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There’s a lot going on right now to thwart attempts by the government and corporate interests to take control of the internet. We’re all aware, thanks to Edward Snowden, of the NSA’s surveillance of the American public’s use of cellphones and internet access. FFTF (Fight for the Future) and other organizations are currently sponsoring efforts to assist us in making our own internet activities safer from prying eyes.

At the end of this post is a link to a website detailing just what can be done, mostly for free, to keep your internet activity secure.^[1]

Meanwhile, the FCC is suspending its decision on whether to hand over control of the internet to corporate ISPs like Comcast and Verizon, for a period of 120 days. This is, at least ostensibly, to allow us peasants to make our feelings known. Given that US president Obama has just handed control of the FCC over to Tom Wheeler, whose previous career was as…

… a venture capitalist and lobbyist for the cable and wireless industry, with positions including President of the National Cable Television Association (NCTA) and CEO of the Cellular Telecommunications & Internet Association (CTIA)”.[Wikipedia]

…it seems unlikely the US president is on the side of the people.

“Yes, we can! Yes, we can!” … NO, HE DIDN’T!

Coincidentally, Wheeler raised over half a million dollars for Obama’s presidential campaigns.

Spend a few minutes with John Oliver while he succinctly explains the subject of net neutrality:

[cvg-video videoId= ’14’ width= ‘420’ height= ‘250’ mode= ‘playlist’ /]

^{[1] Reset The Net ResetTheNet.org}

Is anyone else out there perturbed by the latest fad employed by the wealthy to amuse themselves? I’m referring to certain, well-healed, individuals hiding sums of money in various parts of the country, then using social media to present the common plebs with clues where to find it.

This little game began in the US, but has now spread to Britain. It’s been picked up by the national media in both countries, who seem to think it’s a great prank, and bundles of fun for all and sundry.

Have the ordinary people of both nations totally lost pride in themselves that they’ll go scrabbling about on their hands and knees for the amusement of some anonymous billionaire?

One sad fact is that the people who might truly benefit from this surplus cash are the very people who have no chance of finding it. The destitute and homeless don’t have access to social media. They’re lacking the accoutrements of smart phone, laptop, or tablet. None of these things are capable of informing them where particular dumpsters are located with the least contaminated stale crusts or restaurant leftovers. They have to work it out without technological aid.

Perhaps, if the person with all this surplus money were to place it in such receptacles, where the truly needy might find it, he or she might actually do some good. Unfortunately, they wouldn’t then have the smug pleasure of seeing this ‘act of philanthropy’ displayed across their big screen TVs.

As it is, the finders are generally middle class socialites who’ll no doubt spend their ill-gotten gains down their local bar, while recounting to bored friends – only there for the free drinks – how they were clever enough to discover it.

Are the rich really so bored with their private jets and Lamborghinis that they must resort to this puppetry of the peasants for amusement? Perhaps so. After all, it’s said that money doesn’t bring happiness, and there’s ample evidence of that in virtually every glossy magazine on the news stand.

^{[1] “Free money hidden in cash-filled envelopes in Plymouth city centre – can you find them?” Plymouth Herald, May 31st 2014}

The big furore of the moment is NBC’s ‘scoop’ obtaining an interview with Edward Snowden. If ever Snowden made a big mistake it was in agreeing to speak with “Mr Establishment’ himself, Brian Williams.

Tonight, Williams was quick to tell viewers of NBC News how many ‘ordinary’ Americans had emailed the program to declare Snowden a traitor to the US. Presumably, NBC didn’t receive any correspondence daring to suggest he was a hero for revealing just how unconstitutional the present government has become?

No-one defended Edward Snowdon, least of all John Kerry, now Foreign Secretary, once the soldier so disgusted with his government’s actions in Vietnam that he allegedly threw his medals on the White House lawn.

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Kerry stated that if Snowden was a man he’d return to the US and put his case in the hands of US justice. That would be the same US justice that kept Bradley Manning^[1] locked up in a brig for months, tortured and in solitary confinement, before finally sentencing him to spend the next thirty-five years in a US prison cell?

Kerry also stated that Snowden’s whistleblowing had soured US relations with Europe, and especially Germany. He failed to clarify that had the NSA not been tapping Angela Merchel’s private phone calls, along with those of other European leaders, then Snowden would have had nothing to reveal. It was the action, not the revealing of it, that was reprehensible. Snowden merely displayed to the world the truth of America’s contempt for its European allies.

Perhaps Mr Kerry should be man enough to admit when his country has done wrong, and not try to pass the responsibility on to someone who has sacrificed everything to defend the rights of his fellow US citizens, many of whom seem to have conveniently forgotten the contents of the Constitution they make a pretense of holding so dear.

^{[1] “Bradley Manning given 35-year prison term for passing files to WikiLeaks” Guardian, August 21st 2013}