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You Know Those Obnoxious Posters Who Almost Seem Like Alter Egos Of The Same Person? They Actually Might Be ...
I noted in 2009, in an article entitled "Does The Government Manipulate Social Media?":
The U.S. government long ago announced its intention to "fight the net".
As revealed by an official Pentagon report signed by Rumsfeld called "Information Operations Roadmap":
The roadmap [contains an] acknowledgement that information put out as
part of the military's psychological operations, or Psyops, is finding
its way onto the computer and television screens of ordinary Americans.
"Information intended for foreign audiences, including public
diplomacy and Psyops, is increasingly consumed by our domestic
audience," it reads.
"Psyops messages will often be replayed by
the news media for much larger audiences, including the American
public," it goes on.
***
"Strategy
should be based on the premise that the Department [of Defense] will
'fight the net' as it would an enemy weapons system".Indeed, the Pentagon publicly announced years ago that it was considering using "black propaganda" - in other words, knowing lies.
CENTCOM announced in 2008 that a team of employees would be "[engaging]
bloggers who are posting inaccurate or untrue information, as well as
bloggers who are posting incomplete information."
The Air Force is now also engaging bloggers. Indeed, an Air Force spokesman said:
"We
obviously have many more concerns regarding cyberspace than a typical
Social Media user," Capt. Faggard says. "I am concerned with how
insurgents or potential enemies can use Social Media to their advantage.
It's our role to provide a clear and accurate, completely truthful and
transparent picture for any audience."In other words, the government is targeting "social media", including popular user-ranked news sites.
In
addition, when you look at what the Israeli lobby has done with
Megaphone software to automatically vote stories questioning Israel down
and to send pro-Israel letters to politicians and media (see this, this and this),
you can start to see how the U.S. military - an even larger and
better-funded organization - could substantially influence voting on
social news sites with very little effort.
Moreover,the military has
outsourced many projects to private contractors. For example, in Iraq,
much of the fighting has been outsourced to Blackwater. And governmental intelligence functions have largely been outsourced to private companies.
It
is therefore not impossible that the government is hiring cheap labor
to downvote stories on the social media sites which question the
government, and to post pro-government comments.
(other governments and large companies "astroturf" online as well. See this, this and this.)
I pointed out the same month:
Government
propagandists, their hired private contractors and useful idiots are
creating "downvote bots" or scripts to bury stories which question the
government.
***
One free, simple scripting program to
create automatic downvotes of certain topics or news posters is called
"Greasemonkey", which is commonly used on large social news sites such
as Reddit.
For example, there are some 2,480 hits [now past 9,000] for the google search site:reddit.com greasemonkey downvote. This is some 2,480 times that Reddit users are publicly admitting to using greasemonkey (see also this).
Propaganda
agents obviously aren't going to publicly brag about what they are
doing, and you can bet that their use of downvote bots is much greater.
Moreover, they probably have more sophisticated software than
Greasemonkey.
Today, Raw Story reports that the Air Force ordered software to manage army of fake virtual people:
Internet users would be well advised to ask another question entirely: Are my "friends" even real people?
In
the continuing saga of data security firm HBGary, a new caveat has
come to light: not only did they plot to help destroy secrets outlet
WikiLeaks and discredit progressive bloggers, they also crafted
detailed proposals for software that manages online "personas,"
allowing a single human to assume the identities of as many fake people
as they'd like.
The revelation was among those contained
in the company's emails, which were dumped onto bittorrent networks
after hackers with cyber protest group "Anonymous" broke into their
systems.
In another document unearthed by "Anonymous," one of HBGary's employees also mentioned gaming geolocation services to make it appear as though selected fake persons were at actual events.
"There are a variety of social media tricks we can use to add a level of realness to all fictitious personas," it said.
Government involvement
Eerie as that may be, more perplexing, however, is a federal contract
from the 6th Contracting Squadron at MacDill Air Force Base, located
south of Tampa, Florida, that solicits providers of "persona management
software."
While there are certainly legitimate applications for
such software, such as managing multiple "official" social media
accounts from a single input, the more nefarious potential is clear.
Unfortunately, the Air Force's contract description doesn't help dispel their suspicions either. As the text explains, the
software would require licenses for 50 users with 10 personas each,
for a total of 500. These personas would have to be "replete with
background , history, supporting details, and cyber presences that are
technically, culturally and geographacilly consistent."
It continues, noting the need for secure virtual private networks that randomize
the operator's Internet protocol (IP) address, making it impossible to
detect that it's a single person orchestrating all these posts.
Another entry calls for static IP address management for each persona,
making it appear as though each fake person was consistently accessing
from the same computer each time.
The contract also sought
methods to anonymously establish virtual private servers with private
hosting firms in specific geographic locations. This would allow that
server's "geosite" to be integrated with their social media profiles,
effectively gaming geolocation services.
The Air Force added
that the "place of performance" for the contract would be at MacDill
Air Force Base, along with Kabul, Afghanistan and Baghdad. The contract
was offered on June 22, 2010.
It was not clear exactly what the Air Force was doing with this software, or even if it had been procured.
Manufacturing consent
Though
many questions remain about how the military would apply such
technology, the reasonable fear should be perfectly clear. "Persona
management software" can be used to manipulate public opinion on key
information, such as news reports. An unlimited number of virtual
"people" could be marshaled by only a few real individuals, empowering
them to create the illusion of consensus.
***
That's precisely what got DailyKos blogger Happy Rockefeller in a snit:
the potential for military-run armies of fake people manipulating and,
in some cases, even manufacturing the appearance of public opinion.
"I
don't know about you, but it matters to me what fellow progressives
think," the blogger wrote. "I consider all views. And if there appears
to be a consensus that some reporter isn't credible, for example, or
some candidate for congress in another state can't be trusted, I won't
base my entire judgment on it, but it carries some weight.
"That's
me. I believe there are many people though who will base their
judgment on rumors and mob attacks. And for those people, a fake mob
can be really effective."
***
"Team Themis" [tasked by the Chamber to come up with strategies for responding to progressive bloggers and others] also included a proposal
to use malware hacks against progressive organizations, and the
submission of fake documents in an effort to discredit established
groups.
HBGary was also behind a plot by Bank of America to destroy
WikiLeaks' technology platform, other emails revealed. The company was humiliated by members of "Anonymous" after CEO Aaron Barr bragged that he'd "infiltrated" the group.
Gaming social media is only one propaganda technique employed by the government:
- Famed Watergate reporter Carl Bernstein says the CIA has already bought and paid for many successful journalists
- The New York Times discusses in a matter-of-fact way the use of mainstream writers by the CIA to spread messages
- A 4-part BBC documentary
called the "Century of the Self" shows that an American - Freud's
nephew, Edward Bernays - created the modern field of manipulation of
public perceptions, and the U.S. government has extensively used his
techniques
- The Independent discusses allegations of American propaganda
- And one of the premier writers on journalism says the U.S. has used widespread propaganda
»
- advertisements -
Don't pay attention to negative comments. Your opinion is valued.
Taoism??? WTF...
Shhhh. Let him go for awhile. Give 'im all the rope he wants.
Falak do you live in the USA?
Does your country of origin not need someone like you to help guide it in the right direction?
Maybe your talents are wasted here. Why not set up a zero hedge type site in your country of origin and help improve the circumstances there?
What is your country of origin? Your English is very good and you are probably highly educated, but I can tell your English is not native.
My, topcallingtroll, aren't we sensitive all of a sudden! And an official of the kingdom suddenly as well, it seems.
What is it? Not the subject matter, surely? Frankly, you sound like a guy practicing the philosophy that the best defense is a strong offense--and way overdone.
This shit is really getting old and is why so many people are seeing right through it.
"HOW COLLECTIVISTS USE THE DIAMOND TACTIC TO
SWAY PUBLIC MEETINGS AND HOW TO THWART THEM
by G. Edward Griffin
In the 1960s, I came across a small training manual distributed by the Communist Party that showed how a small group of people – as few as four – could dominate a much larger group and sway the outcome of any action taken by that group. It was called the Diamond Technique. The principle is based on the fact that people in groups tend to be effected by mass psychology. They derive comfort and security from being aligned with the majority, especially if controversy or conflict is involved. Even if they do not like what the majority is doing, if they believe they are in the minority, they tend to remain silent and resigned to the fact that the majority should rule. This being the case, the Diamond Techniques is designed to convince the group that as few as four people represent the majority. Here is the strategy:"
http://www.dailypaul.com/42663/g-edward-griffins-tips-for-delegates
Property of the Israel Project. Not for Distribution or Publication. 2009.
The Israel Project's 2009 Global Language Dictionary
http://www.docstoc.com/docs/8303274/The-Israel-Projects-2009-Global-Language-Dictionary
Well, nice support. Do I understand you correctly, however, that only "collectivists" can and do use these techniques?
You can't be serious. Human beings since the dawn of time have used them. Why are you pointing such a twisted finger?
It's just an example. Anyone can use the techniques. No disrespect intended.
And the relevance of his country of origin as far as his participation in this forum would be ... ?
Agreed. We have to put up with "george wasington's" tedious leftist tripe. He was trying to make the overpaid govt union thugs into victims last night. Taxpayers are fed up with those parasites.
I'm not sure his current post has anything to do with left/right. As a taxpayer I'm fed up with trolls like you here to obfuscate the real issues.
If you are going to continue to divide people, please stop posting. The government does a good enough job without you helping out.
it is the taxpayers that should be protesting, not the over-paid, over-staffed, over-pensioned wasters of the public sector
i think my post saying precisely this on the protest thread was taken off and junked by too many bleating lefties on ZH... who says ZH isn't already infiltrated by a troop of the Govts zombies!
Speak for yourself.
Here, I'll show you how to do it: I'm only fed up with the likes of you.
Stop trying tell me how I want my tax dollars spent, I can make up my own mind, thanks.
You actually have no say over how your tax dollars are spent; that is at the heart of this discussion. While it is certainly a fair debate as to whether public employees' bennies should be 100% covered by taxpayers (who have to contribute to their own bennies), the fact remains that a significant portion of your income is extracted by force, to be used for whatever purposes the oligarchs deem. The concept of "they work for us" is gone.
I also have a real problem with Federal gov't representatives actively choosing sides in a state-specific conflict. Yes, there are ramifications across the board, but the Wisconsin budget issues are specific to their state. Obama, Pelosi, et al need to back off and let the Wisconsinites determine their own outcome.
Really. I wish I could. I have these thugs from variuos government collection facilities with guns rob me forthnightly, and I can't even get a decent cup of coffee for the bother.
Do tell how you, personally, spend your tax dollars.
"Stop trying (to) tell me how I want my tax dollars spent, I can make up my own mind, thanks"
Clearer?
My point is that Freddie-gets-fingered is speaking as if his is the voice of all taxpayers, while really he's just propagating the tried and true tactic of division; an incredibly effective tool for keeping the middle class at each other's throats and the throats of the impoverished over what amounts to a pittance when compared to the lion's share of the wealth they are giving up that is sneaking out the back door in the pockets of a handful of plutocrats.
Personally, I think there are far, far bigger fish to fry before we continue our squabbling over who works the hardest for the least.
So, who is the first line of defense of the bigger fish?
Seriously? You need to ask?
Fine, I'll humour you by telling you who it's not.
It's not Granny living on her dead husband's 'golden parachute', which, thanks to inflation, has shrunken to a c-grade cat food subsistence.
It's not the 50 year old electrician now forced into collecting a tithe of the Employment Insurance premiums he paid every paycheque of his career after 30 straight years of service, only to be unceremoniously laid off so that you could get a leaf rake made in China for 2 bux less than if it was manufactured in the US.
It's not the genetically dented unfortunate who is depending on his SNAP card to keep him in cheetos and soda pop for the remainder of his shit existence.
It's not the policemen, the teachers, or the tradesmen (union workers) who have managed to secure a half decent living for their valuable services thanks to the foresight and efforts of their predecessors.
Those are pennies out of your pocket compared to the jacking you're getting from elsewhere.
Does that help narrow down the target field down a bit for ya?
Look, I'm not here to name names, you have to make up your own mind. Where to draw that 'line' you're talking about is definitely a tough decision. But I think I can safely say that everyone here, besides the duped and the jingoists, know exactly what tiny sector of the population I mean.
I'm just saying that it likely isn't your neighbour. Instead of always attacking the weakest and defenceless first just because, well, they're the easiest target because they are the weakest and so defenceless, just this once maybe we should grow a pair and work our way down instead of up, no?
Regards
I'll be blunt - public unions are that first line of defense. Public unions are as much a political force as they are an economic force aligned against the taxpayer. That puts them in the same class as corrupt politicians and lobbyists.
Save the blather about all the poor, the underprivileged, the elderly. Those groups have always been with us and always will be.
You talk of pennies out of my pocket. Every single penny counts, discounting it merely because it is a penny here or a penny there is disingenuous. That I am forced under penalty of law to be complicit in my own financial evisceration through taxation and monetary debasement is heinous enough, but then watch as the government I am forced to pay for fail at virtually every constitutionally mandated responsibility whilst simultaneously turning a blind eye to rampant corporate malevolence is really quite the finishing touch.
From my financial perspective, there is no difference between the big boys in DC and Wall Street riding this thing into the dirt, extracting every penny from it they can and intractable government employees demanding their cut of the continually shrinking revenue pie, even to point of wanting more taxes to maintain their status quo. Both cost me money I do not have.
Nothing is going to change until we stop expecting the government to do for us that which we are unwilling to do for ourselves.
<throws up hands> "Misery loves company" is not much of a motto, but if that's what you want, don't worry, your plutocrats will be more than happy to see to it that you continue to get just that. Which, I'm sorry, isn't likely to help you in the long run, no matter what business you're in. Even Henry Ford knew this. Stop playing right into their hands. Grow a pair...
All I am saying is the weakest target is not the place to start; finish maybe. You're barking up the wrong tree just like a good little doggy; how are the biscuits?
Unions helped raise the standard of living for the working class, not destroy it. You owe them your support if you're an employee for a private company because without them you'd have been fucked far worse, long long ago.
"Both cost me money I do not have."
I find confusing. I don't know what financial demographic you and yours play in, but even the IRS can't get blood from a stone. IE If you didn't make it, it can't be taxed; so wtf?
OTOH, if you're batting above the public sector workers that way, and you mean you will have to take the Jetta instead of the chauffeured Bentley, fuck you.
The US, as a whole is broke. It's not the fault of the union workers, it's the big cheeses that want you to see it that way but it's a lie, if you can't see that you're proper fucked.
Bonne Chance.
Seriously? As if income taxes are the only taxes I pay.
After a single voluntary hitch in the military (turned 18 on active duty, went to boot 12 days after HS grad, there was still a draft), I spent two decades in commercial/industrial electrical work (schools, water & sewage treatment plants, fuel depots, service truck); Apprentice, JW, Foreman, Super and (at this point self-employed) an Estimator (up to $10M electrical). Always worked non-union and as an estimator, bid on projects for union and non-union contractors, so I know what labor burdens go into both packages.
Another two decades in IT as a majority shareholder (I started the privately held company with my own money) and now in private practice; Private and government contracts. Like many big names (Paul Allen, Steve Jobs, Bill Gates, Larry Ellison, The Woz or tangentially, the Wachowski Bros.) in the IT field, I do not have a college degree, but unlike those big names, I still have to work to pay the bills. I am fortunate in that I enjoy what I do for a living and still have the health to do it, can be picky about the clients I work with and I succeed or fail on the merit of my own efforts. It's as close to a retirement as I'll ever get.
Been bankrupt and lost a house when the 80's bubble burst and fortunately, I learned some valuable lessons from my gross financial mismanagement that led to my bankruptcy.
My views on unions comes from years of working along side them and talking with union members. What the unions might have been and what they are today are two different things. I had employees in my IT company and THE single deciding factor in closing it down was the grief factor associated with employees - paperwork, benefits, regulations - it was not worth it. I had good people and none of them had any problems finding work - interestingly enough, they all went to work in the public sector.
I have no desire for anyones standard of living to be reduced, especially my own. However, I do not appreciate that the alleged representatives in my community, county, state and nation have the ability to extract (through implied force) ever-increasing tax revenues from me and my fellow citizens in an effort to maintain the standard of living for the public employees in our employ while the rest of us tighten our belts.
My standing with them will not bring back the gutted manufacturing base, won't stop senseless wars, pie-in-the-sky weapons systems, bankster bailouts; it won't reduce my grocery bill, health-care or energy costs, make my representatives less corrupt or decorate lamp posts on Wall Street, stop the debasement of the currency or the theft of my savings through devaluation and inflation, but it will raise my taxes and the fees my governments charge me. By not standing with them, perhaps, just maybe, they too might see how fucked and wholly untenable the whole ponzi charade is.
I am just thankful I have no children in the public schools anymore. That might have put me over the edge.
As a side note, I am not a member of AARP or NRA or any other like organization nor do I make contributions to such organizations. I do however, give regularly to our local utility funds to help offset the ever increasing energy costs for those less fortunate and make every effort to patronize my local businesses so that hopefully I will get some benefit from the taxes I pay. I also have the option of buying fuel without ethanol, which I do - I am not a big fan of subsidies either.
Thanks for the insight into your perspective Uncle, you seem like a decent guy in possession of an entirely justified anger, but IMHO you are allowing some of it to be grossly misdirected. Other parts are effing spot on, just like a lot of people with your CV who are getting effed. But your focus is being blurred to keep you fighting amongst those who are not your enemies.
"I had employees in my IT company and THE single deciding factor in closing it down was the grief factor associated with employees - paperwork, benefits, regulations - it was not worth it"
Cost of doing business I am afraid. If it was a cake walk there would be nobody to flip burgers for us, and accountants would be crosswalk guards, right? I'm sorry it didn't work out for you, businesses often fail. I can assure you that many hire union employees and still manage to keep it in the black. You gotta pay to play, you know. You're throwing the baby out with the bathwater, condemning the whole based on a part.
"I have no desire for anyones standard of living to be reduced, especially my own. However, I do not appreciate that the alleged representatives in my community, county, state and nation have the ability to extract (through implied force) ever-increasing tax revenues from me and my fellow citizens in an effort to maintain the standard of living for the public employees in our employ while the rest of us tighten our belts."
A bit of a contradiction there, no? Those ever increasing tax revenues are going not just to pay the salary/benefits of public sector workers, most of the increases are going to pay interest to some international bankster that fraudulently blew up your local/state/national gov't's finances with the direct intent of bringing this 'austerity' upon you and yours so they could gobble up hard assets on the cheap, and simultaneously enslave you and yours for the forseeable future.
The salaries/benefits those workers collect have a DIRECT impact on your local economy. If another huge chunk of the middle class, which you and they are both a part of, loses another huge chunk of income so that a handful of bankers can get paid an even more unfathomable sum, you will suffer too. This is the connection you really really need to make. 'Cuz that is how this plays out. 'Austerity' for the public workers is going to make it even tougher for you to maintain your standard of living, not easier. They'll become your competition and drive your earnings even lower. You're advocating a wage race to the global bottom, and I got knews for you: you're running in it too.
Do you really think your taxes will decrease in any meaningful way when the public union sector gets wiped out? Mb by small percentage trumpeted from the roof tops, or a tiny nominal bit at first, but then currency devaluation will push 'em right back up, or some other hidden, surreptitious method of taxation will surface. IE any money your gov't might save by paying its workers less will go directly into the banks' pockets, not back into yours. Thinking otherwise is believing in rainbow skittle shitting unicorns.
"My standing with them will not bring back the gutted manufacturing base, won't stop senseless wars, pie-in-the-sky weapons systems, bankster bailouts; it won't reduce my grocery bill, health-care or energy costs, make my representatives less corrupt or decorate lamp posts on Wall Street, stop the debasement of the currency or the theft of my savings through devaluation and inflation, but it will raise my taxes and the fees my governments charge me. By not standing with them, perhaps, just maybe, they too might see how fucked and wholly untenable the whole ponzi charade is."
This makes no sense. Of course standing with them improves the odds of dealing with the problems that are costing you real money. When it comes to a ponzi scheme, they are just like you and are near the bottom tier and feel every pinch just as acutely as you. I think you should give them a little more credit for being able to perceive how you are all being effed in the A; some of them are even 'inside', and could be quite useful. In fact they are your first line of defense because they set standards for what the middle class consider a half decent standard of living. They also provide valuable, essential services which you would sorely miss. Once they're gone there will be even less scraps left for you to squabble over.
US health care costs are the most expensive per capita in the world, even compared to societies that have the best health care, which they provide to their populations universally regardless of their financial demographic. This is actually a prime example of how wrong you are about wanting to 'knock public workers down a peg or two'.
In my experience good teachers put in 60 hours a week, and while I admit this is entirely anecdotal, IMHO they earn every penny they get.
In fact, as long as we are on the subject, let's play a word game:
Match each of the words in the first set of brackets with the corresponding word in the second
(uneducated, educated) & (asset, liability)
Should be a piece of cake for anyone who has had to manage a construction site...
Uncle, it sounds like your heart is in the right place and your anger is totally justified, you just need to re-examine your focus, at least for now, and that is all I have been saying in every last one of these posts.
Regards
"Clearer?"
As mud.
Personally I want it to rain skittles but only when I want it to.
"the lion's share of the wealth they are giving up (via taxation) that is sneaking out the back door in the pockets of a handful of plutocrats."
That is the PURPOSE of tax dollars, always, throughout history.
Comrade Fawr needs to brush up on the wisdom of Pelosi. "Elections have consequences".
Narf narf. What a pillock. I got your 'trickle down' right here, pal.
Fuck you asshole, this hasn't anything to do with your "Last Year's Man" left-right misapprehensions, the donkey and the elephant went into a deep 69 embrace long ago; but I bet you already knew that anyway, right comrade?
+++
Nailed it!
Exactly.
The structure of the WWW negates the necessity of having more than one ZH, although decent translators might help.
I think we might all have to go "cellular" soon Andy. So mirrors and translation would be god.
Somehow all this net-kill talk is not without import, I feel.
ORI
None. I am just curious if maybe he is from a country with a worse record than the USA. A guy like Pema might prove a very valuable crusader.
In your opinion what country or countries would that be? America has the largest military by far, the largest prison populations and the largest debt. Does that count?
Not to mention by far the greatest consumption (of almost anything) per capita, the greatest sham of an oligarchic political system masquerading as so-called "democracy", the most obese population among the developed nations, the most militantly (and blindly) nationalistic population among the same, the most indebted, the most dependent on systemic financial fraud, arguably the most controlled, monitored, tracked and surveilled, the most uneducated and dumb-downed, ...
Ah, Land of the Free (Handouts) and home of the Brave (Mass Kleptocrats!)
and the most church going of the developed nations. also the most "exceptional".
"and the most church going of the developed nations"
which only proves that they're amongst the most easily brainwashed
"also the most "exceptional"."
which further proves that they're amongst the most easily brainwashed
.... and/or the most self-delusional
It's amazing how easy it is to control a populace as long as you keep them fat, dumb, and happy(yet terrorized).
children of the corn, nice
And after the glorious revolution? Emaciated, reeducated, and happy (yet terrorized).
I've seen this movie.
most obese, yet undernourished, population among the developed nations
There. Fixed it for ya.
don't forget tv watching