RANT: CELL PHONES? WE DON'T NEED NO STINKIN' CELL PHONES!

 

I MENTIONED THE OTHER DAY that I was looking into getting a smart phone for my car just in case I end up in a ditch this winter. So, I checked my local phone monopoly provider, and may get a cheap “pre-paid” jobbie and a phone plan that costs a small(ish) extra amount each month. Good-good and gooder.

I noticed the phone I picked doesn’t come equipped with GPS. Not that I want GPS. Dang it! I can still read a road map! And that got me thinking (something that’s harder to do these days). If I get one equipped with GPS to know where I am all the time, does that mean other people will know where I am, too? 

Why yes, they probably will, according to some things I've read about the digital landscape we’re creating. And the more I read, the further I fall into the proverbial Rabbit Hole.

 —"Curiouser and curiouser." *

According to my favourite prepper site, even cell phones without GPS can be tracked using technologies originally developed for the US military, such as STINGRAY and ECHELON, both used by police agencies (at least in the US) to essentially ‘trick’ your cell phone to turn on. Once its on, both tracking and monitoring of your calls can take place, as well as nearby face-to-face conversations you may have which are picked up via your phone’s microphone.

 

—"When I used to read fairy tales, I fancied that kind of thing never happened, and now here I am in the middle of one!" 

It is a bit strange to think how easily we can be hacked¹, our private conversations monitored, our data hoovered-up virtually every time we conduct  online activity, be it from our phones, computers, “smart” cards and devices, “wearables” etc. 

I guess I shouldn't be that surprised, given the massive data harvesting operations on the part of  American intelligence services, that were revealed by Edward Snowden in 2013.⁺ But the spectre of  elite manipulation and control over so many aspects of our (regretably) digital lives smacks of a system of social control on a previously unimagined scale, and one that is far from democratic.   And so, trillions and trillions of data bits are flowing like some giant underground river we’re barely aware of. Flowing where exactly? And why?

Futurist and author, Yuval Noah Harari provides some answers about where our increasingly wired world and its growing data production are taking us. And his assessment is a chillingly dystopian vision of the not-so-distant future:

 

“The new technologies [bio-tech, AI] will soon give some corporations and governments the ability to hack human beings. There is a lot of talk about hacking computers, phones, email accounts but the really big thing is hacking human beings. To hack human beings, you need a lot of biological knowledge, a lot of computing power and especially a lot of data. If you have enough data about me…you can hack my body, my brain, my life.” (Harari, from interview transcript, Davos, 2018)

 

And in a recent article for her excellent website, Unlimited Hangout, Whitney Webb reports on an another speech by Harari, where he makes an equally startling claim:

 

“According to World Economic Forum luminary and historian Yuval Noah Harari, the transition to ‘digital dictatorships’ will have a ‘big watershed’ moment once governments “start monitoring and surveying what is happening inside your body and inside your brain.” He says that the mass adoption of such technology would make human beings ‘hackable animals,’ while those who abstain from having this technology on or in their bodies would become part of a new “useless” class. Harari has also asserted that biometric wearables will someday be used by governments to target individuals who have the ‘wrong’ emotional reactions to government leaders."(“Proposal”)

 

Okay. So, I guess this means we’re all going to be meat on the hoof for our betters, or else “human batteries” for the Matrix. What Harari is speculating on seems for most of us to be in the realm of science fiction, and his proposals could be taken as merely light fare, an entertainment, not serious public discourse. I’d agree, except for the fact there are a lot of people with a lot of money and influence who are turning their gaze in his direction.

One thing I found instructive viewing Harari’s Davos vid was noting who he was in discussion with, namely the founder and CEO of Huawai, Ren Zhengfei. Speaking through a translator, the executive’s pronouncements about the future of digital, biotech, and AI technologies were as bland and reassuring as Harari’s were provocative.  Zhengfei said all the things you’d expect him to say: that the technologies were safe, there were safeguards in place, everything was transparent and in accord with government regulations, and standards. Such technologies, he said, can only enrich people’s lives and lift millions out of poverty, etc., etc. With Harari by his side, acting as a kind of in-house shaman or court jester, a clown figure who says the quiet parts out loud, parts that can then be left virtually ignored and unchallenged. For we view Harari's vision as too extreme, even absurd, and for the most part, mere entertainment. We don't take him seriously. After all, who argues with a clown? On the other hand, we listen to Zhengfei's comments and are lulled into dulled complacency by elite 'mummering'. Davos, for me, is like a gigantic magic trick with the magician's slight of hand distracting us to look one way while the real action is elsewhere.

 —"Why, sometimes I've believed as many as six impossible things before breakfast." 

 

I MENTIONED IN AN EARLIER POST about Klaus Schwab, founder and chief huckster for the World Economic Forum (WEF) which meets annually at Davos, Switzerland. It is a place where he can pontificate (as does our own Prime Minister Trudeau) and even write a book about what he and others are calling the “Great Reset” . It's where he can share, to his heart’s content, his vision of a technologic overlordship, a future where privacy is a thing of the past and virtually every aspect of a person’s daily life, from their vaccine status, health information, financial records, work and family histories, any data point you can imagine, are all carefully collated, archived and at the disposal of elites, corporations, and governments. And the most interesting fact is that this is all being said out in the open. Schwab himself even calls it a "digital dictatorship" (so long as he and his fellow Davosians dictate, of course.)The fact that elites like Schwab can speak so freely about their plans suggests either an overweening arrogance on their part or else, more disturbingly, it may represent an awareness they intuit of a grudging (and not so grudging) willingness on the part of public to acquiesce to governments and businesses that promise safety, security, and prosperity (for some, at least) in the times ahead.

GRANTED, THERE ARE GROWING protests in many countries around vaccine passports and their exclusionary regimes, and what they may portend for future intrusions into personal privacy and autonomy, à la Davos. Will changes happen as a result of the protests? Will the brakes of legislation and the enactment of laws to curtail capitalism's 'shiny new thing' be applied in time? It's too soon to tell, but I think it's important for all of us, going forward, to consider the implications of such monitoring schemes and how, as I've briefly discussed above, they may become tools of oppression.  

This should give us pause, here in complacent Canada, where 78% of the country favours proof of vaccination passports, and where protests have been muted and generally polite. 

Now, I should say that haven't been completely accurate stating that elite machinations to develop all encompassing data retrieval systems to monitor and control their populations is being done in plain sight, for all to see. A good deal of the machinery is under wraps.

—"We're all mad here."

 

ONE EXAMPLE OF THE HIDDEN 'nuts and bolts' of the operation is a little-known, but highly influential American company, named MITRE². MITRE began in the late 1950s as a project jointly run between the US Air Force and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) “to develop command and control systems for nuclear and conventional warfare.” (“Cloak”.) Jeremy Loffredo and Max Blumenthal, in the second part of their series at the Grayzone on the changing digital landscape, detail the growth of MITRE and the web of interconnections it has between intelligence services, the military, and technology elites, such as Bill Gates. And it should be noted that the company has numerous retired intelligence and military personnel in its administration.

MITRE, in the 1960s, developed monitoring systems used by the US ARMY during the Vietnam war. Recently it has developed “surveillance technology for the FBI which collects human fingerprints from social media websites like Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.” (ibid.)³

And what Jeremy and Max are asking is “why might an organization known for mass surveillance and military technology be at the centre of an initiative that offers the possibility of unprecedented monitoring of the global population?” (ibid.) The initiative they speak of is the Vaccine Credential Initiative⁴ (VCI) which is a “voluntary coalition” between governments and high-tech companies (such as Microsoft) in order to “empower individuals with digital access to their vaccination records so they can use tools like CommonPass to safely return to travel, work, school, and life, while protecting their data privacy,” as says Paul Meyer, head of the VCI “partner”, Commons Project Foundation. VCI, it should be said,  is envisioned to operate on a global scale.

So as not to put too fine a point on all this: When we have 'former' spooks  and retired, high-ranking military personnel running private companies as well as numerous non-profit think tanks that are providing resources, software and support services (like MITRE’s SaraAlert Covid tracker) for VCI’s global initiative, what could possibly go wrong?

 

ONE FINAL QUOTE from “Elizabeth Renieris, the founding director of Notre Dame and IBM’s technology ethics lab, who succinctly sums up Jeremy and Max’s concerns, and those of us who realize we're still tumbling down the Rabbit Hole. She warns that:

 

“[A]s dominant technology and surveillance companies” like MITRE “pursue new revenue streams in healthcare and financial services…privately owned and operated ID systems with profit-maximizing business models threaten the privacy, security, and other fundamental rights of individuals and communities.” (“Cloak”) 

 

After all this, I think I might just toss my cell phone out the window!

    "Cell phones?!"

I could go on, but I think that's enough to chew on for now. I'm doing another post on why we should always run as fast as we can away from any billionaire that wants to jab us with a needle.

 

Cheers, Jake.

   

 _______________________________________________

 

* Quotes from Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carol

 

⁺ And lest ever-complacent Canadians remain in a comfortable state of denial, it’s important to remember that Canada is a member of the Five Eyes security alliance—along with Britain, Australia, New Zealand, and the United States—which shares intelligence information across national borders. (Interesting aside: the modern iteration of the international spy group is based on a similar networking done during and following WWII. We’ve been spying buddies much longer than I realized.)

It might also be remembered that just a few years ago, CSIS, Canada's own spy shop, was found legally culpable for providing incorrect information on suspected terrorists (innocent Canadian citizens) who were subsequently arrested by US authorities, and sent to third countries where they were tortured. Nice work, guys. 

 So, to imagine that our own security service, the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) would not have its fingers in as many pies as it can get away with, is naive. How far should we trust secret organizations in a democracy? Should we let nameless bureaucrats and oligarchs decide?

 

¹ Interesting word, “hacked”. The OED says the origin of the word is Old English haccian, meaning “cut in pieces”. The dictionary also has the modern definition of a computerized intrusion we’re all familiar with, but the older definition is instructive. When we’re “hacked” and have our personal data stolen or corrupted, it’s like a part of us has been cut or “hacked” away. Part of our personhood has been compromised or taken from us. This has an effect, both individually and cumulatively as a society.

 

² Since we live in times where irony seems to flow as readily as oil leaking from a pipeline, it’s of some interest to note the dictionary definition of “mitre”: “A tall headdress worn by bishops and senior abbots as a symbol of office, tapering to a point at front and back with a deep cleft between." (OED) 

"MITRE", is an appropriate name for a company that began as a developer of command-and-control systems for nuclear weapons. (Aside: The atom bomb, with its god-like powers of destruction, and the hubris of humanity to think we can be acolytes or ultimately  rulers of such mad, wild forces speak volumes about how we see ourselves.) 

The company's name hints at the religious fervour those in charge adopted in their quest for winning the coming Data Wars. Say your prayers!

³ Just think! The next time you wave to  granny on Twitter, remember your fingerprints are being copied and hoovered up by MITRE’s software for I guess any darn reason those who are using the program want. Smile for the panopticon!

⁴ Check the long list of “partners” incl. Ontario and Saskatchewan Ministries of Health, other government actors, tech companies, private health care providers and security firms. it's an interesting mix and it makes my stomach a little bit queasy, if truth be told.

 

Webb, Whitney. “This Biden Proposal Could Make US A Digital Dictatorship”. From website: Unlimited Hangout,  April 25, 2021. https://unlimitedhangout.com/2021/05/investigative-reports/this-biden-proposal-could-make-the-us-a-digital-dictatorship/

 

Loffredo, Jeremy  and Max Blumenthal. “Public health or private wealth? How digital vaccine passports pave way for unprecedented surveillance capitalism”. From website: The Grayzone, Oct 19, 2021. https://thegrayzone.com/2021/10/19/health-wealth-digital-passports-surveillance-capitalism/

 

—“’Cloak and dagger’ military-intelligence outfit at center of US digital vaccine passport push”. From website: The Grayzone, Oct.26, 2021. https://thegrayzone.com/2021/10/19/health-wealth-digital-passports-surveillance-capitalism/

 

 

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