Making our cities smarter and smarter may pacify our enemies—the dynastic elites and other “globalist thugs,” that endorse Agenda 21 and the New Urban Agenda--but what will we do when those same cities disintegrate into no-go zones?
When you read this week’s headlines about problems in “progressive” cities like Portland, you may want to head for the hills rather than live in one.
A Fox News article headlined “Trouble in Portlandia” details the death threats, homelessness and rampant crime that is driving companies and families away from making a home in this oh-so-progressive city.
At the same time, world leaders have adopted the New Urban Agenda to show us how a “fundamentally transformed” world should look. And, surprise--the agenda promotes building Smart Cities just as liberal and progressive as downtown Portland.
Its message is, “Run—don’t’ walk—to join our utopian communities!”
When you read this week’s headlines about problems in “progressive” cities like Portland, you may want to head for the hills rather than live in one.
A Fox News article headlined “Trouble in Portlandia” details the death threats, homelessness and rampant crime that is driving companies and families away from making a home in this oh-so-progressive city.
At the same time, world leaders have adopted the New Urban Agenda to show us how a “fundamentally transformed” world should look. And, surprise--the agenda promotes building Smart Cities just as liberal and progressive as downtown Portland.
Its message is, “Run—don’t’ walk—to join our utopian communities!”
But looking closely at the Agenda’s major goals, we can guess just how utopian these cities will be. While supporters promise they will be “centers of cultural and social well-being,” the ultimate outcome will be the end of free enterprise and capitalism, moving us closer to a one-world economic paradigm.
In other words, people will live as one big, bland homogeneous society with a single-minded purpose that parallels that of Babel—to build a worldwide order without God. And God’s response may be as drastic as the one he gave to Babylon’s Tower builders.
In other words, people will live as one big, bland homogeneous society with a single-minded purpose that parallels that of Babel—to build a worldwide order without God. And God’s response may be as drastic as the one he gave to Babylon’s Tower builders.
The danger is that liveability gives way to a Big Brother-type society where secrecy and paranoia abound, as in George Orwell’s book “1984”. Emerging technology could provide a way to punish individualism and independent thinking as "thoughtcrimes".
Due to the widespread use of sensors and videos, data collection will abound in the cyber cities, according to an article on the U.S. Patriot website. It cites research from innovative centers like the Qualcomm Institute where “we can look at future cities and imagine a world where cars and buildings are alive and function like a nervous system.”
“In these cities, you’ll see billions of sensors throughout all walls, frames, floors, and doors which track all forms of movement, and monitor every aspect of life,” the site reports.
Due to the widespread use of sensors and videos, data collection will abound in the cyber cities, according to an article on the U.S. Patriot website. It cites research from innovative centers like the Qualcomm Institute where “we can look at future cities and imagine a world where cars and buildings are alive and function like a nervous system.”
“In these cities, you’ll see billions of sensors throughout all walls, frames, floors, and doors which track all forms of movement, and monitor every aspect of life,” the site reports.
A Wall Street Journal article points out that in theory, most cities have policies designed to safeguard citizen privacy, preventing the release of information that might identify any one person. But the reality is different, as WSJ writer Michael Totty points out.
“Even when publicly available data is stripped of personally identifiable information, tech-savvy users can combine it with other data to figure out an awful lot of information about an individual,” he explained. “New technology is forcing cities to confront questions about privacy risks that they haven’t considered before.”
“Even when publicly available data is stripped of personally identifiable information, tech-savvy users can combine it with other data to figure out an awful lot of information about an individual,” he explained. “New technology is forcing cities to confront questions about privacy risks that they haven’t considered before.”
Hezbollah has emerged as a big winner in the turmoil that has swept the Arab world since the uprisings of 2011 that toppled governments in several countries. It has fought in Syria and Iraq, trained other groups in those countries and inspired other forces such as Iran-allied Houthis waging a war in Yemen.
But its growing strength has contributed to a sharp rise in regional tension, alarming Israel, the United States - which designates it as a terrorist organization - and Sunni Muslim monarchy Saudi Arabia, Iran’s regional rival, which accuses Hezbollah of having a military role on its doorstep in Yemen.
Israel fears Iran and Hezbollah will keep permanent garrisons in Syria and has called for action against “Iranian aggression”. With Hezbollah stronger than ever, war with Israel is seen by many in the region as inevitable, sooner or later.
“Hezbollah has gained from the experience of working with armies and managing numerous weapons systems simultaneously - air power, armored vehicles, intelligence, and drones: all specialties of conventional armies,” said a commander in a regional alliance fighting in Syria.
“Hezbollah is now a dynamic army, bringing together guerrilla and conventional warfare.”
Hezbollah’s elevated status among Iran’s regional allies was clear at the funeral this month of Hassan Soleimani, father of Major General Qassem Soleimani who wrote the letter praising Hezbollah’s role fighting IS in Syria and Iraq.
Hezbollah was set up by the powerful Iranian Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) to fight Israeli forces that invaded Lebanon in 1982 and to export Iran’s Shi‘ite Islamist revolution.
It has come a long way from the Bekaa Valley camps where its fighters first trained. Its fighters spearheaded the November attack on Albu Kamal, a town near Syria’s border with Iraq, which ended IS resistance in its last urban stronghold in the country.
Hezbollah is meanwhile expanding its conventional arsenal in Lebanon, where it is part of the government, including buying advanced rocket and missile technology, in “a broadening of the threat to the Eastern Mediterranean and the Arabian Peninsula”, Nick Rasmussen, the director of the U.S. National Counterterrorism Center, said in October.
Despite newly imposed U.S. sanctions, Hezbollah sounds confident. With IS now defeated in Iraq, Nasrallah has indicated Hezbollah could withdraw its men from that front, saying they would “return to join any other theater where they are needed”.
He says his group will continue to operate wherever it sees fit, repeatedly declaring: “We will be where we need to be.”
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