Innovative Iraqis dodge net blackout to illuminate protest violence

Yahoo – AFP, Maya Gebeily, October 5, 2019

Protesters have used mobile phones to film against a backdrop of tear gas volleys
and live rounds during demonstrations that have gripped Iraq since Tuesday (AFP
Photo/AHMAD AL-RUBAYE)

Baghdad (AFP) - With secret satellites, pricey messages abroad and clandestine file transfers, young Iraqis are circumventing an internet blackout aimed at stifling several days of bloody protests in the capital and beyond.

Authorities restricted access to Facebook and Whatsapp after anti-government demonstrations began on Tuesday, before ordering a total network shutdown on Wednesday.

The termination of Wifi, 3G and 4G access left protestors with just regular phone calls and mobile messages -- a few notable exceptions aside.

Ahmad, 29, works at an internet service provider that helped implement the government's shutdown, but still has internet access at its headquarters.

"I go to the protests in the morning and shoot video on my phone, then use the internet at work to upload them to Facebook or send them to media outside Iraq," he said, using a fake name for fear of retribution or legal action by the government.

Protesters say the internet outage is an attempt to suppress reports of security forces using indiscriminate force including tear gas, live rounds and water cannons.

Ahmad showed AFP footage he planned to send to international media later that evening -- shots could be heard fired across a mostly-empty street in Baghdad as he and fellow protesters took cover behind a concrete barrier.

"Friends are even giving me the footage they shoot on flash drives so everyone outside Iraq can see what's happening here," he said.

Iraqi protesters take cover in Baghdad's central Khellani Square, while using their 

mobile phones - devices that have been key to citizen efforts to record alleged heavy 

handed tactics by security forces (AFP Photo/AHMAD AL-RUBAYE)

Before Tuesday, many Iraqis had taken to Facebook and Instagram to call for initial protests against a range of grievances: unemployment, mass government corruption, nepotism, poor public services, and more.

Images of young men and women marching towards the emblematic Tahrir Square flooded social media the first day, using the hashtag #save_Iraqi_people.

When restrictions on Facebook began, Iraqis acted quickly; many downloaded virtual private network (VPN) applications.

Others even began surreptitiously posting the details of the next protests in the comments section of Cinemana, a popular streaming service in Iraq.

But those avenues were shut off by the systemic shutdown.

Those that could afford to therefore erected costly satellites on their rooftops to get a window into the outside world.

'Follow the gunfire'

Nearly 100 people have died in the demonstrations since Tuesday, most of them protesters but also personnel from the security forces, according to authorities.

"They’re trying to fight us not just with arms, but with this blackout," said 31-year-old protester Osama Mohammad.

"We used to check the different neighbourhoods' Facebook pages to know where to go for protests. Now we just follow the sound of gunfire," Mohammad told AFP.

Live rounds have allegedly repeatedly been fired during the protests, which have 

evolved into calls for fundamental government change (AFP Photo/AHMAD AL-RUBAYE)

"If they cut off regular phone lines, we'll be completely blind," he noted.

For 25-year-old women's rights activist Rasha, taking to the streets carries too much risk, but she says she has found a different way to get involved.

Every day, her male friends text her dozens of updates from protest squares across the country, which she then texts and phones through to friends in the United Arab Emirates and Europe.

"I'm an intermediary. I can’t protest myself so this is the least I can do," she said, telling AFP the phone credit she buys has cost her around $100 (90 euros) per day for the last three days.

Rasha, who comes from Baghdad, is also saving videos and other unpublished material from one of the first protests that turned violent. She attended that initial demonstration.

"They think we'll forget they fired at us, they think people won't know. But I've got the videos and I'll publish everything I saw that day the minute the internet comes back," she said.

Jaafar Raad, an unemployed 29-year-old Iraqi who has frequently protested, is also storing dozens of images and videos to release once the blackout is lifted.

He even records voice notes from the protests themselves in applications like Whatsapp and Facebook, so that the audio messages will automatically send to friends abroad and international media outlets as soon as the internet returns.

"People must know what happened to us. This is so we can hold those behind the violence accountable," he told AFP.

#UPDATE The United Nations urged an end to violence in Iraq, after five days of anti-government rallies marred by the killing of nearly 100 people, mainly protesters https://t.co/BwOOH1xgzN pic.twitter.com/M919mR4vcP

— AFP news agency (@AFP) 5 oktober 2019

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“The End of History”, Seattle, Washington, Nov 20, 2010 (Kryon Channelling by Lee Carroll

“… The Internet - The first Worldwide Tool of Unification

Now I give you something that few think about: What do you think the Internet is all about, historically? Citizens of all the countries on Earth can talk to one another without electronic borders. The young people of those nations can all see each other, talk to each other, and express opinions. No matter what the country does to suppress it, they're doing it anyway. They are putting together a network of consciousness, of oneness, a multicultural consciousness. It's here to stay. It's part of the new energy. The young people know it and are leading the way.

I gave you a prophecy more than 10 years ago. I told you there would come a day when "everyone could talk to everyone and, therefore, there could be no conspiracy." For conspiracy depends on separation and secrecy - something hiding in the dark that only a few know about. Seen the news lately? What is happening? Could it be that there is a new paradigm happening that seems to go against history?  ... “

US tech futurist Andrew Yang, upending 2020 White House race

MSN – AFP, 1 September 2019

ALEX EDELMAN US tech entrepreneur Andrew Yang, the son of Taiwanese immigrants,
has gone from virtual unknown to one of the 10 Democratic hopefuls who made the
stage for the party's third presidential debate, set for September 12, 2019

Tech entrepreneur Andrew Yang may not become the next US president, but the clear-headed futurist has mounted a surprisingly vigorous White House bid centered around his plan for universal basic income.

For the past year, the son of Taiwanese immigrants has crisscrossed early voting states like Iowa, calmly but convincingly telling whoever will listen that the automating away of some four million jobs in America's heartland helped elect President Donald Trump.

Yang's message is part dark warning -- the rise of the machines is real -- and part clarion call for solutions to cushion the blow in an era of massive transformational change.

His campaign has gone from a long slog convincing skeptical voters about his pledge to provide every American adult with $1,000 a month, to a solid run for the Democratic nomination that few saw coming, and which puts him in the next nationally televised debate with nine other Democrats.

Yang, 44, has seen his crowds, once numbering a few dozen people or fewer, nudge into the hundreds, sometimes 1,000-plus, and readily sits for interviews with conservative commentators, leading to broad cross-party exposure.

While he has described himself as the opposite of Trump -- "an Asian guy who likes math" -- he is eager to woo Trump supporters, especially working-class white men anxious about their diminishing socioeconomic status.

Come September 12, Yang will be the only non-politician on the debate stage, standing alongside political giants like former vice president Joe Biden and Senator Bernie Sanders.

People have taken notice, including SpaceX and Tesla Motors founder Elon Musk.

"I support Yang," Musk tweeted August 10, a succinct seeming presidential endorsement from a highly visible global entrepreneur.

Yang, whose go-to outfit is a sport coat, dress shirt and no tie, has never held elected office. He is relaxed and direct, a skilled explainer beholden to no political camp.

One year ago he was a political nobody. By February he was the novelty candidate. Today he is outpolling three sitting US senators, a current and former congressman, and the mayor of New York.

"People started catching on to the fact that I was proposing solutions, not sound bites, and that we can actually start solving the problems on the ground," Yang told AFP in Iowa at a Democratic dinner.

"I'm identifying things that politicians only occasionally pay lip service to," like rising rates of suicide and depression, and declining US life expectancy.

His campaign raised more than $1 million from small donors in nine days following the second debate July 31.

Yang gang

The unlikely nature of Yang's candidacy -- "Random Man Runs for President," read one magazine cover -- has only elevated his stature.

"Once they hear about him... they love him," said Tom Krumins, a 25-year-old in South Carolina who once worked for Venture For America, the Yang-founded non-profit training thousands of young professionals to work for US start-ups.

"As that support continues to grow and as he continues to build his visibility online and in-person presence, he's going to take it by storm."

Yang has released several dozen policy prescriptions, including an ambitious $5 trillion outline to battle climate change.

But his signature plan provides every American 18 and over with a $1,000 monthly "freedom dividend," no strings attached, to counter automation pressures which he says could cause one third of all Americans to lose their jobs in the next 12 years.

Republicans blast the proposal as socialism. But Yang notes that a version of universal basic income has long been in place in conservative-leaning Alaska, where residents get government checks, funded by state oil revenues.

He says his dividend could be funded through consolidating certain welfare programs, implementing a value-added tax, and hiking taxes on top earners.

Not everyone is sold, including the liberal Sanders, who said he prefers a federal jobs guarantee.

"I think most people want to work," Sanders told Hill TV this week. "Part of our humanity is when we are productive members of our society."

Other party rivals have ignored Yang, even as he presented sharp answers in the second debate, when he warned that "wall-to-wall robots," not undocumented workers, were stealing away US jobs.

"Immigrants are being scapegoated for issues they have nothing to do with in our economy," he said.

But he raised eyebrows when he bleakly pronounced: "We are 10 years too late" to confront climate change.

Trump can't block Twitter critics, appeals court affirms

Yahoo – AFP, July 9, 2019

US President Donald Trump is not legally entitled to block his critics on Twitter, an
appeals court ruled, because he has been using the account in his official capacity
(AFP Photo/Eric BARADAT)

Washington (AFP) - A federal appeals court ruled Tuesday that US President Donald Trump cannot legally block users on Twitter based on their political differences with him, affirming a lower court decision.

The three-judge panel agreed with last year's ruling by a federal judge that Trump was using "viewpoint discrimination" in violation of the constitutional rights of people with opposing views.

The Second Circuit Appeals Court sidestepped the question of the president's free speech rights under the constitution's First Amendment on a privately owned internet platform, but affirmed that Trump had effectively created a public forum for official White House business.

"The First Amendment does not permit a public official who utilizes a social media account for all manner of official purposes to exclude persons from an otherwise‐open online dialogue because they expressed views with which the official disagrees," the judges wrote in a 29-page opinion.

The ruling comes in response to a lawsuit filed by a group of Twitter users and the Knight First Amendment Institute at Columbia University, alleging that Trump improperly blocked comments from his political opponents.

Plaintiffs, including a University of Maryland professor, a Texas police officer and a New York comic, said they were blocked from the @realDonaldTrump account after posting tweets critical of his policies.

Trump's legal response is that he is not acting in his official capacity when he blocks users, but the court disagreed.

US President Donald Trump's decision to block people on Twitter who voiced
disagreement with him prompted a federal lawsuit arguing he was using his
personal account as an official forum (AFP Photo/Brendan SMIALOWSKI)

"The president and multiple members of his administration have described his use of the account as official," the appeals court ruling said.

"We conclude that the evidence of the official nature of the account is overwhelming. We also conclude that once the president has chosen a platform and opened up its interactive space to millions of users and participants, he may not selectively exclude those whose views he disagrees with."

Another appeal?

The Justice Department, which represented the president, has the option to appeal the decision to the US Supreme Court.

"We are disappointed with the court's decision and are exploring possible next steps," Justice Department spokesperson Kelly Laco said in an emailed statement.

"As we argued, President Trump's decision to block users from his personal Twitter account does not violate the First Amendment."

The Knight Institute said the ruling could set an important precedent as more public officials turn to social media for official business.

"Public officials' social media accounts are now among the most significant forums for discussion of government policy," said Jameel Jaffer, the Knight Institute's executive director.

"This decision will ensure that people aren't excluded from these forums simply because of their viewpoints, and that public officials aren't insulated from their constituents' criticism. The decision will help ensure the integrity and vitality of digital spaces that are increasingly important to our democracy."

Twitter to confirm new accounts in spam fight

Yahoo – AFP, June 27, 2018

Twitter is among online platforms under pressure to do more to safeguard against
being used to spread misinformation or promote division (AFP Photo/DIPTENDU DUTTA)

San Francisco (AFP) - Twitter on Tuesday said it will begin asking for email addresses or phone numbers to confirm new accounts as part of a battle against manipulation, particularly by automated bots.

Adding a way to check that a real person is behind new accounts was described by Twitter as being among measures to fight abuse, trolls, and hateful content.

"This is an important change to defend against people who try to take advantage of our openness," Twitter executives Del Harvey and Yoel Roth said in a blog post.

The requirement will be rolled out later this year, and Twitter promised to make sure the change does not harm aspiring users in "high-risk" places.

Twitter recently began taking more steps to clean up spam and automated activity, and "close the loopholes they'd exploited," according to Harvey and Roth.

"We're also now automating some processes where we see suspicious account activity, like exceptionally high-volume tweeting with the same hashtag, or using the same @handle without a reply from the account you're mentioning," they said.

Twitter systems identified and challenged more than 9.9 million "potentially spammy or automated accounts" weekly in May, according to Harvey and Roth.

Twitter last month said that it was stepping up its long-running battle against online trolls, trying to find offenders by looking at "behavioral signals."

The new approach looks at behavioral patterns of users in addition to the content of the tweets, allowing Twitter to find and mute online bullies and trolls.

Even if the offending tweets are not a violation of Twitter policy, they may be hidden from users if they are deemed to "distort" a conversation, Twitter said.

Twitter already uses artificial intelligence and machine learning in this effort but the latest initiative aims to do more by focusing on the actions of certain users in addition to the content.

Twitter is among online platforms under pressure to do more to safeguard against being used to spread misinformation or promote division, as proved the case during the US presidential election in 2016, in which US intelligence says Russia meddled to help Donald Trump win.

Facebook to start fake news checks in the Netherlands

DutchNews, March 3, 2017

Photo: Facebook 

Dutch news website Nu.nl and a group of Master’s students from Leiden University are to work together checking facts placed on Dutch Facebook pages, broadcaster NOS said. 

The aim is to weed out fake news which has been placed to deliberately misinform or for financial gain, Facebook’s Europe media chief Patrick Walker told NOS. While it is unclear how many fake news items are doing the rounds in the Netherlands, ‘we hope to find out through this initiative,’ he said. 

Facebook has launched similar initiatives in Germany and France. Posts which readers flag as being potentially fake news will be checked by Nu.nl and Leiden’s Nieuwscheckers group. If both agree it is fake, the item will be flagged as such. 

‘The aim is to give users more context, so they know better what they can trust and share,’ Walker said. Posts which contain fake news will not be removed. 

Elections

Several Dutch newspapers also have their own fact checking sections in the run up to the March 15 general election. The NRC Checkt section on Friday looked at claims by SP leader Emile Roemer that the Netherlands is the biggest net payer into the EU coffers. 

The paper concludes that Roemer is right in terms of the proportion of national income. But Germany pays the biggest single contribution and Sweden more per head of the population, the paper said. 

The Volkskrant looks at claims by D66 leader Alexander Pechtol that the EU’s treaty with Ukraine has been changed significantly by the prime minister’s intervention. The paper concludes that the actual treaty itself has not been altered.

Outcry as White House bars top US media from briefing

Yahoo – AFP, February 25, 2017

An empty podium is seen at an off-camera briefing held with a small group of
reporters and White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer in the White House
February 24, 2017 (AFP Photo/Brendan Smialowski)

Washington (AFP) - Major US media outlets condemned as "unacceptable" and an "insult to democratic ideals" a decision by President Donald Trump's White House to bar several organizations, including CNN and The New York Times, from a daily press briefing.

In an escalation in the administration's war on the media, the White House Friday excluded some outlets that have provided critical coverage from an off-camera event that replaced the traditional on-camera daily briefing.

Friendly conservative outlets like Fox News, the One America News Network and Breitbart News were allowed to attend, while the BBC, The Los Angeles Times and others were excluded.

Trump on Friday decried the media as the "enemy of the people," a day after his top strategist promised relations with the press will get "worse every day."

A number of news outlets that regularly cover the White House as part of the "pool," including newswires Reuters and Bloomberg, attended the briefing.

The Associated Press boycotted in protest. AFP protested being excluded, despite being in the "pool," and attended the briefing uninvited.

The White House Correspondents Association said it was "protesting strongly" against the White House decision, and promised to bring it up with White House staff.

During the off-camera briefing spokesman Sean Spicer said that the White House has shown an "abundance of accessibility... making ourselves, our team and our briefing room more accessible than probably any previous administration."

It is not uncommon for Republican and Democratic administrations to brief select reporters, but the event was initially billed as a regular briefing open to credentialed media.

CNN anchor Jake Tapper decried the move as "un-American."

"This is an unacceptable development by the Trump White House," CNN's communications department wrote on Twitter.

"Apparently this is how they retaliate when you report facts they don't like. We'll keep reporting regardless."

The New York Times wrote in an editorial that the exclusion was an "unmistakable insult to democratic ideals."

The White House Correspondents Association said it was "protesting strongly" 

against the decision to only allow a small group of reporters being briefed during an 

off camera meeting with Press Secretary Sean Spicer (AFP Photo/Brendan Smialowski)

Several outlets refered to a December interview in which Spicer told Politico that the Trump White House would never ban a news outlet. "Conservative, liberal or otherwise, I think that's what makes a democracy a democracy versus a dictatorship," he said.

"Greatest threat to democracy"

Media organizations were not alone in defending the free press.

"Trump is supposed to be a public servant, and the truth is a public good," said Robert Reich, a UC Berkeley economist, former labor secretary and a prominent Democratic figure.

"But he continues to lie incessantly, and punish media that call him out," Reich wrote on Facebook. "These are the sort of antics we'd expect from a two-bit dictator but not from the President of the United States."

John Dean, the White House counsel for Republican president Richard Nixon in the 1970s, described the Trump media bashing as "more Nixonian than Nixon."

Nixon blasted the media as "the enemy" behind closed doors, Dean, 78, told the Democracy Now! radio show on Friday.

"The big difference is, Trump is doing this right out" and challenging the US constitution's first amendment that guarantees freedom of speech and of the press. He described it as "very startling and very troubling."

"Nixon failed, and he had a deep reservoir of ill will to draw on when he got himself in real trouble. And I think Trump is creating the same problem for himself."

Trump's hostility towards the press "may be the greatest threat to democracy in my lifetime," said William McRaven, a retired admiral and Navy SEAL who oversaw the raid that killed Al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden in 2011.

McRaven made the remarks at the college of communication at the University of Texas at Austin, according to the student newspaper. McRaven became head of the UT system after retiring in 2014.

"Flaws and all, I believe the free press is our country’s most important institution," McRaven, who has a degree in journalism, added in a blog post Thursday.

The United States "has the finest press corps in the world, bar none," he wrote. 

Russia arrests FSB cybersecurity experts in 'US-linked' treason case: lawyer

Yahoo – AFP, February 1, 2017

An employee walks past a glass panel at the Moscow headquarters of Kaspersky Lab,
whose top investigator was among those detained (AFP Photo/Kirill KUDRYAVTSEV)

Moscow (AFP) - Russia has arrested two senior FSB cybersecurity officials and a top anti-hacking expert on suspicion of committing treason linked to the United States, a lawyer involved with the case said Wednesday.

Sergei Mikhailov, deputy head of the FSB's Centre for Information Security, and his deputy Dmitry Dokuchayev are currently in detention along with Ruslan Stoyanov, head of the investigation unit at Moscow-based cybersecurity giant Kaspersky, lawyer Ivan Pavlov told AFP.

Pavlov confirmed the three were charged with treason and said "the case is connected to the United States". But he added that there was no mention of the CIA in the documents related to the case.

News of the arrests followed a flurry of reports in the Russian media over a case which could prove to be one of the highest-profile treason cases to hit the Russian intelligence community in years.

Russian authorities have not confirmed the arrests, but the Kremlin said President Vladimir Putin had been informed about media reports on the matter.

A CIA spokesman told AFP the agency has "no comment."

Russian hacking is currently in the spotlight following accusations by the US intelligence community that Putin ordered cyberattacks on American organisations to help get Donald Trump elected president.

Peskov insisted there could be no connection between the US allegations and the reported treason case because Moscow "categorically denies any claims on the possible Russian involvement" in any hacking.

Pavlov -- who is representing one of the defendants -- said court proceedings would likely not to start for a long time.

He said the case involved more than three suspects, without elaborating.

Kaspersky confirmed Stoyanov's arrest last week but gave no details, saying the allegations against him pertained "to a period of time when he was not an employee of the company."

Related Article:

Matthew message (Channelled by Suzanne Ward, January 8, 2017)

Matthew Ward - January 8, 2017

Matthew Ward

With loving greetings from all souls at this station, this is Matthew. Your calendar year 2017 promises to be exhilarating as the planet rides powerful energy waves along its ascension course. The waves are fields of light, and since light and love are the same energy, you could think of everyone in your world as residents in a boundless sea of love. We offer a meditation that can let you feel as one with this energy: Envision a panorama of exquisite beauty, see yourself gently floating over that idyllic scene, now feel yourself merging with it and savor the blissful sensation the Oneness of All imparts.

Now then, dear family, we shall reply to questions, starting with the one most frequently asked: In short, what about the United States presidency? Energy in Earth’s field of potential pertaining to this is in a state the likes of which is so unusual that we know of nothing comparable. Vibrations around President-elect Donald Trump are even lower than previously, those around most of his choices for top posts are low, and vibrations have remained consistently high around Senator Bernie Sanders. If we knew how this will play out, we would happily tell you, but this unique situation of high and low vibrations wildly in motion, yet coexisting almost in a standoff, gives no indication as to the outcome. What we can tell you is, with vibrations continually rising on the planet, whatever resolution is achieved ultimately will be for the highest good of all.

Please have no fear that Russia or China will start an armed conflict with the United States that could burgeon into a nuclear war. Despite the rhetorical posturing that some of your analysts consider worrisome, none of those countries’ leaders wants to become embroiled in a war that could imperil the world. And, if any other country or rogue group were to send up a missile with a nuclear warhead, ever-diligent crews in spacecraft surrounding Earth will prevent its detonation. This is a good place to answer another question: No, Iran is not secretly developing nuclear weaponry.

We see the UN Security Council’s vote to condemn Israel for building settlements on the West Bank in violation of international law as a sound defeat for the Illuminati. The goal of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who is in the top ranks of that secret society, never has been to serve the best interests of his people or to make peace with Palestine. In addition to keeping the region destabilized so funds keep flowing in for Israel’s defense, he wants to establish an Illuminati powerbase in Jerusalem from whence to spread their control throughout the Mideast. That will not happen.

Storms and record temperatures are due partially to weather control technology; chemtrails and other toxic pollutants in your atmosphere also have a role in this. So you are right in thinking that the Illuminati, not Mother Nature, are causing anomalous weather conditions as they are responsible for all the contributing factors, factors that are delaying the planet’s return to a moderate climate globally. The prevalence of geophysical incidents does come from two sources: Mining, drilling and fracking to extract fossil fuels is one; the other is Earth’s release of negativity that in part is caused by those environmentally damaging operations.

We have been asked our source of information that Russian President Vladimir Putin is justified in denying his country’s involvement in the hacking of Democratic National Committee emails and those on a personal computer, which is contrary to the United States intelligence agencies’ conclusion that the Kremlin is responsible. Some members of our universal family living among you are in major intelligence agencies around the globe—it was the ones in US agencies who told us they hacked and released the emails—and other members have expertise in tracking hackers’ “footprints.”

Our sources know that Illuminati in those various agencies report false information to breed conflict. The reports given to US President Barack Obama put the blame on Russia, which led to more sanctions against that country; this was in line with the Illuminati’s penchant for retaliation—they misled Obama and created more economic problems for Putin because both leaders refused to join forces with them. FBI Director James Comey knows who the hackers are, why they released the emails and the criminal evidence they contain; he didn’t disclose that information due to threatening pressure from the Illuminati faction behind Hillary Clinton.

So, Illuminati presence still is affecting what goes on in your world; however, their global network has been uprooted, their influence keeps weakening, and their diabolical activities have come to light albeit termed “fake news.” Individuals in top positions in numerous countries are being arrested, losing elections or resigning; more will follow and many in the lower ranks are scattering. Their control of Wall Street and European and Asian stock markets is unraveling and so is their banking empire. They won’t much longer be able to hold onto their vast fortunes amassed illegally and immorally—the forces for good will obtain those and use the monies to end impoverishment.

Expanding renewable energy forms will phase out their fossil fuel industries, free energy sources they have kept under wraps will emerge, and protection of the environment will end wanton destructiveness. Their unjust justice systems will be reformed, prisons-for-profit end, and control of mainstream media in nations with “free press” will meet its end, too.

Healthcare—a maze of global collusion involving pharmaceutical and insurance companies, vaccine and medical equipment manufacturers, and World Health Organization as well as FDA, CDC, NIH, AMA, AHA and related alphabet groups in the United States—will wend its way out of those Illuminati-owned or infiltrated organizations. Toxic therapies will be replaced by long-suppressed safe, natural remedies and proper healthcare will become available to everyone.

As significantly as the Illuminati’s stronghold on those critical areas has adversely affected life on Earth, the most effective means whereby they have subjugated generation after generation after generation has been by exploiting every kind of difference among the peoples to create hostility and divisiveness and by starting wars. People worldwide are hungering for peace. The energy of their collective desires has gained unstoppable momentum over the energy of conquest, and battlefield action will wind down incrementally. Industries that make the machinery of war will produce what a cooperative, progressive civilization needs; construction companies with honorable management will rebuild destroyed cities; money formerly spent on warring will go into projects and programs that uplift and enhance life.

Some of those activities are underway, others are beginning, still others are in planning stages, and rising vibrations will be undergirding all the endeavors. You will be seeing evidence of this, but please do not expect the continued unfolding of world transformation to be free from patches of resistance. You are well prepared to deal with those as they arise and help others do the same—beloved sisters and brothers, you have earned PhDs in ingenuity, perseverance and triumphing over obstacles!

Many readers who write to my mother mention that they are in their 60s, 70s or 80s. If you are in that age range, think of the changes you have witnessed as technology exploded in manufacturing, communication, energy, transportation, computers, television, healthcare, space exploration, entertainment, social media—and yes, weaponry. It isn’t necessary, though, to have lived during the decades of innovation and modernization to realize that technology’s role in your world today is rather mind-boggling.

That is the preface, you could say, to our reply to this question: “With vibrations on the planet high and rising, why is there still so much violence, bigotry and greed?” Because technology has far outpaced society’s advancement in conscious and spiritual awareness. In no way are we being critical—many souls have made long strides and there are reasons why many others have not.

With compassion we think of our Earth family who are living in areas of relentless fighting or in crowded refugee camps and grieving the loss of loved ones; those who are living in fear under tyranny or are hungry or homeless in lands of plenty—not all of those souls chose to experience that degree of pain or hardships. It is with sadness that we think of our family who are causing the suffering—the ones who rule with an iron fist or feel they are superior to everyone who is “different” or have the right to kill “the enemy” and those who are entrenched in greed without a thought about the many, many millions who are barely subsisting.

The low vibrations emitted by all those souls’ countless thoughts, feelings and actions are within the collective consciousness; and because it is the collective consciousness that manifests everything that exists on Earth, its proliferation of low vibrations has slowed the pace of society’s advancement consciously and spiritually. This is changing—the light waves sweeping Earth are opening more and more hearts and minds, and everything in low vibratory levels eventually will be done away.

“You said other civilizations are helping us. I don’t see how. They haven’t gotten rid of Big Pharma, Big Oil, Big Bank, Big Brother and the rest of the evil Bigs.” Other civilizations arehelping you in every way that universal laws permit. They can cause nuclear warheads to malfunction because Creator decreed that never again will there be nuclear detonations in space. In honoring Gaia’s free will choice that her planetary body and its residents be protected, they built a light grid around Earth to prohibit entry of base entities from other worlds and they divert the course of astral bodies and space debris to preclude collisions with the planet. Along with beaming massive light to Earth and leveling out the impact of geophysical events without lessening the amount of negativity released, they decrease toxic effects of pollutants in your air, land and seas and neutralize toxins in vaccines designed to cause pandemics.

While your “space” family are permitted to help in those ways that you can’t manage yourselves, they cannot interfere with free will of souls on Earth with this one exception—any individual who chooses to launch missiles with nuclear warheads will not succeed. Nor can members of our universal family impose upon you their ideas, although that would be greatly to your benefit—by universal law, each civilization decides the kind of world it wants and must do what is necessary to bring that world into fruition.

However, during this unprecedented era in the universe, souls have the opportunity to complete in one lifetime all third-density karmic lessons so they can evolve and other civilizations are permitted to share their heavy karmic burdens. Many “ETs” wanted to participate in this unique venture and those selected by the Golden Age master planners are helping persons on Earth in that manner and by illuminating the peoples’ pathway to the peaceful world they want.

Dear ones, you are among those who went to Earth to show the peoples that love is the pathway to peace, to joy, prosperousness, mutual respect and life in harmony with Nature. By living your light fearlessly and confidently, you radiate love to everyone around you, and it doesn’t stop there. Love energy is so powerful that it flows around the world, out into the universe and on to the cosmos. In the Oneness of All, everything everywhere affects everything else everywhere else, and the love-light you send forth brings it back in limitless measure—this is the unequalled vastness and power of love.

You are honored, loved and accompanied in spirit by all light beings in this universe.

LOVE and PEACE

Suzanne Ward

Website: The Matthew Books

Email: suzy@matthewbooks.com

Twitter an awkward child as it turns 10

Yahoo – AFP, Glenn Chapman, 18 March 2016

Twitter's woes include a slump in its stock price to all-time lows this year -- down 

nearly half from its 2013 stock market debut -- and ongoing losses, even as 

its revenue grows (AFP Photo/Emmanuel Dunand)

San Francisco (AFP) - As Twitter marks its 10th birthday Monday, it is somewhat of an awkward child -- having become a powerful communication tool but still struggling to win users and reach profitability.

Since making a star-quality entrance a decade ago, Twitter has become a must-have tool for journalists, activists and celebrities but has struggled to show it can expand beyond its devoted "twitterati" to become a mainstream hit.

March 2006: Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey

 (@jack) sent the first tweet, an automated 

message saying "just setting up my twttr" 

and later the same day, he sent the first

live tweet, "inviting coworkers" (AFP

Photo/Justin Tallis)

While Internet lovers might have trouble envisioning life without Twitter, the San Francisco-based company has seen its stock tank, a chief executive leave, and its staff cut.

Twitter's woes include a slump in its stock price to all-time lows this year -- down nearly half from its 2013 stock market debut -- and ongoing losses, even as its revenue grows.

Twitter's base of monthly active users remained stuck at 320 million at the end of 2015. While that is a big accomplishment, Twitter has failed to keep pace with fast-growing rivals and to expand beyond its base.

The troubles have forced Twitter to bring back co-founder Jack Dorsey as chief executive, but that has not stemmed rumors about a possible buyout or merger.

"It's not dead yet," independent analyst Rob Enderle of the Enderle Group said of Twitter.

"Watching all the metrics, you see they are not getting a lot worse but they don't seem to be getting better either."

Some analysts believe Twitter's true value is being demonstrated in the US presidential race, especially by the Republican frontrunner, Donald Trump.

"Eight weeks ago I would have said the days of Twitter are over; I don't say that anymore," Global Equities Research analyst Trip Chowdhry told AFP.

Twitter has 'legs'

Republican presidential candidate Donald 

Trump has boosted the number of his

 followers to nearly seven million, and has

 managed to beat rivals with a campaign 

largely based around Twitter (AFP

Photo/Rhona Wise)

The analyst said Trump has shown how potent Twitter can be for those who embrace it.

"I think that probably the worst for Twitter is over," Chowdhry said. "This platform has legs."

Chowdhry said Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi also used Twitter effectively to win his campaign and Tesla founder Elon Musk has been shaking up the auto sector with the help of the messaging platform.

Twitter and other social media have been important tools in movements such as the Arab Spring, and in protests in Turkey, where the government has sought to ban it.

An advantage of Twitter is that it lets users "amplify" messages with tweets that echo on the Internet, and assess public sentiment in real-time by getting quick feedback.

Trump has boosted the number of his followers to nearly seven million, and has managed to beat rivals with a campaign largely based around Twitter.

"I am pretty sure most of his followers are not on Twitter, but they know what he is saying on Twitter," analyst Omar Akhtar of the technology research firm Altimeter Group, said of Trump.

"The Twitter effect cannot be ignored. Twitter has a life beyond its platform, the trouble is it doesn't know how to monetize that part."

The research firm eMarketer lowered its revenue estimates for Twitter this month, saying its "monetization" efforts -- the selling of advertising or "promoted tweets" for those who use the platform without logging in -- are falling short.

A man looks at a tweet from US Republican

 presidential candidate Jeb Bush showing a

 handgun and the caption "America" in

 Washington, DC (AFP Photo/Nicholas

Kamm)

"Events like the US election and Summer Olympics this year may prove pivotal to the success of this strategy," said eMarketer's Martin Utreras.

Change brings risk

Twitter bears the weight of being measured against Internet titans such as Facebook, which is only a few years older but has eclipsed the billion-user mark.

Flight VC partner Lou Kerner, whose investor group watches emerging companies, said Twitter has done "an amazing job" creating a new communication medium but appears to have leveled off instead of becoming ubiquitous.

"Like any other company, Twitter is judged on growth," Kerner said. "They have stagnated."

Even more troubling, Kerner noted, is that engagement at Twitter has been ebbing in an indication that "people have tired of it."

While Facebook has evolved with new features, Twitter has changed little since it began, according to Kerner.

"In order to reignite engagement, they would have to make profound changes to what they do," he said.

"The problem is, you can't make a make a massive change without a massive risk."

Some say Twitter has become a victim of

its own success -- it has become so

cluttered with information that it becomes

hard to navigate (AFP Photo/Damien

Meyer)

Some say Twitter has become a victim of its own success -- it has become so cluttered with information that it becomes hard to navigate.

"Twitter is still incredibly relevant when it comes to major cultural events, major news events, the kinds of things people are discussing around the world," said Debra Aho Williamson of eMarketer.

"But anyone who follows just a couple of hundred people can easily be overwhelmed by the amount of information. It becomes work rather than fun."

Dorsey currently is managing two firms, Twitter and mobile payments startup Square -- both multibillion dollar companies struggling to achieve profitability.

Dorsey said Twitter priorities for this year include making it more intuitive to use; live-streaming video, and making it safer for people to freely express themselves on the platform.

Twitter recently revamped its timeline, allowing the "best" tweets to rise to the top, despite warnings of a revolt from members loyal to the real-time flow of the messaging platform.

"If you look at the 10 years as a whole, you will see that Twitter really has revolutionized the way we communicate," Akhtar said.

"To me, it is a utility like electricity or the phone -- it is really part of everyday life."

Twitter an awkward child as it turns 10 https://t.co/by1E6cQsrP pic.twitter.com/B5stMnbKrz

— AFP news agency (@AFP) March 18, 2016

¿Que bolá Cuba? Just touched down here, looking forward to meeting and hearing directly from the Cuban people.

— President Obama (@POTUS) March 20, 2016

Related Article:

"You Don’t Know How the Frog Jumps"–  Jan11, 2011 (Kryon Channelling by Lee Carroll) - (Text version)

“…  Last week, I gave you a message about the potentials of 2011. And there were those in this room who attended. I'm going to repeat something I said there, for you need to hear it and it has to do with politics. It would seem intuitive to every single Human Being in the room that in order to accomplish what you do as Americans in Congress, you must have at least two parties. For that is the way it has always been - the red and the blue.

What if I told you that there will come a time when there will be no parties? You might then say, "Well, that's impossible, Kryon, because you're not Human and you don't know how funding works." You might say, "It has to be a party that creates the power to raise money for the ones who cannot, and then the funding is spread around and this is the way we work. If you didn't have parties, you'd have no funding. Nobody could advertise, and no one could get elected."

Oh, really?

Are you aware right now, that you have a president who was elected on the Internet? He figured it out. When everybody can talk to everyone, you have plenty of funding. A few dollars here, a few dollars there. You talk to millions at the same time, they talk to millions at the same time. It's a new paradigm of communication. The young people know all about it, and you can't stop it. Watch for more from this new paradigm.

It is worldwide communication, one person at a time. It doesn't matter how many laws you pass, and it doesn't matter what you decide about who is in charge of it, you can't stop it. It's out of the bag now, and the communities of the young are going to be communicating. This is how the politicians are going to be communicating to you, literally coming into your home in a holographic form perhaps, explaining their position one by one, without a party. Then you will elect them to your Congress without a party and they will sit in the chairs without a division and there will be no such thing as the "other side of the aisle."

And that, Human Being, is called unity and there is a paradigm that you cannot even imagine. And it's in the works. And then you'll have a Congress that works together and gets things done without the current duality.  ….”