Military rapes prompt censorship

Women serving in the U.S. military are now more likely to be raped by a fellow soldier than killed in combat.

Censorship is alive and well at Facebook. I first encountered their devotion to free speech when I criticized Toyota, and starting with a recent post targeting obscene living conditions in the military, Facebook's censorship has ratcheted up considerably.

Facebook doesn't necessarily block postings outright, so you need to be informed and vigilant to determine if you're in the crosshairs. Just because a post appears on Profile and Home pages doesn't mean the post appears publicly in real-time. To see what I'm talking about, after you've posted something (assuming you've set your submissions to appear publicly), search a keyword, click Public Posts, and see if your post appears. Unless Facebook is censoring, your post should be there by the time you navigate or else appear within seconds. The bigger picture is that these postings can also be searched in other venues, such as Openbook and Bing. If you're being censored from Facebook's real-time Public Posts, you're really being censored.

Facebook's latest round of censorship started with my 9/21/2011 post, "Soulja Boy's Army style language." Addressing the verbal garbage young people are exposed to in the military and pondering its relevance to instances of rape must have set off a five star alarm. Blam. The post was blocked from real-time Public Posts, and subsequent posts, regardless of the topic, have also been blocked.

The Soulja Boy post was more explosive than I realized.  A Google search revealed that it was embarrassingly relevant to the military's continuing epidemic of rape cases, involving both male and female victims. The situation was headlined in one article as the Army's "dirty secret."    

So hey, Uncle Sam: I understand. The government's gotta be careful 'bout the truth gettin' out. Might make it difficult findin' fodder to fuel those imperialistic wars. After all, keepin' stuff quiet is how the land of the free managed to murder 58,000 of its own in the jungles of Vietnam.

Update 10/20/2011 - Facebook has blocked this post from appearing in real-time Public Posts.

Update 3/6/2017 - The latest military sex scandal involves nude, pornographic photos of Marines and veterans.

Occupy Wall Street wins round one

In the midst of millions unemployed, unpopular wars, and plunging house prices, America's power structure - 'bout 1% of the population - is on edge. Nowhere has this been better evidenced than by the systematic oppression directed against folks from all walks of life who came together in New York City on 9/17/2011, declaring a dug-in-for-the-long-haul protest under the banner "Occupy Wall Street." A mainstream media blackout was thrown at 'em from the get go, and peaceful protesters were arrested, pepper sprayed, and thrown to the ground. But in this age of the Internet, social media exploded. News of the blackout, videos documenting the size of the protest, and shots of police misconduct spread like wildfire. One video even documented a cop attacking a protester for simply carrying a camera. Beaten at it own game, mainstream media limped in, conspicuously late to cover the event.

Fast forward a few weeks, and Occupy Wall Street has now elbowed its way into the international spotlight. With 99% of the planet facing ruin - financial and otherwise - at the hands of governments beholden to wealthy power brokers, the "occupy" theme is ushering in protests from New York to London. The hottest hashtags on Twitter are #OccupyWallStreet and #ows.   

So round one - a battle for recognition - goes to the occupiers. The government's heavyhandedness backfired, further inflaming passions against bailed out banksters, imperialistic wars, and the corporate sponsored politicians of America's two headed one party electoral system. This past weekend there were sizeable protests in U.S. cities coast to coast, with New York drawing the biggest crowd yet.

Not bad for a freewheelin', off the cuff effort.

I'm especially pleased that so many of the occupiers have caught on to the fact that Demagogues and Repukes are equally beholden to "Wall Street," and anti-voting sentiment is makin' headlines. I quit voting years ago. Wouldn't it be great if this corrupt, warmongerin' government and its corporate cronies gave an election and nobody came?

Update 10/10/2011 - Facebook has blocked this post from appearing in real-time Public Posts.