Roasting the Press Episode 39 for Sunday, September 8th, 2024
Free Speech in the Cross Hairs, Music, Emotional Resonance and Propaganda plus "Are Sunglasses Causing Cancer?"
Tonight’s new media personalities include Freedom Forum editor Chuck Black, independent media commentator Marie Anne and Mongo Minds Productions owner Richard Gagnon.
Free Speech in the Cross Hairs
Our first story tonight is focused around the September 1st, 2024 Popular Rationalism on Substack post, “Free Speech in the Cross Hairs” which notes a “Global Surge in Government Censorship and Digital Control.”
According to the post “Individuals - all individuals - must stand up and continue to use their rights to free speech and disempower those who would enslave all of our minds” and provides a list of some new government censorship initiatives over the last few weeks.
The list includes:
Brazil’s crack down on VPN usage and it’s ongoing attempts to censor Elon Musk’s “X“ social media platform (The August 31st, 2024 Telsarati post, “Brazil crackdown on X continues with up to $8.9k daily fine for VPN users”).
Germany’s ongoing enforcement of speech “norms,” (the August 30th, 2024 Redux post, “German Court Forces Podcasters To Delete Episode Where They Referred To Balding Trans-Identified Male As “He/Him”).
France’s arrest and incarceration of Telegram Founder Pavel Durov, for refusing to censor user comments on his platform and his subsequent about face on the matter (the September 6th, 2024 Fortune post, “Telegram CEO Durov Announces Crackdown On ‘Illicit Activities’ Amid Arrest, Criminal Probe”).
Rumble CEO Chris Pavlovski’s flight from Europe around the time French police arrested Telegram’s CEO and the country “threatened” Rumble’s ongoing French operations (the August 26th, 2024 Cointelegraph post, “Rumble boss ‘departed’ from Europe after Telegram CEO arrest”).
UK’s “misinformation” initiatives and proposed legislation to classify and control public discourse (the August 10th, 2024 Washington Examiner post, “The UK descends into dystopian levels of censorship”).
EU pressure on online US platforms like Elon Musk’s “X” to “administer” and censor content (the September 5th Yahoo News post, “Like Brazil, the European Union also has an X problem”).
The recent disclosure from Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg detailing how the Biden-Harris administration and the FBI pressured Meta to censor content during the COVID-19 pandemic (the August 27th, 2024 Fox News post, “Meta CEO admits Biden-Harris admin pressured company to censor Americans”).
The Popular Rationalism post notes:
These recent events are part of a broader, ongoing trend. Since 2020, there has been a noticeable increase in government attempts to control digital discourse using both direct and indirect methods.”
It goes on to give examples of new censorship initiatives in the US, China, India, Russia, Turkey and the EU and concludes:
The surge in government efforts to control digital speech is disturbing, with potentially far-reaching consequences. From direct bans and arrests to more subtle forms of coercion and manipulation, governments worldwide are finding new ways to stifle dissent and control the narrative. As these practices continue to evolve and spread, the future of free speech hangs in the balance.
The global community must remain vigilant, advocating for transparency and accountability and preserving free expression as a fundamental human right.
The battle over free speech is not just a legal or political issue but a fight for the very soul of democracy. The actions taken today will determine the landscape of public discourse for generations to come.
Although not included in the Popular Rationalism post, the “Roasting the Press” discussion also includes quick comments on:
How current censorship initiatives seem to follow the patterns favored by the World Economic Forum (WEF) in its recent advocacy efforts (the January 18th, 2024 on YouTube post, “Davos Day 4 | Online censorship finds a home at WEF”).
The arrest and prosecution of German lawyer Reiner Fuellmich for his ongoing work with the Corona Investigative Committee, a non-governmental investigative group investigating government malfeasance during the great pandemic of 2020 – 2022 (the September 5th, Smoke and Mirrors on Bitchute post, “REINER FUELLMICH - Sept 1st 2024,” the latest update on Fuellmich’s ongoing prosecution).
Ongoing Canadian government censorship initiatives utilizing non-government organizations and professional organizations to “police” free speech (the August 21st, 2024 Canadian Constitution Foundation on YouTube post, “How free speech is being CENSORED in Canada - and how to fix it”).
Music, Emotional Resonance and Propaganda
Our second story is all about how music frequencies are used to lull people into “emotional spells.”
We begin with the May 8th, 2008 doctrDave on YouTube post, “Michael Martin Murphey & the Rio Grande Band - "Wildfire" and the April 29th, 2019 Rhino on YouTube post, “Christopher Cross - Sailing (Official Audio).”
We then relate the tone and the tenor to some of the historic events taking place during the era the songs were written.
Our template is the undated post “Section 2. Major Events of the World in 1975,” which, curiously enough, is part of the official Japanese government Ministry of Foreign Affairs website.
We finish up with the January 16th, 2016 TeeVees Greatest on YouTube post, “Dallas Opening and Closing Theme 1978 - 1991 (HD Surround).”
The theme makes you want to live large, wear a ten gallon hat, ride a high horse, chow down on an expensive hunk of beef and commiserate over who shot “JR.”
Are Sunglasses Causing Cancer?
The September 7th, 2024 Mongo Minds on Bitchute post, “Did You Know Sunglasses Might Be Contributing to an Increase in Cancer Rates” makes us wonder why we wear sunglasses.
Is it for fashion, protection or because some advertising agency once cast a spell over us?
“Roasting the Press,” is an open forum with new media journalists critiquing and complaining about our well funded competitors, the stories they create and the techniques they use.
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