Traffic grinds to a standstill?

Heard yesterday Google is being brought into court on anti-trust violations?  Surprising?  ... Well, since I've been writing about politics it appears as if my daily page traffic has all but completely shutdown.  Coincidence?  I'd like to think not, but I suppose HOPE is not a plan ... I would support Google, as I've been overall happy with this Blogger platform, but suppression of FREE SPEECH is just not something I could ever get behind.  Fix that Google and you may just wind up having a fighting chance in your upcoming court battle?

10/23/20 Had a long drive today and I found myself thinking as I drove along:  What has changed in the last two decades, particularly with respect to the way we communicate with one another, have conversations and engage in the mutual exchange of ideas?  Right off the bat, the concept of a "mutual exchange of ideas" seems to be almost non-existent these days.  So why is that?  I have to think this in large part due to the overwhelming amount of time people dedicate to maintaining a presence on social media platforms, where people tend to surround themselves with others who share their same viewpoints on key issues.  Floating in like-minded bubbles of virtual existence has almost anesthetized people to the notion that there are in fact different viewpoints on a wide variety of issues, because in America --fortunately!--one size does not fit all.  Believe it or not, our diversity in thought and idea --not just skin color-- is what makes America unique among nations.  When the 'bubble-minded' people do happen to encounter a viewpoint that runs counter to their pre-conceived notions instead of expressing a healthy curiosity and willingness to potentially learn something new, they immediately regress into a knee-jerk reaction of outright attack, which is not in any way  beneficial toward the end of fostering a healthy exchange of ideas and information.  We should not fear a truth different from what we have always assumed, for therein lies our potential for growth and true greatness ....

"In every man there is something wherein I may learn of him, and in that I am his pupil." ~Ralph Waldo Emerson

Moreover, the amount of time our society spends looking face-down at a screen has grown exponentially, particularly over the course of this past decade, and being cooped up with ongoing lock-downs and shutdowns during this current pandemic has not exactly helped matters any.  When your screen becomes your main source of input, news and information you can very easily lose sight of the reality of what is actually going in the REAL world around you.  Quite frankly, not only is this sad state of affairs in the current age of media propaganda and narrative-driven 'truth' and information censoring: it's downright SCARY!  

In this sort of modus operandi the social-media user can potentially lose control of their mind and independent thought process, being easily swept along in the prevailing current of spin which more often than not bears little resemblance to actual real-world truth.  The solution to this?  OWN YOUR MIND!  Unplug, engage in the real-world and real-world conversations, with a healthy curiosity and willingness to entertain differing viewpoints towards the end of potentially learning something NEW --"Change your perspective; Change your LIFE!"  Be skeptical of the information you are being fed on your social media platforms, heck even from mainstream media.  Dare to seek truth and information from multiple sources, don't just sit back and settle for the 'truth' that happens to come your way.   Only when you fully assume RESPONSIBILITY for your independent thought processes will you become a meaningful contributor to our real-world society at large.

It also occurs to me that a key founding principle of our great nation is the this very FREEDOM OF THOUGHT and a willingness to engage in a healthy and robust debate, where the best ideas will  ultimately RISE to the top and thereby find their way into being.  If your ideas have merit why ever would you limit the audience in which they would be heard and debated? Our nation was founded upon a profound diversity, most especially a diversity of thought-expression and the right to self-determination.  Somewhere along the way, however, we've lost sight of this!  And we need to, now more-so than ever, find our way back to these driving principles.  For in the absence of FREEDOM OF THOUGHT/EXPRESSION we allow ourselves to become merely pawns in larger game where those holding the levers of power will continue to divide and control us.  FREE YOUR MIND!  That is the ultimate revolution and pathway to spiritual evolution.  

Image Source

10/25/20 The cover of the newest edition of "Time Life" magazine might just have a thread to pull on with respect who holds these levers of power, for how long and why.  Very interesting ....

Now is the time for all good men to stand up for what they truly believe in ....

Now is the time for all good men and women to stand up for what they truly believe in .... The future of our world may well depend upon your voice and your action.

It's late and I've yet to sleep, but as I lie in 'bed' and contemplate the notion of sleep I find my head is pounding and my heart is heavy. Another, in a long procession of terror attacks --over the course of the past two years-- has most recently struck on the streets of Barcelona, with a rented vehicle being used to run down innocent pedestrians enjoying a warm summer day on the streets of beautiful Barcelona.

I find myself perplexed by the response among people here, in the United States, to this most recent terror attack in Barcelona. Perhaps a lack of proximity to the the devastation and carnage, being an entire ocean away, helps to explain the lack of a sense of outrage, concern and a determination to do something –anything tangible-- towards the end of preventing another such attack. The response I mainly seem to be getting from people I've encountered is –and I'm paraphrasing here-- “Yes, it's a horrible tragedy. But it happened [thank God it didn't happen here] and its going to happen again; it's just a question of where and when.” Call me crazy, but I'm not okay with that, the notion that this type of violence is somehow inevitable and part of our new way of life in these modern times … violence being unleashed upon defenseless, innocent bystanders merely going about the business of their daily lives, while trying to find pockets of happiness in a world that seems to have gone blanking mad. I stop and ponder the vehicular tragedy we experienced here, in the USA, in Charlottesville, VA over the weekend, when a white supremacists plowed into a crowd of anti-supremacist protesters which wound up taking the life of a young woman and two police officers. It too was a terrible tragedy. Most people you ask will say the two events, the one in Barcelona and the one in Charlottesville, have no connections whatsoever, but I wholeheartedly disagree. When I think on the events in Charlottesville, VA, it occurs to me that while the things that white supremacists believe in and stand for run counter to the very notion of the things I believe America stands for, the rights of these supremacists to march and to say these things they supposedly believe in is protected by our constitution. Moreover, while the white supremacists have the right to speak their hateful and divisive rhetoric, in America, we have hundreds --perhaps even thousands of people-- who found the courage within themselves to meet these hateful supremacists on equal ground in order to speak out against their evil way of thinking. While I do not condone the violence, on either side of this equation, I am somehow comforted by the notion that in America we have a strong voice advocating for truth, reason and the values we as a majority in this society espouse.

When I think on the radical beliefs being inculcated in so many of the youth practicing the faith of Islam these days –followers of radical Islamism advocating the use of terrorism and violence in order to advance their agenda of hatred, intolerance and oppression-- however, I do not see this same counterbalancing force we witnessed in Charlottesville, VA, over the weekend. That is to say, I see no counterbalance within the larger faith of Islam that would –or has-- organize(d), in large, meaningful numbers, speaking from positions of truth and power, in order to courageously speak out loudly against the evil being unleashed by radical Islamist extremism. I truly believe if these young men, so susceptible to being recruited by the extremists, actually had another voice to turn to for a check and balance upon the radical beliefs --by way of an examination of the radical beliefs within the context of the mainstream interpretations of the Quran and its teachings-- that so many of these men would find their way free from the grasp of extremism. And quite frankly, until this counterbalancing voice from within the faith of Islam emerges with strength, numbers and the courage of their convictions, I truly believe the violence we have seen in terrorist attacks like Barcelona will continue to be sown upon our streets, both here and abroad, wreaking havoc upon the innocent and the defenseless.

“The thing to be feared most, above all, is that good men will choose to do nothing in the face of true evil.”


Late a.m. ... Thinking further on the above, in the light of day, it occurs to me that the one thing the alt-right, alt-left and Islamism (radical Islamist extremism) all have in common is a driving force to shut-down open dialogue, thereby eliminating any possibility for meaningful, multi-way discussions to occur.  In the absence of dialogue, things tend to escalate rather quickly towards the end of violence.


[I also have some early detection and technology driven prevention/disabling ideas  to thwart terrorism, but I'm too tired to share them here tonight.  Perhaps, I'll share tomorrow after a night with at least a few hours sleep.]


8/23/2013 Then there is that … That the leader of the Free World might actually assume a leadership role in addressing the elephant in the room by putting an end to the era of appeasement and cowering,where terrorist are concerned. After nearly a decade of speaking softly, Trump, in his role as Commander in Chief, is finally dusting off America's Big Stick … “Speak softly, but carry a big stick”, ever heard that one before? Well, thankfully, President Trump has. On Monday, President Trump stood in front of the rest of the free world, addressing his troops, and announced to them and to the nation at large that America, along with its allies in the Middle East, was finally going to get about the business of bringing the fight to the terrorists.

During his address, President Trump informed his troops that unlike the previous administration the military has his full backing and support. Moreover, from this point forward America is not going to be pre-scripting their play-by- play moves for all the world to see. Trump assured his troops that they will have adequate funding, training and the resources necessary to do their job in real-time. President Trump also announced that he is going to hold our allies in the Middle East (Saudia Arabia and Pakistan in particular, Jordan seems to have been holding up their end of the bargain) accountable for the commitments they have made toward the end of actually hunting down and eliminating the radical Islamist terrorists, hell-bent on unleashing their ideology of violence, intolerance, hatred and oppression upon the innocent and defenseless.

These terrorist have now been warned that the era of inaction, whereby governments have done little to actively combat terrorism at its source, is over.  We're through putting colorfully worded band-aids on the very real problem of radical extremist violence.  We will mourn tragedy, but moving forward we will take decisive offensive actions. The Free World is about to shine one heck of BIG light into the deep dark holes where violent Islamist extremist ideology seems to fester and breed, and soon there will be no more safe places for these terrorists-in-the-making to hide.  Perhaps the moral courage demonstrated by the President of the United States, in identifying the true evil that exists within our world today, and then putting a decisive plan of eradication into immediate action, will inspire other world leaders to finally take a definitive stand towards the end of tangibly removing the threat of terrorism from their own lands. Perhaps the leaders of the true faith of Islam will also find the moral courage to speak out against these violent extremists, using the wisdom and peaceful teachings to be found within the Quran in order to show misguided young men a better path in this life. In the face of true evil, President Donald Trump, has chosen to do something meaningful and I find, strangely enough, that his voice, his action gives me hope for this world of ours after all.

Meaningless Associations?

It's only "meaningless" if it deviates from a prescribed politcal agenda?  Independent thought seems to be highly underrated these days ... "sheeple of the country unite!"

Free Speech at Risk in the Blogsphere?

http://www.netcharles.com/orwell/articles/1984-background-info.htm

I am thinking of launching a "Click on my blog everyday just to piss off the Obama Media Czar" Campaign  (link to be enabled)  ... What do you think?????  See how many hits I can generate for my Blog in terms of visibility by inviting all my friends, friends of friends, and so on to join me here each day ... whether they read extensively or not.  I may like being mysterious, but there is nothing like a good cause to bring me out of the shadows.

I am thinking about doing this because I feel as if my blog is no longer being placed in the most favorable viewing audience.  You see, I have written a few political pieces, in the past, that do not paint the "Annointed One" in an entirely favorable light.  Because of these 'political pieces' my blog --which contains SOOOOOOOOOOO much more than politics-- has now been relegated to the Blogspehere Basement. 

It used to be that my blog was posted next to other artists, musicians, photographers ... poets, per my more recent posts and Blogger's "commitment to connect bloggers with similar interests".   But, the latter doesn't seem to be the case any more? ... Doesn't seem to matter what I post nowadays (i.e., since the appointment of Obama's Media Czar):  If you 'click' on the next blog, I remain ever-fixed next to some extreme rightwing blog that is ranting and raving.  So much for free speech, I guess???  Does 'Big Brother' really get to have that much unchecked power in our "Free Society"?  What do think????

And to be fair ... When Obama, his adminstration or his party does something outstanding and good for the country:  I write about that too.   But the latter still seems to have no impact on my placement here in the blogsphere ... no good deed goes unpunished, I guess?

If you haven't read this novel "1984" ... now might be a good time to give it a run through, preferably before the next election.  If you do nothing else: read the background on this work provided in the link above.  And I am wondering if it is legal, ethical, constitutional to have tax payer dollars used to fund monitoring, and in essence regulation/manipulation of free speech (by determining what venues opinions and ideas are allowed to air in),  in order to improve a sitting U.S. President's overall media image?????