Atomic Biscuits - 20241006 - Homestretch

While we have watched the weaponization of pagers and other electronic devices across the middle east in the past few weeks, I have been asking people "where is your phone right now?" For most of us a cellphone is an essential bit of gear we need to go about our day. The concept of the telephone has really come a long way; in fact the ubiquity of cell phones makes the plot of many movies before 1990 seem quaint...unless they take place in a dead zone. Most people have come to rely on the easy use and routine safety of being able to place a call any time, and anywhere to keep in touch, get emergency services, maps, or other information. Many executives live and work out of their phone, keeping contacts, email and company data at their fingertips so they can be available and effective just about anywhere. Telecommunications have made our lives safer and better in so many ways... so the idea of turning these devices into bombs in our pockets is quite disconcerting. But it doesn't need to be that overt. With video cameras and microphones, our portable communications that we have come to use to feel safe can also be weaponized into tracking us down, recording our interactions with others, and following us into the store to snoop on our purchases or into the bedroom to listen to private conversations.
And who would do that? turn our devices into weapons... who would benefit?
Here in the states, there is a push by carriers to rip out the old fashioned copper that made up the original telephone network. That old reliable phone that hung on kitchen walls...the one that worked even when the power was out...is disappearing fast. The maintenance of these older networks is expensive, the copper is valuable, and ...well who needs it when everyone has a cellphone now, right?
What I see is something that looks a lot like the push to remove gas-powered cars from the road and put electrics in their place. Rules and regulations in the name of "green" or "modern" or whatever buzzword works to get people to comply that effectively mothball the reliable tech and replace it with something cheaper and vulnerable to problems.
As I've witnessed here in the States in the wake of huge hurricane Helene, there are communities completely cut off from civilization because all the cellular towers and municipal power were knocked out. It has made communication between victims and communities impossible as roads are impassable; and people don't have walkies or satphones or ways to charge such devices to get communications out to tell others they are okay; or that they need help.
The federal government and emergency responders also are hamstrung by the outage; unable to coordinate amongst themselves to focus aid to those who need it... The Federal Emergency Management Agency, whose sole purpose is to provide urgent assistance in times of disaster, has demonstrated why big government in America has failed its citizens. https://gab.com/BACFA/posts/113353766934981167