By J.D. Longstreet ——Bio and Archives--April 20, 2012
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“A gathering of United Nations diplomats overseas has some in the U.S. worried about a potential takeover of the Internet by foreign powers – with others claiming such fears are wildly over hyped. The obscure branch of the U.N. at issue is the International Telecommunication Union, whose 193 member states include the U.S. and which was convening this week in Geneva. The ostensible purpose of the conference is to seek consensus for an updating of the last set of international telecom regulations, known as ITRs, which were issued in 1988.”OK. So … why is this a concern? Well, let’s go back to the story from Fox News: “…Robert McDowell, a commissioner on the Federal Communications Commission, has been warning that the conference is a moment of great peril for industrialized and Third World countries alike. In an op-ed in the Wall Street Journal and a subsequent interview with Fox Business, McDowell accused the so-called “BRIC” countries – Brazil, Russia, India, and China – and their allies among developing nations of trying to seize the moment to strengthen international regulation of the Internet. Such a development, McDowell claimed, would imperil the Web’s historic role as an outlet for free expression and economic growth.” What we are seeing here in the US -- and UK -- is Marxism at work, plain and simple. This is government "command and control." No matter where the government is on the planet -- it FEARS the Internet! Ideas are dangerous things and when people are allowed to gather electronically 24 hours a day, around the world, and share ideas -- it frightens governments, both good and bad governments. Governments are, by nature, paranoid. Information is power. With the Internet, information is in the hands of the great unwashed and any government elite (worth his or her salt) knows, instinctively, that is a tool that can -- and WILL -- be used to diminish government power. That cannot be allowed. Thus, the attack on the Internet. Some in the UK are referring to this proposed move by the UK government as the British version of the US Patriot Act. And they don't like it. Even before 9/11 there was a steady erosion of personal liberty in both the US and UK. Since, however, that "steady" has turned into a "gallop." Not too long ago we admired the "strong silent " type of man. Somewhere along the way. we forgot that he was strong precisely BECAUSE HE WAS SILENT. He kept his "business" to himself. My third-grade school teacher, a very nice German lady, told me once: "If you know something, keep it to yourself. That will make you smarter than most." She had no idea the impact that suggestion made on me and still makes on me -- even today. In the 21st century, however, a man who keeps his own council is considered weird, antisocial, creepy, strange, even dangerous. Need I point out just how badly "warped" that is? I remain convinced that " ... if Thomas Paine and Samuel Adams were alive today, they would be burning the Internet up with their "rabble-rousing commentaries". Just as their fiery tomes led to the American revolt against Great Britain , other commentators around the globe are having similar effects upon THEIR totalitarian governments today." There's a pattern to all this. It is, I believe, only another step toward global governance, or a one-world government. In order for such a government to ever exist, the ability of the people of the planet to communicate with each other at will, must be abolished. Somehow, someway, the governments of this world WILL gain control of the Internet. It is as sure as sunrise tomorrow.
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(Editor’s note: J.D. Longstreet passed away in 2014. He will be greatly missed.)
Longstreet is a conservative Southern American (A native sandlapper and an adopted Tar Heel) with a deep passion for the history, heritage, and culture of the southern states of America. At the same time he is a deeply loyal American believing strongly in “America First”.
He is a thirty-year veteran of the broadcasting business, as an “in the field” and “on-air” news reporter (contributing to radio, TV, and newspapers) and a conservative broadcast commentator.
Longstreet is a veteran of the US Army and US Army Reserve. He is a member of the American Legion and the Sons of Confederate Veterans. A lifelong Christian, Longstreet subscribes to “old Lutheranism” to express and exercise his faith.