Headlines

Thousands protest against coronavirus measures in Berlin

Apple surpasses Saudi Aramco to become world’s most valuable company

‘What a fraud this guy is,’ Tucker Carlson rips Dr. Fauci’s dodging of questions about protests

Karen Bass’s long march from Communist fringe to Biden’s VP short list

Trump says he plans to ban TIKTOK in the U.S.

Hurricane Isaias lashes the Bahamas as it bears down on Florida

U.S. Supreme Court rejects request to halt construction of the border wall

MLB commissioner Rob Manfred warns 2020 season could be shut down

Florida teen, 2 others arrested over massive Twitter breach

Big tech spends over $20 million in lobbying in first half of 2020, including on coronavirus bills

Court overturns death sentence of Boston’s Marathon bomber

Exclusive: [Sen.] Cotton presses Google on election interference revelations

STAND UP FOR AMERICA!

Headlines

‘My biggest risk’: Trump says mail-in voting could cost him reelection

Ford, Fiat-Chrysler returning to pre-coronavirus production levels

Amy Klobuchar drops out of Biden VP contention — endorses ‘woman of color’

Portland: George Washington statue torn down, draped in bunting U.S. flag

California enacts November mail-ballot law — with surprising GOP support

U.S. coronavirus cases surge by more than 27,000 in a day

Congress plans to target Big Tech for circulating Chinese propaganda

Anthony Fauci: Americans ‘don’t believe science’ or ‘authority’

Fox News poll: Biden extends lead over Trump amid protests

Trump administration considers executive order to suspend certain work visas

Oklahoma National Guard activates 250 solders for security at Trump Tulsa rally

Abrams pitches for VP: ‘I understand the moment’ I was an activist

Headlines

USS Theodore Roosevelt sailors still showing virus symptoms despite a month of isolation

Big Tech’s earnings prove it’s immune to coronavirus to 43 nations for COVID-19 tests

Trump admin models warn of doubling daily death tolls by June ...

Intel report: China hid coronavirus severity to hoard supplies

Mnuchin resists change to small business loans as restaurants protest

Japan sending Fujifilm’s flu drug favipiravir to 43 nations for COvID-19 tests

Bezos on track to be world’s first trillionaire as virus helps Amazon!

Nigel Farage: EU will use coronavirus to prevent Brexit

Fears rise that Trump will incite a global vaccine brawl

Coronavirus will shrink US home prices by 2-3% nationally, Zillow forecasts, but deeper dive could be in store

[Cuomo] Favorability rating soars to 77% ...

Poll: Trump, Biden tied in Texas

Headlines

Bloomberg in 2016: ‘Yes, Donald, I do love you’

Coronavirus Live update: Iran confirms two deaths, IMF chief issues warning on global growt

[Trump)] Goes on clemency spree, and list is long ...

Sanders: ‘I don’t think’ I’ll release more medical records

Andrew Yang joins CNN as political commentator

It’s never been this hard for companies to find qualified workers

Barr warns: I’ll walk if you keep tweeting ...

Report: Top NSC official could be reassigned amid speculation she is ‘anonymous’

Trump campaign hires alum of controversial data company

AG Barr takes aim at a key legal protection for Big Tech companies

Beijing expels three Wa Street Journal reporters ...

Fenton: Judicial Watch subpoenas FBI’s. Seth Rich records

Trust

Apple just requested that I update my iPad operating system. I said “yes” because I kinda trust Apple ... to a degree. I’m not sure that I should have. Big tech is getting more and more cavalier in their abuse of their customer’s trust ... Apple included.

Apple presented me with a statement of privacy and protection that was miles long ... which I didn’t and couldn’t read ... so I have again defaulted to Apple not screwing me. Yet when the new OS was installed, it presented me with all kinds of defaults for directing me to its online AppleStore. Bah humbug! I don’t want this. Already I get an increasing number of unsolicited emails offering me AppleStore “deals.” How can I turn this spam off? I’m certain there is a convoluted way to do this ... that I have neither the time or eyesight to transverse.

So I am now a captive of Apple marketers ... and Apple is among the best of the FAANG companies. I’m also sure Google knows far more about me than I even know about myself ... my email contents, my browsing history, my locations, etc. And it might not be long before it knows all about my finances, my medical history, my DNA secrets!

Combine this with advances in artificial intelligence and big data analysis technologies ... and the entire notion of personal privacy will be an obsolete concept. This really will usher in the age of what science fiction has forewarned us of. When we are prisoners of Bug Brother ... when we are controlled like lab mice running through a maze ... to a predetermined destination ... very much like what the Chinese are doing to the Uyghurs  today.

Bottom line — St. James Comey has taught us that we can’t really trust our government ... and now, anybody who is paying attention has learned that we can’t trust big tech either ... even Apple.

If I were much younger, I might be tempted to take to the woods ...

Headlines

NATO chief says Trump remains committed to alliance

Bezos says ‘the country is in trouble’ if big tech turns its back on Pentagon: ‘We are the good guys’

FBI hunts missing Saudis in Florida ... 10 more detained ...

Hawkins: Gun-free military bases make U.S. troops sitting ducks

France’s Macron determined to push forward with pension reform

Judiciary Chair Jerry Nadler says impeachment articles ‘presumably’ introduced this week

NKorea conducts ‘important test’ at once-dismantled site ...

House Judiciary Committee Report: ‘Motives’ are impeachable

How the cool kids on the left turned on Elizabeth Warren

Wall Street bets international stocks will top US equities in 2020 after a decade-long slump

Sources: Biden tells ‘Axios on HBO’ he will slap restrictions on Hunter if elected ...

Nadler: If Trump is acquitted, I don’t know that 2020 will be fair

Headlines

White House ordered top-secret system upgraded to prevent leaks

Silicon Valley donors starting to back Elizabeth Warren despite her pledge to break up Big Tech

GRASSLEY: Whistleblower followed law and should be heard ...

Poll: 8 percent of college Democrats ‘very proud’ to be American

Judge sides with Harvard in case challenging use of race in admissions

Trump, RNC blows away Dems with $125 million raised in the third quarter

Colbert audience chants ‘lock him up’ ...

China rolls out ICBM portrayed as defense against ‘nuclear blackmail’

Giuliani hires Watergate prosecutor to represent him

Trump targets ‘pathetic’ Federal Reserve after worst manufacturing data in a decade

Iran sentences U.S. spies to death ...

Ukraine mystery: Adam Schiff staffer made August visit

Headlines

Mueller scrambles hearing by choosing top deputy as counsel

DOJ says it will take a broad antitrust look at Big Tech, stocks dip

NYT: Only 35 arrested in ICE raids

Exclusive: Gulf cartel recruitment of young teens on rise near border

Crackdown on food stamps could worsen hunger, USDA acknowledges

US-China in-person trade talks expected next week, White House eyes longer-term timeline for deal

Mexico sets murder record ...

Trump sues to block Congress from obtaining [his] tax returns

NAACP  leadership unanimously votes to support impeaching Trump

New research finds differences in the brains of US Cuban embassy staff after mystery attacks

CENTCOM: [US] May have downed more Iranian drones ...

Tucker: Dems say ‘no one is above the law’ — make exception for illegals

Headlines

Kamala’s attack on Biden was months in the making

Trump says he agreed with Xi to hold off on new tariffs and to let Huawei buy US products

France hottest day in history! Manure explodes in Spain

Poll: 5 in 9 likely voters oppose free health care for illegal aliens

Trump announces negotiations with China are ‘back on track’

By the numbers: Best June for Dow since 1938,  S&P 500’s best first half in two decades

Apple moves assembly of Mac Pro to China ...

DHS: Illegal migrants drop 25 percent in June amid U.S., Mexican crackdown

Trump offers to meet Kim Jong Un at Korean border

‘She owned the stage’ —  Pollster says Kamala Harris was the winner of both 2020 debate nights

Jimmy Carter says Trump is an illegitimate President

Cruz to Christian Conservatives: We are not going to let Big Tech silence us

Headlines

Jiuliani likens Pelosi to Sen. Joseph McCarthy

China says its May trade surplus was $41.65 billion, significantly more than expected

Wash Post Page One Monday: NRA money flowed to board members ...

Billionaire Kochs to financially back Democrats pushing amnesty, free trade

Latino leaders sound alarms over Trump re-election in 2020

Inflation trends suggest Treasury yields will surprise the Street and won’t bottom for months

TSA lets illegals skip airport security lines ahead of citizens?

Comey email exonerated Hillary two months before her FBI interview

Senators make bipartisan push to halt arm sales to Saudi Arabia

Former Red Sox star David Ortiz shot in Dominican Republic, said to be in stable condition

News industry joins calls for increased scrutiny of Big Tech ...

The U.S. created just 75,000 jobs in May

Headlines

Even some Trump allies want Kushner to ice his peace plan

China is ramping up its own chip industry amid brewing trade wars. That could hurt US firms

Clarance Thomas scoffs at retirement rumors ...

Klein: ‘Biden has a lot to be concerned about’ over Russian hoax

Judge shoots down House’s attempt to block Trump’s border wall emergency

Fed’s Bulllard says rate cut may be ‘warranted soon’

Amazon offered job to government official involved with $10 billion contract it sought ...

Mexico says its holding back 250K migrants amid tariff threats

House Dems set contempt vote against Barr and McGahn

The government is threatening big tech — and the market just took notice

Did govt test Internet kill switch?

Queen Elizabeth hosts glamorous state dinner for the Trumps

Headlines

Trump ‘deadly serious’ about Mexico tariffs, Mulvaney says

China vows to defend ‘islands and rocks’ in the South China Sea

Wire: Big tech should be afraid. Very afraid ...

Veterans skip meeting with AOC after she bashes Trump’s foreign policy

Trump tempers optimism on Middle East peace plan

Goldman Sachs is predicting an escalation of the global trade wars

Trump hits back at London mayor on arrival in UK ...

Poll: Majority of Americans oppose Donald impeachment

Trump backs no-deal Brexit

5 injured in Venice as cruise ship slams into tourist boat

Palestinians say U.S. ‘deal of the century’ will finish off their state ...

Virginia Beach police chief: No gun law would have prevented attack

Headlines

Schwarzenegger assaulted in South Africa

China’s currency is sending a warning signal about the trade war

Biden race to the middle

Candice Owens: Big tech trying to ‘subvert a mass awakening’

Austrian government collapses over Russian scandal

A tight labor market is holding small businesses from expanding in this hot economy

Australia prime minister holds onto power ... Polls got it WRONG ...

Trump spox: Trump has said he is for three exceptions to abortion

U.S. warns airlines flying in Persian Gulf amid Iran crisis

It costs $76,623 to go to Dartmouth — here’s how much students actually pay

FOXNEWS surprising poll result: Mueller more trusted than Trump and  Barr ...

[Biden] ... Equates Trump to ‘tyrants and dictators’

On His Plate

President Trump has had to address so very many items that his predecessors chose to ignore. Here are just a few of the unsavory things he found on his plate on inauguration day:

- North Korean nuclear threat

- Grossly unfair trade relations with China and the EU

- Broken immigration laws, law enforcement and policies

- Run-away big tech and its insidious invasion of our privacy

- An untamed ISIS caliphate in Iraq and Syria

- Venezuelan economic and social decay

- Sluggish economic growth driven by bad tax laws and over regulation

- NAFTA’s  hollowing out of American industrial base (inc. steel and aluminum)

- NATO financial and forces slackers

- American armed forces reconstruction

- Activists US judicial system (inc. Supreme Court)

- Iranian nuclear threat and its sponsorship of worldwide terrorism

- A grossly biased American media

- Russian and Chinese worldwide hegemonic mischief making

- And many, many more ...

And, all the while, Trump, as he was addressing this unappetizing fare, was being spit on by the Deep State, the media ... and the Mueller Russian investigation.

Headlines

Cuomo scrambles to stamp out Cynthia Nixon revolt

US-China trade war could cause bear market, stress test shows

Immigrants cited in theft of 39 million Social Security numbers ...

... Terror content remains on social media 17 years after 9/1

White House planning second Trump-Kim summit

The hurricane that's about to hit the Carolin as could be the worst in 60 years

100 Bangladeshi nationals apprehended near Texas [border] ...

Pope Francis compares Vatican whistleblower to Satan

Gov. Brown: Trump administration's rollback of methane rules 'insane'

Trump told Gary Cohn to 'print money' yo lower national debt, according to Woodwatrd book

Job openings climb to record 6.9 million ...

Media expert: Big tech monopolies are going to be a problem more and more

Too Big Tech?

I have been holding off on this posting until Zeckerberg testified in front of  Congress and, to an extent I feel inadequate to blanket all the issues that are raised by Big Tech. In fact the effects that Facebook, Google, Twitter, Apple, Snapchat, etc. are having on our societies deserve a huge book. Don't look to me, dear readers, for such a treatment. I will just scratch here where I am now itching ... censorship, monopolistic power and privacy issues.

One thing that bothers me a lot is how Bug Tech is censoring free speech. Diamond and Silk had been kicked off of Facebook, the Diplomad can no longer tweet. Hundreds of conservatives have been shadow-banned on Facebook. Google searches are directed based on politician considerations ... and I'm sure there are thousands of other examples on Instagram, reddit, YouTube, etc., etc. Because many terrorist attacks have been coordinated on social media, this is as a deflection excuse for this increase in censorship of political thought.

"Opt Out" button is, I'm my opinion, the answer to the privacy issue on social media ... even if users then have to pay to do so. Hitting this button would and should erase all possibility of your private data being used for any purpose beyond what you explicitly designate. This is the new European regulation. The U.S. should quickly adopt it. Full stop.

It is staggering the degree of economic control that Big Tech has over our lives ... many say equivalent to how the big trusts controlled things at the beginning of the last century. Amazon, Apple, Facebook and Google each has a monopolistic stranglehold on their respective markets and there are growing number of pundits that think they should be broken up ... see: Seattle Times Article.

All in all, this triple whammy of political and economic power combined with the shredding of our First Amendment are reason enough to look closely at applying remedies to Big Tech. It may take new blood in Congress to do it however, because too few of the current old members seem capable of understanding what is happening ... unfortunately.