Twitter & Associates Is a Whale of a Problem, Needs to Be Reeled In

There was a day when government was the gatekeeper of free speech. Still is, of course. But look, steaming up the track is the new kid on the block, and he's taking on more and more of the role.

Social media. Twitter & Associates. They call the greater entity Big Tech, and while I like that, I think I'll go with Twitter & Associates, uppercase. Big Tech includes all the important and dominant companies in the information technology industry, and I just want to zero in on the social media firms. 

So, along comes Twitter & Associates and starts determining who can and who can't speak on the Village Square, who is and who isn't using hate language, and who is and who isn't spreading misinformation.

Now, there's a lot of that that they have no choice but to do -- maybe, all of it. You have to have rules, and when they took on the task of being the Public Square, they took on the responsibility for making rules. But, the point is, they are now doing it instead of the government. They don't control all free speech -- the government is still in the business --  but a share of it.

And, they are stumbling at many a juncture. They were stumbling long before Elon Musk ate up Twitter. And if we don't do something, they will continue.

One escape from the mess is to have government step in and reclaim its domain. Uncle Sam -- that's Big Sam to me and you -- needs to reel in the whale that is swallowing up free speech. Big Sam needs to make the rules for who speaks on the Village Square, the Public Square. Big Sam has an unruly member and it must be responsible for giving the unruly memeber rules. I know some of you aren't fans of government. You quote that old statement, "That government governs best that governs least." But, without government, you have anarchy, and we are having a little bit of that with Twitter & Associates. 

Which will it be anarchy . . . or law and order? 

Aldrich Never Should have had Opportunity to Kill Five People

   "I wish I can shoot all of you." Those words should have been enough to send Anderson Lee Aldrich, the mass killer in the Colorado Springs shooting last month, to jail.

   When he uttered them, he was on a flight from Californa to Colorado. He became disruptive, and made the threat -- which was caught on video. That should have been enough to convict him. The video showed him making the threat, and passengers heard it. Isn't that case closed?

  But, wait, he had made terroristic threats worse than that. He even once had a stand-off with a SWAT team. Seems he held his grandparents hostage in their own home and told them of bomb-making materials in the basement, and told them of his plans to become a mass killer.

  He livestreamed the standoff on Facebook. Seems that alone would be enough evidence to convict him at least of resisting arrest. His family refused to answer subpoenas and refused to cooperate. The district attorney then decided to drop charges. One wonders on that. The district attorney is responsible for prosecuting dangerous criminals. Other evidence existed besides the family's testimony. On a matter as serious as this, the attorney should have made a house call to the family, explaining to them why they needed to step up. One also wonders if they could have been forced to be hostile witnesses.

  What did the judge make of it all? Perhaps it is that she had no recourse but to accept the prosecuting attorney's request to drop charges. But, she knew the danger to society. "Wow, Just really, really scary," she said. "You clearly have been planning for something else, and it didn’t have to do with your grandma and grandpa," the judge said. "It was saving all these firearms and trying to make this bomb, and making statements about other people being involved in some sort of shootout and a huge thing," she said. "Things just went unhinged. And it looks like it could have been worse because you had plans for it to be worse," she said. 

  Colorado has a red flag law -- and, even if it didn't, there was enough evidence to put Anderson Lee Aldrich behind bars. Why wasn't he?

No "Chaos," Just an Opportunity to Help Others

   I'm viewing from a distance, admittedly, but I do not see the chaos to come when Title 42 expires next Wednesday and immigrants come across the border.

   Hundreds, maybe thousands are waiting in shelters at one site, just waiting until Title 42 expires so they can ask for asylum as they cross. Trump's Title 42 forbid them from claiming asylum and allowed the U.S. government to expel them.  So when Title 42 is gone, the doors will be open. Some say as many as 18,000 a day -- that's every day -- could be crossing into America at our southern border. 

   "It's  going to be utter chaos," Texas Gov. Greg Abbott says. 

  "Migrant surges hint at chaos at US-Mexico border once Title 42 expires," opines a headline in The Guardian.

  Voices on social media explode, saying chaos is coming. 

  Is it? There will be thousands and thousands crossing into America. They will be requesting asylum. The question is, is that chaos? The border agents will be busy; the immigration courts will be packed. Those are chaotic things.

   But, will there be chaos in terms of the danger to America?

   I don't see it. These are largely poverty-stricken people. They seek a better life; that's all. Accept them and absorb them. It might be "chaos" for those who are trying to keep them out. They might feel hopeless as their efforts become vain and they can find no way to stop the immigrants. It might be "chaos" to them.

  But to those who don't mind sharing the freedoms of their country, no chaos -- just an opportunity to help people coming from afar. 

Do Two Things to Fight for Release of the Kennedy Assassination Files

    OK, those of us who believe the full library of information on the Kennedy assassination should be released should push for two things: 

   (1) Push to find out if President Biden is being told what it is in the documents that is so super sensitive. Are the FBI, CIA, and other agencies sharing with him exactly what it is that is so dangerous? If not, shouldn't the president demand that they share the specific information? How can he make a decision to withhold information if he doesn't know the bare-bones reason for withholding it? If the sensitive information shows that the agencies bungled and missed on opportunities to arrest Lee Harvey Oswald before the assassination, has Biden been made aware of that? Ask the president, at the next opportunity. Ask him specifically if the agencies had Oswald in their scopes, but failed to act. Ask him if that is why all the files are not being released.

   (2) Push the agencies' heads to release all the files. Biden has said that come June, all files must be released . . . except those for which the agencies say there are strong reasons not to release. If he is leaving it to the agencies -- if he is leaving it to them to tell him if the library should be made public -- then it is they who should be pressed. Ask the CIA and FBI directors if they will be releasing everything. And if not, why not.

   November 22, 2023, will mark the 60th anniversary of the Kennedy assassination. It is way past time that the government be transparent and release all the files. 

Does the Internet Leave Something Out on What Increases Oil Prices?

  You can listen to the Internet, if you like, but I will take issue with what it says when you ask it what determines oil prices. Go ahead, ask it what the determinants are, and it will say:

"The two primary factors that impact the price of oil are: Supply and demand. Cost of production. Market sentiment."

I wonder, though, whether demand varies much. There is some variation, but is there enough to account for the rise of gas prices in the last 50 years? Gasoline and heating fuel are constant necessities. If you need 15 gallons of gas one week, you need the same 15 gallons the next. If you need so much heating oil to keep you house warm one winter, you usually need about the same the next winter. Supply and demand doesn't explain the rise in gasoline prices from 36 cents a gallon 50 years ago to $3.19 today.

A Simple Recipe for the Destruction of America

   A simple recipe for the destruction of America:

   First, bake up some stories against the leaders. The people are not going to rebel unless you give them someone to rebel against. They must hate their leaders if you are going to get them to throw them off. 

  Second, heat up them up. Discontent -- you need discontent. They need to be mad, mad, mad. Maybe America is not as great as it used to be. Maybe it's too woke. There are a ton of issues you  can call on to heat them up and make them mad. Heat to about 350 degrees.

  Mix in some patriotism. Convince them that what they are doing is simply what any patriotic person must do.

  Any good recipe requires some stirring. So, stir them up. Stir them up against each other. Democrats need to be stirred up against Republicans; Republicans need to be stirred up against Democrats. Stir, stir, stir. 

  Bake until they are convinced to rise up in insurrection and rebellion.

Don't Bite on the Bait

  Do not swallow on the bait that Biden and others are so wicked that it has reached a point that we must rebel against America in order to get rid of them. That is bait. Don't bite on it. Don't swallow the lie that they offer.

  Romney, Soros, Fauci, Gates, Bush, Obama . . . and the list goes on. Our leaders might have stands you disagree with, but don't throw out the baby with the bathwater. Don't throw out the freedom America enjoys just to get rid of them. Don't suppose the Jan. 6 insurrection was justified. Don't suppose further insurrections are worthy. 

  If you do, yo are taking the bait of those who would orchestrate the destruction of our nation.