MORE Bad Programming! Viruses, Malware and Spyware

Fri, 18 Nov 2022

This is something I sent to a wonderful, Sister Ma’at Speaks, and her husband Just Dewitt, and I felt it was worth also posting to my blog, so here it is as I posted it to them (without some of the extra stuff):

The purpose of viruses and malware is to install itself onto a computer (or network) without the knowledge and/or permission of the end user, to be destructive (or to hijack a computer at best) and/or to create “back doors” onto the system so the attacker can install new code any time they wish., Spyware is designed specifically to operate within a system and not be recognized by the system or the user.

Our minds work the same way I think.

Like a computer, from the moment we are born (and frankly, I believe even BEFORE we are born and, in the womb,), our people are taught and conditioned that we are nothing, we are the WORST people on the planet, that we have no culture and for many of us—that our history begins with enslavement (which it doesn’t). And we are all to greater or lesser degrees, taught to hate ourselves and our people, or at MINIMUM, be taught to be ASHAMED to be Black. – to be WHO WE ARE.

The insidious part of this is that with viruses, malware and spyware, we can use our computers for YEARS, and then suddenly we’ll start getting popups we’ve never seen before, or the computer will shut down, or freeze up at odd times, or the system will inexplicably start to slow down or exhibit other behaviors that we can’t figure out. For many (especially in the early days of the PC), end users assumed there was something inherently wrong with the construction or manufacture of the computer ITSELF, instead of some kind of rogue programming infecting it.

Many times anti-virus/malware/spyware software will either prevent the computer from getting it, or if it does, can give a warning about it, or quarantine it and eventually take steps to get rid of it. 

Some of these malicious codes will give the IMPRESSION that it has been removed, but upon startup, REINSTALL onto the system, and it will possibly take some programmer or other expert who is highly proficient in locating and irradicating the software from the system because it can be hidden within code that can only be REMOVED by OTHER code manually.

When our computers get infected, we get frustrated with the computer and I have actually seen videos of people who take their computers and either slam them against walls, or take a hammer to them, or throw them out windows because they are so enraged and frustrated that the computers are behaving the ways they are. 

Why not be upset with the virus/malware/spyware itself (or better yet those who created and distributed it) and go slam THEM against the wall or throw THEM out the window?! Simple… we can’t GET at THEM, and for the most part, they are nameless and faceless. But the COMPUTER is right there and an EASY focus for our wrath!

And so… OUT THE WINDOW IT GOES! And the thrower sticks their head out the window to get the satisfaction of seeing it shattered on the pavement into a million pieces!

Never once considering that it is NOT the fault of the computer, or that were the computer NOT infected and affected by outside influences, it would be working perfectly and serve as a useful and valuable tool, thus having cheated themselves out of the helpfulness the computer may have given them had they cared to take the time to clean the drive or take it to someone who COULD.

And so, here we are.

We do not aim our rage and wrath toward the nameless, faceless people (and we KNOW who they are—and they ain’t Black US). So, the long and short of it is that our people presently are dealing with a LOT of misplaced anger and frustration!

It’s time to dig DEEPER and get to the ROOT of the problem, Start being angry with those who created and installed the programs SECRETLY and WITHOUT PERMISSION. Instead of focusing on the VICTIMS of the programming. What do the victims need? A deep cleaning of the system, and in some cases a FULL erasure of all related drives and “clean” REINSTALLING of a legitimate OS.

And for the sake of intellectual honesty, I will admit that I have had some drives that have become SO corrupted that I have LITERALLY had to just get rid of the drives. That is also an unfortunate truth when it comes to our people, there ARE some of us who actually DO have manufacturer defects that would have caused them to behave in abhorrent ways even WITHOUT any malicious programming—but I submit that they are the exception and not the rule, and they may need to be dealt with harshly. But that is in EXTREME cases, and as with when I had to get rid of my drives… there was NO JOY in it. And even when I did, I was not frustrated with the DRIVE ITSELF, but at whatever had CAUSED the issue with the drive.

I think our people would do well to recognize, understand and remember that.

"Sweet Land of Liberty"

Sun, 17 Jul 2022

For some reason I sat this morning and thought about the song – “My Country Tis of Thee”. 

People in my age group will remember being taught it in school (at least the first verse), sometimes sung before the “pledge of allegiance”. 

I sat and pondered the first stanza. (The one I was taught in school and sang repeatedly.

“My country tis of thee,

Sweet land of liberty,

Of thee I sing.

Land where my fathers died,

Land of the pilgrim's pride,

From every mountain side,

Let freedom ring.

Ok… number one, I haven’t thought about that song in DECADES and haven’t sung it in probably over 50 years … but I can still recite it from memory, which in itself is problematic. 

I decided to do a little cursory research on the song and found that it is actually a very long song, based on the British melody of the song “God Save the Queen” (that part I already knew). The main thing I was looking for was dates.

My Country Tis of Thee was written in 1831.

What else happened in 1831?

THE TRAIL OF TEARS:

The Trail of Tears was a series of forced displacements of approximately 60,000 American Indians of the "Five Civilized Tribes" between 1830 and 1850 by the United States government. Native Americans were forcibly removed from their ancestral homelands in the Southeastern United States to areas to the west of the Mississippi River that had been designated Indian Territory. The forced relocations were carried out by government authorities after the passage of the Indian Removal Act in 1830. 

The relocated peoples suffered from exposure, disease, and starvation while en route to their newly designated Indian reserve. Thousands died from disease before reaching their destinations or shortly after. According to Native American activist Suzan Shown Harjo of the Smithsonian's National Museum of the American Indian, the event constituted a genocide.

“Sweet land of liberty / from every mountain side, let freedom ring.”

Uh huh.

President Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation on January 1, 1863. Meaning the song was written and they were singing it for over THREE DECADES – AT THE SAME TIME Black people were enslaved, terrorized, raped and lynched by THEM!

The “founding fathers”, wrote a strongly worded “Deceleration of Independence” and started formally celebrating “Independence Day”,  the date: July 4th 1777. So they were celebrating “Independence and freedom” for almost a HUNDRED YEARS at the same time Black people had been and continued to be enslaved, terrorized, raped and lynched! 

And CONTINUED to do so through the “Jim Crow” era and on through present day with no end in sight..

They taught me and other Black children to memorize the song as a mantra, KNOWING that we were singing and glorifying our subjugators, oppressors and the very country that was and is terrorizing our people, both at home and abroad – something that itself likely gives them some form of twisted glee as they listened to us sing it.

My belief is that singular individuals can sometimes change … but ENTIRE PEOPLES DO NOT CHANGE! The amount of cognitive dissonance displayed by those who sang and continue to sing these songs, and the rich white enslavers who wrote those hypocritical documents pertaining to FREEDOM, and the people who continue holding them up as paragons of virtue, is something I can not begin to relate to.

What’s with all the CONSPIRACY THEROISTS?!

Tue, 12 Jul 2022

People who demonize or ridicule “conspiracy theorists” have, in my opinion aimed their sights in the wrong direction.

What creates a conspiracy theory?

Obfuscation, misdirection, gas lighting and outright lies.

I would suggest that conspiracy theories are not and were not rampant among Black people until we came in contact with Europeans. When living in a society where yes is yes, no is no, and truth is truth (NOT subjective – MY truth and YOUR truth), then there is absolutely no need for “conspiracy theories” because the person or populace knows fairly accurately, what’s ACTUALLY going on.

I believe conspiracy and conspiracy theories are European and Western constructs – or byproducts if you will of societies that at their foundation are built upon and revere untruths, falsehoods and lies.

Some theories turn out to be pure B.S. and others turn out to be true (a phenomenon that is becoming far more prevalent). But what is true about ALL of them is that the root of the theories are ALL the same! The pursuit of the TRUTH, or put another way, a desire to make something make sense that, according the narrative we are given, makes ABSOLUTELY no sense whatsoever!

Example (in terms of Black people, we repeat the mantra): 

“The police are here to protect and serve.”

Therefore we are COMPLETELY LOST when it comes to reconciling that narrative with their ACTIONS! For example, filling an unarmed Black man (Jayland Walker), with SIXTY bullets in SIX seconds, and then handcuffed him as he lay dead or dying – while bringing in alive a white man who had just murdered SEVEN people and wounded over TWO DOZEN others.

Or

“Justice is blind and we are all the same in the eyes of the law.”

Same principle of confusion as stated about the police.

The problem is the foundational premise, which is the narrative itself. If the narrative is accepted, then NOTHING ANY of these entities do will EVER make, even REMOTELY, any kind of sense! 

“If one’s foundational premise is flawed, then anything that comes FROM that premise will be equally flawed if not more so.”

But...

Try replacing THAT foundational premise with THIS one:

“When it comes to the police and the “justice” systems; their jobs are to terrorize, harm, subjugate, oppress and murder Black people.”

SUDDENLY, like a thousand watt bulb turning on at once in a room that was originally pitch black - their actions make ABSOLUTE SENSE and LINE UP based upon THAT premise!

Let’s say for the sake of argument that what I’ve stated above about the purposes of those entities is not what was stated (though I personally believe it TOTALLY is), then that doesn’t change the fact that many Black people will develop alternate theories about the purposes and goals, NOT based upon a desire to create something out of whole cloth or thin air, but to somehow reconcile the two things for the purposes of congruence. 

The other option being of course, the cognitive dissonance that many of our people have unfortunately succumbed to.

I once heard someone say (I can’t recall whom), that “If you want to know the GOALS of an organization, DO NOT go by, or pay attention to their stated goals, charter or mission statement - look at their consistent outcomes, and I emphasize – CONSISTENT OUTCOMES – and you will know the ACTUAL goal and purpose of the organization.” 

Hopefully, as you consider this and various areas of life, whether on a micro or macro level, another thousand watt bulb just went off. 

BAD Programming!

Jul 2, 2022

When installing software into a computer, not all the time, but many times, there will be an option to just allow the app to load and configure itself with the most common components and presets. 

The other option is to use “custom settings” and go step by step to allow or dis-allow things.

It is my belief that most people either don’t want to be bothered, or don’t feel they have the knowledge or expertise to choose what goes in and what doesn’t. In full disclosure, depending upon the software, I often go with the common components and presets… but if it is a software I know well, like the Adobe suite, I will do a step by step.

To me, reading is that way.

Have you actually ever stopped to look closely at the install screen of a computer? It shows component after component, key after key, file after file that is being loaded into your system, and they flash on your screen for a millisecond without you having any idea what-so-ever what it was, is, or the purpose of it within your system.

Globally, (Americans in particular), are being turned from reading and turned to listening to things or watching things. This watching, and using pictures is akin to the “components and common presets”. With common presets there is no real examination of what is going in, no deep examination of what one is listening to – and that is by design.

Nor do most people stop to think that deeply about it.

Listening to people or watching them has become that way.

There is a reason that:

“In most southern states, anyone caught teaching a slave to read would be fined, imprisoned, or whipped. The slaves themselves often suffered severe punishment for the crime of literacy, from savage beatings to the amputation of fingers and toes.” (Cornell University Library, In Their Own Words: Slave Narratives 2022)

For a time, the early church prohibited the reading of the Bible by the “unwashed masses”.

Why?

When one reads – it is almost impossible to ONLY read without simultaneously, on some level analyzing what is being read. 

But we can listen to something – even while conducting other activities like cleaning house, or driving, and absorb what is being said without any kind of deep analysis what-so-ever.

We have all heard the jokes about how Black people don’t like to read, and how a book is like Kryptonite to Black people. How, if you want to hide something from Black people, like money in your house, hide it in a book and so on.

I’d hate with all my heart to believe that that’s true.

But there again admittedly, I used to read every now and then. It is only recently that I began reading EVERY DAY and actually looking forward more to reading something, than watching or listening to something! 

One of my goals, along with my Pro-Black agenda, is to do my part to help our people discover READING again, and by extension, to those of us who are so inclined … WRITING!

And I am one who believes that in order to become a better writer one MUST be a READER also. 

NOT for all the grammar B.S., the rules of which were created by colonizers and imperialists. But because there IS a way to tell an engaging story and a way NOT to, and in reading other works, we can discover (at least for ourselves), what we feel works for us and what doesn’t and then at least ask ourselves if we do one thing or the other.

I find reading to be mind expanding and thought provoking, and now when I hear or see a lot of what is given to us, even when it seems like it’s for our benefit, I can see the code as it quickly flashes on the screen, and the programming to which we are susceptible if we aren’t paying close attention.

Reading helps to bypass much of that!

LET’S GET BACK TO READING!

Citation:

Cornell University Library. (n.d.). In Their Own Words: Slave Narratives. "I will be heard!" abolitionism in America. Retrieved June 10, 2022, from https://rmc.library.cornell.edu/abolitionism/narratives.htm#:~:text=In%20most%20southern%20states%2C%20anyone,amputation%20of%20fingers%20and%20toes.