The video of George Floyd dying as a police officer holds him down is one of the most gruesome videos freely accessible on Facebook and abcnews.net.au (not to mention protests in his name that were somehow safe to attend, whilst any protests about lockdowns weren’t). However, the Australian Government, using the authority of the eSafety commissioner, Julie Inman Grant (an American), who was fired by Elon Musk and then went on to boast at a World Economic Forum panel of founding the Global Online Safety Regulators Network, has just ordered X to remove disturbing videos of Bishop Mar Mari Emmanuel being stabbed in Sydney at a church (even though he’s opposed to its removal being used as a political tool).
Both incidents are disturbing and graphic but the fact that one is being held to a standard that the other isn’t, is nothing short of absurd. And the Australian Prime Minister’s sensitivity to being parodied underscores something my wise Italian cousin told me 15 years ago: “Your politicians are not serious people. They are clowns.” We might as well be living in a circus.
Under X, the release of the Twitter Files, as they specifically relate to Australia, has uncovered a deeply disturbing relationship between the Australian government and Big Tech companies to remove, restrict, throttle or ban content that does not serve the government’s narrative. I say does, because Facebook, Google, Apple, TikTok and many others still do. But until now, not X. It’s been a beacon of free speech with guardrails on any speech that purposefully violates the US Constitution’s First Amendment, tested over time to protect even the Ku Klux Clan by the American Civil Liberties Union. These are speech protections vital to a thriving democracy, let alone science, both of which are a process, not a conclusion. I may find speech hateful, but I’m old enough to remember only sticks and stones can break my bones and names will never hurt me. Speech is the fundamental weapon citizens have in holding government to account. It’s often difficult, unpalatable, challenging and even hateful. But it’s only with fulsome debate do good and better ideas win out over stupidity, ignorance and frankly dangerous ideas. Whether you’re a Christian, a Jew, or Muslim, your right to read the Bible was the work of a heretic, a rebel, William Tyndale, who was put to death because he believed anyone should be able to read the Bible, not just the church. The independent journalists of today seem a lot like Tyndale, who believe it’s the right of any individual who chooses to do so, to read the facts and draw their own conclusions.
Under X, the release of the Twitter Files, as they specifically relate to Australia, has uncovered a deeply disturbing relationship between the Australian government and Big Tech companies to remove, restrict, throttle or ban content that does not serve the government’s narrative. I say does, because Facebook, Google, Apple, TikTok and many others still do. But until now, not X. It’s been a beacon of free speech with guardrails on any speech that purposefully violates the US Constitution’s First Amendment, tested over time to protect even the Ku Klux Clan by the American Civil Liberties Union. These are speech protections vital to a thriving democracy, let alone science, both of which are a process, not a conclusion. I may find speech hateful, but I’m old enough to remember only sticks and stones can break my bones and names will never hurt me. Speech is the fundamental weapon citizens have in holding government to account. It’s often difficult, unpalatable, challenging and even hateful. But it’s only with fulsome debate do good and better ideas win out over stupidity, ignorance and frankly dangerous ideas. Whether you’re a Christian, a Jew, or Muslim, your right to read the Bible was the work of a heretic, a rebel, William Tyndale, who was put to death because he believed anyone should be able to read the Bible, not just the church. The independent journalists of today seem a lot like Tyndale, who believe it’s the right of any individual who chooses to do so, to read the facts and draw their own conclusions.
Make it make sense
We’re being so worn down by lies in media that it’s easier to accept them as “the reality” than push back against them. Few stories presented by the high priests of information present neither an opposing view anymore, nor do they investigate with any interest the five Ws of journalism: Who, What, Where, When, Why and How? For the reader or viewer, it’s tiring, time-consuming and confronting to face truths that make us uncomfortable: there were no Weapons of Mass Destruction; brothels were open while family gatherings were banned during Victoria’s unprecedented and draconian lockdowns in 2020 and 2021; pregnant and women who may one day want children were forced to take a vaccine that did not prevent transmission or illness and may have unknown consequences, and CO2 — literally the gas of life if you like to breathe and eat — is killing us.
There are so many lies, so few questions being asked by the self-appointed high priests of information, that it’s difficult to keep up with who’s telling the truth, if they’re not then why, and how to find the truth with any ease. It’s not a secret: it’s called common sense. Fear dominates the news cycle whilst propaganda is infused as benign entertainment in television, movies, music and video games, driving an ancient triumvirate of evil: money, power and control, where violence, irresponsible sexuality and dismantling of the family are not only indulged but celebrated. Media prostitutes it’s journalistic values for advertisers, dependent on the power to reach consumers (make no mistake you’re not a person, but a money-maker for someone you’ll probably never meet), whilst control is bestowed on feckless politicians who have no concept of what it takes to run a business, having never worked an honest day in their lives.
I’m often asked when I talk about the truth, where do I find it? Doesn’t it mean that if it’s difficult to find that there’s something wrong with it? The only thing wrong with investigative journalists like Lee Fang, or Matt Taibbi, Glen Greenwald, Michael Schellenberger, any of the journalists at anti-war.com or Sydney Watson is that they’re not signatories to the Trusted News Initiative (TNI), which Facebook, the ABC, SBS, Nine et. al. are. If you’ve missed the small print, TNI is a globally coordinated initiative of the BBC to disseminate approved narratives, or simply put a lot of content that flies in the face of reason, of investigation, and of truth-seeking. Much of the news on legacy media deploys the tried-and-true method perfected by advertising of reach and frequency to manipulate even the most educated and astute among us to believe we need censorship to protect children, that we must allow men who pose as caricatures of women to compete in and access women only-spaces, and that we are bigots, racists or hateful when we simply ask why this makes any sense.
Forcing X to remove video is the canary in the coal mine, as if the establishment of an eSafety Commission in Australia wasn’t already. It’s a means of imposing censorship that was easy under Twitter and hence control of the message. You’ve been trained to shoot the messenger; Julian Assange is somehow a criminal for exposing lies whilst the liars themselves are somehow off the hook for killing millions of civilians (whilst funding coups and terrorists) in Iraq, Syria, Yemen, Libya, Serbia/Kosovo, and now Ukraine, where the youth of the country, we are told, are fighting for our freedom — for democracy itself — even though they elected Zelensky by an overwhelming majority to make peace with Russia. We’re conditioned to truncate the antecedent of conflict and believe the Russians invaded Ukraine, ignoring a US-backed coup in 2014 that has given rise to the most corrupt state in Europe. That’s something you won’t hear from the TNI.
So when you hear it’s for your own good, for the safety of the children, think: why would you trust a government reluctant to investigate the mistakes made during 2020-21? Why have Royal Commissions into Aboriginal deaths in custody been largely ignored? Why is NDIS spending spiralling out of control to the tune of an additional $32 million a day? Why do you need the government involved in online discussions that raise difficult questions which can be solved by unfettered conversation? What is the government afraid of — that you’ll realise they’re inept? That you’ll come to the conclusion it makes no sense to tax and regulate every opportunity we have to create wealth for ourselves, our families and communities? That it’s a bloated scam designed to keep those in power with the control?
If you do just one thing outside your comfort zone today, that challenges you to consider what the real story is, read or watch something from one of the sources I link to in this article, make the space in your life to maximise your brain’s infinite capacity to think critically, to be creative, and most importantly: leave any place you inhabit better than what you found it.
The only way to live an authentic life is to be informed.
There are so many lies, so few questions being asked by the self-appointed high priests of information, that it’s difficult to keep up with who’s telling the truth, if they’re not then why, and how to find the truth with any ease. It’s not a secret: it’s called common sense. Fear dominates the news cycle whilst propaganda is infused as benign entertainment in television, movies, music and video games, driving an ancient triumvirate of evil: money, power and control, where violence, irresponsible sexuality and dismantling of the family are not only indulged but celebrated. Media prostitutes it’s journalistic values for advertisers, dependent on the power to reach consumers (make no mistake you’re not a person, but a money-maker for someone you’ll probably never meet), whilst control is bestowed on feckless politicians who have no concept of what it takes to run a business, having never worked an honest day in their lives.
I’m often asked when I talk about the truth, where do I find it? Doesn’t it mean that if it’s difficult to find that there’s something wrong with it? The only thing wrong with investigative journalists like Lee Fang, or Matt Taibbi, Glen Greenwald, Michael Schellenberger, any of the journalists at anti-war.com or Sydney Watson is that they’re not signatories to the Trusted News Initiative (TNI), which Facebook, the ABC, SBS, Nine et. al. are. If you’ve missed the small print, TNI is a globally coordinated initiative of the BBC to disseminate approved narratives, or simply put a lot of content that flies in the face of reason, of investigation, and of truth-seeking. Much of the news on legacy media deploys the tried-and-true method perfected by advertising of reach and frequency to manipulate even the most educated and astute among us to believe we need censorship to protect children, that we must allow men who pose as caricatures of women to compete in and access women only-spaces, and that we are bigots, racists or hateful when we simply ask why this makes any sense.
Forcing X to remove video is the canary in the coal mine, as if the establishment of an eSafety Commission in Australia wasn’t already. It’s a means of imposing censorship that was easy under Twitter and hence control of the message. You’ve been trained to shoot the messenger; Julian Assange is somehow a criminal for exposing lies whilst the liars themselves are somehow off the hook for killing millions of civilians (whilst funding coups and terrorists) in Iraq, Syria, Yemen, Libya, Serbia/Kosovo, and now Ukraine, where the youth of the country, we are told, are fighting for our freedom — for democracy itself — even though they elected Zelensky by an overwhelming majority to make peace with Russia. We’re conditioned to truncate the antecedent of conflict and believe the Russians invaded Ukraine, ignoring a US-backed coup in 2014 that has given rise to the most corrupt state in Europe. That’s something you won’t hear from the TNI.
So when you hear it’s for your own good, for the safety of the children, think: why would you trust a government reluctant to investigate the mistakes made during 2020-21? Why have Royal Commissions into Aboriginal deaths in custody been largely ignored? Why is NDIS spending spiralling out of control to the tune of an additional $32 million a day? Why do you need the government involved in online discussions that raise difficult questions which can be solved by unfettered conversation? What is the government afraid of — that you’ll realise they’re inept? That you’ll come to the conclusion it makes no sense to tax and regulate every opportunity we have to create wealth for ourselves, our families and communities? That it’s a bloated scam designed to keep those in power with the control?
If you do just one thing outside your comfort zone today, that challenges you to consider what the real story is, read or watch something from one of the sources I link to in this article, make the space in your life to maximise your brain’s infinite capacity to think critically, to be creative, and most importantly: leave any place you inhabit better than what you found it.
The only way to live an authentic life is to be informed.