People's words give them away. They might like to pretend that they are other than what they truly are, but out of the mouths.... or out of the keyboard, shall we say..... I do not pretend to be other than what I am, an outspoken person who will take up the cudgels of the words to fight for what I think is right despite attempts to shut me up or intimidate me. As Popeye always said, " I yam what I yam."
So I like to read other people's words and see if I agree or disagree and this past long weekend allowed me to do so at great length. There were two immensely important and worthwhile op-eds in the Times from which I will quote and then there was a book, but first the op-eds.
In "Rule by Velvet Fist" the two authors might have paid a visit to our Village. "....a new brand of authoritarian government has evolved....the "soft" dictators concentrate power, stifling opposition and eliminating checks and balances...." (underlining is all mine).
.....they ... threaten to reshape the world order in their image, replacing principles of freedom and law with cynicism and corruption."
Now simply move those phrases from the macrocosmic world to the microcosmic world of CV and the dictatorship within perpetrated upon us by David Israel and Ed Black, significantly two people who have subverted the process of law that would have forbidden one from running and that would have thus avoided the rule of a man NOT ELECTED nor approved of by the electorate to be in positions that determine the paths of their lives - and to their detriment.
"This new autocrat uses propaganda, censorship and other information based tricks to inflate their ratings and to convince citizens of their superiority...."
Does this all not sound familiar? It is the blueprint of the almost three terms of growing dictatorship of the Israel administration. Censorship of paper, censorship of media channels, censorship and banning from public places - all there and growing - gives me a chill as there are other more terrible people who used these techniques too. Think about all this and think about all the garbage that these men and their henchmen have thrust upon us over the past few years and increasingly so now that they might possibly be thrown out or banned from office.
Now let us tackle one of their huge projects that they are so obsessed with getting in place as their "legacy", G-d help us! Paul Krugman, a well respected Times writer, posted an article called "The Big Meh", a "technical" term meaning a big so what. In this article he writes of the illusion that some have over the importance and life changing effects of the Internet and all that goes along with it. He disputes this and asks, "What if technology isn't all that?" Yes, it is good in that it allows a reaching out, a connection to others, a broadening of horizons, access to research - But, and a big BUT, it also allows for a connection - a nefarious one at that and isn't it timely that today the IRS announces a breach of their system, never mind all the stores, social media sites, companies, banks, health related sites, etc. that have been breached. Do not forget, either, the individuals who have been hacked, their identities stolen, down to the kids whose SSN's have been ripped off and when these kids get older just watch what happens when they apply for credit. It has happened over and over again.
You see, there are two sides to any coin and we must remember to look at both sides before making a terrible and costly decision, costly and so unnecessary if only we had thought ahead. Krugman says we need to scale back the hype and really understand what this all means and entails and if all this hype and pie in the sky is really new or a replay in version 2. He states that "Don't I understand that everything is different now? Well, I understand why people like to say that. But that doesn't make it true.
Finally, I read a truly frightening book called Future Crimes by Marc Goodman. It relates the possible complications and crimes arising from careless installation of this brave new world, what has been done already and where we are vulnerable and how this will continue into the future. The hacking, especially of large networks, the toehold that is all that is needed, the statement that he quotes from a former Senator, "Technology......is a queer thing. It brings you great gifts with one hand and it stabs you in the back with the other."
Now my most unfavorite people will send me emails that I am a Luddite, that I do not understand, that I am nasty for saying this and er....Fred....er Ed will send me another email, as he did yesterday telling me to drop dead and take Olga with me. I could care less, just despise their irrational and out of place nastiness, but all their screams and shouts and denials does not make their statements true nor mine false.
Read this book in small bites as it provides much to think about. Let us indeed use fast connections, get on line with the latest streaming and improve our entertainment capabilities and even our business connections, but let us all remember that there are nasty people out there who are a lot quicker than us to see the evil potential and see all the sacrificial lambs out there. Use, but use it wisely and remember - what if it is all just a big meh?
Turn down David Israel's roundabout path to his Wi Fi again with his broadband initiative or rather sneak attack. Decide for YOURSELF what it is that YOU want and not for others to decide for you, not for others to take YOUR money and spend it on their whims and wishes and that goes for everything. Stand up and demand your rights. Stand up and demand an accounting. Stand up and demand explanations and do not accept answers that state that , oh, no, the fence is not falling down - it is held up by the vegetation! Excuse me? Is that an answer? Is that the security we want and need or is it better that we use money to fix our fences rather than spend $100,000 on a stupid sign and landscaping or a system of broadband which is both unnecessary and wasteful? It is up to us - up to you. Make sure YOU are not a big meh.
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