It can seem all those tech companies are so dumb giving away services for free. I recently read another comment containing the "I don't want Google getting more of my data to sell" and it reminded me of the question, 'why is your data valuable?' people too rarely ask. The common myth is that Facebook and Google etc want your data so they can sell it, but even with companies that do sell your data, it still requires someone to turn data into money, and enough money to fund the "free" services of the tech companies and allow them enough spare to make profits beyond anything seen in the world previously. So how does the data turn into so much money? There is no such thing as a free lunch. Google and Facebook etc make their money from advertising, not from selling data, and unless they use can the data to persuade you to buy products at prices inflated by advertisers paying part of the sale price to Facebook/Google etc, they would lose money. Your data is used to inflate the cost of living and earn votes for politicians with an agenda that gives them a budget to spend. They (Google/Facebook etc) don't want to sell your data, but the reality, is more sinister: they use it to have to change your thinking, so more of your money will go to make them richer.
Was Feb 24th, the start of WWIII? Is it a world war of sanctions, troops and tanks, or nuclear? NATO, and specifically the US, seem to feel the risk of WWIII is so real, that they refuse Ukraine any assistance that could defeat Putin's forces and anger him further. Their hope seems to be "let him win on the battlefield but lose through sanctions".
Democracy collapses when a leader, who is able to bypass the checks and balances, uses their position to retain power. Steps by recent leaders Scott Morrison and Australia and Donald Trump in the USA, raise questions as to whether current reliance on conventions and constitutions reliably protects democracy. China, Russia and even North Korea are all technically democracies, and all proof of how technically being a democracy does not necessarily deliver real democracy.
