Facebook profiles – especially people’s “likes” – could be correlated across millions of others to produce uncannily accurate results. ...with knowledge of 150 likes, their model could predict someone’s personality better than their spouse. With 300, it understood you better than yourself. “Computers see us in a more robust way than we see ourselves.”
“It’s no exaggeration to say that minds can be changed. Behaviour can be predicted and controlled. I find it incredibly scary. I really do. Because nobody has really followed through on the possible consequences of all this. People don’t know it’s happening to them. Their attitudes are being changed behind their backs.”
A disturbing account of the big money people manufacturing Donald Trump's alternative reality. As Steve Bannon says, every day is a war. They are at war - with the truth. They know exactly what they're doing and they're willing to spend tens of millions of dollars to buy what they want.
This is perhaps the ultimate advancement in data mining, using a person's Facebook data to delve into their mind, reveal their psychological vulnerabilities and predisposition, and exploit that to - well, there's no other word for it - "brainwash" them.
Trump is the vehicle; the program is what Robert Mercer and crew want. The program promotes theft on a grand scale; think robber barons. This is where neo-liberal economics always leads.
ReplyDeleteFor all their noise, Trump's rabble (including your anonymous troll) will be very disappointed over the long haul.
All the noise is coming from the fake left. How can you act up like it's the end of the world and call other people noise makers?
ReplyDeleteHow can you be concerned with the "neoliberal" economics of Trump, but not of your own fake-left politicians like Obama, the Clintons, Junior, Wynne, Chretien, etc? Why are you suddenly concerned about liars in public places giving all the lies your own politicians and fake-news media have told?
When you say Trump supporters will be disappointed I imagine you take this from experience? Or perhaps you like being betrayed and humiliated by your bribe-taking politicians?
Don't blame Americans for not being as satisfied as you are with fake promises of change. Nor Canadians when they elect O'Leary with a landslide majority in 2019. Just remember: we went to your politicians first before having to settle on Plan B.
"The enemy of my enemy is a friend."
@AnonymousTroll
ReplyDelete"The enemy of my enemy is a friend."
Which is why Osama BinLaden & The Taliban were America's friend before 911.
Scary stuff, Mound. Money, it would appear, can buy anything.
ReplyDeleteNotice that our pet Anonymouse doesn't refute any aspect of the story. He merely replies with bare denial as though his anonymous voice has some, any value.Quite sad really.
ReplyDelete@rww
ReplyDeleteI'm not a troll. I'm just someone with a different opinion than your own. Of course liberals are fanatics who hate their political opponents and are completely intolerant of anything they have to say.
The fault of your logic is to assume that because the alliance the Americans forged with the mujahedin was a failure, this applies to all cases.
Fact is, the mujahedin considered Americans the enemy of their enemy which was a situation they were able to use to their advantage. The Americans only got involved in that game to spite the Russians. They had nothing to gain from it and they ended up arming their enemies. (Which Obomba was involved with in a number of instances helping to spread terrorism throughout the Middle East – apparently to have more terrorists to bomb, which is a good biz for the MIC.)
With Trump the people have no choice: they are thrown in the midst of a 3 corner contest. They have to choose one side or the other: Trump or the establishment.
It is known that the neocon and fake-left neoliberal media has declared Trump public enemy number one. It is known that the establishment is the enemy of the people (they keep looting and gouging more and more wealth from the people until they collapse the economy in a deflationary death spiral – likely producing fascist revolutions in Europe and world war.)
Trump is the establishment's fierce enemy because he's turning the tide on free-trade globalization looting and bringing back GDP and jobs. He also wants to reverse 'deep state' geopolitical corruption that costs Americans countless trillions of dollars in military interventions and arms races. He calls the corporate media exactly what it is: fake news.
People who think the establishment is their friend are supporting a return to the Bush/Obama neocon era. Of course the establishment won't reward you for your loyalty. They will just pat themselves on the back for employing good animal husbandry techniques – then right back to gouging.
As Warren Buffet once said, “There's class warfare, all right, but it's my class, the rich class, that's making war, and we're winning.”
ReplyDeleteCap
The election of Trump is nothing more than an extension of the same old multi millionaires , regardless of political affiliation, taking further control of world economies and feathering their own nests.
ReplyDeleteHence the term one percent!!
The one percents claim to support the masses , they claim to make change and they promise a whole new world.
It never happens, hence claims of deep state!
One thing that can be seen to be happening is that they the one percent become richer and with wealth comes power.
With every downturn in the economy the one percenters become richer and more powerful.
Yet; the media ( owned by the one percenters) tell us we have never been so well off! look at all your belongings!
Wealth in this day and age is an illusion , a creation of cheap credit.
Eight year car payments, furniture that you don't 'start' paying for until next year etc etc.
This leaves us with a society in slavery daring not to miss a credit card or car payment.
Trumps financiers seem to see opportunities to further their cause ; his decision to open up the banking system is the first step.
That said I doubt Hilary Clinton would be much different; hence the right vs left or Progressive vs Conservative argument remains redundant; two sides of the same coin.
Trump professes isolationism.
My money is on Trump calling out Venezuela.
The USA would never miss a chance at another oil supply.
TB
Anonymous 12:56, you are not paying attention. Obama, the Clintons, Junior, Wynne, Chretien, etc have all been criticized on this blog and elsewhere. Just because we don't like Trump and crew doesn't mean we love his opponents.
ReplyDeleteAs to a populist dictator disappointing his supporters, history has many examples but I will give you one that you can easily research: Robert Mugabe.
Mound, the bottom of your Guardian link is fascinating. Manipulating people via bots on Twitter takes Edward Bernays' propaganda to a new level. So, Trump posts trash on Twitter and the bots monitor all responses and make calculations It makes me wonder how many users on Twitter and Facebook have "friends" which are actually bots.
ReplyDeleteLook at all the attention and energy we've lavished on this troll. If you seek the cloak of anonymity your view on anything starts off with near zero credibility. An anonymouse is a giant nothing. Then, when you see the anon's argument devoid of logic and crafted on a narrative that's sucked out of some web site and swallowed whole, contradictions and all, the anonymouse can't whine about being dismissed.
ReplyDeleteThis cretin, and in his case that's not pejorative, wallows in delusions that Trump is something other than neo-liberal, a mental feat equivalent to a major stroke given the usual suspects Trump has personally selected for his cabinet. Apparently he can't imagine the type of people Trump would have chosen if he truly sought to end neoliberalism. I suppose his head might explode. I wonder how many of the Trump merchandise jobs this Orange Bloat has repatriated to the United States. What's that, none? Really? Those "Make America Great Again" hats? Wow, China. Vietnam and Bangladesh too? Wowser.
It seems most of them were sewn at a small factory in the United States, most but not all. Trump has threatened to sue. What about those lovely ties? China.
Letterman caught Trump out on this and made him look like a total asshole. All Trump could do was shrug and grin. Just like he must be grinning to know he has all these Anonymice dining in his shorts.
http://www.factcheck.org/2016/05/trumps-made-in-the-u-s-a-spin/
It's the little things like this that simply undermine these trolls' comments. They're crap and this guy is a prime bullshitter. He believes it and he regurgitates what he's been fed and then attacks people who prefer to rely on facts.
Is there possible a glimmer of a bright side to this?
ReplyDeleteSooner or later, the trumpsters will have to hire people to create their alternate facts. Those people have to purchase domains, and hosting plans, internet connections, and burner phones . . .
Could it be the first recorded instance of "successful" trickle down economics?
I've thought about this article overnight. What's being described is nothing less than mind control.
ReplyDeleteIsn't this a far more powerful and insidious, high tech version of the subliminal messaging that, if I recall correctly, surfaced during the George H.W. Bush/Michael Dukakis run off?
Perhaps I'm alone but, during this campaign, I've been struck by the zombie-like support that Trump has garnered. It's evidenced by a suspension of critical thinking, an abandonment of logic, and the repetition of bullets or talking points among Trump supporters. They totally gloss over Trump's pathological lies and his contradictions. It doesn't matter to them. Somehow that seems to have been suppressed or programmed out of them. And all that, according to this article, is precisely what this high-tech predation is intended to achieve.
This is very dark stuff. Mind control. It explains Bannon's remark at CPAC when he claimed Donald Trump is the greatest American orator since William Jennings Bryan when all Trump did was spew out incoherent messaging delivered at a grade 4 level. Perhaps Trump was right when he said "we have all the best words" when he knew he had an audience groomed to respond to trigger words.
Did you catch the part where Trump said, "the GOP will also be the party of the American worker"? Those are familiar words. Given Trump's commitment to blue-collar jobs and entitlements like Medicare and Social Security - things anathema to party apparatchiks like Ryan and McConnell - I wonder if he'll rechristen the GOP as the National Socialist American Worker's Party?
ReplyDeleteCap
ReplyDeleteAs McCain told the Euros at the Munich security conference, ignore what Trump says. Focus on what he does.
Focusing on actions not words is always good advice when looking at politicians.
ReplyDeleteThat said, your post on Trump's war budget indicates he's leaving entitlement spending untouched, exactly as promised. What I'm not seeing is the massive infrastructure spending he campaigned on. Bannon will know that this was the key to Hitler's economic miracle, as well as the economic prosperity in much of Asia. Instead, I'm seeing the sort of tax cut and austerity nonsense that appeals to billionaire libertarian Trump backers like Thiel and Mercer. If Trump wants a second term he'd be better off delivering on his promises to blue-collar workers. The billionaire class can and will help themselves.
Cap
Watch Netflix "Black Mirror" most of it is brilliant - there is an episode where society has become complete focused on social media popularity - and lack of it.
ReplyDeleteAlthough I’m sure that their goals are much more ambitious, I’ve wondered whether Mercer and company have applied their skills to take advantage of the stock market volatility induced by Trump’s tweets and confusing pronouncements. What time is it in Hong Kong when it’s 3:00 AM in Trump Tower? Algos never sleep.
ReplyDeleteDid Rebekah get office space in the West Wing? Even in the age of cybercomms, facetime is important. Maybe especially so.
I remember that TRNN did a bit that discussed the Mercer-Breitbart connection about a month ago. I believe that financial support was cited rather than a share in ownership. It’s in the news now because of the Breitbart press credentials application.