Articles by Tom Huskerson

Facebook is fighting to survive the information war. Every four years Americans get to pass judgement on the nation’s most powerful politician. Unlike many other nations we can, and do, remove or re-appoint these men on a regular schedule. But currently, America is in the midst of an information war. We are fighting to get accurate and reliable information. We have been subject to the term “fake news” for too long. We have seen too much overt hatred, deliberate misinformation and outright lies ...

As the nation gets closer to the November general election, the specter of misinformation and voter suppression grows more ominous. Facebook has become the tool of choice for Russia, Iran, China and homegrown election tampering. If Zuckerberg can't get control of the platform, it may have to be eliminated as a threat to democracy. Facebook Failed Facebook has fought a valiant fight to control the amount of election misinformation, voter suppression, and conspiracy theory activity on its platf...

COVID-19, like many global crises and catastrophes bring change. Sometimes permanently, often temporarily. Change comes in both positive and negative garbs. But change never fails to force itself upon society in the aftermath of human events. As we navigate this pandemic, it is apparent that things in its wake will change and society will both modify its behavior as well as suffers its consequences These are the changes that will come. Death of the office cubicle The primary reaction to the C...

We are facing a terrifying fact, lying has become an industry. And it as been proven that information manipulation can, and does. create reality. We have to ask ourselves; are we, in fact, learning to live with lies? The recent Facebook scandal has shown that gathering information about people and then using that information to create an alternate truth is a marketable, and profitable, business. The Cambridge Analytica Mess Cambridge Analytica consumed Facebook's universe of personal inform...

Americans have to admit that our democracy -- the great experiment -- is dead. Our government does not look or function as our Founding Fathers intended. In fact, it has failed in the fundamental purpose it was founded for -- to respond to the will of the people. As a nation, we have found ways to subvert the will of the people by reversing how the voting process works. The use of gerrymandering has allowed those that run for office to select who will vote for them. Partisan gerrymandering has...

A free press is the watchdog of the people. The media holds the sacred responsibility of alerting the citizenry of actions by governments, elected politicians, corporations and even private citizens. It is the fourth estate guaranteed by the First Amendment. For democracy, this is the fire alarm. But now the fourth estate is in crisis. The news media has been reshaped, redefined, and side tracked by commercial interests, biased ownership, the phenomenon of social media, the Internet, and a fail...

I have always been taught that an organization is the product of its leadership. For the duration of President Obama's administration, America's elected leaders have demonstrated, almost on a daily basis, that being angry, intolerant, and uncompromising is the way to behave. Republicans and Democrats alike have drawn lines in the sand declaring no retreat and no compromise. This is how we ended up with a Congress of do-nothing elected officials. They have used every political trick in the book ...

Running for political office has changed. The name of the game now is voter data. Political campaigns are now nothing more than huge data gathering machines. These campaigns suck up every detail about the voter they can get their hands on. Some details are rather mundane such as your home address or your political affiliation. But some data gets up close and personal like your sexual orientation, mental health, or if you own a gun. But sadly, politicians -- like major corporations -- are very ba...

Presidential hopefuls understand that the road to the White House is paved with data, as much as possible. Big Data, intimate knowledge of the voter, has become the latest weapon in the candidate’s arsenal. Voter profiles are vital to knowing the electorate. Both Democratic and Republican parties keep extensive voter records. They understand the vital importance data plays in not only getting out the vote, but also fundraising and tracking issues that concern voters. Data tracking of voters ac...