92 Comments

Good Morning Dr. Malone. Loved the Small Steps. Back in the day, you started at the bottom and worked your way up. I know, I just dated myself again.

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The 'small steps' applies to Minimum Wage. If you raise the bottom rung too high, you don't get the opportunity to learn, gain experience, and "climb". Tomasz Kaye does a wonderful explanation of this (and other topics, check him out) in this animation, "Edgar the Exploiter":

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IFbYM2EDz40

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Oh! I saw it quite differently. Thx

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I think your interpretation was valid as well. It certainly resonated with me. Maybe I’m showing my age as well .

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Soooo funny! I’m not sure which one is my favorite!!! Thanks for the laughs!

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"Imagine the phone company cancelling your service …"

We're not far off from that. One of my readers told me AT&T prevented her from texting a link to my "50 Reasons to Give Your Child the COVID Shot" (https://margaretannaalice.substack.com/p/50-reasons-to-give-your-child-the). The satirically pro-vaxx title couldn't have triggered it, so it had to be intentionally flagged.

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Yes- it is true. T-Mobile has censored people texting videos of me. This was verified by a reporter, who didn't believe it and then tried to text a link of one of my videos. It was a while ago - I think it was the speech at the DC rally...

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I called T-Mobile and asked to speak to a senior advisor about this issue ... I was on hold for 30 minutes but finally got through. The supervisor assured me that T-Mobile does not censor text messages. The likely issue, he said, was the size of the video. Ability to send depends on the type of phone, age of phone, system update of the phone and the size of the video (MB/GB). He said he plans to bring this concern to the attention of his own supervisors up the line. We should all remain vigilant and call the company back if this info turns out to be incorrect.

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Wow, good job, Claudia! At least you have a record of bringing it to their attention, even if the answer is likely PR.

Of course, that doesn't explain why an article link (0mb) would be blocked, but in my case, that was AT&T.

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Exactly what I was thinking. Kudos to Claudia

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I have Verizon. I send “large” videos via text all the time with no issues. So at best AT&T is an inferior service. At worst it’s censoring.

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Good to know! T-Mobile censored Robert's video, and AT&T censored the link to my article. The article would have been 0mb, so they can't claim that's about size. My suspicion is Robert's video was a link as well rather than a full-blown video, so I have a strong feeling T-Mobile is censoring that, too.

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True

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OMG! I had not heard that. Horrifying.

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At least I’m in good company 😆

Thank you for alerting the reporter—would be nice if she had actually reported on it. Few people realize the censorship has infiltrated even their texting.

What intrigues me is the mechanism by which this is accomplished. Is there some central database of no-no links that Big Tech’s various tentacles can tap into, is it based on individual reports, is it coming from government, or all of the above?

A FOIA request regarding exchanges with telecom companies may provide some clues if you know of anyone who has the time and interest to pursue that.

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This revelation does seem bombshell big and large scale.

I agree on the mechanism question. How is it done, where are the hubs, how are the algorithms shared across platforms? Is this why Elon Musk wanted Twitter? To what extent does this capacity live in and emanate from government intelligence and defense agencies?

Some fascinating TED talks were banned long ago and made big news for talking about ancient human history being far older than the academic narrative (Graham Hancock) and about the nature and theories of nonlocal consciousness, already a big topic among physicists, but taboo in the social sciences (Dr. Rupert Sheldrake). These two scholars called their banning and redirecting of talks to a remote hard to find corner of the TED space "The Naughty Corner." Big Tech has been honing its censorship skills and learning what they can get away with for well over a decade.

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think this is what they have the super computers for. all of these communications are monitored. Watched many years ago when google and gmail first arrived in China. emails and chats slowed down, google was working with China, a sharing of tech. I was working with the underground gov in parts there of, and those emails would take 2 months to get through, and sms would take up to an hour. once you are flagged, everything gets screened, now I think you do not need to be flagged, things work so swiftly with the interconnected supercomputers.

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Great questions and fascinating additions, Betsy!

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And horrifying answers from David Huber!

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AI.

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I love T-Mobile and have recommended the company to many people. This is truly disturbing. Do we now need alternate cell phone companies? ...

After writing that comment, I called T-Mobile and asked to speak to a supervisor ... I was on hold for 30 minutes but finally got through. He assured me that T-Mobile does not censor text messages. The likely issue, he said, was the size of the video. Ability to send depends on the type of phone, age of phone, system update of the phone and the size of the video (MB/GB). He said he plans to bring this concern to the attention of his own supervisors up the line.

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I have not had any problems with consumer cellular so far, but I have an Apple phone. After I got it, I read they were not going to let their phones operate unless you could show you'd had the vaccine. That never happened, but I was ready to give up that investment before I got the jab.

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Astonishing. So some sort of AI is looking through all of the text and photos.

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So I wonder if any clever IT types can suggest workarounds for the texting censorship? Do I have to add the words "mom is in the hospital, come quick?" What sorts of texts did people not get that the sender didn't realize wasn't received?! What if other important information was sent along in the same text?

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Best way around censorship is end to end encrypted messages. There are assorted apps but the one my cyber-angels recommend also used by Ed Snowden is Signal.. My carrier is T-Mobile but w Signal all users on the system can be phoned regardless of calling plans w text & audio beyond surveillance.. give it a try it's free and easy! https://signal.org/en/

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I did get Signal but my problem has been convincing everyone that I text to get it too. My Signal texts will only go to other's who have the Signal app, correct? Sorry, but I am old and don't understand most of the tech stuff I have to deal with......

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No worries most toddlers have better tech skills than me so we're coming from the same place. When you have Signal it looks the same as other text and calls except you see if you are on a secure Signal-to-Signal connection or communicating w unsecured contact.

There's nothing special to do no tech tricks to learn. Contacts do not need Signal for you to text or call them only to enable the end to end encryption feature for those.

When you install the app it will automatically identify your contacts who have the app as soon as you text or call but on user side you do the same things you normally do.. that's why it works for technophobes like me who could never manage the earlier methods used by infosec types with encryption keys... all the fancy stuff happens automatically w no change in user behavior & no new skills needed. :~)

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Yes, I've started using Signal for dissident communications :-)

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You should use it for everything because the carrier still knows the numbers that are connecting and duration of calls or lengths of messages. If you select for sensitive contacts and only encrypt those you are unintentionally listing the contacts or communications of interest.

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The phone company doesn't answer their phone anymore. Good luck, trudging through seven layers of robo-hell to get Verizon on the telephone. Heard similar credible stories about T-Mobile as well. This brave new digital world that the elites keep anticipating? LOL.... what we have RIGHT NOW doesn't work.

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😆 Good point, John, although I think they *want* it not to work—for people, anyway.

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Precisely. Like the "negative checkoff" confidence scheme on annual subscription renewals. "All you have to do" is go to THEIR website and unsubscribe... IF you can find the cleverly hidden box to uncheck and IF you can remember precisely which day of the year that you subscribed in the first place (because they surely won't remind you)

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Haha, yep. That's why I always put a note on my calendar with an alarm if on the rare occasion I sign up for something like that or a free trial that expires in x days.

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To counteract the calendar gambit, the more nefarious suspects renew a week or two early, then justify their behavior by "crediting" the remainder of your first subscription to the unexpected early renewal... then inform you AFTER they've charged your credit card for a second time that they're crediting you for 'time lost' on the first subscription - yes, they've stored your credit card number.

Another outfit attempted to enforce a 'negative checkoff' that I had never agreed to in the first place. What saved me was that the credit card expired before the annual subscription.

I hope more credit card issuers adopt dual authentication procedures, by which they text you a code or password to immediately confirm that you intended to make a recent purchase. Seems to me, this should put an end to the negative checkoff madness.

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Devious! 😯

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“All Bob’s money” is priceless

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Adored the video set to one of my favorite songs by the Beatles: All Bob’s money… so true!

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We are all Bob now...

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The only connection my comment has to today's post is that it is funny. I heard this statement on Glenn Beck's show, but don't know the name of the guy who said it. "I don't call them conspiracy theories anymore; I call them spoiler alerts."

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That truck that needs parts? Won't pass inspection... the tires are bald.

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You picked some good ones!

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Thank you Dr. Malone . Always fun and encouraging. We need that.

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Thank you , always fun and encouraging . We need that now😉

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We are free to do as they tell us.

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Poor Bob.

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Great ones, Dr. Malone. I love the video... I can relate.

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When a Tina Kotek campaign ad appeared on YouTube after clicking on the "All Bob's Money" link, I almost bailed, but I watched through it and it made for an entertaining juxtaposition.

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Best yet Doc! Going to be one Hell of a Halloween this year. If we actually make it to that day. Be safe brother. As alway your are in all our prayers.

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