disinformation war

In order to better understand the media field landscaped by the campaign to reelect Donald Trump and the onslaught of propaganda and targeted messages, Atlantic correspondent McKay Coppins crafted and curated a burner social media account to invite that worldview and narrative, one that’s grown increasingly fraught as more turn towards the subjective that suits them, in and study the amplification and obfuscation. It’s truly disturbing how the predilections we’ve offered up freely can be monetized and weaponized against us, and it’s pure hubris to think any one of us is immune to these effects and above the flattery of psychographics and peerage.

The despots that hold power with these tactics can even claim vindication and virtue since, given their loud-speaker and can out-shout any dissenting voices, they don’t need to resort to censorship and silencing critics—at least not broadly until the purge happens in earnest. What was particularly striking to me—though it should be rather patently obvious since despite the inordinate amounts of money involved in campaigning that’s a bar to entry for most there are still finite resources and finite attention—was how political parties, and not just the Republican National Committee but all election juggernauts in a mad dash to maintain an edge on the competition or at least keep pace, collect highly specific demographics on all the electorate, like any other marketing agency, and connect the dots of a constellation consisting of thousands of data points on each individual to serve advertisements and newsfeeds tailored and targeted for the narrowest of audiences. Rather than billboards or bumper stickers, I’ve realised that each of us has a unique media experience peppered with ads and suggestions that no one else fully shares or is privy to, and perhaps if civics and politics is commercialized in the same fashion—customized and optimized—our doubt, distrust and disinterest are strengthened.

fünf augen

Chillingly and now the subject of an official inquiry by the Swiss government (whose own intelligence service is formidable and nothing to underestimate), the Washington Post and the ZDF reveal that for decades the CIA and the Bundesnachrichtendienst (BND, see previously) in partnership owned and controlled a communications and information security company that manufactured encryption machines and cipher (see also) devices for intelligence agencies and businesses around the world.
While it was known since 2015 that the firm’s founder had been approached by a field operative in 1955 and strongly urged not to sell the technology to governments not aligned with the West, the extent of America and West Germany’s involvement remained a mystery, and from 1970 to 2018 (the BND dropping out in 1988) conducted operations Thesaurus and Rubicon to distribute compromised machines with a backdoor built in to allow US spies to handily intercept and decrypt secret correspondence. Justifiably wary, the Soviets and China did not use the rigged machines but many governments in the Middle East and Central and South America did, informing and fueling American adventurism and proxy warfare in those regions.

notruf

Despite being introduced as a universal, Europe-wide emergency number in 1991 with support for mobile phones and geographic messaging services fully integrated in 2008, subsequent public polls still consistently show a paucity of knowledge in how to ring the police or fire department in a panic, so since 2009, the European Union has commemorated this number on its corresponding calendar date to increase awareness and promote its appropriate use.
Local legacy conventions in many cases still summon a first-responder or redirect—like 999 for Anglophone areas (introduced in 1937 in response to a calamitous house fire at a London boarding house), 911 (1968, which I suppose just slightly faster to dial if one were using a fiddly rotary phone) for those regions historically connected to the United States (Panama, the Philippines, Liberia among others) and 101, 102, or 103—depending on the nature of one’s emergency—in Russia and former Soviet satellites. It’s interesting how one’s sphere of influence—independence and aspirations—are reflected here as well.

minecraft or tunnel and winze

Operating on the same principle as the Sisyphus Train though perhaps with more physical obstacles to contend with, the always interesting BLDG Blog reports that a firm in Scotland is exploring the feasibility of turning the region’s exhausted and disused deep shaft mines into storehouses of potential energy.
When production of renewable energy exceeds demand, surplus electricity would be diverted to raising an enormous weight from the depths of the collieries up to the surface then reclaiming the energy once it is needed by lowering the counterbalance. I wonder what other superannuated technology and infrastructure might also be repurposed in an act that virtually entails reinterning and secreting away the polluting first drivers of industry.  Much more to explore at the link above. 

thronfolgerin und kingmaker

Fallout from state elections in Thüringen over the weekend which saw the unseating of the left-leaning incumbent Budo Ramelow and replaced him a business-friendly (FDP, Free Democrats’ Party) minister president, who carried the election through a coalition vote that saw the Christian Democratic Union (CDU), centre-right, voting with the extreme-right Alternativ für Deutschland (AfD) party with the newly elected FDP official—something akin to a state governor in America, nearly immediately resigning and calling for a new election—has prompted Angela Merkel’s designated successor Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer, nom de guerre AKK (see also), to announce that she would not stand for chancellorship in 2021 and would step down as chair of the CDU. Finding what AfD stands for to be antithetical to everything that the CDU has worked towards, Kramp-Karrenbauer had the presence of mind to doubt whether she could fulfill both roles and acknowledged that separating party leadership from the chancellery would severely weaken the CDU’s position. Kramp-Karrenbauer, who was also tasked as Defence Minister once Ursula von der Leyen departed to assume presidency of the European Commission, will continue in that role and focus her efforts on reforming and rehabilitating the German military.

armchair quarterback

Though it is sometimes difficult to confront one’s own shortcomings and gladiatorial instincts that we hope to dress-up as and therefore translate to political engagement, there’s a danger in political hobbyism and its self-curatorial overreach that compels one to share and to share passionately with expertise and insight but then fails many of us when it comes to follow-through.
The social media, network news takedown that Hidden Brain accompanies us on is harsh but fair and we ought to aspire to dislodge this trend that dilutes political engagement (surely by design) into something akin to collecting crafts, recipes and destinations, the allotment thereof cultivating our own image. Those efforts are important too and real labour but also proves taxing and leaves many of us too exhausted to act on our platforms. We find ourselves tantalized with the apex of politics to the neglect of the nadir—those issues that we can impact (also obfuscated and shoved off as dull or irrelevant by those who would wield power rather than be spectators) and multiply the impact of our individual votes and restores democracy by dint of participation.

disaster gurl or this is not a drill

Courtesy of friend of the blog, the Everlasting Blört’s daily Trump digest we are treated to his Orange Menace placed in squarely in context—with the stain of impeachment just as indelible as leftover spaghetti warmed-over despite whatever theatrical victory-laps he feels he might be entitled to.
Dialling up the contrast or not, the photographer behind this image, while not an official member of the press corps or part of the crew that documents White House—is at least credentialed to be on the periphery of his subject’s comings and goings. The meme that Trump is superimposed on itself seemed rather sinister without insight into its framing: back in 2004, a local fire department was conducting some live-training and a father and daughter went to see the action, the photographer capturing her image as she realised her picture was being taken. The photograph and derivative images went viral beginning in October 2008 when it was first propagated by BuzzFeed. Disaster Girl, Zoe Roth whom her father still showcases, accepts the attention and fame but is not happy when the remixes go too dark but we think she’d approve of her meme limning this dumpster fire.