The Barrage of Illegal Calls Continues

For years now, we've heard how illegal and annoying telephone calls were going to be stopped. However, the amount of calls became so overwhelming, the Federal Communications Commission (the FCC, for short) held a competition for the private sector to submit ways to end the deluge of calls onto a beleaguered public. This was just issued today, July 26, 2017: (directly quoted from the FCC website)
"This Forfeiture Order imposes a penalty of $2,880,000 against Dialing Services for making robocalls to wireless phones using artificial or prerecorded voice messages without the prior express consent of the called parties, in violation of the TCPA." (TCPA=Telephone Consumer Protection Act)

How much, if ANY, effect this will have on calls will be seen in the coming months, but the call business is about MONEY, and thus far any fines have failed to instill fear in the moneygrubbers behind all of the calls. Technology is behind the curve, as the bad guys counter the tech used against them shortly after we hear how great the newest way to stop illegal calls is. These calls are so well orchestrated, it almost has to be mobsters from both the U.S. and abroad doing it. They will always go where the money is. Valiant efforts have failed. They now mask their true phone number with a number that will show on caller IDs as being from your area code, and also likely, with your same exchange, as they've learned people are far more likely to answer a local call. Still, this shows the "bad guys and girls" literally have access to the use of ALL phone numbers to disguise their own numbers. Blocking the phony number doesn't really help, because that's not the true number directing the call to you. The "Do Not Call List" was a government attempt to stop annoying calls by regulating who could call you and who could not. It worked to some extent, but only in the sense that it did stop legitimate and law abiding businesses from calling you, but since that time, the floodgates have opened with illegal entities making calls, and since they aren't legitimate businesses in the first place, they don't give a damn about the "Do Not Call List." 

"Hang 'em high" is now my slogan. They will have to be afraid, and at this time, they are NOT afraid. Let's not be a nation, or a world, of "making the world safe for telephone and cyber criminals, or ANY criminals." The only true way to stay safe is to stop answering your phone. That's how bad the situation has become. If you call a number back, they now know your number is active. NEVER call back. One trick they use is to have computer dialed numbers that allow a call to only ring once or twice. Some people's curiosity gets the best of them and they call the number to see who called. That's what they are counting on. There are all kinds of ruses to get you to answer your phone or to try to get information from you.

WORD HISTORY:
Block-This word, related to "balk" (English word) and to "balcony" (borrowed from Italian, but Italian got the base from Lombardic, a Germanic language which died out), goes back to Indo European "bhelg/bhalg," which meant, "strong or thick beam;" thus also, "support beam," and the figurative, "pile or heap." This gave its Old Germanic offspring, "blukah," meaning, "tree stump, log, tree trunk." This gave Dutch "blok," meaning, "log, tree trunk." French borrowed the word as "bloc," with essentially the same meanings, but with the extension, "large piece of word, or large amount or mass/lump;" thus also, "something capable of hindering or of causing a hesitation in advance." This was borrowed into English circa 1300, at first as "blok." Before borrowing the word from French, English had, "bolca," from the same Germanic source, and it meant, "a ship's gangway (thick plank) for boarding or disembarking;" and further, "balca," meaning, "ridge of earth between furrows" (from the notion, "a plank of earth that blocks one furrow from another"). German has "Block," the noun, directly from the Germanic source, meaning, "square or rectangular materials bound together, a number of allies bound together as a unit (former "Eastern Block/Bloc," of communist countries, for example, or, "The mayor has a large block/bloc of voters committed to his reelection"), and it is also used in compounds like, "Stenoblock" (stenographer's notepad) and "Wohnblock" (apartment complex). The verb form in German, "blockieren," was borrowed in the early 1600s from French "bloquer." Like the English verb, it means, "to block, to obstruct, to barricade."      

Just How Safe Are We? The Demise of the Web? Part Five/FINAL

People are sick and tired, and downright furious, about the scamming emails, the ringing of their telephone from telemarketers and scammers, the hacking of information and the fear that they will become a victim too, if they haven't already. This all makes people VERY angry and prepared for drastic measures, as frustration has now overwhelmed many folks, as much as the avalanche of emails and phone calls. About 8 years ago, I received a call from my bank; more specifically, from the fraud department. The lady asked if I had bought an airline ticket, which I hadn't. She said someone had my credit card number and had charged the ticket and something else to my card; I just forget what the other item was. When I asked how they got my card number, she said the bank thought it had been gotten in the hack of a store account, or that possibly an employee had gotten my number and others from store records. They issued me a new card, but we all pay towards such fraud and theft. Well about a year ago, the bank called again, they wanted to know if had bought a television from a popular electronics and appliance store website. Well, I hadn't. The person told me the bank had approved the charge, and while they were attempting to put a hold on it, it may have gone through and the funds would be taken from my account, but the bank would reimburse me. Then they said the person had tried to buy something from a popular department store website, but the charge had been denied. The bank must have been able to stop the charge on the television, because it never went through to my account. They told me the same thing as years before; that is,  store employees had access to my info, or a place with my credit card number on file got hacked, giving the criminals my card number and info. And we've all heard the horror stories about seniors or veterans being scammed out of money by crooks impersonating FBI agents, IRS agents or police officials in telephone calls. They claim the person owes taxes or they owe a fine or their grandson is in trouble and needs money wired to him immediately. Then too, the crooks can place a small device on a credit card scanner, like even at an ATM, or at your local gas station, and when you insert the card and enter your pin, it reads all of your info and, well, they have all they need.

Remember, the people involved in the launch of the Web didn't do it so that you could send birthday wishes to your mother. They did it to make money. Now, don't scoff, that's all part of life, but the idea that everything has to be turned over to business people, without regulation, so they can make money is a bunch of nonsense. There have to be rules and regulations to protect the public. Both governments and private businesses have allowed these bastards to do so much damage, and neither has been able to curtail it for long, because the very system is broken, exposing people from all walks of life to scams that can take their life savings. This is about MONEY, and it will take SEVERE punishment to make them give up on it, because they want MONEY and they are willing to do anything for it. Forget about any naive notions that these greedy bastards will feel sorry for Mrs. Jones, who just lost her husband, even as she battles cancer. They are absolutely RUTHLESS! Quit worrying about what will happen to the criminals, and the stories about the criminal who had his sand castle kicked over when he was four, and he never got over it; after all, that's why he's a criminal, or so the story might go. I'm telling you, THE MALARKEY! Protect the public!

Technology changed lives tremendously, but the bad guys were also watching as to how to exploit that technology. Attempts at thwarting criminals work only for so long, and maybe that's just how it will be, I don't know. Just like with locks: "Buy this new lock and the criminals can't get through it." And for awhile, it's true, but then the criminals figure out how to get through the lock, or somehow circumvent it; after all, they have great "research and development departments" (R & D), too. Now there may have to be a serious scaling back of technology in our lives, if they can't protect us from the bad guys, which is what all of this looks to be, but those heavily involved (financially) in the Web don't want to admit it, and it could bring major economic disruption, if we have to go back to some of our old ways. Banks had to show they were generally safe places for the public's money, with only occasional dangers, to get people to stop hiding money in their wall safes or under their mattresses. Deposit insurance to secure your money against loss made banks attractive places to keep our money. This was implemented during the New Deal era, as government sought to save business from itself. Whatever is done about securing the telephone system and the Web, it will take involvement by government, likely at many levels, and from governments of the world.

But government can't do it alone either, it will take cooperation with business and the public. The telephone call assault has been so bad, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) had a contest to see if the PUBLIC could come up with a solution. The thing is, all of the attempts to stop the calls, as well as emails and scams, is based on keeping the same system, a system they can't control. My landline provider gives a user space to block 30 numbers. This is how out of touch these folks are, as many people can block 30 numbers in like 4 to 6 weeks, and some in far less than that. Meanwhile they keep issuing more telephone numbers to the bad guys, as well as more domain names and email addresses. It's like infinite folks! Years ago I saw a cute little joke, where someone had written on a dollar bill, "How do you keep a dumb ass busy? Turn to other side." When you turned the dollar over, the same message was written there. Damned! I thought they were going to tell me the answer, but after an hour and a half, I got tired of turning that goddamned dollar from one side to the other, so I gave up. Well actually, it was 30 minutes, but I still was tired. So this is what all involved are doing with the Internet and the telephone system, turning that dollar over and over with no solution, because it's the very system that is flawed.

 The fact of the matter is, neither the government nor private business can protect you from being hacked, protect you from scam emails, protect you from scam telephone calls. The thing is though, they are not likely to tell you this, because of the millions... hell... billions or trillions of dollars invested in online business and even telephone service, so much of which is now cellphone service. Ebay, Amazon, etc must be absolutely TERRIFIED because of what's been happening to online security. Your account, including financial information, is NOT safe, and they know it. Russia and China, two "Cold War" foes of the United States and "the West," are winning this war, and the consequences are likely to be devastating; something they also know. The world economy is at their mercy, or will be, barring a major change in how the Web is run and operates; and, don't forget, the Web is now closely linked with telephone service! Remember too, just recently, one Internet infrastructure company was "attacked" (flooded with access requests), bringing the Web in some places to a virtual standstill. With all kinds of free marketer talk about the internet years ago, and little or no government control, it has left the system vulnerable to the "bad guys." The free marketers saw dollar signs, but so did the scammers, and the scammers are winning the overall war. Social media sites always asking for you to give them MORE personal info, "Give us your phone number to secure your account." Secure? And further, "You only have one phone number listed with us, give us a second number so you'll always be secure." How in the hell does my giving these bastards my phone number and other personal info make me more secure from anything? NOT GIVING these bastards that info makes me more secure.

I hope I have given you some things to think about in these articles, because with such reliance upon the Web and phone service, it is a VERY IMPORTANT issue. Also, once again, WATCH OUT FOR THE YAHOO GESTAPOO!

WORD HISTORY:
Gush-This word, closely related to both "geyser" and "gust," goes back to Indo European "gheud," which meant, "to pour, to let flow." This gave its Old Germanic offspring, "geutanan," with that same general meaning. This then gave Old English (Anglo-Saxon) "geotan," which meant, "to pour, to let flow mightily;" and by extension, "to cast molten metal." Now comes the tricky part. Did the English word, or a form thereof, then get influenced by the related Old Norse word "geysa," ^ meaning "to rush out, gush," and itself from the same Old Germanic word, which then kept the meaning to only "flow mightily," and altered the spelling to "gush," where it has remained for about a thousand years. (Also see note ^ below) Other forms in the Germanic languages: German has "gießen" ("to pour," but also, "to water plants," and further, "to cast liquid metal." Also the noun, "Guss," meaning, "the casting of metal," and the culinary, "icing or glaze"), Low German Saxon "geten" ("have or let liquid flow"), West Frisian "jitte" ("to pour'), Dutch "gieten" (to pour"), Swedish "gjuta" (to pour, to cast metal"), Icelandic "geysa" ("to gush"). I did not find modern form in Danish or Norwegian, but I also did not spend a lot of time looking. Sometimes variations in meanings over centuries can make finding modern forms of words difficult.

^ Old Norse was a Germanic language from the North Germanic branch of the Germanic languages, and its major modern descendants are Danish, Norwegian, Icelandic, Faroese and Swedish. Old Norse also had an influence on, and was influenced by, some of the West Germanic languages, including English, as Old Norse speakers invaded northeastern and eastern England, with many Old Norse speakers, collectively called "Danes" by the English, then settling in England. Over time, English borrowed some Norse words or had the related English words heavily influenced by Norse words, like English "sceo," which meant "cloud," and Old Norse "sky," which also meant "cloud," and the two are really the same word and from the same source, but from what had come to be different Germanic dialects back then. Of course, "sky" broadened in meaning from "cloud," to what we have today, "the area and atmosphere above the Earth's surface, often containing clouds."   

Just How Safe Are We? The Demise of the Web? Part Four

First published in November 2016


Forget about the "Do Not Call List" protecting you much, it's "almost" useless these days. The responsible places won't call you, unless by mistake, but they aren't the problem, the real criminals could care less about any such law; that's why they're criminals! And please don't think that relying only on this list will stop the avalanche of telephone calls. That's not going to happen. Also, going to online sites to report receiving illegal calls, and then begging the callers to stop, will not give them a scare, but it is likely to give them a thrill. (see below for more on this) In the 1920s and the early 1930s there was a law in the U.S. prohibiting the making and distribution of alcoholic beverages. What happened was an outbreak of violence led by gangsters, as millions of people violated the law on pretty much an every day basis. Laws have to be able to be enforced in a practical and effective way; "Prohibition," as it was called, was not able to be enforced in such a way. It ended with the repeal of the law. The Do Not Call List is just not really enforceable either, as calls are often times routed from outside the country. Still, while not effective against illegal calls, the Do Not Call List WILL help stop calls from legit businesses, so DO register; otherwise, they will have the legal right to call you. Not to scare you, but then again, who is to say hackers won't break into the Do Not Call List data bank? What is needed is to rework the Internet and the telephone systems, but I'm not exactly hanging by my thumbs, as there is so much money invested in the current system, those heavily involved will resist, BIG TIME! And to be fair, we in the public likely will resist some of the necessary changes to make things safer, because they may make things less convenient for us.

For those unaware, and even for some who are aware, there are websites you can go to to see if others have reported a particular number there. By "report," I mean only that the number was entered there by one or more people and they may have left a comment about it. Understand, some numbers are so frequently reported, there may be hundreds of comments. Further, just because a number is listed there doesn't necessarily mean it is the number of criminals, it could be a legit business or charity. These sites are purely public comments on these numbers, they don't block anything. The thing is, some people seem to think that if they go there and comment on a particular number, that they will no longer get calls from that number. The other thing to remember is, because it is public, the scammers are going to be posting there too! Some examples are better than trying to explain the sites: I get a call from area code (0-0-0) and number, 1-2-3-4-5-6- ah, don't tell me.... ah... 7. See I CAN count! Just don't ask me what the next number is. So I enter that number in the search box there. If others have entered information about that number, it will display those posts, indicating the area from which the number comes (as mentioned above, where the number is from and where the call came from can be two DIFFERENT things, and the area code and number exchange may indicate that the number is from "Ponatoomie Kitchagoomie," but the call may have come from the North Pole, because the scammers often re-rout calls nowadays, so they can't be traced easily) and then a poster might have said, for example: "This number has called me 5 times in the last few days, but there is no name showing for it." (DING! DING! DING! First clue, legit companies are supposed to show their name on your caller ID, although some probably don't, BUT even a name on there does NOT mean the call is for some legit purpose, as technology now allows scammers to put anything on there, although many do not have a name showing. So, even if it shows, "Children's Hospital of Ponatoomie Kitchagoomie," that does not necessarily mean the call is valid. I told you, the whole system has been corrupted and you cannot trust ANY call just by looking at your caller ID, which may show YOUR own name and phone number as calling you, or online, that you are receiving an email from yourself!) Now another post by someone on that example number, "When I  answered, it was a credit card offer." (DING! DING! DING! Another clue: legitimate banks or credit card companies will NOT call you, if you are on the Do Not Call List, unless perhaps by mistake, which I'm sure happens on occasion, or unless you already have some kind of account with them, but chances are, this call is a scammer.) Another example post: "I answered after a ring or two, but there was silence." (DING! DING! DING! Another clue: likely a computer dialed number, which may have made 2000 other calls just then. The people who talk to those who answer were all busy, so there was no one to talk to you, and likely it will hang up, if you haven't already. ON THE OTHER HAND, it may be a "scouting" sort of call. No one was intended to talk with you, only to find out if the number dialed is active. Once you answer, or even your voice mail or answering machine, BINGO, they have an active number. Expect many more calls, because you've got a hot number! It likely will be sold to others ....LOOK OUT! And another example: "I got a call from this number and the person asked my name, so I hung up." (DING! DING! DING! Clue: by getting your name, they will have that to go along with your phone number. By using other public resources, they will be able to compile a profile of you for the creation of a phony identity.) A post commenting on the previous: "Oh no, I got a call from that number and the guy just wanted to verify my name. The call was legit and they were just soliciting to help the survivors of firefighters killed in the line of duty." (DING! DING! DING! Clue: maybe true, probably not, and assume it is NOT true. The comment could be a plant used to make calls seem legit, thus reassuring some naive folks into answering, and we all love firefighters and want to help, so they'll use your emotions.) Checking these sites is not foolproof, as you can't be sure of the truthfulness of the comments, but they can help give you some info, especially if  some posters claim to have actually talked to someone from the number. They might then post: "Credit card offer," or, "Person said I won a trip" (watch out for that one!!!), so you have to make judgments about what you read there.

Recently raids were conducted on so called "call centers" in India which were implicated in call scams and several people were arrested. Afterwards came arrests in the U.S. too, but if you think this will stop the calls, or even lessen the calls much, I seriously doubt it, as this is likely a tub of water in the ocean. Just yesterday, starting in the morning, I received three calls from the same entity, which showed on my caller ID. I blocked the first, so about an hour later a second call came from the same name, initials actually, this time from a different number. I blocked it, and ... you guessed it, the third call came from the same place, but with another number. NEVER ENDING!

As the whole situation developed over the years, there have been articles and television reports advising us how to stay safe online and how to avoid telemarketers. While well meaning, and even true, in many respects, especially AT THE TIME, essentially what it has come down to is, DON'T ANSWER YOUR TELEPHONE and DON'T OPEN SUSPICIOUS EMAILS! Why? Because as I've said in these articles, the "bad guys" now know how to disguise their calls, fooling your caller ID into believing the call is from some totally harmless company or charity, even inserting REAL business or charity names and numbers, while keeping their true number hidden. As also noted, they can even use YOUR number to hide their own. Well, that sure shoots answering the phone in the ass. And another thing, in the past, the scammers or telemarketers generally had to have a number to call, as it was done manually. Now, computers dial numbers in sequence, so even if you've only given your number to your dog, and it is unlisted, eventually "your number will be up," to coin a phrase, although it may take awhile for you to start receiving regular calls from your friendly scammer. Then too, maybe your dog is a blabbermouth.

As to opening "suspicious emails," all emails are now potentially suspicious! The same general process can be used as with phone calls, as they can use other names to hide their identity. Your email may have never been hacked, but one or more of your contacts, and it doesn't have to be a regular contact, got hacked, and the bad guys and girls got your email address and name from that. You may get an email showing your daughter's name, so you naturally open it, BUT it's NOT from your daughter. Her name was used, but unless you actually catch the signs that it is not legit, you may open your computer or mobile device to all sorts of bad things, which will collect info on you and YOUR contacts, who will now likely get emails showing YOU as the sender, only to have them open the emails, and well, you know, the process goes on. So now, that shoots using email in the ass. Folks, this is supposed to be about communication, but if you can't answer the phone or open emails, it tells you the system is broken ... TOTALLY!     

WORD HISTORY:
Reason-This is for the verb form, which goes back to Indo European "reh," which had the notion of "to reason, to figure, to reckon." This gave Latin "reri," which meant, "calculate, reckon," thus also, "judge," and its participle form was "ratus," which produced "ratio," meaning, "calculation, a reason for." This gave Latin "rationare," meaning, "to discuss, to converse," and this gave Old French, a Latin-based language, "raisoner," with similar meaning. This was borrowed by English circa 1300, "seemingly" at first with the meaning "to pose questions to someone, to ask for answers," but then, influenced by the previously borrowed noun form of the word, the verb came to mean, "to think through in a rational way, to use a sense of logic to determine something," then also, "to use a sense of logic to persuade someone;" as in, "to reason with someone."  

Just How Safe Are We? The Demise of the Web? Part Two

First published November 2016


Just November 1 news broke that Microsoft Windows has "vulnerabilities" that are being "exploited," Microsoft claims, by the Russians. Folks, the Russians, the Chinese, Santa's reindeer, the Man in the Moon, IT DOESN'T MATTER! It shows they cannot protect these systems! They can't do it! They don't know what to do. There have always been hackers and scammers on the Internet, but in the last few years there has been an explosion of events, as the "bad guys" have done what bank robbers do, they go where the money is. It all started out as the technology that would lead to all sorts of new things, and they convinced many people, but not all, that the Internet was safe; you could do banking, you could do shopping, you could have medical records available and shared with healthcare providers, you could share personal info and photos, and on and on, AND it would be safe. All of those transactions and info sharing have happened, and businesses have invested enormous amounts of money in websites and advertising to take advantage of this new gold mine. I'm sure some people saw the potential downside, there's ALWAYS a downside, but obviously the big money people did not see that the "bad guys" were sitting out there saying, "Hmm, we want in on all of this money. Let's do it!" So identity theft is up, medical prescription fraud is up, draining of individual's gift cards is up, people being threatened to cough up money is up, people being duped into giving bank account numbers or credit card numbers is up, on and on. Computers are being used to launch mass email sendings and to make mass phone call dialings. So, while technology made our lives easier on some things, it also made it easier for criminals.

So in the last few years, after big business sold us a gazillion smartphones, a half a gazillion tablets, and a gazillion laptops and desktop computers, we've heard, "BREAKING NEWS! Target was hacked and information for over a hundred million customers was breached." This was not all, as we've also heard about Chick-fil-A, Neiman Marcus, P.F. Chang's, United Parcel Service, aka, UPS, Yahoo (a company that works hard to earn that name, which it has) and many more. Not only these, but also none other than the Pentagon, THE headquarters of the U.S. Department of Defense, was hacked. The list goes on and on, and these are the ones where there has been acknowledgement of being hacked. Folks, you have to believe, if the Pentagon can be hacked, no one person, no entity anywhere in the world is safe. But just to add to the list showing how serious all of this is, recently Michelle Obama, First Lady of the United States, had her passport photo show up online, after being released by hackers. Not only that, they had information about Vice President Biden and Secret Service deployment.

So we hear about these things happening all the time, but what they won't tell you is, there is NO fix to any of this; at least no long term fix, OR, if there is a fix, why isn't it being implemented? Got to be powerful entities and individuals stopping it. We're all as vulnerable as a Microsoft Windows system. Ah, by the way, most of you probably recognize the name "Adobe," but what you may not know, not that it has been hidden, is that their "Flash Player" has had very serious vulnerabilities; so serious, in fact, that some companies dropped the use of the Adobe product. Let me tell you what I know about tech stuff, well ..... you could fit it all on the head of a pin. But folks, you don't have to know ANYTHING about technology to see what's happening. News stories appear ever more frequently about hackers and about how hackers can take over your camera and microphone on your device, and then spy on you! It wasn't too long ago that I saw where none other than Mark Zuckerberg covers his camera lens and microphone because of this possibly. Zuckerberg is a billionaire from the Internet, if he's scared, you should be TERRIFIED!     

Now too that business interests have us so tied to the Internet, we find that our very democracy can be tampered with. The Democratic National Committee was hacked, and there has been fear that voter registration might be affected, as many states now have online registration. Even voting machines or at least voting data that might be stored online will also be vulnerable. And what name so often appears in association with the 2016 election and tampering? RUSSIA!

More in Part Three...

WORD HISTORY:
For-This highly common word goes back to Indo European "per," which had the notion, "forward, in the front;" thus, "before, to the front, ahead, head toward." This gave its Old Germanic offspring "furi," meaning, "forward, before," as the Indo European "p" became Old Germanic "f." This gave Old English (Anglo-Saxon) "for," meaning, "for this reason, before, ahead of." It has remained such for all of these many centuries. The other Germanic languages have: German "für," Low German Saxon and Swedish "för," Dutch "voor," West Frisian "foar," Danish and Norwegian "for," Icelandic "fyrir." 

Just How Safe Are We? The Demise of the Web? Part One

UPDATE: This article was written before all of the recent information came out about Facebook, and before Facebook's CEO, Mark Zuckerberg, made appearances before committees of the United States Congress in April 2018. The disclosures about Facebook, Google and others only confirms what many people already believed, or knew, to be true; that is, that many Internet tech/media companies have compiled extensive "dossiers" on many people on the planet, even with full knowledge of content from messages between users, and even calls from such service between users. Congress basically served up a lot of softball questions to Zuckerberg, who then hit them out of the park, much to the delight of the big money on Wall Street, where technology stocks soared with every pitch lobbed up to Zuckerberg. Republican Orrin Hatch of Utah was so typical of GOP "you're on your own" nonsense, when he asked Zuckerberg how Facebook exists. Zuckerberg softly answered, "Senator, we run ads." The idea that the public doesn't know that is more nonsense. The question isn't about any Internet company running ads, but rather the information they take from users and then sell or provide to advertisers, who then target those users with ads. Zuckerberg's comment to the effect that, "users want relevant ads," is more nonsense. Americans of all existing generations have grown up with ads. They are on television (not "targeted"), on radio (not targeted"), in newspapers and magazines (not "targeted"), on the sides of building (not "targeted"), on billboards along streets and highways (not "targeted"), and the fact that they are not "targeted" has not made companies stop using these forums to pitch their products or services. Senator Durbin of Illinois came closest to laying a glove on Zuckerberg and his, and other tech companies', nefarious, and thus far, successful, scheme to literally steal user information, with political complicity to make it legal, and then to monetize that info for their own benefit to the tune of BILLIONS of dollars. The political complicity has been bipartisan.

Of course, much of the concern about the Internet also has had to do with nations, especially Russia, using the Web to spread disinformation worldwide and to confuse people as to what is "true." Information is the very heart of democracy. Without reliable information, democracy will wither and die. Putin knows this very well. Putin is not an unrepentant communist, he's an unapologetic fascist,  who wants to control the Internet, and thus, the world. Defining "reliable information" is not always easily done, as many, if not most, issues, have varying points of view, but now, issues that once had great clarity with the overwhelming number of people are being made to sound as if there are hard choices involved; "good people on both sides," in the case of people protesting AGAINST Nazis and the Ku Klux Klan, two evil groups, plain and simple.            

If government and private business can't stop spammers and scammers from sending gazillions of emails to us, or can't stop illegal phone calls by the gazillion, how safe are we from everything else, like terrorists, homegrown or from elsewhere? So what, there's no technology available to combat these things? Nope, or at least apparently not. If there is such technology, it's not being implemented, which tells you right off that big moneyed interests are stopping it. Some well meaning groups, like "Nomorobo," and others, have tried, but let me tell you, they're OVERWHELMED! They block a hundred million call numbers, there are far more than that already out there, and the thing is, no one seems to really know how many, as likely many more are added each day. The problem has become unstoppable, as caller numbers can be disguised to appear to come from another number, perhaps even YOUR OWN telephone number, and this displayed number hides the real number of the call. It's the same with emails, as another email address, perhaps even your own, hides the originating email address.

Some people, real or made up, "befriend" folks on social media hoping to get email addresses, or telephone numbers, to then send spam/scam emails, or to put your number onto computer lists to make that number a target for just this side of a gazillion calls. If they don't soon stop this crap, people will have no choice, but to move away from using the Internet and limit their phone use. I already keep my landline telephone ringer shut off, so effectively they have knocked me out of using a service I pay for. People with pay-as-you-go cellphone service or with limited calls, are being deprived of that service by the scammers, that's criminal. If they were ever turned over to the public, they would be literally torn to pieces, and I want to be there for it. If you are part of a legitimate charity, you'd better hope they get this phone crap (and email crap) under control, or your proceeds will shrink tremendously, although I'm sure they already have. See, you can't beat them, they can spoof your number or your email address, then people will never take your calls or open your emails, because they won't know if it's really legit.

 Here's the issue folks, the very systems used for telephone and internet service are the problem. The "bad guys" have figured out how to use these very systems to target the public, business and governments. Of course, it all likely comes down to that root of all evil ...MONEY! Hey, they aren't doing this for the fun of it. Everyone from terrorists to pornographers to thieves, etc, etc, are given access to use these systems. Let me tell you something, some folks are making a handsome buck off of all of this too; that is, granting access, then the crooks and scammers are making their own buck by having been given, and keeping, access. Of course, some may be doing both and really reaping a harvest of bucks.

Much more to come, in Part Two ....

WORD HISTORY:
Metal-The ultimate origins of "metal" is unknown, but it goes back to Greek "metalleuein," which meant, "to mine for something, to search in the earth for something." This then gave Greek "metallon," which meant "metal ore." This was borrowed by Latin as "metallum," meaning, "metal ore, metal." This gave Old French, a Latin-based language, "metal," which was then borrowed by English in the 1200s.