DUE to a technical error (plugging in a headset with a microphone, which was turned off, without even bothering to check it) I lost my first take of this video (about an hour long; it had no sound!), so this is the first time we're doing a "second take".

"This makes it increasingly hard to challenge authority..."Most of the important points from the first take could still be reproduced from memory, but here's a short summary.

The video does not deal with the vaccination hype, which gives people hopes and tries to restore confidence in the economic status quo (the "just hang in there" motivational pattern). The reason is quite simple; there's a stigma associated with people who ask questions about expedited processes in a state of emergency. When people bring up concerns about the security of voting machines with back doors they immediately get portrayed as people who support Donald Trump's "fraud" narrative (which includes sacking someone who had worked for Microsoft and then defended the security of elections with voting machines using Windows instead of paper ballots with proper paper trail). We've sadly entered worrying times or a saddening era wherein asking questions and expressing scepticism leads to accusations (sometimes a false association) or conflations with "conspiracy theories" (both the existent/existing ones and satirised versions of them). This makes it increasingly hard to challenge authority (like notorious, self-serving people who promised us "normality" by Christmas). Censorship comes next. Authoritarian imposing of "permissible" speech, rationalised by promises of "safety"...

A lot of the video focuses on the "War on Cash" and how COVID-19 has been exploited by those waging this 'war' (because they stand to gain from it). We're hoping to make more videos along those lines, dealing with the impact of technology on society and vice versa. A lot of these issues have been covered here for years, so making the videos is fast and easy, without preparation (or with preparations, such as opening the right pages) and no notes/rehearsal.

Thanks to readers (or rather watchers/listeners) who sent us equipment recommendations. If this form of publication persists, we'll definitely work harder to improve quality, including clarity. I'm relatively new to all this. I also use Free software (exclusively) in the entire production pipeline. ⬆

Links from the video:

• Covid-19 in the UK: How many coronavirus cases are there in your area?
• Our Collective Privacy is Under Unprecedented Attacks and Privacy is Now Conflated With Bad Hygiene, Not Just Criminality
• The European Patent Office Increases Surveillance: Can't Get Food Without Being Spied on