, and land without a hitch. It really is quite remarkable.  

The novel has been described as a lightning-fast page turner. The pace of the story begins and continues to pick up speed as the reader moves from one chapter to the next. Most of the chapters are short and precise, ensuring the reader has no other choice but to move the reading along.  

A classic is a classic because the work will stand the test of time. Mary Shelly's Frankenstein, for example, is still relevant after 100 years.  

Crichton's Airframe is a classic. 

Australia’s Authoritarian attempts to Punish Free Speech.

 

This should be stated at the beginning: Australia has no real foreign policy. All decisions and actions in other countries is dictated by the US government and their security agencies. We have followed the US into every war they have started. When the US barks “jump,” Australia askes “How High”? This is a matter of record. Currently there is a diabolical push in the US, Britain, Brazil, and Europe to suppress free speech on various social media platforms. Just last week, Australia’s current Minister of Communications, Michelle Rowland, stated that the government is about to pass a bill to combat disinformation and misinformation by fining tech companies for allowing “dangerous” speech on their platforms. This a draconian move, and anti-democratic to its core.  

The government has glibly stated “harmful information.” Certainly not surprising, Australia’s lapdog media has not pushed back in the slightest, instead excitedly asking when the bill will be passed. For the record, these individuals in the media work for the State and their corporate masters. A simple question would be: Can you give us an example of “harmful information” that you have seen on social media? My guess the Minister would be hard pressed to answer.  

All the Australian people receive from this Minister are generalities and political rhetoric:  

Michelle Rowland said. 

“According to the Australian Media Literacy Alliance, 80% of Australians say the spread of misinformation on social media needs to be addressed. 

“Misinformation and disinformation pose a serious threat to the safety and wellbeing of Australians, as well as to our democracy, society and economy,” Rowland said. “Doing nothing and allowing this problem to fester is not an option.” 

First, really? 80% of Australians believe the spread of misinformation on social media needs to be addressed? Any rational minded individual would take that statement with a grain of salt. Particularly when most people get their information from corporate media.  

Again, what is “harmful information?” And most importantly, do we as the people trust someone like Michelle Roland, a non-elected official to decide what is misinformation, disinformation, or harmful information?  

Australia is falling in line with the authoritarian governments of the US, UK, and Europe in their fascist push to censor what information can be seen and heard. Brazil has already blocked X from its citizens.  

As someone who has lived in a few countries, it is the corporate media that pushes disinformation and propaganda. The information around the invasion of Iraq, for example, the dirty war in Syria, and the destruction of Libya by NATO forces, was all promoted by mainstream media, and all proved to be lies to promote war. Again, this is a matter of public record.  

The great irony with these democratic countries and their anointed officials, is their all using the tried-and-true method to push censorship: “We are protecting democracy.” Silencing voices is not democratic, it is authoritarian.  

I believe we should wise-up and recognize those people who promote censorship in the guise of “keeping us free.”  

Michelle Rowland is one of them.