So are you saying that money buys trust? How cynical. Let's see how well that goes down in the future.

The whole SSL ecosystem is based on the fact that you can absolutely trust the certificate authorities. The corollary to this is that, if a single CA is breached, then the whole system becomes untrustworthy. I'm confused as to why most of us still refuse to see that. Propoganda and disinformation? Well, the SSL world definitely represents a huge business, and it's clear none of its stakeholders is willing to see it blow up in smoke. Why let the facts and the truth get in the way of business?

anyone with a smartphone and a data connection has effective Intelligence Amplification

Woah, rein your horses my man! Having a smartphone doesn't make anyone more intelligent, quite the contrary indeed, if I'm to believe what I see everyday in the street, public transports, restaurants, social events etc. The ability to find more information faster may provide Knowledge Amplification, but it has nothing to do with the Intelligence of the person that carries the smartphone. I'd say the smartphone is more intelligent, if anything is to be.

Is the "random" selection for additional screening truly random?

I remember 10-11 years ago, I used to fly every week with Southwest Airlines out of Boston's Logan. For the first few months, I was "randomly" selected at each and every flight at boarding time. I was assuming it was because I was travelling with a French passport - I remember how popular French were at that time in the US. Then, after a couple months, I was never selected again, presumably because Southwest had built a profile on me showing that I was a "good" passenger. Is there any real substance to my (admittedly biased) assumptions?

were strongly at variance with well-established beliefs ...

Isn't that how most, if not all, scientific discoveries are made?