A proposed new law would give the government the power to filter what Canadians see in their news feeds, on YouTube and on social media. It also could block the next Justin Bieber.
It’s worth remembering that the Canadian government is a duly elected one. It’s amazing how many “educated” people will knowingly vote away their freedom. Then again, us Americans would rather elect a walking corpse than Donald Trump. As they say, elections do have consequences. I hope saner voter minds one day prevail both here and in Canada.
You’re right Chris. The only problem is that this Bill will ensure that we Canadians only see what the liberal government wants us to see at the next election. For example, let’s say we have a good candidate on the other side ready to give the Canadian people their freedoms back (opposition leader of the Conservative Party - Pierre Poilievre says he will do this), during the next election…. If the current Liberal government (or the CRTC) declare the Conservative Party’s advertising as “inappropriate”, the Canadian public will not be allowed to view his messages and his bid for being elected as the next prime minister of Canada will fall short. Then the Liberals will win again. Justin Trudeau has often said: “China runs an efficient ship”.
Insanity at its best.
I’m old enough to remember the Diet Coke commercial of the penguins stepping up to the coke machine and asking what kind of drink they should have and the only options available were Diet Coke, Diet Coke, Diet Coke. THIS my friend is what they call a “democratic country” today. These are the choices that we are going to have at the next election. Trudeau, Trudeau or F**ck*ng Trudeau. Then these goddam government idiots will tell us “well…. You did have a choice to elect who you wanted to but you chose Trudeau. And the worst part is: the voters will believe them.
Two Legs good, Four Legs bad. Today in Canada: Four Legs Good, Two Legs bad. (George Orwell).
(?) You can't seriously think Poilievre is going to get a fair shake from Canada's legacy media. It isn't hysteria that funds the judgment that he won't, but legacy media's track record.
Maybe you should reread Sylvain's comment. It doesn't matter how good Mr. Poliviere is. If the Trudeau Administration or the CRTC decide Polivier or his campaign's advertising as inappropriate, Canadians won't get a chance to even view his message.
Which in my opinion is pretty damn scary, bordering on totalitarianism.
I never said he wasn't good. I said that this new Bill will prevent "us" to "hear him". open your eyes. you don't have a choice.
and for all we know... Maybe Poilievre is a wolf wearing sheep's clothing.
Remember this: Power corrupts the moral and the judgement. Once a politician attains a position of power, he or she wants to use it.
I really hope Poilievre wins. Don't be naïve to think he'll be different then the other prime ministers before him. He's just a "better" option than TURDEAU and SING.
Never forget that human rights NGO like Amnesty International sided with Trudeau against the trucker protest. They said nothing about covid lockdowns and mandates, nor these censorship issues. These are failed captured institutions that no longer deserve our respect or donations: https://yuribezmenov.substack.com/p/how-to-control-your-souls-desire
If the GOP had active NAZIs in congress, we would all be outraged and rightly so. The Dem/Soc Party has active socialists in congress. Historians define Marx, Engels, Lenin and Mao as socialist. These men killed more of their own people than Hitler did in all of his death camps. It is estimated that the communists killed about 90 million people in the 20th century.
Where is the outrage against the Dem/Soc for accepting socialist into their party? None! All I hear is crickets from the left and their pals in the press.
And did you vote for the only overt dictatorship lover I know? Trump. The same man who carried out the most socialist act of the last few decades. The tax break to the rich.
As a Canadian I find your comparison of Biden and the dems to communist autocrats amusing. Biden is center right in most other countries, including my own. Most democrats in the Senate are corporate democrats. They’re about as far from a communist as Trump is to an honest man.
Amnesty International in Canada went full on woke. A board member was kicked off for something along the lines of misgendering or pronouns.
I was a very active member in the past and several friends served on the elected board of AI Canada. None of us support Amnesty International anymore. Instead we support small locally based human rights organizations around the world.
This is the way. The American board members are some of the worst people I’ve ever met. No morals or principles, just there to virtue signal. Investigations found that amnesty has a toxic work environment that led to several staff suicides.
There is now a half-assed investigation into Chinese government meddling in the last federal election. Obviously, the Libs want to bury it because they got at least 8 extra seats as a result. But they've been forced to appoint someone who will decide whether or not a judicial inquiry is necessary. And the man just happens to be an old family friend of the Trudeaus.
The last judicial inquiry, into the necessity of imposing the Emergencies Act to end the trucker protest, was led by Justin's uncle, appointed by Justin. We have become a dictatorship with banana republic level of corruption, and Justin still has almost the same level of support that got him into office last time - about 30%.
Trudeau also has the support of the NDP and the Greens. This is what is keeping him in power. In Canada a Member of Parliament is guaranteed a lucrative lifetime pension if he is a member for 6 years.
This support guarantees the legislation will pass. Justin and Jagmeet are both enthusiastic social engineers: the conviction that they should control the development of culture to everybody's benefit comes naturally to them, as does the corollary that managing and moderating information flow, to ensure this beneficent power remains in the right hands, is vital.
This is also why a dissenting outfit like Rebel News will never qualify as a 'real news organization,' as far as they're concerned. Anybody not onside with the project is a source of 'misinformation,' possibly even un-Canadian. Reliably pro-government outlets like CBC and the Toronto Star, themselves staffed by would-be social engineers masquerading as journalists, will of course qualify for accreditation and financial support and reinforce The Narrative. Dissenters who slip through the cracks sufficiently to be heard at all will be instantly demonized, and we don't have to rebut the arguments of demons. The trap is perfect.
Totalitarian nightmare? Not for Justin and Jagmeet: for them this is a Utopian vision.
As shitty as the proposed law is, no law was needed in the US. The Feds did it anyway on the sly, see Twitter files. The left with power is China waiting to happen.
I know I'm painting with a very broad brush. Still, if you have conservative values, the left political party does not want you. It is not your political home.
Justin Trudeau is the "woke" equivalent of Donald Trump. A celebrity elected on the basis of his name recognition, with no experience of government, no idea how to steer a G7 nation, with women grabbing in his background, past racist actions (blackface...that one's got Trump great), no regard for the truth, and, basically, no idea what he's doing.
The walking corpse has generated record inflation; almost record interest rates; bank runs; rampant crime; seriously damaged youth and parents who seek to defend them branded as domestic terrorists, weaponization of an array of federal agencies including the FBI, the DoJ, and now the IRS (that we know of); an incompetent Department of Transportation; ditto Education and Energy; and an open border generating human trafficking and drug trsfficking on a previously unseen scale, with a pretty astronomical bidy count of both foreign and domestic. Add to that disastrous withdrawal from Afghanistan, a disastrous proxy war in Ukraine, generating a Russia/China alliance and other nations signaling approval thereof, not to mention tactical nukes on NATO's borders. I could go on.
Personally I do not think a corpse could accomplish all of that.
Maybe Joe's a zombie, not a corpse. Zombies stay pretty busy.
I agree with some of your criticism, reject the rest, and in any case am not going to waste your time or mine debating it. Trump v Biden has been analyzed more than Coke v Pepsi, and I can't add anything new. Suffice it to say that if you want Trump back in the Oval Office, you might have to stage a jailbreak from Sing-Sing, given today's indictment.
Yes, I can. But I won't. The Trump vs. Biden prize fight has gone ten million rounds on The Free Press. Every possible issue has been raised, debated, examined, and burned to ash, minds are made up, and so I won't waste my time or yours arguing.
"The Free press?" is in the tank for the left. Bob Woodward asked why the Wash post never asked him why the Russia collusion lie was a lie. WashPo and NYT ran with the lie and they ran with the Hunter laptop lie.
So I can't accept your, "The Trump vs. Biden prize fight has gone ten million rounds on The Free Press." It upsets me that the press which is supposed to hold the power players' feet to the fire but instead gives the left a hard pass. Historically the press has always been this way. I wish we did have an honest press but we don't.
I suspect you misread me, Lonesome. I was referring to Bari's "The Free Press," formerly "Common Sense," not the press in general. I liked Common Sense better.
It was not a command but rather a factual observation. Anyone who chose Biden in 2020 chose appearance, and a faux one at that, over substance. Thanks.
The Conservative Party had the most votes in the last two elections. The Liberal Party is a minority government propped up by the NDP. Basically it is Western Canada against Eastern Canada and the cities. Trudeau could win despite being such a train wreck.
The latest NBC poll claims that 45% of registered voters approve of Biden’s job performance. Given the incompetence of America’s MSM I am curious as to what percent of the 45% are aware that America has an open southern border and how they manage to be in denial about the hyperinflation caused by Biden’s Climate Alarmist policies.
The 45% approval for Biden’s job performance would be unbelievable but for the fact America is very tribal.
It wouldn't surprise me to find that their poll was largely conducted in blue cities - either by preference or by residue when most of the potential red region pollees hang up when the hear it's NBC on the line.
"Approval of President Joe Biden has slightly slipped, nearing an all-time low for the president as his administration continues to face tough economic conditions, according to a new Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research poll.
Only 38% of people surveyed said they approved of Biden, 7 percentage points lower than his February approval rating and hovering just above Biden’s lowest rating of 36% last July, the poll finds. However, the dip in approval follows the modest fluctuations for Biden over the past few months – 45% in February and 41% in January."
Point taken. If you believe our current (awful, dysfunctional, woke, pick an adjective) state of affairs is better than if Trump had been re-elected, then your conscience is clear. Trump sucks and is an awful person, but in my opinion the world would be a far better place if he had been reelected. Things that would be different, imho: less inflation, cheaper energy, no Putin in Ukraine. I could go on. Reasonable people voted for trump or Biden for a variety of reasons. We all have to live with the consequences
What was reasonable about voting for Biden? The obvious cognitive impairment was reason enough not to have voted for him. But in addition he is a corrupt liar with no accomplishments who had been wrong on every foreign policy issue in the previous 40 years.
He began his campaign with The Charlottesville Lie about Trump.
People voted for Biden because of tribalism, Trump derangement and because the Trump-deranged MSM supported Biden. I would not describe people who voted for Biden as reasonable.
I don’t like Trump, but the choice between him and Biden was a No Brainer.
And let's not ignore Kamala Harris, she who laughs like a hyena at inappropriate times and makes the most perfectly awful decisions at all times.
She's one heartbeat away from the presidency and that is why we all pray daily that Biden remain... if not awake and alert, at least some semblance thereof... for about 20 more months!!!
Hm, not sure about that. Her decisionmaking as Calif. A.G., as Senator, and as VP has been uniformly terrible.
Some people just are born with poor judgement, and perhaps because of life circumstances they never learn to have good judgement. Pampered and coddled souls like Harris are an example of the latter.
As President, she would be awful, worse than nothing, a threat to stability. Biden is already the laughingstock of the world; Harris would be the laughingstock on steroids.
I fear for my country that would put these scum in high office. Trump was provocative, divisive, and a bit crazy, perhaps, but he actually worked hard and did a pretty decent job despite his big mouth. In an earlier era, he might have been compared to Teddy Roosevelt, who was considered at the time to be a lunatic, yet turned out to be competent and popular.
I've said this many times: point me to a world leader or high level politician who is not a "megalomaniacal, vicious, lying bully".
They're almost all narcissists, liars, and bullies. Comes with the territory.
The difference with Trump is that he doesn't hide it behind a pretty face and silver tongue. He wears his personality on his sleeve and drives the political class crazy. They are all liars and thieves, but he refuses to play by their rules.
You're right. He is no more disgusting as other politicians. He is honest on what he's planning to do as president - build a wall, make NATO pay their fair share, negotiate a better NAFTA treaty, take a tougher stand against China. And of course not take a bribe from China, like the ever senile zombie that is in the W.H. now.
RT common sense tells me that you are again suffering from anti-Trumpism which is your right. However, until I see the evidence that you are a credentialed therapist, that you have had Trump in therapy, that you have engaged in dialogue with those Ignorant" Americans as to why they voted for him, this is just another opinion based on your own bias
And what kingdom are you referring to? Certainly not the same one expressed in the Lord's Prayer
According to your observations, Biden "represents more stability" but certainly not when getting on a plane.
What evidence do you have that Trump "would not leave office"? He already did, once. What makes you think he would not leave office if elected a second time?
Your statement: "Then again, us Americans would rather elect a walking corpse than Donald Trump" is true. You have no need to apologize. We in fact elected a walking corpse instead of Trump. At least, that's the result from the counted ballots. And if the walking corpse stops walking, then we have the vapid cackler of the Identity wing of the Democrats. To paraphrase the late, great, Oliver Hardy: "Here's another fine mess we've gotten ourselves into."
Any president has the right, ideed, the obligation to demand the loyalty to the office and individual who is the authorized chief executive office of the United States. After all, it is the president that sets policy, not "the agency consensus".
Your view is that Trump was an illegitimate holder of that office...You who thinks it criminal to question the legitimacy of an election even though you were hyperbolicly angry that Hillary could lose the election that the New York Times and Washington post told you she would win by a double-digit margin.
Sorry, your mewlings become more pathetic with every post....
Bill C-11, Mohan explained, would mean “that when viewers come to the YouTube homepage, they’re served content that a Canadian Government regulator has prioritized, rather than content they are interested in.”
A nation that votes to tyrannize itself is not worthy of discussion.
Canadians have installed a fool to rule themselves and, given the chance to rid themselves of him, demurred.
We're as dumb as they are. Biden is a 10am-3pm memory unit patient, periodically revived from his stupor to stumble through a teleprompter while his nervous handlers watch and hope he doesn't deviate from the script.
Trudeau was elected despite losing the popular vote in the last two elections and is currently 6% points back of Poilievre in the polls, so please don't write Canada off quite yet.
I actually had the great pleasure of meeting and speaking with Brian Mulroney several times. The contrast with the current fool could not be greater. You voted for a great leader before and can do so again. So I haven't written off Canada.
I appreciate your optimism. Sounds like you’re not living here, though...? With JT & his besty Jagmeet Singh (his it’s-not-a-coalition partner) promising to keep everyone safe, it’s hard to see the light at the end of this tunnel.
No, I'm not. But spending a large amount of time in New York City shouldn't make me very optimistic about the States, either. A complete lunatic asylum.
Fun facts: under the Mulroney government the Acid Rain Agreement was signed with the USA; the Montreal Protocol to protect the ozone layer was enacted; and Haida Gwaii was protected.
While I fought against Free Trade and NAFTA I thank the conservative governments for all the environmental protection.
not going to happen and to think I gave Trudeau Sr a lift home in 75 or 76 during a huge snow storm , a little accident could have spared Kanada from Jr
"We get the government we deserve" is one way people look at this. But the problem with what you're saying, Bruce, is that it makes U.S. not worthy of discussion either.
To be fair, I think many Biden voters were fooled into the idea that he was a moderate. A couple of good conservative friends of mine thought just that. Clearly that has turned out not to be the case.
What I find to be truly astounding is that so many individuals who are ardently against government censorship perpetuated by the political left in cahoots with Big Tech seem to have no problem demanding that the American government trample all over the First Amendment and ban TikTok.
This particular article and the excellent work that Matt Taibbi has done reporting on the Twitter Files and defending the First Amendment against government censorship and overreach in the name of supposedly combating misinformation suggests that Americans suffer from a certain degree of cognitive dissonance. Our clarity when it comes to free speech and our pushback against the notion that the government should paternalistically decide for us what content we can or can't consume seem to go out the window the moment it comes to an app that happens to be based in China.
I’m very curious what Bari’s position is on a possible ban of TikTok. The Free Press published an article a while back arguing for such a ban. My impression is that most of the readers here would be in favor of a ban as well. This seems totally contradictory to and inconsistent with the philosophical viewpoint of The Free Press and its readership on virtually every other free speech issue non-China related.
Despite the anti-woke community rightfully highlighting the dangers to free speech posed by the political left in this country, I find it ironic that progressives like AOC and Jaamal Bowman are the ones coming out to defend TikTok against a ban in part on First Amendment grounds, although to be fair Republican Senator Rand Paul recently did the same as well. Meanwhile staunchly anti-woke conservatives like Josh Hawley or Ron DeSantis who’ve railed for years against the dangers of woke censorship can’t seem to wait to step all over the First Amendment by pushing for a ban of TikTok.
Threats to free speech seem to abound from all sources. Each day we seem to be moving a step closer towards authoritarianism and becoming the very thing that we claim to despise the most. The biggest irony? TikTok is actually also banned in China. The Chinese version is called Douyin.
To the extent that TikTok is controlled by, or responsible to, the CCP, it is entirely appropriate for the US government to require all government agencies, employees, and contractors to remove it from any device that comes into contact with government networks. It would also be appropriate that the government require apps to be transparent with whom they share/sell the data they collect, including whether it is the US govt or the CCP.
If people are stupid enough to voluntarily share their, and their kids' personal info with the Red Chinese, that is their business, but the government should draw a clear line.
Let us not forget that AOC Bowman and rest of the Squadron were all on board for Twitter working w the govt to squelch free speech and also constantly look to shut down Fox. And the current and former WH press secretaries refuse to answer simple straightforward questions on this and many other topics. I wonder what the Squadrons stance vis a vis CCP is.
I think the Tik Tok situation is a little different.
First, the CCP has at least an indirect control of it. In fact, 1 of its board members is a CCP official.
Second, the data that it collects is sent to China.
Now, why would that matter you ask and what the heck could the CCP do with that that makes any difference?
Well, as someone who has worked in what amounts to as big data, both in the commercial space and for the federal government for 30 yrs, I can tell you that there is a LOT that can be done if you have nefarious intent.
First, right off the top of my head, I would use it to influence the thinking of people via what I feed them. I would have neuroscientists, behavioral economists, psychologists etc on staff. (BTW....a lot of major companies and government agencies DO have these folks on staff) With something like Tik Tok, I can build a profile of each individual user and feed them content targeted to influence them specifically. I would have a profile of what they respond to, learn what gets them excited, angry or thrilled and I would stream to them content that assists in pushing their thinking in the direction I want. I would do it subtly over time so that it is not obvious. I would mix innocuous content in. So, for example, if my goal was to create discord between the races, I would identify an individual users race, either via interpreting what they watch and like and who they share with or because I got that data from asking or some other source. Then, I would feed people of different races different content that helps create dislike and distrust of other races. For example, I could feed a young black man clips of white people making infuriating or racist remarks that run counter to my beliefs. I could feed a white middle class mother images of young black men acting crudely toward white women. That is the high level idea but you would do it far more subtly, pushing more overt and extreme content over time. But I would work with the analysis of the experts I mentioned to best understand what to feed you, how fast to feed it and when to do it.
The point is that I can use content and psychology to move populations at the granular level in directions that suit my political, economic or geopolitical interests. Heck, my goal could be as simple as creating social and political discord that essentially paralyzes the national leadership and makes it unable to respond to whatever act I might take.
Second, once I have a full profile of an individual, I know who they are, where they live, what they do for a living, what porn they watch, how they spend their money, if they likely cheat on their spouse, I can target them directly for blackmail. All kinds of data about us is available for sale or exposed to hacking. You might remember that the Chinese hacked the Office of Personnel Management about 10 yrs ago and downloaded information about every federal employee and contractor and their families. Well, let me give you an example of how that might be used.
So, 10 yrs ago Jane was a GS12 at CIA. There is no record that she has changed jobs but we can assume that she is very likely a GS14 or GS15 now. Jane studied Russian history in college and she speaks fluent Russian and Ukrainian. Her OPM profile says that her father was born in Kiev, which very likely means she has family there. In fact, we know that her father, who now lives with her, emails his cousin in Kiev regularly. We know she lives in Northern VA based on DMV records we got or from her name popping up in the records for the Mercedes warranty repair system. In fact, we have her home address and we have been able to determine her home IP address from hacking Comcast. From there, we got her cell phone data because she puts her personal cell phone on her home wifi. From analysis of her text and phone history and based on the psychological profile we have, we think that she is having an affair and we are 90% confident that it is with her best friends husband. We analyze what she watches, responds to, and likes on Tik Tok and we continually refine our psychological profile of her. Based on her background we assume she works the Russian desk at CIA and is likely at senior GS. Given where she lives, she probably works at Langley or one of the remote sites in NOVA.
Jane is now a prime target for approaching with blackmail by Russian agents. We could extort her by threatening her family in Kiev or with exposing her affair. We can look deeper to see if she has financial issues. She lives in NOVA, a very expensive place, she drives a Benz, she very well might be suffering financially on a GS salary and taking care of her elderly father. In short, we have a target and we have buttons to push.
Data is GOLD. Information is data in context. Actionable information is that which can be applied to achieve an end.
The use of data and information, how we put it in context, how, when and where we present it, is very very powerful.
BTW.....the next generation of all these technologies are going to skip a lot of the indirect influence and go right to directly accessing and controlling your mind. The technology is basically already there and getting better. You can thank university neuroscientists for those breakthroughs. Already looking to apply the tech to things like headsets for gaming consoles etc. The Chinese have been working on that for years. That, among other things, is why they have been so focused on accessing our research universities. Scoff if you like, but you may remember that a WHOLE lot of those home monitoring cameras that accessed the internet, that came out of China, were actually feeding data back to China.
Christ, and now people want smart homes with every gadget from their thermostat to their refrigerator to be online. Good God, those refrigerators with the shopping lists? Now you are putting out that you are buying Soy Milk instead of whole milk, that you never buy butter or ice cream and so we now know that you or someone in your house is lactose intolerant.
Love this, absolutely on target. I fear that sooner rather than later we are going to get in such turmoil we will not be able to get ourselves out. Again, stunning expressed.
Thank you for a very enlightening response. We really MUST get Trudeau out of office before he destroys our Country. I am even now not recognizing it as it was.
this here is the reason I insist on a stupid home . Nothing smart in the house including me . Getting hard to find a stupid TV not that I watch it much . Take your Soma and follow the days instructions
Tic-toc is not being considered for banning because if it’s content, it’s being considered for banning because it is illegally spying on American citizens. Holy crap please understand the thing that you are talking about before you post. This is embarrassing.
There's no evidence that TikTok collects data above and beyond what other social media sites like Twitter or Facebook do. There's also no hard evidence that TikTok has actually shared data with the Chinese government to date. In fact, proponents of banning TikTok seem to be shifting away from the data privacy argument and arguing instead that the Chinese government might be able to algorithmically influence the app by leaning on ByteDance.
In any case, any sort of threat is mostly hypothetical at this point. I’d rather not throw away the First Amendment based on a hypothetical, but that’s just me. The problem is that once you go down this road, there's no going back. Do we just ban TikTok? What about other popular Chinese apps like CapCut, which ironically is also from ByteDance and which the Biden administration recently used to edit a video it released. What about Chinese e-commerce apps like Temu or Shein?
It’s a virtual certainty that once you grant the government this extraordinary power it’ll be used again in the future. You might not regret it now, but when an American administration that skews to the political left starts using this to crack down on conservative apps like Parlor or Truth Social in the name of national security, you will then. Anyone who’s been following the recent reporting on the Twitter Files shouldn’t find that possibility to be totally far-fetched.
While I take some of your points the emotional appeal is off-putting. And the we-should-not-throw-the-first-amendment-under-the-bus-based-on-hypotheticals followed by a long list of hypothetical results if it is done is disingenious. I think the TikTok pipeline to the Chinese government argument is valid. I watched young Mr. Chew's testimony last week. There were several deer in the headlights moments; all followed by a note and I'll get back to you.
Do you deny the Chinese government has the potential to control TikTok? Or do you think they have the control but will not do so? Why does the Chinese Government have a different TikTok policy for mainland China?
The Congressional hearings were kind of a joke from what I gathered. Even Americans were mocking how ill-formed most of Congress seemed to be with respect to their understanding of tech.
To be fair I didn't watch the entire 5 hours of testimony, but if you have any specific links to the testimony that contradicts what I said I'd be happy to watch that. Note that no one is claiming that there's a smoking gun that data was actually shared with the CCP. The arguments have all been along the lines of asserting that Chinese law would compel ByteDance to hand over data to the CCP if it so demanded. That's the definition of a hypothetical. You can't label someone a murderer unless they've actually killed someone.
"The app, which counts more than 150 million U.S. users each month but is owned by a China-based parent company, has faced growing scrutiny from government officials over fears that user data could fall into the possession of the Chinese government and the app could be weaponized by China to spread misinformation.
However, there is no evidence that TikTok has shared U.S. user data with the Chinese government or that the Chinese government has asked the app to do so, cybersecurity experts told ABC News.
Still, there's reason to believe that the Chinese government could compel the company to share data on U.S. users or manipulate content on the app to forward a pro-China agenda, considering the nation's authority over domestic companies and previous misleading statements made by TikTok on related issues, the experts added."
Like many Americans Jennifer you seem to be misinformed about the actual issues surrounding TikTok, but my purpose here isn't to judge or to condemn but rather to clarify. Political grandstanding by members of our government also hasn't helped the American population better understand the nuances of the TikTok issue.
"You can't label someone a murderer unless they have actually killed someone." Not exactly. You can't say someone is a murderer for killing Adam.until they kill Adam. At which point Adam's opinion is worthless. But you can say someone is a murderer who has killed before. You can also think that someone is likely to be a murderer based on past actions of violence/aggression,mental instability, or both. Lastly the murderer analogy mixes criminal law and civil law. Civil law is a much lower burden of proof.
To your point, I don't know that evidence is required to restrict access of a hostile foreign power to potential data within our nation. There's no "international court" where such evidence could be presented (that has the muscle to enforce any decisions it might make). Moreover, it's probably foolish to wait for such evidence.
Do you have kids? If so do you allow them on TikTok or social media? If yes, do you monitor and control what they consume? If no why? Is it because the government tells you you shouldn't? Or, is it because it's your child, and you don't think some random people on social media should teach your children different values than your own.
"kids prefer to listen to their peers as opposed to their parents". And THAT is the problem in it's nutshell. Judith Harris established this effect statistically in "The Nurture Assumption" back in the nineties. What the Internet has done is expanded the potential group of peers by orders of magnitude and made it next to impossible for parents to exercise any effective control over subselections therein.
As a parent you do have control , there was no tv in my house kids were taught to read and anything to do with computers was locked down tight , they only saw what was deemed appropriate for children . Lucky they turned out well . I f you are a parent learn about computers there are ways to lock down and monitor what they are doing
I'm 66. One of my parents, but especially my dad's sayings was, if so and so jumped off a bridge would you jump too. Well... I also lived in a small village where most of our parents would regularly tell us kids to go play chicken with the semi's on I 75. I have a daughter who has Down Syndrome, and I monitor everything on her phone. I also realize how susceptible she is to peer pressure. There's a fine line that we walk everyday about what's enough freedom, and smothering them. Something they said would bring about knowledge of the world turns out to enslave us. Dilemma indeed. I also have to remember how much the world has changed.
And our government is illegally spying on you. Did you know we have a FISA, Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court. That our countrys officials can go in front of a judge and seek a warrant to spy on everything you do? And to take it even further they have a three jump rule thereby allowing them to spy on people you know. It was never intended to spy on Americans. Foreign is the first letter of the acronym. But what is Foreign? Depends on who decides what the word means. Before calling someone else's post embarrassing, you should inform yourself on how the government is eroding your constitutional rights. The FISA courts reject .03 percent of all petitions.
You are right about the US ability to surveille domestically. And the FBIs deliberate misinformation in its application for the warrants which relied on the Steel Dossier makes a mockery of the warrant process. But that in no way means that the TikTok concerns are invalid or misplaced.
I'm not saying they are invalid or misplaced. I'm just saying beware of government bearing gifts. Have you looked at the bipartisan Restrict Act? If so what do you think? I know what I think, but I would like other people's interpretation of it.
Very true about the government bearing gifts. I have not looked at the text of the RA. I guess it is time. I think the Patriot Act has done a lot of damage to US citizenry.
I don't think there would be talk of banning TikTok if it was a Canadian company. The creators on TikTok are welcome to move over to another social media site and say the exact same things. The issue is a foreign adversarial country using our addiction to social media to spy on us and cause more division.
Glenn Greenwald is presenting the idea that the TIKTOK Bill is a possible backdoor to open the possibility of banning and restricting other platforms as well.
Like most of the readers of The Free Press, I happen to be a loyal American deeply concerned about government overreach and censorship, which is why I’m arguing against granting our government the ability to unilaterally determine what content we can and can’t consume. If I were a malign CCP official though bent on undermining the American way of life, I’d surely be beside myself at the brouhaha over TikTok in current American political discourse. Here we have an app featuring mostly dancing teens that the Chinese government most likely cares relatively little about in the grand scheme of things and which probably has limited espionage and propaganda value compared to the other sources of espionage and propaganda the Chinese government could engage in, but which unexpectedly Americans are now fighting among themselves to abandon their core values over due to the supposed threat this app poses.
The Chinese government couldn’t have asked for an easier or more unexpected geopolitical soft power win than Americans literally fighting among themselves to abandon foundational values like free speech that the CCP seems to despise.
For a country that seems to despise everything the Chinese political system stands for, we seem to want to become more like the Chinese with each passing day.
TikTok’s parent company is a Chinese company and they are at the mercy of the government. TikTok collects data on users. Everything on your phone is open yo them. I would never install this on my phone. People are just way too naive with their personal data.
It's crazy how that works. How dare you spy on our people! That's our job. And we're so transparent about that and the censorship we engaged in and farmed out to our ideological partners. Only found out because some billionaire we used to like snitched us out. I have no social media apps or accounts that's my choice. If someone else wants them that's their choice.
Look up the Restrict Act. It's a bi-partisan Trojan horse, that is being sold as an anti Tik Tok, and foreign influence bill. It gives our security state, not congress the authority to shut down anything that they consider foreign influence. You may say, what is considered foreign influence? Who gets to decide? Well, it's our totally honest and above board Security apparatus. The ones that created the no fly list, national security letters, FISA courts, out sourced their spying, destabilizing other countries. What could go wrong.
What is also interesting about the 'Tik Tok Ban' is that it also has a clause that gives the US the power to restrict a thousand other things in the future - includng VPNS. Even if "they are not going to now" it is a curious point to consider for the future. Perhaps I misunderstand the bill in it's totality, but the restrict clause seems scary for a variety of reasons.
The TikTok debate is interesting because it does pit free-speechers against free-speechers. China bans most U.S. internet companies including Youtube, Twitter, and Facebook, and Google is severely limited as well.
I am no fan of these ultra liberal platforms which themselves have anti-free-speech tendencies (except for post-acquisition Twitter which is a breath of fresh air) but there is such a thing as fairness.
That said, TikTok is a brilliant piece of software that is successful for good reasons. It's actually been enjoyable watching Youtube eat some humble pie, after years of unassailability as the king of video platforms. I'm conflicted about banning them. Why not just let the free market compete and decide the winners?
Besides, it's highly unlikely TikTok can be totally banned. They can just relocate their servers out of China, problem solved (though CCP might still have its fingers in the pie, somehow). Or they can provide an API for developers to use to develop TikTok clones that will functionally be TikTok, perhaps sharing content across many peers.
The real solution, in my opinion, is to better educate our youth, so that they can learn to more accurately discriminate between the truth and lies/propaganda. It's hard, but if we don't teach analytical thinking and imbue a sense of tolerance for opposing views, we're dead right out of the gate.
The us government just destroyed 5B in shareholder value by taking down a bank that helped fund commerce it simply didn't like (crypto). In this setting, really who fucking cares about a TikTok ban. Realistically, it's a relatively benign course of action. Even IF they aren't lying about what they do with the data (and it's China, I don't know if you've ever worked with Chinese companies but lying is next to breathing for them), and crying about racism even though they have banned all of our social media in China and only allow a neutered version of TikTok itself in China, the app is still a cultural blight that continues to ruin the attention span of millions and spreads terrible idea far and wide. Personal responsibility is key, sure, but I will not be crying to see it go.
Where do you think they learned how to shut these clowns in congress down? These same people who represent us go on incessantly about how racist and irredeemable our people and country is, was, and will forever be. I say the student has learned well.
You nailed it.....those who pretend to advocate for free speech and against censorship don't care about free speech at all, they have nothing against censorship, as long as they are the ones in charge of censoring. Just read the answers to your post.
TikTok in China is all educational videos and I believe it shuts off for the user after a certain amount of time and at 10pm. Our government should just demand that the American version match the Chinese version. Then no one would use it and the problem would be solved.
You can 'nuance' anything you want while bypassing this fact:
In 2022 the Canadian Government froze the bank accounts - VIOLATED ALL OF THEIR RIGHTS - of the Truckers who were protesting in the name of freedom and jailed their 'leader' Tamara Lich without due process.
Someday we will figure out what is going on. Some of us have already.
Didn't they freeze bank accounts of the (short-lived) GoFundMe supporters as well? Financial censorship and PayPal's attempt to fine users $2,500 for floating "misinformation" is the next frontier.
Not sure but they pressured GoFu**Me to actually confiscate donations to the truckers and repurpose them to other causes.
The resultant outrage forced GoFu**Me to announce they would return the donations to the original donors.
Then people flocked to the Christian oriented alternative "GiveSendGo", which received a huge boost in publicity and good will, and managed to get their money through to the truckers, until Trudeau found a way to block GiveSendGo's cash flow as well.
An ugly episode that will have grim consequences. Burning down the house to supposedly eliminate the termites... though in fact the termites are the Trudeau regime.
Getting your victim’s to burn there homes down together in the belief that it’s for there own safety is happening right now. The termites the Trudeau regime The Elite Dictators are burning the very foundations that Humanity is built on. Need the elders of every Tribe and Family on the Planet to rise up as the true Alphas that they are, and lead there Tribe Family.
Do you view yourself first and foremost a citizen of the world or a citizen of the United States? I pose this question often especially to those under 35. Try this at your next dinner party or family gathering. The answers will tell you a lot about the mess we find ourselves in.
And if a "citizen of the world," would you submit to the rulers and rule of law followed in most of the world? Think Xi, Putin, Kim and a host of other thugs and despots.
It is ok to be both, don’t you think? First and foremost proud citizen of the USA. Citizen of the world can mean relating to all the world’s people not their leaders or the rule they live under. We are a human and a human family.
You can care about the world and people. The question is American sovereignty and not ceding control over our laws, rules and values to a multinational group like Davos, The UN etc. The reality is that most who would say they are citizens of the world are not proud citizens of the US. Recent polls make this clear.
Yes, I agree. The multi-national groups are Woke Elites also. The elites are everywhere and all the same. They are mostly old men (sorry, but true) wielding and holding onto power that will be soon lost, and they realize that if they do not control the masses, especially with the rapid development of technology and AI, their old-world values and systems may be lost, so the new generation of dynastic wealth (Trudeaus of the world) are attempting to morph values into something "new" (all on the back of Trump derangement syndrome). It's still social engineering and commoditization, and it's a game, it's a game, it's a game elites have played forever and a day. The real question is: will our AI also be elite? AI will either level the playing field and make our lives extraordinarily better, or it will destroy us all. Nothing ever really changes much does, it? Until we as humans fundamentally do. Can we?
Human nature will not be eliminated by AI. But what it all means remains to be seen. I am not very knowledgeable about this stuff but I tend to believe that AI ( like other recent technological developments) will be manipulated to either eliminate what I consider our traditional and noble values or to punish people who do not conform to whatever the program is that those in charge seek to force upon the rest of us. I am glad to see Musk and others addressing the potential dangers and hope they will continue to do so and be joined by others who have platforms and knowledge to help us all understand what is happening and could happen.
I do not. Citizen implies allegiance/loyalty to a government. And what the world government is has not been fully revealed. That comment about Canada being the first "postnational" nation is chilling. Given what the Covid fiasco revealed about the over-reach the US federal government is capable of, in no way am I willing to embrace a level above that.
The RESTRICT act currently before Congress feels even worse than what is being discussed here. Our government is once again attempting to cross the line in a way that feels oppressive and against American core values.
Young Trudeau is intent on winning the race to the bottom, and anyone or anything that impedes that downward progress causes a tantrum. Reminds me of similar people in this country.
Trudeau has been groomed by Klaus Schwab, and all the members of Schwab’s World Economic Forum, leader of the Globalist movement. Half of Trudeau’s Cabinet are members. Our Finance Ministers father was a friend of Schwab so this vermin is deep in Canada. Trudeau meant what he said when he said ‘Canada is a post national country’. His problem is that the majority of Canadians do not agree with him OR the direction he is moving the country. He NEEDS C-11 and C-18 to go through BEFORE the next election so he can shut down by de-platforming Conservative platforms to steal the Oppositions voice. Censorship is what these two Bills are about and it is disgusting that some members of his own party don’t smell this rat and refuse to vote in favor. He knows how unpopular he is and that he is only still in power because he is being propped up by the far left NDP party. Their combined votes are a serious problem for the Official Opposition.
Trudeau has long been the love child of the WEF, and the Freedom Convoy forced him to tip his hand. He is an authoritarian thug who seeks nothing less than complete dominance over what people can and cannot do, think, say and believe. He should be shown the door as soon as Canadians can have an opportunity to do so and invited never to return to anything that resembles power.
Canada! Stop voting for politicians like your current PM, he is a dictator wannabe. What he did to the truckers should have fineness you all you needed to know about what he thinks government is for.
The agenda is to control the media totally. Fractionation is a method of controlling the masses. So it’s important to have total control of the media. Personally it seems like they already have control of the masses. And have indoctrinated them to there agenda. Don’t forget the masses are voting for this stuff to happen for there very own safety. A country like Australia is being taken over without so much as a whimper because the majority feel safe being taken over together. The United States of America’s DOD(the Army who I understand now are the experts in biological things) handled the manufacturer and rollout of the COVID-19 vaccine for The Australian Government. Seems like a lot of world Governments are marching to the New Agenda.
No surprise from Justin Trudeau, who in 2013 expressed his public admiration for China because it was a dictatorship and so could move quickly on environmental issues
This is not only Trudeau - many governments are afraid and are trying different control laws disguised as "good for you" acts. He is not the only one. I lived through a 3rd world dictatorship and amazes me to see these Western countries easily falling under the spell of power and censorship (starts as subtle like this) . I thought we had weak institutions but the so called developed world is fast-tracking to a Banana Republic state.
Justin Trudeau is the poster child for the Woke Elite in the West morphing into the age-old dictators of the East. The new elites are still systemically and patriarchally elite (generational wealth, class and education), but seemingly repulsed by it (the woke part) and deconstructing the model (in the name of egalitarianism) while destroying democracy, individual liberty and personal achievement for all but themselves (because not everyone can be Woke). They may very well get the collective they seek but perhaps not the one they think. The citizens of the world will revolt under this increased enforced tyranny and oppression. Not just in individual countries as we see in Hong Kong, Ukraine, Sri Lanka, Iran, Israel but in all the world together. The dictators (both old and revisionist like Trudeau) know this is the real power of social media, and once ignited, won’t be able to put down the revolution of all the world’s people. The real World War III and birth of a new human paradigm IF we all stop succumbing to their, once again, age-old tactic of divide and conquer. Even if we all retreat and become nationalist and populist for awhile to achieve this locally, the citizens of country and citizens of the world mindset must stick together to overcome singular authority and rule. Freedom is their greatest fear and unity our greatest weapon.
Yes, not singular and authoritative. People are citizens because they have no choice. We need governance not government. It will take governance by people for the people at very local levels under an umbrella of foundational principles. Ummmm, sound familiar? Alas, we have strayed far from the original premise, and young people would rather toss everything away as a construct they can no longer bear without really examining where its gone wrong and improving it. We need reinvention not destruction, but that takes self-reflection and understanding on a profound level by everyone, and destruction is the only thing we seem to know in order to reinvent.
Citizens of the US are citizens by choice. Either because they are descended from people who made a choice and fought and (some) died for it. Or because they or their ancestors made the choice to come here afterward. Except for those brought here in slavery. And most of those people seem to have made the choice to stay. I agree with governance versus government. At any level. But for institutional principles to work they need to be universally accepted. That is why you cannot impose American style democracy in Iraq or Afghanistan. The foundational principles upon which the US was founded are indeed under attack. Any my belief is, like yours, by young people who do not know the principles, much less have any insight into the meanings thereof. They seem to think they can reinvent the wheel. Which is tedious. Very, very tedious. I will not play their fantasy game. I will not be defined by whatever conclusions they draw from a cursory Google search. We have a superb system IMO if, and it is a big if, Congress will step up and act as an honest to goodness third branch as intended. This means passing laws in the interest of the American people, not to enrich themselves at the expense thereof. This would result in pushback from the Executive branch which has been greatly empowered by Congress' dereliction of this duty. To the point where we are largely governed by Executive orders, and bureaucratic rules and regulations. That pushback would play out in the Judicial Branch. We did not get in this mess overnight and will not get out overnight but Congressional change is the key. Which means votes for our Senators and Representatives are of the utmost importance. Which is why those who would destroy us from within are funding those races so heavily. If you have a candidate that is receiving large amounts of out-of-stare donations or significant out-of-state PAC activity you should be very suspicious thereof. Donations are a matter of public record. PAC advertising always includes the name of the PAC. Research every single one. It might be onerous but there is a lot at stake. It is the least we can do.
I agree with you on most all, but we are citizens by birth and are indoctrinated by other's choice before us. In our country, we are free to love it or leave it, and that's a reason we have so many immigrants and were all immigrants ourselves. I agree with what you spell out so well about our branches of government and what has corrupted them. Our two-party system is deeply flawed and no longer works, so I don't see how Congress can pull us out of this. It would be extremely difficult to roll back the funding corruptions now in place without completely breaking them. It just won't happen. This goes so deep, it's almost impossible to change without the same revolution that created our founders (independence from the yoke of grotesque royalty) to create a new paradigm, an evolution, which is always modeled from what we learned from strengths and weaknesses of the old.
I enjoyed your very enlightened view on yours, and most western world’s Governments. And I agree that we have to create something better for Humanity’s future. Understanding how the world was led into the situation it is in today, is paramount to finding the right direction to move forward in. People have been led together and indoctrinated together into believing they are doing certain things for there own safety and the safety of those they love and care for. They feel safe cause they are together with the community. And they will protect that community frantically. The key has been togetherness, Most of these people have beautiful Souls. It’s almost like they have to be re programmed. That’s scary. Re programmed together and they will feel safe together reprogramming. It seems ludicrous discussing other Souls in such a way. We have to start somewhere and soon.
Thank you, Allan. I agree. There is a mystical element missing from the conversation. Like a bird trying to fly with only one wing. As religion organized itself into a corrupt government now science has done the same. We have forsaken the deep mystery and connection to each other and all nature for what we describe as science and created a deep imbalance which needs to right itself. The pendulum swings wildly and we must reorient.
It’s worth remembering that the Canadian government is a duly elected one. It’s amazing how many “educated” people will knowingly vote away their freedom. Then again, us Americans would rather elect a walking corpse than Donald Trump. As they say, elections do have consequences. I hope saner voter minds one day prevail both here and in Canada.
You’re right Chris. The only problem is that this Bill will ensure that we Canadians only see what the liberal government wants us to see at the next election. For example, let’s say we have a good candidate on the other side ready to give the Canadian people their freedoms back (opposition leader of the Conservative Party - Pierre Poilievre says he will do this), during the next election…. If the current Liberal government (or the CRTC) declare the Conservative Party’s advertising as “inappropriate”, the Canadian public will not be allowed to view his messages and his bid for being elected as the next prime minister of Canada will fall short. Then the Liberals will win again. Justin Trudeau has often said: “China runs an efficient ship”.
Insanity at its best.
I’m old enough to remember the Diet Coke commercial of the penguins stepping up to the coke machine and asking what kind of drink they should have and the only options available were Diet Coke, Diet Coke, Diet Coke. THIS my friend is what they call a “democratic country” today. These are the choices that we are going to have at the next election. Trudeau, Trudeau or F**ck*ng Trudeau. Then these goddam government idiots will tell us “well…. You did have a choice to elect who you wanted to but you chose Trudeau. And the worst part is: the voters will believe them.
Two Legs good, Four Legs bad. Today in Canada: Four Legs Good, Two Legs bad. (George Orwell).
It’s a farce.
Sylvain
Poliviere is very good and Canadians will hear him. Your comment is hysterical.
(?) You can't seriously think Poilievre is going to get a fair shake from Canada's legacy media. It isn't hysteria that funds the judgment that he won't, but legacy media's track record.
thanks for reading my comment Mark. You understood what I said.
Maybe you should reread Sylvain's comment. It doesn't matter how good Mr. Poliviere is. If the Trudeau Administration or the CRTC decide Polivier or his campaign's advertising as inappropriate, Canadians won't get a chance to even view his message.
Which in my opinion is pretty damn scary, bordering on totalitarianism.
I never said he wasn't good. I said that this new Bill will prevent "us" to "hear him". open your eyes. you don't have a choice.
and for all we know... Maybe Poilievre is a wolf wearing sheep's clothing.
Remember this: Power corrupts the moral and the judgement. Once a politician attains a position of power, he or she wants to use it.
I really hope Poilievre wins. Don't be naïve to think he'll be different then the other prime ministers before him. He's just a "better" option than TURDEAU and SING.
Never forget that human rights NGO like Amnesty International sided with Trudeau against the trucker protest. They said nothing about covid lockdowns and mandates, nor these censorship issues. These are failed captured institutions that no longer deserve our respect or donations: https://yuribezmenov.substack.com/p/how-to-control-your-souls-desire
AI, ACLU, etc are all failed/captured by the insane.
Eventually, one way or another Trudeau will be gone.
The ACLU used to be a force for the 1st amendment. Now it is a mouthpiece for the Socialist Party.
I wouldn’t say exactly socialist, they certainly don’t give a rats ass about the effects of class. Mouthpiece for authority perhaps?
If the GOP had active NAZIs in congress, we would all be outraged and rightly so. The Dem/Soc Party has active socialists in congress. Historians define Marx, Engels, Lenin and Mao as socialist. These men killed more of their own people than Hitler did in all of his death camps. It is estimated that the communists killed about 90 million people in the 20th century.
Where is the outrage against the Dem/Soc for accepting socialist into their party? None! All I hear is crickets from the left and their pals in the press.
And did you vote for the only overt dictatorship lover I know? Trump. The same man who carried out the most socialist act of the last few decades. The tax break to the rich.
I believe it was more than 100 million deaths during the 20th century.
As a Canadian I find your comparison of Biden and the dems to communist autocrats amusing. Biden is center right in most other countries, including my own. Most democrats in the Senate are corporate democrats. They’re about as far from a communist as Trump is to an honest man.
Very soon, this very worried Canadian, hopes.
Amnesty International in Canada went full on woke. A board member was kicked off for something along the lines of misgendering or pronouns.
I was a very active member in the past and several friends served on the elected board of AI Canada. None of us support Amnesty International anymore. Instead we support small locally based human rights organizations around the world.
This is the way. The American board members are some of the worst people I’ve ever met. No morals or principles, just there to virtue signal. Investigations found that amnesty has a toxic work environment that led to several staff suicides.
So many large NGOs in North America are infected by the Woke hive mind.
No problem for me not supporting them anymore as local small NGOs get more done.
For one: no Maoist struggle meetings taking up hours and days...lol
There is now a half-assed investigation into Chinese government meddling in the last federal election. Obviously, the Libs want to bury it because they got at least 8 extra seats as a result. But they've been forced to appoint someone who will decide whether or not a judicial inquiry is necessary. And the man just happens to be an old family friend of the Trudeaus.
The last judicial inquiry, into the necessity of imposing the Emergencies Act to end the trucker protest, was led by Justin's uncle, appointed by Justin. We have become a dictatorship with banana republic level of corruption, and Justin still has almost the same level of support that got him into office last time - about 30%.
Thank you for sharing this. Nepotism at its finest. It's pathetic.
Trudeau also has the support of the NDP and the Greens. This is what is keeping him in power. In Canada a Member of Parliament is guaranteed a lucrative lifetime pension if he is a member for 6 years.
This support guarantees the legislation will pass. Justin and Jagmeet are both enthusiastic social engineers: the conviction that they should control the development of culture to everybody's benefit comes naturally to them, as does the corollary that managing and moderating information flow, to ensure this beneficent power remains in the right hands, is vital.
This is also why a dissenting outfit like Rebel News will never qualify as a 'real news organization,' as far as they're concerned. Anybody not onside with the project is a source of 'misinformation,' possibly even un-Canadian. Reliably pro-government outlets like CBC and the Toronto Star, themselves staffed by would-be social engineers masquerading as journalists, will of course qualify for accreditation and financial support and reinforce The Narrative. Dissenters who slip through the cracks sufficiently to be heard at all will be instantly demonized, and we don't have to rebut the arguments of demons. The trap is perfect.
Totalitarian nightmare? Not for Justin and Jagmeet: for them this is a Utopian vision.
The Canadian Uniparty (Greens, Liberals and NDP). I say this as a former seven time Green Party candidate.
As much as I despise Trudeau and ache to see him dethroned, Rouleau is not related to Trudeau. This is false information.
https://torontosun.com/opinion/columnists/lilley-justice-rouleau-may-have-old-liberal-party-ties-but-hes-not-justin-trudeaus-uncle-or-related-at-all
Thanks for sharing. This requires its own article and investigation.
Americans did elect a walking corpse, the ever senile Joe Biden.
As shitty as the proposed law is, no law was needed in the US. The Feds did it anyway on the sly, see Twitter files. The left with power is China waiting to happen.
I know I'm painting with a very broad brush. Still, if you have conservative values, the left political party does not want you. It is not your political home.
So am I. Hmm
Justin Trudeau is the "woke" equivalent of Donald Trump. A celebrity elected on the basis of his name recognition, with no experience of government, no idea how to steer a G7 nation, with women grabbing in his background, past racist actions (blackface...that one's got Trump great), no regard for the truth, and, basically, no idea what he's doing.
"us Americans would rather elect a walking corpse than Donald Trump."
Better a walking corpse than a walking narcissistic sociopath. But I'd rather both retire in favor of fresh blood.
The walking corpse has generated record inflation; almost record interest rates; bank runs; rampant crime; seriously damaged youth and parents who seek to defend them branded as domestic terrorists, weaponization of an array of federal agencies including the FBI, the DoJ, and now the IRS (that we know of); an incompetent Department of Transportation; ditto Education and Energy; and an open border generating human trafficking and drug trsfficking on a previously unseen scale, with a pretty astronomical bidy count of both foreign and domestic. Add to that disastrous withdrawal from Afghanistan, a disastrous proxy war in Ukraine, generating a Russia/China alliance and other nations signaling approval thereof, not to mention tactical nukes on NATO's borders. I could go on.
Personally I do not think a corpse could accomplish all of that.
Maybe Joe's a zombie, not a corpse. Zombies stay pretty busy.
I agree with some of your criticism, reject the rest, and in any case am not going to waste your time or mine debating it. Trump v Biden has been analyzed more than Coke v Pepsi, and I can't add anything new. Suffice it to say that if you want Trump back in the Oval Office, you might have to stage a jailbreak from Sing-Sing, given today's indictment.
Can you make a serious argument that the economy is better and the world more stable under the corpse than your dreaded orange man?
Yes, I can. But I won't. The Trump vs. Biden prize fight has gone ten million rounds on The Free Press. Every possible issue has been raised, debated, examined, and burned to ash, minds are made up, and so I won't waste my time or yours arguing.
Both need to retire in favor of new blood.
"The Free press?" is in the tank for the left. Bob Woodward asked why the Wash post never asked him why the Russia collusion lie was a lie. WashPo and NYT ran with the lie and they ran with the Hunter laptop lie.
So I can't accept your, "The Trump vs. Biden prize fight has gone ten million rounds on The Free Press." It upsets me that the press which is supposed to hold the power players' feet to the fire but instead gives the left a hard pass. Historically the press has always been this way. I wish we did have an honest press but we don't.
I suspect you misread me, Lonesome. I was referring to Bari's "The Free Press," formerly "Common Sense," not the press in general. I liked Common Sense better.
Me too.
No you can't. Not in any way that considers the welfare of the American people in general as opposed to the Democrat pet grouos.
Don't tell me what I can and can't do.
It was not a command but rather a factual observation. Anyone who chose Biden in 2020 chose appearance, and a faux one at that, over substance. Thanks.
The Conservative Party had the most votes in the last two elections. The Liberal Party is a minority government propped up by the NDP. Basically it is Western Canada against Eastern Canada and the cities. Trudeau could win despite being such a train wreck.
The latest NBC poll claims that 45% of registered voters approve of Biden’s job performance. Given the incompetence of America’s MSM I am curious as to what percent of the 45% are aware that America has an open southern border and how they manage to be in denial about the hyperinflation caused by Biden’s Climate Alarmist policies.
The 45% approval for Biden’s job performance would be unbelievable but for the fact America is very tribal.
It wouldn't surprise me to find that their poll was largely conducted in blue cities - either by preference or by residue when most of the potential red region pollees hang up when the hear it's NBC on the line.
See above.
https://www.indystar.com/story/news/politics/2023/03/23/joe-biden-approval-dips-near-lowest-point-poll/11528083002/
"Approval of President Joe Biden has slightly slipped, nearing an all-time low for the president as his administration continues to face tough economic conditions, according to a new Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research poll.
Only 38% of people surveyed said they approved of Biden, 7 percentage points lower than his February approval rating and hovering just above Biden’s lowest rating of 36% last July, the poll finds. However, the dip in approval follows the modest fluctuations for Biden over the past few months – 45% in February and 41% in January."
the nature of a parliamentary system allows for smaller groups to impose their will
By ~31% of the voters! Hard to invoke change, when the hurdle is so high.
Justin Trudeau fits my mental picture of what the anti-christ would look and act like if there actually ever is such a real person.
It would require intelligence to be the antichrist, something Justin is sorely lacking.
Point taken. If you believe our current (awful, dysfunctional, woke, pick an adjective) state of affairs is better than if Trump had been re-elected, then your conscience is clear. Trump sucks and is an awful person, but in my opinion the world would be a far better place if he had been reelected. Things that would be different, imho: less inflation, cheaper energy, no Putin in Ukraine. I could go on. Reasonable people voted for trump or Biden for a variety of reasons. We all have to live with the consequences
Chris Paramore
What was reasonable about voting for Biden? The obvious cognitive impairment was reason enough not to have voted for him. But in addition he is a corrupt liar with no accomplishments who had been wrong on every foreign policy issue in the previous 40 years.
He began his campaign with The Charlottesville Lie about Trump.
People voted for Biden because of tribalism, Trump derangement and because the Trump-deranged MSM supported Biden. I would not describe people who voted for Biden as reasonable.
I don’t like Trump, but the choice between him and Biden was a No Brainer.
And let's not ignore Kamala Harris, she who laughs like a hyena at inappropriate times and makes the most perfectly awful decisions at all times.
She's one heartbeat away from the presidency and that is why we all pray daily that Biden remain... if not awake and alert, at least some semblance thereof... for about 20 more months!!!
After Harris, the Wicked Witch of the West, Nancy Pelosi is in line for the presidency. We are doomed.
luckily that is no longer true! Kevin McCarthy is the new Speaker of the House, thus is 3rd in line for the Presidency (I believe).
Harris laughs because she is anxious. She would be no worse than Biden, but perhaps not any better.
Hm, not sure about that. Her decisionmaking as Calif. A.G., as Senator, and as VP has been uniformly terrible.
Some people just are born with poor judgement, and perhaps because of life circumstances they never learn to have good judgement. Pampered and coddled souls like Harris are an example of the latter.
As President, she would be awful, worse than nothing, a threat to stability. Biden is already the laughingstock of the world; Harris would be the laughingstock on steroids.
I fear for my country that would put these scum in high office. Trump was provocative, divisive, and a bit crazy, perhaps, but he actually worked hard and did a pretty decent job despite his big mouth. In an earlier era, he might have been compared to Teddy Roosevelt, who was considered at the time to be a lunatic, yet turned out to be competent and popular.
There were two choices in the last election, a megalomaniacal, vicious, lying bully or a man who doesn't know what planet he is on.
We were doomed either way.
Having said all that, I voted for the bully. I can't bring myself to vote Socialist, the rainbow and unicorn Party.
I've said this many times: point me to a world leader or high level politician who is not a "megalomaniacal, vicious, lying bully".
They're almost all narcissists, liars, and bullies. Comes with the territory.
The difference with Trump is that he doesn't hide it behind a pretty face and silver tongue. He wears his personality on his sleeve and drives the political class crazy. They are all liars and thieves, but he refuses to play by their rules.
You're right. He is no more disgusting as other politicians. He is honest on what he's planning to do as president - build a wall, make NATO pay their fair share, negotiate a better NAFTA treaty, take a tougher stand against China. And of course not take a bribe from China, like the ever senile zombie that is in the W.H. now.
In the last two elections, only those voters who thought it was an easy choice deserve ridicule.
I think you are very unfair to Trump.
I don’t disagree, but I suspect many thought he would hold a more moderate stance than the whackos he has surrounded himself with.
That was at best wishful thinking. He has a long, long record of political expediency. To put it nicely.
I deleted my nasty comment, because you said it better and more diplomatically.
I was in fact born there. Therefore, I'm nice.
the usa would still have that 100 BILLION dollars that is disappeared into the "breadbasket" of the Ukraine
and, perhaps, 300,000 Ukrainians and Russians would still be alive, under some kind of negotiated peace.
And 13 U.S. servicemen and hundreds of Aghans still alive, and the U.S. still in control of Bagram base and billions of dollars in equipment.
RT common sense tells me that you are again suffering from anti-Trumpism which is your right. However, until I see the evidence that you are a credentialed therapist, that you have had Trump in therapy, that you have engaged in dialogue with those Ignorant" Americans as to why they voted for him, this is just another opinion based on your own bias
And what kingdom are you referring to? Certainly not the same one expressed in the Lord's Prayer
According to your observations, Biden "represents more stability" but certainly not when getting on a plane.
What evidence do you have that Trump "would not leave office"? He already did, once. What makes you think he would not leave office if elected a second time?
I respect your opinion and I certainly would not support Trump at the moment. Hard to call what we currently have “stability”
with a straight face though.
Your statement: "Then again, us Americans would rather elect a walking corpse than Donald Trump" is true. You have no need to apologize. We in fact elected a walking corpse instead of Trump. At least, that's the result from the counted ballots. And if the walking corpse stops walking, then we have the vapid cackler of the Identity wing of the Democrats. To paraphrase the late, great, Oliver Hardy: "Here's another fine mess we've gotten ourselves into."
RT
What has Trump done which is sociopathic?
Trump is permanently grafted to your brain. You need help.
RT
So you can’t explain it? Every President surrounds himself with people whom he thinks will support him. I think your mind is blown.
Any president has the right, ideed, the obligation to demand the loyalty to the office and individual who is the authorized chief executive office of the United States. After all, it is the president that sets policy, not "the agency consensus".
Your view is that Trump was an illegitimate holder of that office...You who thinks it criminal to question the legitimacy of an election even though you were hyperbolicly angry that Hillary could lose the election that the New York Times and Washington post told you she would win by a double-digit margin.
Sorry, your mewlings become more pathetic with every post....
You are so pathetic.
what? no Monica available
That was Bill Clinton.
Bill C-11, Mohan explained, would mean “that when viewers come to the YouTube homepage, they’re served content that a Canadian Government regulator has prioritized, rather than content they are interested in.”
A nation that votes to tyrannize itself is not worthy of discussion.
Canadians have installed a fool to rule themselves and, given the chance to rid themselves of him, demurred.
What's our excuse?
We're as dumb as they are. Biden is a 10am-3pm memory unit patient, periodically revived from his stupor to stumble through a teleprompter while his nervous handlers watch and hope he doesn't deviate from the script.
While the world burns.
Trudeau was elected despite losing the popular vote in the last two elections and is currently 6% points back of Poilievre in the polls, so please don't write Canada off quite yet.
I actually had the great pleasure of meeting and speaking with Brian Mulroney several times. The contrast with the current fool could not be greater. You voted for a great leader before and can do so again. So I haven't written off Canada.
Plus my mom was born in Winnipeg.
I appreciate your optimism. Sounds like you’re not living here, though...? With JT & his besty Jagmeet Singh (his it’s-not-a-coalition partner) promising to keep everyone safe, it’s hard to see the light at the end of this tunnel.
No, I'm not. But spending a large amount of time in New York City shouldn't make me very optimistic about the States, either. A complete lunatic asylum.
Fun facts: under the Mulroney government the Acid Rain Agreement was signed with the USA; the Montreal Protocol to protect the ozone layer was enacted; and Haida Gwaii was protected.
While I fought against Free Trade and NAFTA I thank the conservative governments for all the environmental protection.
yes he represents a minority government. Hopefully the conservatives & moderates can get their act together and toss him out next cycle.
not going to happen and to think I gave Trudeau Sr a lift home in 75 or 76 during a huge snow storm , a little accident could have spared Kanada from Jr
And who decides what viewers are interested in? Some algorithms programmed by people who have only one interest at heart: making money and lots of it.
"We get the government we deserve" is one way people look at this. But the problem with what you're saying, Bruce, is that it makes U.S. not worthy of discussion either.
To be fair, I think many Biden voters were fooled into the idea that he was a moderate. A couple of good conservative friends of mine thought just that. Clearly that has turned out not to be the case.
What I find to be truly astounding is that so many individuals who are ardently against government censorship perpetuated by the political left in cahoots with Big Tech seem to have no problem demanding that the American government trample all over the First Amendment and ban TikTok.
This particular article and the excellent work that Matt Taibbi has done reporting on the Twitter Files and defending the First Amendment against government censorship and overreach in the name of supposedly combating misinformation suggests that Americans suffer from a certain degree of cognitive dissonance. Our clarity when it comes to free speech and our pushback against the notion that the government should paternalistically decide for us what content we can or can't consume seem to go out the window the moment it comes to an app that happens to be based in China.
I’m very curious what Bari’s position is on a possible ban of TikTok. The Free Press published an article a while back arguing for such a ban. My impression is that most of the readers here would be in favor of a ban as well. This seems totally contradictory to and inconsistent with the philosophical viewpoint of The Free Press and its readership on virtually every other free speech issue non-China related.
Despite the anti-woke community rightfully highlighting the dangers to free speech posed by the political left in this country, I find it ironic that progressives like AOC and Jaamal Bowman are the ones coming out to defend TikTok against a ban in part on First Amendment grounds, although to be fair Republican Senator Rand Paul recently did the same as well. Meanwhile staunchly anti-woke conservatives like Josh Hawley or Ron DeSantis who’ve railed for years against the dangers of woke censorship can’t seem to wait to step all over the First Amendment by pushing for a ban of TikTok.
Threats to free speech seem to abound from all sources. Each day we seem to be moving a step closer towards authoritarianism and becoming the very thing that we claim to despise the most. The biggest irony? TikTok is actually also banned in China. The Chinese version is called Douyin.
We live in truly interesting times.
To the extent that TikTok is controlled by, or responsible to, the CCP, it is entirely appropriate for the US government to require all government agencies, employees, and contractors to remove it from any device that comes into contact with government networks. It would also be appropriate that the government require apps to be transparent with whom they share/sell the data they collect, including whether it is the US govt or the CCP.
If people are stupid enough to voluntarily share their, and their kids' personal info with the Red Chinese, that is their business, but the government should draw a clear line.
Excellent distinction.
Moreover, it is up to parents to ban TikTok with respect to their children, not our witless government.
Let us not forget that AOC Bowman and rest of the Squadron were all on board for Twitter working w the govt to squelch free speech and also constantly look to shut down Fox. And the current and former WH press secretaries refuse to answer simple straightforward questions on this and many other topics. I wonder what the Squadrons stance vis a vis CCP is.
How is this different from alcohol sales to minors?
I think the Tik Tok situation is a little different.
First, the CCP has at least an indirect control of it. In fact, 1 of its board members is a CCP official.
Second, the data that it collects is sent to China.
Now, why would that matter you ask and what the heck could the CCP do with that that makes any difference?
Well, as someone who has worked in what amounts to as big data, both in the commercial space and for the federal government for 30 yrs, I can tell you that there is a LOT that can be done if you have nefarious intent.
First, right off the top of my head, I would use it to influence the thinking of people via what I feed them. I would have neuroscientists, behavioral economists, psychologists etc on staff. (BTW....a lot of major companies and government agencies DO have these folks on staff) With something like Tik Tok, I can build a profile of each individual user and feed them content targeted to influence them specifically. I would have a profile of what they respond to, learn what gets them excited, angry or thrilled and I would stream to them content that assists in pushing their thinking in the direction I want. I would do it subtly over time so that it is not obvious. I would mix innocuous content in. So, for example, if my goal was to create discord between the races, I would identify an individual users race, either via interpreting what they watch and like and who they share with or because I got that data from asking or some other source. Then, I would feed people of different races different content that helps create dislike and distrust of other races. For example, I could feed a young black man clips of white people making infuriating or racist remarks that run counter to my beliefs. I could feed a white middle class mother images of young black men acting crudely toward white women. That is the high level idea but you would do it far more subtly, pushing more overt and extreme content over time. But I would work with the analysis of the experts I mentioned to best understand what to feed you, how fast to feed it and when to do it.
The point is that I can use content and psychology to move populations at the granular level in directions that suit my political, economic or geopolitical interests. Heck, my goal could be as simple as creating social and political discord that essentially paralyzes the national leadership and makes it unable to respond to whatever act I might take.
Second, once I have a full profile of an individual, I know who they are, where they live, what they do for a living, what porn they watch, how they spend their money, if they likely cheat on their spouse, I can target them directly for blackmail. All kinds of data about us is available for sale or exposed to hacking. You might remember that the Chinese hacked the Office of Personnel Management about 10 yrs ago and downloaded information about every federal employee and contractor and their families. Well, let me give you an example of how that might be used.
So, 10 yrs ago Jane was a GS12 at CIA. There is no record that she has changed jobs but we can assume that she is very likely a GS14 or GS15 now. Jane studied Russian history in college and she speaks fluent Russian and Ukrainian. Her OPM profile says that her father was born in Kiev, which very likely means she has family there. In fact, we know that her father, who now lives with her, emails his cousin in Kiev regularly. We know she lives in Northern VA based on DMV records we got or from her name popping up in the records for the Mercedes warranty repair system. In fact, we have her home address and we have been able to determine her home IP address from hacking Comcast. From there, we got her cell phone data because she puts her personal cell phone on her home wifi. From analysis of her text and phone history and based on the psychological profile we have, we think that she is having an affair and we are 90% confident that it is with her best friends husband. We analyze what she watches, responds to, and likes on Tik Tok and we continually refine our psychological profile of her. Based on her background we assume she works the Russian desk at CIA and is likely at senior GS. Given where she lives, she probably works at Langley or one of the remote sites in NOVA.
Jane is now a prime target for approaching with blackmail by Russian agents. We could extort her by threatening her family in Kiev or with exposing her affair. We can look deeper to see if she has financial issues. She lives in NOVA, a very expensive place, she drives a Benz, she very well might be suffering financially on a GS salary and taking care of her elderly father. In short, we have a target and we have buttons to push.
Data is GOLD. Information is data in context. Actionable information is that which can be applied to achieve an end.
The use of data and information, how we put it in context, how, when and where we present it, is very very powerful.
BTW.....the next generation of all these technologies are going to skip a lot of the indirect influence and go right to directly accessing and controlling your mind. The technology is basically already there and getting better. You can thank university neuroscientists for those breakthroughs. Already looking to apply the tech to things like headsets for gaming consoles etc. The Chinese have been working on that for years. That, among other things, is why they have been so focused on accessing our research universities. Scoff if you like, but you may remember that a WHOLE lot of those home monitoring cameras that accessed the internet, that came out of China, were actually feeding data back to China.
Christ, and now people want smart homes with every gadget from their thermostat to their refrigerator to be online. Good God, those refrigerators with the shopping lists? Now you are putting out that you are buying Soy Milk instead of whole milk, that you never buy butter or ice cream and so we now know that you or someone in your house is lactose intolerant.
Love this, absolutely on target. I fear that sooner rather than later we are going to get in such turmoil we will not be able to get ourselves out. Again, stunning expressed.
Thanks for this! it is always good to hear from someone with direct experience in a field.
Thank you for a very enlightening response. We really MUST get Trudeau out of office before he destroys our Country. I am even now not recognizing it as it was.
this here is the reason I insist on a stupid home . Nothing smart in the house including me . Getting hard to find a stupid TV not that I watch it much . Take your Soma and follow the days instructions
Tic-toc is not being considered for banning because if it’s content, it’s being considered for banning because it is illegally spying on American citizens. Holy crap please understand the thing that you are talking about before you post. This is embarrassing.
There's no evidence that TikTok collects data above and beyond what other social media sites like Twitter or Facebook do. There's also no hard evidence that TikTok has actually shared data with the Chinese government to date. In fact, proponents of banning TikTok seem to be shifting away from the data privacy argument and arguing instead that the Chinese government might be able to algorithmically influence the app by leaning on ByteDance.
In any case, any sort of threat is mostly hypothetical at this point. I’d rather not throw away the First Amendment based on a hypothetical, but that’s just me. The problem is that once you go down this road, there's no going back. Do we just ban TikTok? What about other popular Chinese apps like CapCut, which ironically is also from ByteDance and which the Biden administration recently used to edit a video it released. What about Chinese e-commerce apps like Temu or Shein?
It’s a virtual certainty that once you grant the government this extraordinary power it’ll be used again in the future. You might not regret it now, but when an American administration that skews to the political left starts using this to crack down on conservative apps like Parlor or Truth Social in the name of national security, you will then. Anyone who’s been following the recent reporting on the Twitter Files shouldn’t find that possibility to be totally far-fetched.
Wow, the CCP has some good bots these days. They sound just like real people. So convincing!
While I take some of your points the emotional appeal is off-putting. And the we-should-not-throw-the-first-amendment-under-the-bus-based-on-hypotheticals followed by a long list of hypothetical results if it is done is disingenious. I think the TikTok pipeline to the Chinese government argument is valid. I watched young Mr. Chew's testimony last week. There were several deer in the headlights moments; all followed by a note and I'll get back to you.
Do you deny the Chinese government has the potential to control TikTok? Or do you think they have the control but will not do so? Why does the Chinese Government have a different TikTok policy for mainland China?
This is entirely incorrect, and if you watched the congressional hearings, you would know that.
The Congressional hearings were kind of a joke from what I gathered. Even Americans were mocking how ill-formed most of Congress seemed to be with respect to their understanding of tech.
https://www.cnn.com/2023/03/25/tech/tiktok-user-reaction-hearing/index.html
To be fair I didn't watch the entire 5 hours of testimony, but if you have any specific links to the testimony that contradicts what I said I'd be happy to watch that. Note that no one is claiming that there's a smoking gun that data was actually shared with the CCP. The arguments have all been along the lines of asserting that Chinese law would compel ByteDance to hand over data to the CCP if it so demanded. That's the definition of a hypothetical. You can't label someone a murderer unless they've actually killed someone.
https://abcnews.go.com/Technology/evidence-tiktok-national-security-threat-reason-concern-experts/story?id=98149650
"The app, which counts more than 150 million U.S. users each month but is owned by a China-based parent company, has faced growing scrutiny from government officials over fears that user data could fall into the possession of the Chinese government and the app could be weaponized by China to spread misinformation.
However, there is no evidence that TikTok has shared U.S. user data with the Chinese government or that the Chinese government has asked the app to do so, cybersecurity experts told ABC News.
Still, there's reason to believe that the Chinese government could compel the company to share data on U.S. users or manipulate content on the app to forward a pro-China agenda, considering the nation's authority over domestic companies and previous misleading statements made by TikTok on related issues, the experts added."
Like many Americans Jennifer you seem to be misinformed about the actual issues surrounding TikTok, but my purpose here isn't to judge or to condemn but rather to clarify. Political grandstanding by members of our government also hasn't helped the American population better understand the nuances of the TikTok issue.
"You can't label someone a murderer unless they have actually killed someone." Not exactly. You can't say someone is a murderer for killing Adam.until they kill Adam. At which point Adam's opinion is worthless. But you can say someone is a murderer who has killed before. You can also think that someone is likely to be a murderer based on past actions of violence/aggression,mental instability, or both. Lastly the murderer analogy mixes criminal law and civil law. Civil law is a much lower burden of proof.
Can we label Stalin a murderer? He probably never actually executed anyone himself. Yet I think most people would consider him so.
To your point, I don't know that evidence is required to restrict access of a hostile foreign power to potential data within our nation. There's no "international court" where such evidence could be presented (that has the muscle to enforce any decisions it might make). Moreover, it's probably foolish to wait for such evidence.
are you kidding ? the tic isn't gathering data?
All data is for sale
x
that is the problem with a FREE society , the bad actors are free as well . 2 times I agree with RT , the world is sure to end soon
Do you have kids? If so do you allow them on TikTok or social media? If yes, do you monitor and control what they consume? If no why? Is it because the government tells you you shouldn't? Or, is it because it's your child, and you don't think some random people on social media should teach your children different values than your own.
"kids prefer to listen to their peers as opposed to their parents". And THAT is the problem in it's nutshell. Judith Harris established this effect statistically in "The Nurture Assumption" back in the nineties. What the Internet has done is expanded the potential group of peers by orders of magnitude and made it next to impossible for parents to exercise any effective control over subselections therein.
As a parent you do have control , there was no tv in my house kids were taught to read and anything to do with computers was locked down tight , they only saw what was deemed appropriate for children . Lucky they turned out well . I f you are a parent learn about computers there are ways to lock down and monitor what they are doing
I'm 66. One of my parents, but especially my dad's sayings was, if so and so jumped off a bridge would you jump too. Well... I also lived in a small village where most of our parents would regularly tell us kids to go play chicken with the semi's on I 75. I have a daughter who has Down Syndrome, and I monitor everything on her phone. I also realize how susceptible she is to peer pressure. There's a fine line that we walk everyday about what's enough freedom, and smothering them. Something they said would bring about knowledge of the world turns out to enslave us. Dilemma indeed. I also have to remember how much the world has changed.
And our government is illegally spying on you. Did you know we have a FISA, Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court. That our countrys officials can go in front of a judge and seek a warrant to spy on everything you do? And to take it even further they have a three jump rule thereby allowing them to spy on people you know. It was never intended to spy on Americans. Foreign is the first letter of the acronym. But what is Foreign? Depends on who decides what the word means. Before calling someone else's post embarrassing, you should inform yourself on how the government is eroding your constitutional rights. The FISA courts reject .03 percent of all petitions.
They used the FISA Court to attack Trump in his early Presidency. Dirty politics has seeped into every bureaucracy in America AND Canada.
You are right about the US ability to surveille domestically. And the FBIs deliberate misinformation in its application for the warrants which relied on the Steel Dossier makes a mockery of the warrant process. But that in no way means that the TikTok concerns are invalid or misplaced.
I'm not saying they are invalid or misplaced. I'm just saying beware of government bearing gifts. Have you looked at the bipartisan Restrict Act? If so what do you think? I know what I think, but I would like other people's interpretation of it.
Very true about the government bearing gifts. I have not looked at the text of the RA. I guess it is time. I think the Patriot Act has done a lot of damage to US citizenry.
All gifts come with a price
I don't think there would be talk of banning TikTok if it was a Canadian company. The creators on TikTok are welcome to move over to another social media site and say the exact same things. The issue is a foreign adversarial country using our addiction to social media to spy on us and cause more division.
Glenn Greenwald is presenting the idea that the TIKTOK Bill is a possible backdoor to open the possibility of banning and restricting other platforms as well.
definitely ,the RESTRICT act itself is absolute garbage and is like a new patriot act
Like most of the readers of The Free Press, I happen to be a loyal American deeply concerned about government overreach and censorship, which is why I’m arguing against granting our government the ability to unilaterally determine what content we can and can’t consume. If I were a malign CCP official though bent on undermining the American way of life, I’d surely be beside myself at the brouhaha over TikTok in current American political discourse. Here we have an app featuring mostly dancing teens that the Chinese government most likely cares relatively little about in the grand scheme of things and which probably has limited espionage and propaganda value compared to the other sources of espionage and propaganda the Chinese government could engage in, but which unexpectedly Americans are now fighting among themselves to abandon their core values over due to the supposed threat this app poses.
The Chinese government couldn’t have asked for an easier or more unexpected geopolitical soft power win than Americans literally fighting among themselves to abandon foundational values like free speech that the CCP seems to despise.
For a country that seems to despise everything the Chinese political system stands for, we seem to want to become more like the Chinese with each passing day.
I agree except I think the TikTok concern is warranted. All of it needs a look-see. Unfortunately the US entity that does that, Congress, is impotent.
Excellent point. It's a hard problem though.
TikTok’s parent company is a Chinese company and they are at the mercy of the government. TikTok collects data on users. Everything on your phone is open yo them. I would never install this on my phone. People are just way too naive with their personal data.
It's crazy how that works. How dare you spy on our people! That's our job. And we're so transparent about that and the censorship we engaged in and farmed out to our ideological partners. Only found out because some billionaire we used to like snitched us out. I have no social media apps or accounts that's my choice. If someone else wants them that's their choice.
Look up the Restrict Act. It's a bi-partisan Trojan horse, that is being sold as an anti Tik Tok, and foreign influence bill. It gives our security state, not congress the authority to shut down anything that they consider foreign influence. You may say, what is considered foreign influence? Who gets to decide? Well, it's our totally honest and above board Security apparatus. The ones that created the no fly list, national security letters, FISA courts, out sourced their spying, destabilizing other countries. What could go wrong.
What is also interesting about the 'Tik Tok Ban' is that it also has a clause that gives the US the power to restrict a thousand other things in the future - includng VPNS. Even if "they are not going to now" it is a curious point to consider for the future. Perhaps I misunderstand the bill in it's totality, but the restrict clause seems scary for a variety of reasons.
It gives the Security State, not congress the sole discretion to determine what foreign influence is.
The issue with Tik-Tok is over the data that they are able to collect, not the contents of the site.
My position on this is going to depend on just what with Tik-Tox is going to be controlled.
I will support a ban...or rather a restriction...on the use of the data that the Tik-Tok servers collect and disseminate to their Chinese owners.
And I think most reasonable people would agree with the division.
You make some good points.
The TikTok debate is interesting because it does pit free-speechers against free-speechers. China bans most U.S. internet companies including Youtube, Twitter, and Facebook, and Google is severely limited as well.
I am no fan of these ultra liberal platforms which themselves have anti-free-speech tendencies (except for post-acquisition Twitter which is a breath of fresh air) but there is such a thing as fairness.
That said, TikTok is a brilliant piece of software that is successful for good reasons. It's actually been enjoyable watching Youtube eat some humble pie, after years of unassailability as the king of video platforms. I'm conflicted about banning them. Why not just let the free market compete and decide the winners?
Besides, it's highly unlikely TikTok can be totally banned. They can just relocate their servers out of China, problem solved (though CCP might still have its fingers in the pie, somehow). Or they can provide an API for developers to use to develop TikTok clones that will functionally be TikTok, perhaps sharing content across many peers.
The real solution, in my opinion, is to better educate our youth, so that they can learn to more accurately discriminate between the truth and lies/propaganda. It's hard, but if we don't teach analytical thinking and imbue a sense of tolerance for opposing views, we're dead right out of the gate.
The us government just destroyed 5B in shareholder value by taking down a bank that helped fund commerce it simply didn't like (crypto). In this setting, really who fucking cares about a TikTok ban. Realistically, it's a relatively benign course of action. Even IF they aren't lying about what they do with the data (and it's China, I don't know if you've ever worked with Chinese companies but lying is next to breathing for them), and crying about racism even though they have banned all of our social media in China and only allow a neutered version of TikTok itself in China, the app is still a cultural blight that continues to ruin the attention span of millions and spreads terrible idea far and wide. Personal responsibility is key, sure, but I will not be crying to see it go.
Where do you think they learned how to shut these clowns in congress down? These same people who represent us go on incessantly about how racist and irredeemable our people and country is, was, and will forever be. I say the student has learned well.
You nailed it.....those who pretend to advocate for free speech and against censorship don't care about free speech at all, they have nothing against censorship, as long as they are the ones in charge of censoring. Just read the answers to your post.
TikTok in China is all educational videos and I believe it shuts off for the user after a certain amount of time and at 10pm. Our government should just demand that the American version match the Chinese version. Then no one would use it and the problem would be solved.
This isn't a First Amendment issue because the US Constitution does not protect foreign companies like TikTok.
The least of Canada’s worries should be inhibiting content creators. This story is 100% about information control - Canada is in serious trouble.
You can 'nuance' anything you want while bypassing this fact:
In 2022 the Canadian Government froze the bank accounts - VIOLATED ALL OF THEIR RIGHTS - of the Truckers who were protesting in the name of freedom and jailed their 'leader' Tamara Lich without due process.
Someday we will figure out what is going on. Some of us have already.
Didn't they freeze bank accounts of the (short-lived) GoFundMe supporters as well? Financial censorship and PayPal's attempt to fine users $2,500 for floating "misinformation" is the next frontier.
Not sure but they pressured GoFu**Me to actually confiscate donations to the truckers and repurpose them to other causes.
The resultant outrage forced GoFu**Me to announce they would return the donations to the original donors.
Then people flocked to the Christian oriented alternative "GiveSendGo", which received a huge boost in publicity and good will, and managed to get their money through to the truckers, until Trudeau found a way to block GiveSendGo's cash flow as well.
An ugly episode that will have grim consequences. Burning down the house to supposedly eliminate the termites... though in fact the termites are the Trudeau regime.
Getting your victim’s to burn there homes down together in the belief that it’s for there own safety is happening right now. The termites the Trudeau regime The Elite Dictators are burning the very foundations that Humanity is built on. Need the elders of every Tribe and Family on the Planet to rise up as the true Alphas that they are, and lead there Tribe Family.
Do you view yourself first and foremost a citizen of the world or a citizen of the United States? I pose this question often especially to those under 35. Try this at your next dinner party or family gathering. The answers will tell you a lot about the mess we find ourselves in.
And if a "citizen of the world," would you submit to the rulers and rule of law followed in most of the world? Think Xi, Putin, Kim and a host of other thugs and despots.
It is ok to be both, don’t you think? First and foremost proud citizen of the USA. Citizen of the world can mean relating to all the world’s people not their leaders or the rule they live under. We are a human and a human family.
You can care about the world and people. The question is American sovereignty and not ceding control over our laws, rules and values to a multinational group like Davos, The UN etc. The reality is that most who would say they are citizens of the world are not proud citizens of the US. Recent polls make this clear.
Yes, I agree. The multi-national groups are Woke Elites also. The elites are everywhere and all the same. They are mostly old men (sorry, but true) wielding and holding onto power that will be soon lost, and they realize that if they do not control the masses, especially with the rapid development of technology and AI, their old-world values and systems may be lost, so the new generation of dynastic wealth (Trudeaus of the world) are attempting to morph values into something "new" (all on the back of Trump derangement syndrome). It's still social engineering and commoditization, and it's a game, it's a game, it's a game elites have played forever and a day. The real question is: will our AI also be elite? AI will either level the playing field and make our lives extraordinarily better, or it will destroy us all. Nothing ever really changes much does, it? Until we as humans fundamentally do. Can we?
Human nature will not be eliminated by AI. But what it all means remains to be seen. I am not very knowledgeable about this stuff but I tend to believe that AI ( like other recent technological developments) will be manipulated to either eliminate what I consider our traditional and noble values or to punish people who do not conform to whatever the program is that those in charge seek to force upon the rest of us. I am glad to see Musk and others addressing the potential dangers and hope they will continue to do so and be joined by others who have platforms and knowledge to help us all understand what is happening and could happen.
I do not. Citizen implies allegiance/loyalty to a government. And what the world government is has not been fully revealed. That comment about Canada being the first "postnational" nation is chilling. Given what the Covid fiasco revealed about the over-reach the US federal government is capable of, in no way am I willing to embrace a level above that.
Ah, you are most correct. I agree. Thank you.
The RESTRICT act currently before Congress feels even worse than what is being discussed here. Our government is once again attempting to cross the line in a way that feels oppressive and against American core values.
Patriot Act on steroids
Young Trudeau is intent on winning the race to the bottom, and anyone or anything that impedes that downward progress causes a tantrum. Reminds me of similar people in this country.
There is no one who more needs a firm punch in the fucking face then that smug, blackface wearing fart sommelier
Trudeau has been groomed by Klaus Schwab, and all the members of Schwab’s World Economic Forum, leader of the Globalist movement. Half of Trudeau’s Cabinet are members. Our Finance Ministers father was a friend of Schwab so this vermin is deep in Canada. Trudeau meant what he said when he said ‘Canada is a post national country’. His problem is that the majority of Canadians do not agree with him OR the direction he is moving the country. He NEEDS C-11 and C-18 to go through BEFORE the next election so he can shut down by de-platforming Conservative platforms to steal the Oppositions voice. Censorship is what these two Bills are about and it is disgusting that some members of his own party don’t smell this rat and refuse to vote in favor. He knows how unpopular he is and that he is only still in power because he is being propped up by the far left NDP party. Their combined votes are a serious problem for the Official Opposition.
Shwab has got to mean wipe your ass in some language , as in did you Shwab your ass well ?
Trudeau has long been the love child of the WEF, and the Freedom Convoy forced him to tip his hand. He is an authoritarian thug who seeks nothing less than complete dominance over what people can and cannot do, think, say and believe. He should be shown the door as soon as Canadians can have an opportunity to do so and invited never to return to anything that resembles power.
So if this bill had been around in 2007 we could have been spared Bieber? Arghhh
A little bit of a silver lining in every cloud I suppose.
Canada! Stop voting for politicians like your current PM, he is a dictator wannabe. What he did to the truckers should have fineness you all you needed to know about what he thinks government is for.
Interestingly, Trudeau's Liberal Party is a minority government. Canada's parliamentary system.
The agenda is to control the media totally. Fractionation is a method of controlling the masses. So it’s important to have total control of the media. Personally it seems like they already have control of the masses. And have indoctrinated them to there agenda. Don’t forget the masses are voting for this stuff to happen for there very own safety. A country like Australia is being taken over without so much as a whimper because the majority feel safe being taken over together. The United States of America’s DOD(the Army who I understand now are the experts in biological things) handled the manufacturer and rollout of the COVID-19 vaccine for The Australian Government. Seems like a lot of world Governments are marching to the New Agenda.
No surprise from Justin Trudeau, who in 2013 expressed his public admiration for China because it was a dictatorship and so could move quickly on environmental issues
https://www.ctvnews.ca/mobile/politics/trudeau-under-fire-for-expressing-admiration-for-china-s-basic-dictatorship-1.1535116
This is not only Trudeau - many governments are afraid and are trying different control laws disguised as "good for you" acts. He is not the only one. I lived through a 3rd world dictatorship and amazes me to see these Western countries easily falling under the spell of power and censorship (starts as subtle like this) . I thought we had weak institutions but the so called developed world is fast-tracking to a Banana Republic state.
Justin Trudeau is the poster child for the Woke Elite in the West morphing into the age-old dictators of the East. The new elites are still systemically and patriarchally elite (generational wealth, class and education), but seemingly repulsed by it (the woke part) and deconstructing the model (in the name of egalitarianism) while destroying democracy, individual liberty and personal achievement for all but themselves (because not everyone can be Woke). They may very well get the collective they seek but perhaps not the one they think. The citizens of the world will revolt under this increased enforced tyranny and oppression. Not just in individual countries as we see in Hong Kong, Ukraine, Sri Lanka, Iran, Israel but in all the world together. The dictators (both old and revisionist like Trudeau) know this is the real power of social media, and once ignited, won’t be able to put down the revolution of all the world’s people. The real World War III and birth of a new human paradigm IF we all stop succumbing to their, once again, age-old tactic of divide and conquer. Even if we all retreat and become nationalist and populist for awhile to achieve this locally, the citizens of country and citizens of the world mindset must stick together to overcome singular authority and rule. Freedom is their greatest fear and unity our greatest weapon.
What is "singular authority and rule"? What is the government of this new world going to look like after it is overcome?
Yes, not singular and authoritative. People are citizens because they have no choice. We need governance not government. It will take governance by people for the people at very local levels under an umbrella of foundational principles. Ummmm, sound familiar? Alas, we have strayed far from the original premise, and young people would rather toss everything away as a construct they can no longer bear without really examining where its gone wrong and improving it. We need reinvention not destruction, but that takes self-reflection and understanding on a profound level by everyone, and destruction is the only thing we seem to know in order to reinvent.
Citizens of the US are citizens by choice. Either because they are descended from people who made a choice and fought and (some) died for it. Or because they or their ancestors made the choice to come here afterward. Except for those brought here in slavery. And most of those people seem to have made the choice to stay. I agree with governance versus government. At any level. But for institutional principles to work they need to be universally accepted. That is why you cannot impose American style democracy in Iraq or Afghanistan. The foundational principles upon which the US was founded are indeed under attack. Any my belief is, like yours, by young people who do not know the principles, much less have any insight into the meanings thereof. They seem to think they can reinvent the wheel. Which is tedious. Very, very tedious. I will not play their fantasy game. I will not be defined by whatever conclusions they draw from a cursory Google search. We have a superb system IMO if, and it is a big if, Congress will step up and act as an honest to goodness third branch as intended. This means passing laws in the interest of the American people, not to enrich themselves at the expense thereof. This would result in pushback from the Executive branch which has been greatly empowered by Congress' dereliction of this duty. To the point where we are largely governed by Executive orders, and bureaucratic rules and regulations. That pushback would play out in the Judicial Branch. We did not get in this mess overnight and will not get out overnight but Congressional change is the key. Which means votes for our Senators and Representatives are of the utmost importance. Which is why those who would destroy us from within are funding those races so heavily. If you have a candidate that is receiving large amounts of out-of-stare donations or significant out-of-state PAC activity you should be very suspicious thereof. Donations are a matter of public record. PAC advertising always includes the name of the PAC. Research every single one. It might be onerous but there is a lot at stake. It is the least we can do.
I agree with you on most all, but we are citizens by birth and are indoctrinated by other's choice before us. In our country, we are free to love it or leave it, and that's a reason we have so many immigrants and were all immigrants ourselves. I agree with what you spell out so well about our branches of government and what has corrupted them. Our two-party system is deeply flawed and no longer works, so I don't see how Congress can pull us out of this. It would be extremely difficult to roll back the funding corruptions now in place without completely breaking them. It just won't happen. This goes so deep, it's almost impossible to change without the same revolution that created our founders (independence from the yoke of grotesque royalty) to create a new paradigm, an evolution, which is always modeled from what we learned from strengths and weaknesses of the old.
I enjoyed your very enlightened view on yours, and most western world’s Governments. And I agree that we have to create something better for Humanity’s future. Understanding how the world was led into the situation it is in today, is paramount to finding the right direction to move forward in. People have been led together and indoctrinated together into believing they are doing certain things for there own safety and the safety of those they love and care for. They feel safe cause they are together with the community. And they will protect that community frantically. The key has been togetherness, Most of these people have beautiful Souls. It’s almost like they have to be re programmed. That’s scary. Re programmed together and they will feel safe together reprogramming. It seems ludicrous discussing other Souls in such a way. We have to start somewhere and soon.
Thank you, Allan. I agree. There is a mystical element missing from the conversation. Like a bird trying to fly with only one wing. As religion organized itself into a corrupt government now science has done the same. We have forsaken the deep mystery and connection to each other and all nature for what we describe as science and created a deep imbalance which needs to right itself. The pendulum swings wildly and we must reorient.
Trudeau may refer to himself as a Liberal, but much like our so-called Democratic Party, he is actually quite illiberal.