The World Wide Web
I came late to the game around 2000 with dial up and a laptop. I learned by trial and error but mostly error. I first called it my time machine because I had no idea where time went when I turned it on, but I could still take it or leave it.
I worked with a couple young guys who had expensive hotrod computers but all they did was explore the porn world and played games. I lacked the knowledge or patients because the damn thing was way too slow to be of much interest for me.
We began to use computers for internal company email and ordering but it was very primitive and there was absolutely no training. That is typical of retail grocery instead of training, threats and intimidation was more their style at the time.
The internet was the Wild West back then. I was always anxious to hear what the new wide eyed idealistic capitalists were up to. I doubt even they had a clue that they were about to make unimaginable fortunes.
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Andrew Breitbart
BREITBART NEWS
The late Andrew Breitbart who died too soon at 43 in 2012. Andrew was co-founder of the Huffpost, helped found the Drudge Report and created his Big Hollywood and other Big sites. He was a free speech visionary that inspired a movement. Dozens of citizen journalist followed his lead to raise their voices and bring light to issues that we all have the right to know about, what would he be saying today?
Ariana Huffington
HUFFINGTON POST
Ariana hired Andrew Breitbart to help launch her website and turned to into an influential and credible voice from the left. She eventually sold it for 350 million and moved on to other causes. The site still exists but it seemed to have lost the original focus on consistently speaking truth to power no matter who controlls that power.
Matt Drudge
DRUDGE REPORT
Matt is a very private person who is know for being the first to report on the blue stained dress. He forced the main stream media to finally report on it. This was the power of the new media to bring stories to light that would be ignored by the traditional press. The right for us to know about everything was his passion because it is our business to know. He reported the stories that editors would round file. The White House made a great effort to silence and discredit this annoying voice. Matt seems to be mailing it in these days but all things come to an end.
Alex Jones
INFOWARS
Alex Jones is a large personality who reported on some very unusual issues. He didn't repeat the same stories and play the same clips like most sites. He dugs deep into the darker government activities. He was regarded as a conspiracy nut but for some reason he was perceived as a threat by some powerful people.
He was the first to be banned from the internet. I didn't follow him but whatever he was reporting brought the full force of the bureaucracy and cancel culture. Ironically he was proved right about many of the things he reported on. Alex Jones was the Canary in the coal mine, we should have paid more attention. Alex has every right to be on the air, making people think and laugh is not a crime.
Gavin Mcinnes
GET OFF MY LAWN
I have watched and listened to Gavin for years. His irreverent humor and story telling is filled with guy humor and a great deal of observational wisdom. I never heard a mean spirited racial remark, many of his guests were minorities and mutual riffing was the rule and was actually healthy. One day I was seeing stories about Gavin being the head of a Nazi white supremacy hatred group. I first thought it was a joke but then I watched the momentum grow. He became toxic and was ejected by his "friends" then from the Blaze.
I was at ground zero to witness first hand the destruction of a guy who asked questions and supported the wrong candidate. He was never a partisan or strong promoter of Trump he did support him but mostly he explained Trump because he was from New York City himself.
He grew up in Canada then moved to New York. He lived the rock star life style as a punk rocker and promoter always rebelling against the system, resisting authority and like a punk rocker could cared less about politics.
At 24 he founded Vice magazine, was a Hollywood writer (a bunch of un-produced pilots that he made a fortune on) an actor, comedian, cartoonist and founder of the Proud Boys. Proud Boys was a men's drinking club all you had to be was a man who liked beer no matter your race religion or sexual preference, just a dude who likes to hang and drink beer.
The one mistake he made was support a rich developer from Queens who was running for President. He was shunned by his musical and professional piers, demonized in the press, became a lightening rod for Nazi and racist smears. Early on he cut all ties with the The Proud Boys and politics.
He took his Get Off My Lawn show behind a pay wall Censored TV. He plays great music, drinks beer and tells hilarious stories. He is banned from everything mostly because he could care less. A man true to himself and funny as hell.
BANNED FROM EVERYTHING TECH
Laura has been an outspoken truth to power voice for years. Her in your face activism is loud and relentless. She used the power of a citizen journalist to cover her civil disobedient but peaceful confrontations. There is no evidence of her using violence or destruction of property. She has chained herself to fences, infiltrated events to ask questions and done confrontational ambush interviews.
Laura has been a peaceful general pain in the ass to elected officials and large tech corporations. She has been banned from all social media, video platforms, Uber, Lyft, PayPal, GoFundMe, Venmo and several banks.
She is a Jewish activist asking the unasked questions about Islam. This is one of the untouchable elephant in the room subjects that will get you banned if you ask a question or voice the wrong opinion.
Laura has made an unsuccessful attempt to run for congress in Florida. I assume her media ban seriously hindered her campaign.
She is a force of nature, voices like hers may be over the top but riots, violent protests, looting and burning cities is for some reason less offensive to social media then a loud strong woman. Agree with her or not she has the right to hold her opinions and ask the hard questions.
James O'Keefe
PROJECT VERITAS
I'm old enough to remember 60 Minutes when it was a real investigative program. Every program had a new secret camera and hidden microphone interview. We thought it was great to see corporate executives lie on tape and have it broadcast on network television. They won several awards for this style of reporting.
James O'Keefe has followed in these established footsteps but evidently has chosen the wrong targets. He has faced strong opposition, prosecution and law suits. Early on he pled out on a charge for financial reasons. Since then he has not backed down and won every case since then. Because of this he will be known as a convicted felon by every news outlet that opposes him.
Lately he and his staff have been handcuffed in a predawn raid on his home and offices. His computers, phones and files were seized with an FBI no knock warrant to search for President Biden's daughter's diary. Lawyer privileged files, confidential sources and whistle blower identities were also seised.
He has been banned by media platforms, ignored by other media and if they must cover his story they go after the investigator not the party that was caught in a lie or a crime.
He isn't going anywhere soon because I think he still has that same spark he had in the beginning to speak truth to power. The only difference he is much wiser and resourceful.
Milo Yiannopoulos
OUTRAGOUS OUTSPOKEN GENIOUS
Milo was one of the first on social media to confront the woke mob. Game developers were their target early on and Milo was in the thick of it. Later he ventured into politics as a supporter of President Trump which turned up the flames on the attempts to destroy him. He never backed down and through his antics cleverly exposed the hypocrisy of the left and the media.
He is an outrageous gay man with a handsome black partner. The thing that impressed me was the depth of his intellect. He is well read, well spoken and a skilled communicator. His whit and debate skills embarrassed them so they were left with only smears and silencing. The Berkley riots to block his speech made him a national figure.
Milo has been totally silenced on all platforms. Through a coordinated campaign to destroy him he has become as toxic as David Duke. He is by no means a racist but that is the club they beat people with while they claim they are protecting the first amendment. I wonder if it is the same club they use on baby seals while they condemn others for not supporting PETA. I have lost track of Milo, I guess everyone has their limits
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You have the right to know was the driving philosophy of the citizen journalist as the new bloggers came on line. They had new research resources and the ability to publish available that had been the exclusive domain of traditional news media. Because they could research and were everywhere, politicians and media anchors were caught in lies and embarrassed because now the average citizen had a voice with a following.
In the early internet days the truth was a matter of honor because the bloggers policed each other. People were hungry for the truth and loved that the idealistic Davids were finally pulling down Goliaths loin cloth.
All good things come to an end. Popularity, power and money corrupted a few. The established media fought back by belittling the citizen journalist and attempted to discredit the legitimacy of their reporting. Mostly it was the elite frowning on the idea that the unwashed surfs finally had a voice.
Social media came on line, high speed internet, laptops and cell phones. Soon instead of calling a place you called a person. Email replaced phone calls and then came texting and Twitter. Finally video streamed fast enough to create Youtube, Snapchat and etc. Then it all went portable when everything was packed into a pocket size smart phone.
I stay out of the social media world mainly because it is social. I may need to be more social but having a thousand friends I have never met makes no sense to me.
After the past twenty years many have tried to silence these rebels. These rebels had created a powerful tool to inform the masses. At the same time the elite class realized the power of social media to manipulate the masses.
They have stopped engaging in debate maybe because they aren't very good at it, so to counter this they have focused on eliminating or discrediting the information used to have a debate. They need to smear, discredit, silence or censor all opposing voices. America is built on open and reasoned debate among literate well informed citizens.
The attempts to do this have been in the background but today they are saying it out loud. I have heard a few slips or trial balloons over the past ten years for a need to create an agency to monitor the internet. Fact checking sites have become so common. Every so called fact checker can declare anything to be true or false depending on their bias, they are such a joke.
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THE CITIZEN JOURNALIST
With the invention of the smart phone the average citizen has a camera and an internet connection right at his finger tips. The ability to document any event and post it for the world to see is as powerful as CNN in the 90's. CNN had satellite trucks, film crews and reporters in position throughout the world to bring the latest breaking news from around the world.
The addition of millions of new voices from around the world has replaced them. In addition the citizen journalist can bypass the control of editors. Editors are good and bad because they are or once were held to ethical standards. They are bad because they can control the narrative by screening and shaping the information we are exposed to and hiding the news we have the right to know. These citizen journalists now have new editors, us.
They can't control the information gathering so they are attempting to control the ability to post. It was bad when the social media began to screen, texts and email are now investigated by law enforcement and now a government agency is poised to control by force, prosecution and imprisonment.
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Banning, blocking, hiding, shadow banning and unsubscribing. Redirecting to different search results, disabling code, throttling servers and bots are all part of the subtle sometimes secret tools of censorship.
Silencing opposition and shaping the narrative is nothing new but with the new technology it has risen to a new level. Today there is no denying that this is happening. What is new is they try to sell it as freedom or protection from what they define as misinformation.
They are saving us from being triggered and misled. They sight an imaginable deranged "crazy" may be triggered. They warn us with exposure to the wrong ideas they will turn into terrorists. If that is the standard they are creating an army of violent anti police anarchists.
Their new definition of "hate speech" is defined as speech they hate. The freedom of speech is now the freedom from speech you don't like. Just ask a college student but make sure it is in a "free speech zone".
Along came social media and everyones feelings meter got turned up to 11. People are triggered by a simple hello, a compliment or act of respect. I have been cussed out for opening a door, smiling at a stranger and referring to the father of a woman’s four children as her husband. It is a mine field out there for this small town boy.
Now add the woke mob, gender pronouns, political correctness, a different political opinion, a passion for the combustion engine, eating red meat, displaying or respecting the flag, praying in public, living in the wrong state or having the wrong lineage.
Combining all of the stoked up racial unrest, class warfare, political division, victimhood and the control of the power of this new technology we may not have a chance.
The Department of Homeland Security
Bureau of Disinformation Chief
*UPDATE*
Due to public pressure (bad poll numbers) May 18, 2022 she resigned and the program was "paused" but stay tuned they will regroup and try again. It isn't that they think it was a bad idea, it's because they were exposed.
October 26, 2022 update The plot continues...
Now we have a new player and this one has the power of a giant bureaucracy with badges and guns. Will there be warrantless 6 AM no knock raids? IRS audits? Suspension of travel? Invasions of our privacy? Tracking? Confiscation of assets? Imprisonment without trials?
The DHS Disinformation Board has an ominous ring. I am personally shocked that any American on the right or left thinks this is a good idea. I understand that some politicians will want this power to control messaging, but this is just wrong.
The oath they swear to defend our freedom is such a joke now. How can they say this with a straight face? Oh yeah that's right they are politicians. The average voter wants free speech it is not a party issue but unfortunately the parties don't seem to care. Where is the outrage? Where are the strong voices?
They feel many citizens are easily manipulated. Many are but if we focus on teaching civics, history and critical thinking we may vaccinate the citizens exposed to disinformation. I know they like vaccines.
There is truth and spin on every media source, after all they are human. No one tells all lies and no one tells all truth. Infowars, The New York Times, Fox News, MSNBC, CNN, NewsMax and so on, all have a bias. Sorting out or discerning what is true and what is not true is our job not some government Bureaucrat. We have the right to see everything.
Who knows, this silly blog could one day soon be taken down if the DHS decides to search its contents and find an unsanctioned opinion. I may have crossed a line that keeps moving even though I'm not a partisan. I focus on broad underlying principles not political opinion, people or events. However those fundamental principles this great country was founded on may one day be declared hate speech or misinformation if it hasn't already.
I'm not a chicken little saying the sky is falling, I'm not much for declaring things are a dark conspiracy but when they say things out loud I can't ignore it.
What is next, the mention of Allah, Yahweh, Buda, Jesus or Gaia? Where will it stop? The one good thing is they are saying it out loud and now the remaining people who weren't paying attention are wide awake. I may have jumped the shark by shifting the focus of my bicycle blog to other issues but this is not the time to be silent.
Are we there yet?
