The title ‘What God Hath Wrought‘ has been a recurring theme in our history. It symbolizes our reverence for technological progress and serves as a poignant reminder of the potential harm that can arise from the misuse of our advancements.

Beware the Djinn.

– AI The word djinn comes from the Arabic jinn, a plural noun that means both “demons or spirits” and also, literally, “hidden from sight.” The word genie shares the same Arabic root.

My title comes from the Biblical Book of Numbers 23:23, which Samuel Morris used in 1844 to demonstrate his telegraph, marking the technological beginning of a new communication age.

In 1876, Alexander Graham Bell patented the telephone, forever altering our communication. Its first successful connection in March of that year marked a pivotal moment in history.

A few years later, in 1897, Guglielmo Marconi introduced his wireless radio, a groundbreaking invention that sent a simple message through the air, without the need for wires. This marked a significant leap in global communication.

The world, especially our world, will never be the same.

AI tells me ‘the history marked by significant technological advancements, starting with Johannes Gutenberg’s invention of the printing press in the 15th century, which enabled mass production of printed materials and ushered in a new era of information dissemination; later innovations like radio and television further expanded the reach of media, allowing for broader public access to news and entertainment, while the internet and social media in recent times have revolutionized information sharing and created a highly interactive media landscape, with individuals now able to produce and distribute content readily.’

The failure here is that this is all interpretive – open to perception unless the actual words are recorded and transmitted, they can be changed, and if the 2025 presidential election is any example, one party’s henchmen doctored, edited, and manipulated a candidate’s interviews and speeches to present an inconceivably dishonest portrayal of the actual events. And now, with the advent of AI, it is possible to generate a facsimile of a candidate using video and voice clips, making them appear real. The 1980s commercial for Memorex recording tape is now truly here… ‘Is this real, or is it Memorex?’

Once, information took months to circumnavigate the globe; now, it takes microseconds. We carry hand-held, portable communications devices capable of accessing vast amounts of data or even conducting near-seamless voice and video conversations worldwide. We are now connected to data and information from even the remotest parts of the globe. Yet this access is not without cost or caution. Much of it is groomed, culled, reprocessed, and curated in undetectable ways, obscuring the original value and presenting it in nefarious ways designed to – the intended meaning to exploit it to send a dangerous and vile message – often contradictory to the original facts. This should make us all more cautious about the information we consume and share.

Capitalizing means using or taking advantage of what we’ve created, not just making money. We want to use it immediately. No sooner than the new technology is released, someone will find a new and perverse use for it. This misuse of technology should be a cause for concern for all of us.

Think about the flint knife. It was a tool for cutting, but it was quickly used to kill when attached to a pole or stick. Technology has improved our reach, so it’s no longer necessary to be in the same country to dispatch an enemy; we can do it remotely.

In the 1970s, I participated in the USAF’s Remotely Piloted Vehicle (RPV) development program; I still have mixed emotions about this involvement. I am proud to have served my country, but I’m troubled and concerned about how this capability is used. Should I feel like the guy who invented the flint knife? I only had good intentions, but those developments were coopted and used for purposes that I did not intend. Still, this doesn’t assuage my guilt.

Portable devices like cell phones and tablets, marvels of technology, were initially communication devices, but now it’s impossible to avoid the ceaseless barrage of advertising and, most annoying of all, Robocalls, unsolicited marketing calls designed to coerce and manipulate unwilling participants. These calls distract and annoy the living $hit out of us all. These mass-marketers have no regard for our time, and by the way, it is illegal.

They know we’re programmed to answer every call as if it were a matter of life or death. We are so well conditioned that it takes nearly Herculean effort and discipline not to reach for the phone when it rings.

AI tells me: ‘While making unsolicited calls is technically legal, it is heavily regulated by the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) and can be considered illegal if you call someone on the National Do Not Call Registry without their consent, use automated dialing systems without proper permission, or repeatedly call someone after they ask you to stop; meaning you should always check if a person is on the Do Not Call list before contacting them with a sales pitch.’

Here’s another absolutely worthless law from our ‘custodians’ in Congress, the opposite of progress: the ‘National Do Not Call Registry’ under the Federal Trade Commission (FTC). Created in 2003, allowing customers to register their phone numbers to ‘opt-out’ of receiving unsolicited telemarketing calls. Violators were threatened with severe penalties, but of course, a list of caveats and exceptions is included to protect the caller, not the customer. It became so complicated that no telemarketing firm bothered to abide by the law.

A massive number of reported violations go unaddressed. Last year, over 2 million complaints increased by more than 50% than the previous year. Curiously, the results of this program are not a matter of public record. Why? If it’s successful, I think I’d be waving my banner. But you see, it isn’t. It’s a total failure. That’s why you never hear about it. Coincidently, the creation cost is also hidden, but businesses can pay to access the list of numbers not to call… ???

The FTC creates a list of people who do not want to be bothered as a service, then charges businesses expected to use and abide by the law to purchase the FTC’s information. Yes, folks… Here’s another rabbit hole of double entendre and circular legal mumbo-jumbo. You cannot randomly call people on the list, or the FTC will fine you, but you must pay the FTC to access the list to avoid fines. No, you can’t make this shit up… An unenforced law is no law; it’s just good intentions – and we all know that the road to hell is paved with good intentions, according to Bernard of Clairvaux – a French Abbot in the 12th Century.

We need another new department called DODGE – the Department of Decidedly Grotesque Excess. Someone needs to stop this insanity.

Technological advances make it nearly impossible to trace most robocalls generated by a computer system that dials telephone numbers from published addresses and telephone lists like the White Pages and other internet sources. These are nearly impossible to trace because sophisticated computer systems can manipulate or mask the caller ID information. So, if you file a formal complaint, there’s no way to identify the call’s origin. Since, seemingly, no one ever follows up, why bother? Complaints have fallen off markedly over the past several years.

Now, adding insult to injury, offshore telemarketing companies, and most of them are, can transfer their calls through multiple telephone exchanges and make that call from Indonesia appear to come from Mesa, AZ. You cannot trace them without highly sophisticated equipment. Unfortunately, this must be done during the call, or the necessary data is lost.

I have ‘Call Block’ on all my devices; there are literally hundreds of numbers in the blacklist-block list, but I receive the same type of calls from different numbers daily. I add about eight numbers to the list each day.

Just so you know… Congress, the opposite of progress, doesn’t care. I asked AI for the statistics, but the FTC conveniently does not disclose that data. Who are they protecting?
Donors possibly??

The advent of mass media distribution and the near-instantaneous processes and tools that made it possible have uncorked that bottle, and now the Djinn is loose. Maybe Pandora’s box is more familiar to you. The moral of both is that they cannot be closed again once opened – and the damage is already wrought – the demon is loose.

I question the benefit. Seriously, has this technology made anything better?

Has our world improved?

Has mankind evolved or devolved?

Are we better informed or full of moderated, manipulated, curated information?

In the 1960 movie, an adaptation of Lawrence and Lee’s play ‘Inherit the Wind,’ Henry Drummond says, “Progress has never been a bargain. You have to pay for it.”

Sometimes I think there’s a man who sits behind a counter and says, “All right, you can have a telephone but you lose privacy and the charm of distance. Madam, you may vote, but at a price. You lose the right to retreat behind the powder puff or your petticoat. Mister, you may conquer the air, but the birds will lose their wonder, and the clouds will smell of gasoline.”

We are blessed with the unimaginable intellectual power to conceive and construct tools that gather and distribute information. What we do with it, or, more importantly, what we learn and take away from it, is honestly frightening.

I want to concentrate on how information is shared and its impact. I’m not talking about the devices we use to consume or circulate it. I want to address its delivery.

What god have we wrought?

AI tells me the term ‘mobile device’ refers to all hand-held portable communications devices, such as cell phones, tablets, and computers.

There are currently 18.22 billion mobile devices and 8.2 billion people worldwide – no, you’re not misreading this; there are 10 billion more mobile devices than people. Recent data indicates that people spend 4 hours and 37 minutes daily on mobile devices. That’s the equivalent of 1 day per week, 6 days per month, and 70 days spent every year looking at a mobile device, but from what I observe, this is off by a large margin of error. You can’t look in any direction without seeing someone on a mobile device.

People drive while texting or checking their mobile devices for directions. Many new automobiles allow you to connect your mobile device to your vehicle’s Infotainment System. Sure, it’s convenient, but it distracts you from your primary task: safely operating the vehicle, paying attention to all the external inputs, and not creating a hazard for the other drivers.

Even small children are glued, transfixed by images on that glowing plastic screen. I believe this is the equivalent of the 19th-century nanny. We have AI babysitting and rearing our children.

If this doesn’t frighten the Bejesus out of you… it should. Do you know what they’re learning, exposed to, or taught subliminally? Do you have any idea?

Have you heard about the ‘Cellphone Zombies’?

I heard that close to 40 percent of college students cannot go more than 10 minutes without checking their emails and text messages. This is addiction.

They are the pedestrians who walk while operating their mobile devices. They walk into traffic, into sign poles, parking meters, walls, and other pedestrians as they inattentively navigate our streets. I’ve had them step off the curb in front of me on busy city streets.

Recent surveys indicate that the average American spends less than 5 minutes daily praying, which is 1,825 minutes per year, 152 hours per month, and 35 hours per week praying. Roughly half of Americans say they pray regularly.

Look around you right now. How many people stare at a Portable Alter of Enlightenment (PAE) mobile device? I coined this phrase to describe the deference and devotion we pay these inanimate hand-held gods we’ve created.

When it rings, do you reflexively reach to answer the call or read the text or message? It’s called the Pavlovian Response. Pavlov conditioned several dogs to salivate when they heard a bell ring. Pavlov rang that bell every time he fed them, so when these dogs heard the bell ring, they knew they were about to eat. Ding-a-ling – Woof…

Is the mobile device our new god? The time we spend in adoration seems to answer this question quite clearly. I think we have a new deity.

I wrote a commentary about the Portable Alter of Enlightenment a few years ago. It was about our infatuation with mobile devices. I theorized that we’ve replaced the Great Spirit, the Almighty God, with Information Technology (IT) and prayed at hand-held Portable Alters for Enlightenment.

As Nietzsche said, ‘God is dead and unnecessary in our lives.’

God is superfluous.

Apparently, Nietzsche was mistaken. We needed God, so we created a new one from plastic and silicone microchips. We no longer need a church or cathedral; we can carry the altar with us. It keeps us connected and tells us everything we need to know. The clergy are now technologists, and the faithful are evident by the number of devices carried and how quickly they respond to god’s bell.

Now, we carry the altar everywhere we go in homage to the Great and Powerful OZ when it chirps, letting us know that an epiphany awaits on the colorful, glistening digital screen. What salient tidbits of awareness await?

What insight can I acquire?

What new truth will I discern?

8.2 billion devotees await enlightenment…

Mountains out of Molehills

The Corporate Media Complex (CMC) is a business that intends to profit like all enterprises. Last year, the revenue for the top six media companies exceeded $393.3 billion, with revenues in the $22 billion range. Media companies make money through various methods, including advertising, subscriptions, and selling content rights. The values associated with these different revenue streams are unimportant; realizing that they ‘sell’ their products, is crucial.

Selling anything requires an attractive product, something the customer wants, and attracting customers who want that product. The more customers want the product, the more the seller charges for advertising access to their network. This is an adaptation of the ‘supply and demand’ principle. So, the more popular the network, the more they make advertising and selling their product. This is the business in the CMC.

Attracting customers is a finicky business. Their main draw isn’t the hardware they sell; that is ancillary. Their main allure is their programming, which entices viewers to that particular network.

AI tells me that according to November 2024 data, the distribution of viewers ranking:

– CBS – The highest

– NBC – Close to CBS

– ABC – Typically places third

– Fox – Holds a strong position in Primetime

– Fox News – Leads the cable news networks

– ESPN – Tops the sports network category

This is important because the top three news networks align with a liberal point of view, and the fourth is aligned with conservative views. If you watch any of these outlets with an open mind, you’ll appreciate what follows in this article.

There was a time when these networks were required to operate in the public’s interest. Obviously, those days are long gone, and we have entered a new millennium of partisan political party platform alignment based on who can do what and for whom. As the DOGE Crew reminds us… ‘Follow the Money…‘

The CMC’s business is to make mountains out of molehills.

There are a few essential synonyms to remember:

* Embellish

* Aggrandize

* Dramatize

* Lie

* Overstate

If you’re unfamiliar with these words or are uncertain of their denotations, I encourage you to ‘crack’ open the dictionary and educate yourself. You may draw the same conclusions as I do, maybe a few new ones, and you may appreciate how I use them in this commentary.

During the 2016 presidential election circus, the CMC tortured and regaled us with baseless, ceaseless, endless accusations and allegations of a single candidate’s traitorous, treacherous, treasonous intent based on their contrived opinion that the republic faces a Constitutional Crisis or an Existential Threat to democracy. It set an example they would follow ’till hell freezes over.’

Yes, this is protected speech in the First Amendment, as are the CMC’s statements.

One of the political cults views these ‘opinions’ as the Party’s doctrine and dogma. No other interpretations are necessary. Others see this as a license to spew hateful rhetoric to incite the faithful and further divide the republic. They were off to the races – the Left was rife with conspiracies and sedition against the republic. It was as though the Left tore the pages from the McCarthy Anti-American Red Scare playbook. McCarthyism was reawakened, resuscitated by the fear, uncertainty, and doubt that first brought it to life. The Right stood firmly by the Constitution, waving that banner as their battle flag.

The consequence of this partisan political vitriol is the perversion of the First Amendment. Freedom of Speech does not mean there are no limits; it simply means that you may say what you believe but are responsible for your statement. It’s disheartening that we seem to take everything to an extreme breaking point and are shocked when we’re reminded that we’ve gone too far. We call it self-control or the virtue that involves restraining desires and impulses and living a life of moderation and righteousness, frequently called self-discipline or temperance.

We watch the tableau of hate from the CMC and jump on the ‘bitterness bandwagon’ to vent our pent-up anger and disappointment from a perpetual defensive posture. It’s soul-crushing to be a pariah, the recipient of ceaseless abuse, living in an intentionally fractured society. Integrity was the victim, sanity a casualty, and the republic lay mortally wounded.

I will never see politics as a solution, only as an agent of our eventual demise, because we lack the perception, fortitude, and foresight our founders hoped we would discover as we grew with this republic. Politics led us astray-and look what it has wrought.

Unabashedly…

March 2, 2025

~ The Author ~
Charles R. Dickens was born in 1951, is a veteran of the Vietnam war, for which he volunteered, and the great-great grandson of the noted author, whose name he shares.

He is a fiercely proud American, who still believes this is the greatest country on the planet, with which we’ve lost control and certainly our direction. He grew up in moderate financial surrounding; we’re not rich by any stretch, but didn’t go hungry – his incredibly hard working father saw to that. As most from that era, he learned about life from his father, whose story would take too long to tell, other than to say that, he is also a fiercely proud American; a WWII and Korean war, veteran Marine.

Charlie was educated in the parochial system which, demanded that you actually learn something, and have capability to retain it before you advance. He attended several universities in pursuit of a bachelor’s degree, and chased the goose further to a master’s, and has retained some very definite ideas about education in this country.

In addition, Charlie is a retired blues guitar and vocalist – a musician. This was his therapy career. Nothing brings him as much joy as playing music, and he wishes that he could make a living at it… but alas… life goes on!