Big Tech At War: Act 1, Scene 1.

This years started with a bang, and so much for all the hopes about 2021 as a better year than 2020.

You already know all about the riots in Washington DC; I bet that most of you are following the political downfall and the legal actions against the perpetrators. It looks like we have the start of the first war campaign made by the big tech companies, using Parler as the intended target.

Now, this is interesting for many different issues. This post of mine is intended to set some points together; I already know that there will be more to come. For a summary of all the related facts, I suggest reading this article (LINK). It’s from CNN, so you can drop all the bias against right-wing sources.

The first thing to be considered is the role of the app stores. Whatever your business is, you have to go through Google Play or Apple Store. The whole concept of gatekeepers was already discussed many times in the last ten years, so I will pass. Bear in mind that any app, no matter how successful, could be dropped (or suspended) from these stores any day.

BRITISH AIRSHIP PILOTS IN THE FIRST WORLD WAR (Q 67698) A British airman dropping a bomb. Copyright: © IWM. Original Source: http://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/205314988

The reaction of the Parler users has been defiant. You block the app? No problem, I will go thru a browser. Several tech-savvy posts about how to keep on your phone the Parler app are available, so a simple search will show you what to do. A word of warning, I haven’t tried any of such solutions (I’m not a Parler user), so be considered.

The second act of this little dirty war came later, with the decision from Amazon to zone out the Parler site from their AWS hosting service. For those who still don’t know, Amazon controls a huge share of the hosting market. They give a week’s notice, just the time needed for the news to circulate worldwide. So we have Google, Apple, and Amazon on the same side. Wow, it looks like overkill to me.

If you put yourself on the Parler side, business speaking, this is huge. The big players in the market just kick you out of the field, with many the media scene doing a standing ovation. I’ve lost count of the related posts on social media, not to mention hashtags and such. The message is quite clear: step out of the lines, you will be burned to the ground.

Now, I cannot predict the future. I know for sure many people will move to Parler and leave Twitter and Facebook for good. I also know a bigger number of good guys and gals who are ready to call for judiciary actions against Parler because it is “on the wrong side.” What I see here is another kind of polarization, with more fuel pumped on a fire that shows no signs of calming down.

Finally, we get another landmark. January 2021 will be marked as the start of internet-related corporate wars. Sorry, I’m not happy about that.

White noise – a media story

One of the definitions of “white noise”, according to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, could be “meaningless or distracting commotion, hubbub, or chatter“. The point of this post is to apply such a definition to mainstream media, using the riots in Washington DC as an example.

The starting point is the basic facts; thousands of people, namely Trump supporters, started a public protest outside the main buildings of Capitol Hill. A few hundred of them entered the premises and clash with the local security, forcing the interruption of political activities and causing some damages. The intervention of the Washington DC Police Department, National Guard, and others prevented further problems and the crowd dispersed. There were five casualties, a number of minor injuries, and a score of arrests.

When facts like that happen, the first duty of the mainstream media is to report what’s going on, giving all the available details to the public, in order to provide their audience the meaning to understand the situation. Later, the same media may perform every kind of analysis and/or commentary. In an ideal world, the mainstream media should be impartial and employ the best experts available in the specific matter. We all know that it just didn’t happen. Not in the US, not elsewhere.

A riot in the US federal capital, right in the very heart of the greatest democracy in the world, should be a very delicate subject, a matter so important to cause great attention and the biggest caution to handle. People in the media industry should be aware of this. Maybe they are. What we get, since the first news flash on the subject, is nothing but a frenzy – a headless run to affirm a political message before everything else. While I can understand the emotional burst, not to mention the outrage, I still think that professionals should be professionals, no matter the circumstances.

The biggest US all-news network, followed by all their Western counterparts, started with a barrage of political considerations while the whole situation was still to be assessed, in the same moments when officers and aides did their best to secure the safety of all personnel inside the Capitol buildings. With all evidence, it was more important to deliver the message well before understanding the facts. As seen from abroad, it was a sad show. At the same time, it was a great display of incompetence.

How an ordinary Joe like me could ever trust such media? What alternatives are available to a common man to understand what’s going on? Please, do not mention social media. And again, do not come to my door with the “X network is better than the Y rivals” idea. The aforementioned “white noise” becomes so dominant to suppress the few that are trying to do their job properly and I’m getting sicker every time I try to make sense of what they’re saying.

The Milkshake Theory

Nowadays the politic dissent literally flies. Until it splashes in a cloud of flavored milk, for the amusement of the bystanders and for the generation of a wave of memes in the social media arena. Throw a milkshake against a politician, and you will get yourself in the news, not a little result for a minimal investment in a nearby cafeteria. Even if the splashed politician will sue you, it’s likely that you’ll get a free pass from the judge (or a little fine).

What If Trump Goes To War

(Official White House Photo by Tia Dufour)

At the end of his first mandate as POTUS [1] Donald Trump is shifting gears in the foreign policy of the USA, playing hardball on four different tables.

Stranded In A Dark Sea

All right, I’ll bite the bullet. Again. This post is about the current drama of the “Sea Watch 3”, with its payload of 47 migrants from Africa and the struggle with the Italian government. It will take a while, so get yourself comfortable.

The Churchill Quote On Democracy

Every time a democratic kind of government comes under discussion, sooner or later somebody will pick up a famous quote of the late Winston Churchill on the subject.

‘Many forms of Government have been tried, and will be tried in this world of sin and woe. No one pretends that democracy is perfect or all-wise. Indeed it has been said that democracy is the worst form of Government except for all those other forms that have been tried from time to time.…’

Winston S. Churchill, 11 November 1947 (*)

This is a perfect show-stopper. It’s a strong argument; it comes from a famous historical character, it also has that kind of British humor that always hit the spot. The real question here is: can we put democracy under a real debate?

Five reasons to say NO to the Global Compact for Migration

A few days from now (10-11 December 2018) will be held in Marrakesh (Morocco) a United Nations conference for the adoption of the Global Compact for Migration (from now on, GCM).  This will be the end of a long journey for GCM, and a very important step in the fulfilling of the  New York Declaration for Refugees and Migrants.

As previously stated in the title of this post, I’m all against this agreement. I’m also fully aware of the growing problem of forced migration all around the world, not to mention the growth of a number of endogen factors that will likely cause more migration in the near future.  To state the obvious, I’m not some kind of racist nutcase.

I’ve spent a bit of time reading the full GCM text, available here courtesy of the UN. Well, it’s not what the mainstream media are trying to sell.

The Chuck Wendig Case

The news about Chuck Wendig and the end of his work relationship with Marvel have been making the rounds in the social media in the last few days; if you don’t know what’s going on, then please refer here for the public statement by Wendig. By now, I haven’t found any statement available online about this matter from Marvel.

In a nutshell, Marvel decided to fire Wendig for reasons unrelated to his projects and without any prior litigation between the firm and the author. According to Wendig, that happened for his political activism on the social media. It looks like that Marvel evaluated all the adverse reactions about this activism as a serious marketing problem for its products and acted by consequence.

12 Years To Change Everything

This is for all the fuss about climate change. It will not be pretty, but the situation is dire enough to authorize a bit of extra effort.

Dear Left-wing Leaders, we need to talk

Dear Leaders,

We really need to talk for a moment. You see, I’m just a common man but it looks like that I’m more in contact with reality than any of you. I’m also willing to confess that I do not support any of your kind, that after many years of voting and a few stints as a local representative.

Maybe I’m wrong, or naive, or both. I remember that left-wing parties were used to work for the better of our nation, that their leaders were ready and willing to discuss their strategies and accept some input from the lower ranks. I also remember that the voices of dissent were tolerated and often respected. Being in a left-wing party was something that makes you feel like you were apart of something bigger, a positive force in the society.