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Goodbye to the Internet: Interference by Governments Is Already Here

March 22, 2019

Goodbye to the Internet: Interference by Governments Is Already Here

Goodbye to the Internet: Interference by Governments Is Already Here

There is a saying attributed to the French banker Nathan Rothschild that “Give me control of a nation’s money and I care not who makes its laws.” Conservative opinion in the United States has long suspected that Rothschild was right and there have been frequent calls to audit the Federal Reserve Bank based on the presumption that it has not always acted in support of the actual interests of the American people. That such an assessment is almost certainly correct might be presumed based on the 2008 economic crash in which the government bailed out the banks, which had through their malfeasance caused the disaster, and left individual Americans who had lost everything to face the consequences.

Be that as it may, if there were a modern version of the Rothschild comment it might go something like this: “Give me control of the internet and no one will ever more know what is true.” The internet, which was originally conceived of as a platform for the free interchange of information and opinions, is instead inexorably becoming a managed medium that is increasingly controlled by corporate and government interests. Those interests are in no way answerable to the vast majority of the consumers who actually use the sites in a reasonable and non-threatening fashion to communicate and share different points of view.

The United States Congress started the regulation ball rolling when it summoned the chief executives of the leading social media sites in the wake of the 2016 election. It sought explanations regarding why and how the Russians had allegedly been able to interfere in the election through the use of fraudulent accounts to spread information that might have influenced some voters.

 …click on the above link to read the rest of the article…

EU Preparing To Unleash First-Ever Regulations Targeting Search Engines

March 15, 2018

EU Preparing To Unleash First-Ever Regulations Targeting Search Engines

Roughly nine months after Google’s parent company Alphabet was slapped with a 2.4 billion euro fine for “abusing its dominance in search,” Brussels bureaucrats are reportedly preparing to take things a step further and unleash Europe-wide regulations for search engines and other online platforms and apps. According to the Financial Times, which broke the story, the regulations are meant to protect companies that rely on Google, Apple or Amazon to sell their services or products.

European policymakers have been exploring ways to target “harmful” trade practices as many small firms in the region have complained that tech behemoths like Google have skewed search results to favor its own services over the services of its competitors. The issue has so far been left for members states to deal with. Of the largest European states, France has distinguished itself as among the most aggressive in trying to push back against the US-domiciled tech giants and their allegedly anti-competitive tendencies.

The regulations are also notable in that they represent the most stringent rules governing search engines’ behavior by a developed Western power.

Case in point: Earlier today, the French government warned that it could take legal action against Google and Apple over their “abusive” business practices.

“I believe in an economy based on justice and I will take Google and Apple before the Paris Commercial Court for abusive business practices” against French start-ups, said French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire on a local radio program.

“I consider that Google and Apple, as powerful as they are, shouldn’t treat our start-ups and our developers in the way they do today,” said Le Maire, calling the situation “unacceptable”.

The news didn’t have much of an impact on shares of Google, Apple or their megacap-tech brethren.

…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…

Regulated out of Existence: Off-Gridders Forced back on the Grid, Camping on own land Illegal

September 28, 2015

Regulated out of Existence: Off-Gridders Forced back on the Grid, Camping on own land Illegal

It’s something we’ve reported on many times in the past – government agencies trying to regulate Off-Grid living out of existence. Throughout the country, local zoning officials have made it impossible for people to go off the grid, in many cases even threatening them with jail time for not hooking into local utilities.

Because of zoning laws that target the off-grid lifestyle, many off-gridders have moved to areas in the Southwestern United States to escape overzealous zoning officials. But this week, off- gridders were dealt another blow in an area of the country that has become a magnet for people looking to live a more self-reliant lifestyle.

Is Costilla County, Colorado Banning Off-Grid Living?

There is a battle brewing in Costilla County, Colorado

San Luis Valley, Colorado

During the last couple of years, Costilla County, Colorado has seen a huge influx in people moving into the San Luis Valley – must of who have moved there to live off the grid. A combination of cheap land, lax zoning regulations, and a community of self-reliant individuals has brought in a large number of off-grid homesteaders into the area. But that life-style is now being threatened as government officials move to make it illegal — something that is becoming a real problem for those who are looking to buy rural land.

Costilla County, Colorado Bans camping on your own Land; Zoning Officials attempt to make people hook back into the grid.

Costilla County

Last week tensions reached a boiling point, as a scheduled county commissioners’ meeting in San Louis, Colorado, turned into an ugly shouting match between sheriff deputies and off-grid homesteaders. The conflict comes as the county is attempting to ban camping, and force off-grid home owners back on to the grid.

Twenty-year resident Paul Skinner summed it up at the planning commission meeting, “We are residents who have come to live off the grid. It’s all our land.” … “These are harsh economic times. We have nowhere to go.”

…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…

‘We the People’ Need to Circle the Wagons: The Government Is on the Warpath

May 16, 2015

‘We the People’ Need to Circle the Wagons: The Government Is on the Warpath

“The government is merely a servant―merely a temporary servant; it cannot be its prerogative to determine what is right and what is wrong, and decide who is a patriot and who isn’t. Its function is to obey orders, not originate them.” ― Mark Twain

How many Americans have actually bothered to read the Constitution, let alone the first ten amendments to the Constitution, the Bill of Rights (a quick read at 462 words)?

Take a few minutes and read those words for yourself—rather than having some court or politician translate them for you—and you will be under no illusion about where to draw the line when it comes to speaking your mind, criticizing your government, defending what is yours, doing whatever you want on your own property, and keeping the government’s nose out of your private affairs.

In an age of overcriminalization, where the average citizen unknowingly commits three crimes a day, and even the most mundane activities such as fishing and gardening are regulated, government officials are constantly telling Americans what not to do. Yet it was not always this way. It used to be “we the people” telling the government what it could and could not do. Indeed, the three words used most frequently throughout the Bill of Rights in regards to the government are “no,” “not” and “nor.”

Compare the following list of “don’ts” the government is prohibited from doing with the growing list of abuses to which “we the people” are subjected on a daily basis, and you will find that we have reached a state of crisis wherein the government is routinely breaking the law and violating its contractual obligations.

…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…

 

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