27 January 2017
The TrumpTon:
n: Statements which whilst devoid of substantial content are designed to instil confidence in the speaker’s abilities but which, when analysed even trivially, indicate an intent to deprive the listener of previous hard-fought gains.
example usage:
‘“I think Brexit is going to be a wonderful thing for your country,” he said. “I think when it irons out, you’re going to have your own identity, and you are going to have the people that you want in your country and be able to make free trade deals without having somebody watching you and what you are doing.”’
example detriment to listener: Extended periods of austerity and employment losses. Racism. Bigotry. Xenophobia. Large corporations assuming a foothold in foreign health markets previously out-of-bounds by statute, thus extracting obscenely opportunistic profits from business opportunities to the detriment of large swathes of the population. Zero independent oversight.
27 January 2017
As the year unfolds I am for the most part now leaning towards shunning social media. At least my involvement isn’t quite as conspicuous as it once was. Part conscious decision, part response to external stimuli (e.g. Brexit, Trump), the result is somewhat confusing.
Returning to App.net for the last few weeks of that network’s life, well, I’m not particularly enthusiastic; I’d stepped away last year as my life intruded, and all that’s left to do is ensure I don’t lose touch with those that matter to me. And that one final #ThemeMonday!
Social networks I’m still interested in:
- 10Centuries.org (confused,)
- Twitter (changed philosophy.)
Even Facebook is becoming annoying with its notifications of messages and friends’s posts, all of which are simply non-existent when I open the app.
Hardly major grievances to direct at something that’s become a network I use less for social, more for traders, but still annoying.
Ok, so where do I stand on the social graph? The low end of the bell curve, looking up. Forwards, backwards at it, who knows?
Looking at 10Centuries.org, the lack of apps is nowhere near as profound as I’d imagined. There’s one usable, though early iOS app, and others on the way. I don’t know if my Python thing will still talk to the API, but I’m developing an itch to try again.
Eventually I’ll work it out. In the meantime, I’m likely to be even less conversational than usual, more biased towards ‘witty’ one-liners.’
Sorry.
Message: yes.
25 January 2017
It screwed up, big-time. The Softaculous installer is so-ooooo not my friend.
23 January 2017
Right now, in an attempt to work through some interesting conundrums, I am mainly reading about cognitive dissonance.
22 January 2017
Gaslighting is a form of manipulation through persistent denial, misdirection, contradiction, and lying in an attempt to destabilize and delegitimize a target. Its intent is to sow seeds of doubt in the targets, hoping to make them question their own memory, perception, and sanity.
Turn the TV on. Every news broadcast serves up a slice of the truth, hand-crafted by well-meaning folks desperate to inject fairness in reporting into their organisation’s output. If you’re lucky. Unless you have a range of disparate sources from which to draw, your views will be shaped by what you hear and read. And your friends will help you too.
Democracy (Greek: δημοκρατία, Dēmokratía literally “rule of the commoners”), in modern usage, is a system of government in which the citizens exercise power directly or elect representatives from among themselves to form a governing body, such as a parliament.
We in this modern age, we’ve never had it, it’s all an illusion. The closest we have is adding an ‘X’ in a box or writing to our local representatives, all of whom have agendas different to yours. Sure we can write emails or tweets, sign petitions and the like, but really? A popular vote couldn’t even persuade the British establishment name a ship according to the majority, and yet…
Attempts by powerful people to erode democracy are working everywhere I look outside the comfort of my chosen circle. It’s why I’ve scaled back use of Twitter already, and I’ve never really got back into Facebook…
To those who would say we must accept it, that protest is futile, or that a march for women or for minorities is essentially against white men: no, we must not! There is better to be had from those we elect; just rolling over and accepting this as being the best there is, is just wrong.
We are living in a time during which the norms of modern society, worked for by those who would protect humanity as a whole rather than a narrow strip running through it, will be wiped out by the stroke of a pen, both here in the UK and, more quickly, in the ‘United’ States of America.
Of course it’s easy for me to say all this, safely nestled in my comfy chair.
Wikipedia and fact-checking organisations like snopes.com are your friend.