@Mark from Queens
and probably untainable to keep. Your comment is great, but I think it is just the age difference between us that keeps me way more critical against the technology than the rest of all here. What you describe about the gamer generations and the guys sitting in cubicles in Colerado is well known to me. I worked in a GermanTV studio in Washington DC, where we produced films for the German audience about them. One of them we know personally and followed up with, so this is not some distant knowledge I have, but quite detailed production knowledge of documentary style German TV videos for the major TV channel in Germany (this is not a private TV channel). Our news productions are seen today on many German channels. As I retired almost five years ago from that studio, the material is not anymore easily accessible to me.

But technology and social media remain very important tool for activists and protest movements. Especially for those victims of police brutality/murder who have been forced into the shadows for so long. In the same way network tv cameras in the 60's brought into the living rooms the vengeful, violent reprisal of the state toward peaceful protesters they had only read about in passing, social media videos show that the same kind of racial profiling and indiscriminate police brutality still exists, and are now able to go viral where the MSM has again been silent, which serves again to bridge the outrage, empathy and compassion of white viewers to the cause of the persecuted which is necessary to effect real change.

I understand all that and have long agreed uncritically to those arguments and supported it with my own little activism protests etc as much as I could.

But I changed my mind in the last three yars. You are a believer, I am not anymore.

If you look what has developed all over the world, especially in the US and Europe, in the last 2-3 years, I doubt the benevolence of the internet technology.

Occupy Wall St also would never have gotten as far as it did without a concerted effort, via their own in-house reportage and the dissemination of many individuals' social media accounts, to circumvent the MSM blackout/stereotypical derision in order to reach a larger audience. Same with BlackLivesMatter. Because of #BLM now there's a serious movement to reduce the role of policing in society and much more candid conversations about the real existence of Institutional Racism. Ever wonder if Twitter was around in the 1960's if a lot less people would have died in that senseless war? I do. Or even if the reach of social media was what is now, during the protests of the invasion of Iraq? Could have made a difference.

You are right, that social media gave birth to more openly discussed and understood social movements' goals. You are a believer in those movements to achieve the goals and the change they want to see. I was too.

But since 2016 I don't believe that anymore. If twitter would have been around in the 1960-ies may be the Vietam War would have been shorter, but not less intense. And in no way I believe that twitter would have prevented the invasion of Iraq. Twitter and social media are not an utility, but private enterprises. The day twitter would ban the President from using it, we could talk about it again.

As for what Connolly did I am all for these kinds of humiliation tactics. It's a time-honored way of, even if for the moment, taking the power out of the powerful and reminding the public that these privileged and dangerous idiots (in this case a flaming racist Islamophobe) are not beyond this kind of reproach. In fact most of them could probably use a a good dose of public shaming. After all that is what the core of protest is about as far as I understand it. Many tactics and strategies to get there. This is just one.

But especially to elected public officials, who all too often live in hermetically-sealed world of sycophants/lobbyists/pampered privilege. It's a very good thing, in my estimation, to have them confronted, ridiculed, pestered, afraid and ultimately, in the best case, their consciousness's punctured.

Of course I agree with that. I am in no way saying that one should not try and do it. All I am saying is that I believe that we don't win.

I am sorry that I sound so discouraging. I am not easily pulled in the 'hope, act and change' movement rhetoric. May be that is because I see all of it since three years with other glasses that tainted my views to the dark side.

Right now disregard what I wrote. I meant to get at something else and couldn't express it well enough to resonate.

I will try to get hold of'Jason Burke’s latest book is "The New Threat" and try to get more familiar with the author and look, if I misunderstood the article by him I was referring to due to lack of knowledge about the author.

It's possible I misunderstood him.

I simply aam not a believer in the benevolence of the internet technology. And that's not important, as I am old and it's the next generation who takes over and does what it believes in.

I think it would be different if the internet and www would become a public utility and if there would be a democracy in the US. Both is not the case. But I hope it will come.

#9
Whatever went through this deranged racist's mind that had to do with technology I still can't see it being the impetus for his action. The seeds of propaganda and hatred had already been watered and taken root in him. This could have happened at any period in history, but accounting for an automatic weapon being in the 20th century. That a sick racist was going to make a display of his group's hatred for all to see, prior to this palm-sized, handheld video camera age, it would have been all over the newspapers, tv, radio, etc.

I do think there is something to be said about this "gamer" (video game) age we live in, and also the propensity to want to experience Warhol's proverbial 15 minutes of fame via social media. Some of the most ruthless, cold-blooded attacks are carried out, for example, by US military men sitting in cubicles in Colorado that, via video screen operation, allow computer nerds to kill families of Middle Eastern people with drones, and then be home for supper with their own families by 5pm. There is something about the detached (and often celebrated) automation of death in the video age that presents a new dystopian level. And this purely evil monster probably harbored the kind of fantasies a lone, alienated and vulnerable gamer guy could have while playing on his video screen, and fancied himself a fantasy/reality hero who would broadcast his own horrific deathwish.

But technology and social media remain very important tool for activists and protest movements. Especially for those victims of police brutality/murder who have been forced into the shadows for so long. In the same way network tv cameras in the 60's brought into the living rooms the vengeful, violent reprisal of the state toward peaceful protesters they had only read about in passing, social media videos show that the same kind of racial profiling and indiscriminate police brutality still exists, and are now able to go viral where the MSM has again been silent, which serves again to bridge the outrage, empathy and compassion of white viewers to the cause of the persecuted which is necessary to effect real change.

Occupy Wall St also would never have gotten as far as it did without a concerted effort, via their own in-house reportage and the dissemination of many individuals' social media accounts, to circumvent the MSM blackout/stereotypical derision in order to reach a larger audience. Same with BlackLivesMatter. Because of #BLM now there's a serious movement to reduce the role of policing in society and much more candid conversations about the real existence of Institutional Racism. Ever wonder if Twitter was around in the 1960's if a lot less people would have died in that senseless war? I do. Or even if the reach of social media was what is now, during the protests of the invasion of Iraq? Could have made a difference.

As for what Connolly did I am all for these kinds of humiliation tactics. It's a time-honored way of, even if for the moment, taking the power out of the powerful and reminding the public that these privileged and dangerous idiots (in this case a flaming racist Islamophobe) are not beyond this kind of reproach. In fact most of them could probably use a a good dose of public shaming. After all that is what the core of protest is about as far as I understand it. Many tactics and strategies to get there. This is just one.

But especially to elected public officials, who all too often live in hermetically-sealed world of sycophants/lobbyists/pampered privilege. It's a very good thing, in my estimation, to have them confronted, ridiculed, pestered, afraid and ultimately, in the best case, their consciousness's punctured.

Anti-KKK tuba player booms out 'Ride of the Valkyries' to troll Confederate marchers (VIDEO)

@Mark from Queens

here's an excellent article about how people in our government are spreading those seeds.

The New Zealand Shooter’s Rhetoric Sounds Like Something You Might Hear In Congress

When I read the New Zealand shooter’s manifesto, what struck me most were the similarities between his writings and some of the things I hear from members of Congress on immigration.

HuffPost has decided not to link to the shooter’s apparent 74-page manifesto. But in reality, the language from that document is already out there. His views and rhetoric have an eerie resemblance to some of the things two particular Republicans ― Steve King (R-Iowa) and Louie Gohmert (R-Texas) ― say about immigration, and that’s worth discussing.

Gohmert and King have denounced the shooting, and there’s no reason to doubt they genuinely are saddened by this massacre.

Still, it’s fair to evaluate how dehumanizing rhetoric has real impact in the ways people think about immigrants, particularly in light of this horrendous attack.

So in the interest of a more introspective immigration debate, let’s look at some of the remarkable similarities between the shooter’s writings and these lawmakers’ words.

This is how the shooter begins his manifesto:

If there is one thing I want you to remember from these writings, it’s that the birthrates must change, even if we we were to deport all non-Europeans from our lands tomorrow, the European people would still be spiraling into decay and eve

And here’s something King said in August 2018 about fertility rates:

I’m watching emotion take over reason. When I made a statement on Twitter saying, “We can’t restore our civilization with somebody else’s babies,” it seemed to be more irritating to the left than anything I have ever said. First of all, the total fertility rate in Europe is below replacement rate. When that happens, you are a dying civilization.

Here’s the shooter on the unprecedented “invasion” of immigration:

We are experiencing an invasion on a level never seen before in history. Millions of people are pouring across our borders, legally, invited by the state and corporate entities to replace the white people who have failed to reproduce, failed to create cheap labor, new consumers and tax base that the corporations and states needs to thrive.

And here’s Gohmert in 2014, on the House floor, talking about how immigration is an “invasion” unseen since D-Day:

We know that the invasion into France by the Allied Forces consisted of about 150,000 troops. About 150,000 people was the biggest invasion in history. And since then, we come up to the year 2014 and the New York Times reported that just in the recent months we have had 240,000 adults and 52,000 children, now it’s being reported that it’s closer to 60,000 children, as I understand the article said, since April, just two months, we’ve had nearly 300,000 people invade the United States through Texas. And then it’s now being reported that there are 300,000 people making their way up from Central America to the United States.
....
Rest assured: There are more members guilty of this rhetoric and more instances. In searching the congressional record, I was blown away by how many members talk on the House floor about “rape trees,” and I came across a floor speech from Ted Yoho where he says there’s only room in this country for “one language.”

And then there are the things that Trump has stated about some foreign countries and the immigrants coming to the US? Rapists, murders and gang of ms-13 which actually was born in California. The comments I see on my local news website about immigrants are just as bad.

Absolutely love the tuba player playing this march! It makes it much better that he's using a tuba. Or maybe more silly.

#9
Whatever went through this deranged racist's mind that had to do with technology I still can't see it being the impetus for his action. The seeds of propaganda and hatred had already been watered and taken root in him. This could have happened at any period in history, but accounting for an automatic weapon being in the 20th century. That a sick racist was going to make a display of his group's hatred for all to see, prior to this palm-sized, handheld video camera age, it would have been all over the newspapers, tv, radio, etc.

I do think there is something to be said about this "gamer" (video game) age we live in, and also the propensity to want to experience Warhol's proverbial 15 minutes of fame via social media. Some of the most ruthless, cold-blooded attacks are carried out, for example, by US military men sitting in cubicles in Colorado that, via video screen operation, allow computer nerds to kill families of Middle Eastern people with drones, and then be home for supper with their own families by 5pm. There is something about the detached (and often celebrated) automation of death in the video age that presents a new dystopian level. And this purely evil monster probably harbored the kind of fantasies a lone, alienated and vulnerable gamer guy could have while playing on his video screen, and fancied himself a fantasy/reality hero who would broadcast his own horrific deathwish.

But technology and social media remain very important tool for activists and protest movements. Especially for those victims of police brutality/murder who have been forced into the shadows for so long. In the same way network tv cameras in the 60's brought into the living rooms the vengeful, violent reprisal of the state toward peaceful protesters they had only read about in passing, social media videos show that the same kind of racial profiling and indiscriminate police brutality still exists, and are now able to go viral where the MSM has again been silent, which serves again to bridge the outrage, empathy and compassion of white viewers to the cause of the persecuted which is necessary to effect real change.

Occupy Wall St also would never have gotten as far as it did without a concerted effort, via their own in-house reportage and the dissemination of many individuals' social media accounts, to circumvent the MSM blackout/stereotypical derision in order to reach a larger audience. Same with BlackLivesMatter. Because of #BLM now there's a serious movement to reduce the role of policing in society and much more candid conversations about the real existence of Institutional Racism. Ever wonder if Twitter was around in the 1960's if a lot less people would have died in that senseless war? I do. Or even if the reach of social media was what is now, during the protests of the invasion of Iraq? Could have made a difference.

As for what Connolly did I am all for these kinds of humiliation tactics. It's a time-honored way of, even if for the moment, taking the power out of the powerful and reminding the public that these privileged and dangerous idiots (in this case a flaming racist Islamophobe) are not beyond this kind of reproach. In fact most of them could probably use a a good dose of public shaming. After all that is what the core of protest is about as far as I understand it. Many tactics and strategies to get there. This is just one.

But especially to elected public officials, who all too often live in hermetically-sealed world of sycophants/lobbyists/pampered privilege. It's a very good thing, in my estimation, to have them confronted, ridiculed, pestered, afraid and ultimately, in the best case, their consciousness's punctured.

Anti-KKK tuba player booms out 'Ride of the Valkyries' to troll Confederate marchers (VIDEO)