Conversations with leaders who bring people from all sides together in purposeful dialogue so we can develop a shared vision of the world we want to live in.
Steve Bhaerman and Michael Maxsenti conduct interviews that will work to deepen and expand our understandings.
These conversations will get us off the political battlefields and onto cooperative playing fields. There we can create the new story that our hearts know is possible.
For those who want to continue to blindly "trust our government" please keep in mind that in my lifetime our government said:
~ a lone shooter killed President Kennedy
~ North Vietnamese boats attacked US ships in the Gulf of Tonkin that justified the escalation of the war in Vietnam and killing millions of innocent people
~ Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction...the false evidence produced was used as justification for starting the War on Iraqi, killing hundreds of thousands of innocent people
Now...please read on with curiosity.
"In the meantime, I wanted to draw up a quick summary of the main revelations in these documents. I keep seeing colleagues talking about how it’s a “nothingburger” or “just shows a bunch of normal people doing the best they can,” which I guess is an opinion one could have. I obviously disagree. There’s a lot in this tranche, but here are the key takeaways, as I see them.
FBI/DHS/DNI coordination. We entered this project conscious of reports that federal law enforcement agencies might be in contact with platforms like Twitter about content moderation. After not seeing it in the first batch, the Slack entries in “Part 3” contain multiple, clear displays of cooperation between Twitter and federal law enforcement and/or intelligence, including:
a) Senior executives like Trust and Security chief Yoel Roth not only met regularly with the FBI and the Department of Homeland Security, but on at least one occasion liaised with the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI). This was not known previously.
b) Twitter executives didn’t just meet with agencies like the FBI, and didn’t just get general guidance about trends or warnings. We now have concrete examples of the FBI sending over reports about individual tweets, after which Twitter staff apply warning labels and other actions. This is direct evidence that federal law enforcement is in the business of identifying speech for regulation. How anyone can see that as a non-story is difficult for me to understand.
c) Continuing the theme of learning more about how Twitter works with its “trusted partners” in federal law enforcement, one of the most interesting exchanges was one of the least-noticed. In this Slack, Roth asks Twitter employees if they have a “debunk moment” about “the SCYTL/Smartmantic” vote counting conspiracies. He then says contacts at the DHS told him that these tales were an amalgam of “about 47 conspiracy theories.” He regrets DHS did not make this comment publicly.
This exchange both speaks in Twitter’s favor and serves as further proof of government meddling. The exchange seems to suggest Roth needs something he can hang his hat on to formally bounce a tweet, like a ruling from Politifact or an NPR article (the level of evidence they use to censor tweets reminds me of magazine fact-checking, and not in a good way). We seem to have seen multiple methods: either an agency like the FBI sends over evidence against this or that tweet, or it simply makes an ask informally, after which someone like Roth goes looking for a real-world excuse to ban. Again, it speaks in Twitter’s favor that they even had that much of a process, but it’s clear again that federal agencies are intensely involved with regulating speech at the most micro level."
Remember all along what WE have been told from our government and the corporate controlled media.
And, don't forget that:
~ a lone shooter killed President Kennedy
~ North Vietnamese boats attacked US ships in the Gulf of Tonkin that justified the escalation of the war in Vietnam and killing millions of innocent people
~ Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction...the false evidence produced was used as justification for starting the War on Iraqi, killing hundreds of thousands of innocent people
“If a speech falls freely in the forest and there is no one there to hear it, is it still free speech?” – Swami Beyondananda
In 1974, the satirical troupe, Firesign Theatre, put out a comedy record, Everything You Know Is Wrong.
Now, 50 years later …looks like they were right.
When we think of censorship, we think of overt repression of views, like book banning, or even book-burning. But in these times, where so much of what we think we “know” comes from digital sources, the censorship is so silent and stealthy that we haven’t a clue how the information we receive has already been filtered and focused by someone unknown to us. And how we are convinced we are “thinking our own thoughts” but are in fact parroting planted narratives.
On this episode of Front and Center, Michael and I review and unpack an eye-opening interview with psychologist and journalist Dr. Robert Epstein, on what he calls the Search Engine Manipulation Effect (SEME). Epstein, a former editor of Psychology Today, has ...
“It’s not vicious lies they are looking to censor.
It’s those vicious truths they’re worried about.”
– Swami Beyondananda
Last week I wrote a post suggesting that free speech censorship was the gravest existential threat to democracy. I was heartened by the positive response, although I found something very curious about the few pushback emails I got. Not one of them objected to any of my points about free speech, or even addressed them. All of the negative feedback boiled down to: “Donald Trump is worse!”
That’s the problem with “lesser evil-ism.” We accentuate and amplify the evil on the other side (in this week’s podcast you can view the contrast between what mainstream media said that Trump said and what he actually said), while refusing to acknowledge the lies and contradictions on our own side.
That’s how evil prevails.
So I want to try a thought experiment.
Imagine there’s no Donald Trump.
(Imagine there’s no Donald …
It’s easy if you try …
No red-hat wearing MAGA’s
The red team runs another guy ...
“The best way to overgrow the ‘deep state’ is by cultivating a deeper state.”
-- Swami Beyondananda
Here is the oxymoronic political contradiction of our times. We seem more polarized than ever, and yet the vast majority of us long to work together for mutual benefit. Perhaps the resolution of this seemingly impossible “shituation” can be found in the “real” American dream of our founders: individual freedom AND collective wellbeing.
The accentuated polarization of our times has put these two universal aspirations in conflict with one another. But what if they need to co-evolve together? Is there a way to transform these dueling dualities into dynamic-duo dance partners?
Our guest this week on Front and Center, Foster Gamble (www.freetothrive.com), has spent his adult lifetime seeking what he calls a “universal morality” that is not imposed from the top down, but realized from the individual on up. Growing up in privilege – he’s a Gamble as in Proctor & Gamble – ...
An Interview With Pioneering Black Journalist Glen Ford
“It’s time to move past identity issues and focus on the IDENTICAL issues we all face – clean air, clean water, clean food, and clean government.”
-- Swami Beyondananda
Bamboozlement. Isn’t that a great word?
According to Wiki Politiki guest Glen Ford, pioneering black journalist, that was a term Malcolm X used to describe how the power structure has used race politics – most recently the #BlackLivesMatter movement -- to keep folks from poking around the real issues.
The son of famed disc jockey Rudy “The Deuce” Rutherford, who was the first Black man to host a non-gospel television show in the Deep South – Columbus, Georgia, 1958 – Glen was reading newswire copy on-the-air at age eleven. Glen’s first full-time broadcast news job was at James Brown’s Augusta, Georgia radio station WRDW, in 1970 – where ‘The Godfather of Soul” shortened Glen’s surname to “Ford.”
Sadly, Mr. Ford passed away ...
An Interview With Pioneering Black Journalist Glen Ford
“It’s time to move past identity issues and focus on the IDENTICAL issues we all face – clean air, clean water, clean food, and clean government.”
-- Swami Beyondananda
Bamboozlement. Isn’t that a great word?
According to Wiki Politiki guest Glen Ford, pioneering black journalist, that was a term Malcolm X used to describe how the power structure has used race politics – most recently the #BlackLivesMatter movement -- to keep folks from poking around the real issues.
The son of famed disc jockey Rudy “The Deuce” Rutherford, who was the first Black man to host a non-gospel television show in the Deep South – Columbus, Georgia, 1958 – Glen was reading newswire copy on-the-air at age eleven. Glen’s first full-time broadcast news job was at James Brown’s Augusta, Georgia radio station WRDW, in 1970 – where ‘The Godfather of Soul” shortened Glen’s surname to “Ford.”
Sadly, Mr. Ford passed away this ...
“There are no sides, only angles. And when we see it from the right angle, we’re all on the same side.”
-- Swami Beyondananda
Part 1 of 2
Here is an “irony supplement” to munch on.
America is in the midst of the most politically polarizing times since the Civil War … and yet, a 2018 Pew Research Center poll found that nearly 80 percent of Americans in each party believe it’s important for Republicans and Democrats to work together on issues.
Huh? How could that be?
Are we that schizophrenic … or, is there a deep longing to find our sane and sacred center at the heart and soul of who we are?
On August 25, 2020 Wiki Politiki interviewed family therapist and author Bill Doherty, co-founder of Braver Angels, an organization dedicated to bringing the polarized sides together to find a new angle – where instead of dehumanizing the other side, we re-humanize the other.
In December 2016, Braver Angels co-founders David Blankenhorn, Bill Doherty, and David Lapp brought ...
“Truth lives in our hearts. Beliefs lie in our heads.”
– Swami Beyondananda
Some years ago I wrote an article for a progressive publication about Fox News and their propensity for spreading outright lies. I called the article “Come On Baby, Fight My Liar,” and I ended it by saying that conservatives obviously like being lied to – whereas progressives prefer lying to themselves.
Needless to say, I got some pushback on the piece – and also some knowing nods of “yes, I know exactly what you mean.”
What did I mean?
Well, I had just been with a group of people where someone brought up the idea that the 911 Twin Tower attacks might have been an inside job. In response, one woman said – with a completely straight face – “Oh, no. If it had been an inside job I would have heard about it on NPR.”
I think back over the past couple of decades when I presented some inconvenient truth that was outside the comfort zone of some of the spiritually-inclined folks I knew. They would put up their hand and say, “I don’t want to ...
“When you find yourself on a vicious cycle, for goodness sake, stop pedaling and get off.”
-- Swami Beyondananda
From Steve Bhaerman:
One of the biggest challenges for me in the wake of the election results has been speaking into the field of grief, anger, profound disappointment, hopelessness and despair so many of my progressive co-hearts have been experiencing.
And …I’ve been watching this slow-motion train wreck for nearly four years, so I was not surprised.
I began this election day by taking my own advice and following my conscience. I abstained from voting for President. My choice was neither of the above. My prayer was for the American people to make the wisest choice possible – and I let it be with that.
I went about my business peacefully, spent time in nature, watched inspiring, entertaining and educational programs Tuesday night and went to bed without following the “hearse-race.”
In sharp contrast to my rage and horror when it happened in 2016, I...
Since the election, I have been thinking and praying about what was the most important contribution I could make to help MAHA and MAGA succeed.
Last week, after receiving Kelly’s support, I decided to get in the arena…I am running for the House of Representatives in the CA Congressional District #47.
I’m committed to representing you and everyone in our district as a common sense Republican. Together, we can work to get the government on the side of the people and out of the hands of the uniparty Democrats and status quo Republicans.
🙏😎
