Agitprop
Agitprop is an technique invented by the Soviets, merging agitation and propaganda, often via art, to persuade others.
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Social Panic has moved to a new server
On December 18, 2019, my Internet web hosting provider announced they are shutting down in February 2020. I am now in process of relocating my 5 web sites to a new web host (and once this is done, a 6th site located elsewhere will also be relocated).
This post you are reading right now is on the new web host, however, the final appearance of this page and some other key items still need to be updated. These final fixes will occur over the next week or so.
Social media: A tweet that caused a brain seizure
An appalling sick individual sent a flashing GIF pattern to a person with epilepsy, causing an epileptic brain seizure with long term after effects. The true weaponization of social media. The perpetrator is expected to plead guilty to aggravated assault. Sadly, others have used this method to target even more victims. Absolutely disgusting, appalling and sick.
Journalism: How to turn Thanksgiving into an opportunity for political discussions
I never knew – according to journalists we are expected to argue about inequality and victimization at the Thanksgiving holiday. Journalists have even prepared a handy guide detailing how to support the journalists’ own agenda! Who knew (besides journalists) that we are supposed to turn Thanksgiving into an opportunity for propaganda messaging?
Updated: Apparently this entire genre is a coordinated pseudo-news event intended to be shared on social media and get around Facebook’s algorithms that try to limit some news article distribution. It’s based on the pseudo-news event approach of creating a fake “us versus them” narrative. It is, in fact, 21st century click-bait and nothing more.
#Privacy: #Google wants all of your financial records, because your #health records are not enough
Accessing everyone’s detailed health data is not enough for Google. Now they want to offer a checking account service so they can monitor your financial records.
Propaganda method: Recycle old stories that are years out of date-“The American Dream Is Killing Us”
Recycling an old opinion column by an author who focuses on persuading you that life is miserable, not fair and getting worse – is an interesting twist on propaganda. The date – its old -is not presented until a footnote at the very end of the very long column; the column was written during the recovery from The Great Recession, immediately after significant economic turmoil. This is the media’s usual focus on negativity by an author who makes his living on negativity.
When propaganda does not stand the test of time
Nobel laureate Paul Krugman after the November 2016 election: “If the question is when markets will recover, a first-pass answer is never.” Today, all three major stock indices reached record levels.
Journalism: ‘How We Came to Live in “Cursed” Times’
On the anxiety inducements of social media and smart phones: “We must be cursed, one would think, to spend so much of our day walking around with our eyes glued to a device that provokes bad feelings.” Ironically, the essay writer ends with two lengthy paragraphs of doom, gloom and negativity and wonders why everyone is gloomy?
Social media: 2 years ago, Google shut down the blog, email and all services of a prominent statistician
In 2017, without warning or recourse, Google shut down all services associated with Salil Mehta, a professor of statistics, editor of a statistics journal, author of a best selling book on statistics, a former Obama administration official and later, a polling statistics adviser to the Trump campaign. His offense? He ran a blog about mathematics! Google, Facebook and Twitter have become the totalitarian governments of the 21st century, stifling speech their algorithms choose to flag. Unlike us peons, Mehta is well connected and a huge outcry caused Google to reinstate his account.