As Much Class as a Dog Turd!!

Posted on by Opher

Condolences to all the poor families of the Washington air disaster!

All the sociopath had to do was to send heartfelt condolences to the families of the victims of the Washington plane crash. Instead, this moronic psychopath ignores the families and tries to use the tragedy for some obnoxious right-wing agenda.

Without a single shred of evidence he puts the blame onto Biden and a policy of positive discrimination. Without any knowledge what-so-ever he charges the flight control operators with responsibility and claims that they are incompetent due to Biden’s policy!

This is everything that is wrong with the Fascist view of Free Speech!!

Trump is spreading conspiracies to his supporters to reinforce their misconceptions. It’s full of racist tropes and fascist lies.

Flight control may be responsible – nobody knows!

The Helicopter pilot may be responsible – nobody knows!

The passenger plane pilot may be responsible – nobody knows!

There could have been a communication breakdown that may be responsible – nobody knows!

There could have been a system malfunction that may be responsible – nobody knows!

Just who is responsible – nobody knows!

So why does this lying, conspiracy spreader start bandying around his conspiracy theories without the slightest bit of evidence?

Where are the fact checkers? The people speaking up against this evil?

This orange creep has no morality what-so-ever! He’s a soulless lying bastard who doesn’t care about anyone but himself! Greedy lying bastard! He should be thoroughly ashamed!

My condolences to the poor victims and their familes and my condolences to all Americans!

Free Speech!

Posted on by Opher

I don’t think I want Free Speech. I think I want limited Free Speech.

On a day when nasty conspiracy spreaders like Elon Musk get nominated for a Nobel Prize I would question what we understand by Free Speech.

Twitter has become a bastion of conspiracy, hate and propaganda masquerading as Free Speech. Trump and Musk pour out a mass of lies, conspiracy and propaganda claiming to be true.

They say they are all for free speech but their idea of free speech is the right to publish lies, conspiracy and hate without any checks or accountability.

I want to be able to say what I like about politics, religion, sex, drugs and rock ‘n’ roll.

BUT……

I want accountability.

Should someone (Like Alex Jones, Trump or Musk) be allowed to deliberately pump out lies and conspiracy as truth?

Should anyone be allowed to stir up hatred against racial groups, creeds, any social group, women, trans or homosexuals without accountability?

Should an individual or party be allowed to put out blatant incorrect propaganda without fact checking?

To my mind this isn’t free speech; this is about control, manipulation, power, division and exploitation.

Now Facebook is joining the right-wing propaganda machine that Trump is orchestrating we live in a world increasing controlled by billionaires through targeted Social Media. We are being psychologically controlled.

Free Speech really means allowing the powerful to lie and exploit us!

I’m all for Free Speech

How Trump did it.

Posted on by Opher

I taught in the USA for a year in 1979/80. That was a very enjoyable and interesting experience. I had lived and worked in the USA for short periods prior to that (in 1971 as a dishwasher) but had not been there long enough to immerse myself in the culture.

Being English I share a common language. That gives the illusion that our cultures are similar. They are not. I rapidly found that I actually culturally share more in common with my European cousins than I do with Americans.

The first hurdle was religion. In England Christianity is dead. The churches are empty. As an atheist that suits me fine. In the USA I rapidly found that religion permeated everything.

Then we have nationalism and patriotism. In England we have a cynical attitude towards those who rule. While some love the monarchy others want it kicked out. As for the country and our history many of us are ambivalent. I certainly don’t condone much of what went on during our colonial days. It was violent and racist. Neither do I support an establishment that deployed the troops, profiteered and stripped the wealth back to their palaces and mansions while the bulk of the country lived in terrible slums. So the pledge of allegiance, saluting the flag was an amusing joke.

Religion and patriotism seemed like a brain washing exercise to me. I didn’t think that would be nearly as effective as it proves to be.

I watched from outside. In my Biology lessons on evolution I had dour-faced parents with egg-timers checking that I spent 50% of time on creationism. I treated this as a joke.

I listened to my black and Hispanic students regale me with their stories. We had racism in England but not gangs with guns like in LA. Not the massive drug problem and battles with the police. (I guess we’re getting there now). I listened to the stories of shoot-outs, to the discussions on weapons – machine guns for heaven’s sake! This sounded nuts to me.

America always had that nutty side – the Wild West attitude, the religious extremism, white supremacy and Nazi stuff. It looks to me from outside as if the internet has fuelled it with conspiracy and reinforcement and Trump’s cynical populism has harnessed it, magnified it, empowered it, and brought together a set of disparate groups. He’s united the white supremacists, evangelicals and NRA and QAnon has turned conspiracy mainstream. Never realised there were so many nut jobs!

How on earth can democracy recover from billionaire take-over?

Posted on by Opher

Social media is the game-changer.

It has become the tool of extreme right-wing fascist billionaires.

Not only are people like Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg bankrolling right-wing populists like Trump and Farage and getting openly involved in politics, but they are using their social media platforms to manipulate elections.

By spreading a constant stream of lies, conspiracy and disinformation, undermining experts, opposition politicians and generating fear, distrust and hate, they are actively undermining the very tenets of democracy.

They now use their algorithms to target people and play on their fears. This is brazen psychological manipulation on a massive scale.

By siding with the extreme right-wing evangelical movement, right-wing organisations like the National Rifle Association, climate deniers, vaccination deniers, white supremacists and other conspiracy nutcases, they have forged a conglomeration of lunatics that has become large enough to be electable.

All it took was to raise fears on immigration and racist unease about being displaced, coupled with lies about the economy, to create an unholy alliance.

Somehow they have convinced poor people that billionaires care about them. This is patently nuts. These billionaires are simply greedy monstrosities who are intent on profiteering.

The real problem is not immigrants making people poor; it’s billionaires not paying enough tax. That should be obvious. These greedy profiteers are fleecing poor people.

It is quite shocking the misery they are prepared to cause to make even more money!

The question is – how do we save democracy from these evil people? (and they are evil!)

Twitter – A cesspit of lies, hate and conspiracy!

Posted on by Opher

What a vile Nazi paradise twitter has become. A platform for every extreme nutcase and hatemonger. This garbage simply reinforces all the prejudice and fears bubbling under, resulting in more hate and division. What an unpleasant place. Musk, the podgy creep, has become a fascist conspiracist.

Now Facebook looks as if it’s going to go the same way.

Who let this unholy alliance of billionaires into power?

What hope for truth and democracy??

Time to address Education!

Posted on by Opher

I taught in an American school. I can vouch for how useless American education is. Only the rich get what they need. So many Americans remain uneducated, ignorant and open to be misled by conspiracies and indoctrinated by those with vested interests.

Billionaires do not want an educated public.

Republicans and evangelical Christians don’t want an educated public.

Time to properly fund education and getting the populace to think!!

How to design a successful Conspiracy!

Posted on by Opher

Always start with a sound, substantiated fact and extrapolate it out into the absurd or focus down on one controversial detail and blow it up out of all proportion; treat supposition or ambiguity as fact. Repeat, repeat repeat.

So –

  1. The Democrats are controlling the weather. Take the instance of seeding clouds to make rain. This is a scientifically sound technique that has been successfully carried out many times. Various particles can be used – silver iodide, potassium iodide, and dry ice or even salt. It has to be used on existing clouds to create rain or snow. You can’t seed thin air.

Then take a long-established conspiracy theory – the RAF seeding clouds in 1952 being responsible for the tragic Lynmouth floods (unconfirmed and controversial) – and run with it.

Then apply the conspiracy to modern day – ‘if they could do that in 1952 just think what they could do now?’ So the recent spate of hurricanes (fueled by global warming) were deliberately created by Biden and the Democrats to disrupt the election in Republican areas (conveniently ignoring the fact that the sparsely populated, rural areas of the Southern States just happen to be where hurricanes strike – due to climate and geography).

We have a viable conspiracy!

2. There was no Moon landing! Take the footage of the moon landings that appear to show the American flag, they stuck into the ground, fluttering. There is no atmosphere on the moon so the whole thing was staged in a Hollywood film studio. Ignore all other explanations. Ignore the much tested moon rocks, film of returning capsule, tracking by Russia etc. Persist with fluttering flag. It’s a hoax.

3. The Holocaust never happened. Focus on statements from holocaust denying historians who claim to have photographic evidence of doors that prove they weren’t ovens. Ignore all witness statements, survivor statements, detailed German Nazi documentation and photographic/film documentation. Claim it is a hoax created by Jews who presently control the world (based on so many Jews being wealthy bankers and businessmen). It feeds into the anti-Semitic story. They are looking to rule the world, already control everything and made it all up in order to gain sympathy.

4. The CIA blew up the Twin Towers. Some of the buildings seemed to go down in a controlled manner like in a planned demolition. Focus on the uncanny way the buildings went down. Highlight any reports concerning the structure of the buildings and how the fire from the planes could not have downe this. Look for an alternative. Obviously it was the CIA planting explosives (not the planes at all). It was all planned. They wanted to go to war with Iraq and needed an excuse.

The earth is flat. Of course it is. You can see it. All the photos are a hoax.

Evolution is nonsense. Obviously god made everything perfectly.

Social Media is great at spreading and magnifying conspiracy. There is always someone, some ‘fact’ that can be brought to bear. We are being hoodwinked. Only stupid, gullible, brainwashed people can’t see it.

MAGA and Trump are masters at spreading and using these conspiracies to undermine science, experts and the opposition. They are up to no good.

The sad thing is that they are up to no good but not in the way being portrayed! The real, underlying, establishment position is long established, firmly grounded and is no conspiracy. The wealthy run the world. Trump and Musk are the biggest culprits. That’s the irony!

The Grave Dangers of Conspiracy.

Posted on by Opher

One Man’s View:

Over the course of time I have been one of the biggest critics of the establishment. We live in a system created by the rich for the benefit of the rich. They run the show. I am in no doubt that they control the politicians either directly or indirectly. They own the media and manipulate. They are even more manipulative through the internet using algorithms to target people. With lobbying and torrents of propaganda, control of the money markets and bribes they direct operations.

We live in their world.

I have no doubt that they affect markets for their own benefit and even control wars. Anything for a profit. This cabal of billionaires and multimillionaires have the power.

I have railed against this all my life but cannot see a way around it. It is no coincidence that our politicians walk straight into lucrative roles in business or the media. They have been bought off.

It is also why we can never manage to elect a government that really has the interests of ordinary people at heart. The propaganda machine prevents it. The money markets would ensure that it would not work.

However, and this is a big however, we must not forget that we (particularly in Europe and the USA) live in a highly organised, complex, civilised society. It is ordered, structured and has a basis in law and order (even if that law and order is heavily skewed in favour of the rich. We cannot underestimate the luxury of a regulated life. We are (relatively) safe and have orderly lives.

Having travelled the world and witnessed first-hand real poverty, deprivation, starvation, lawlessness and discrimination I would not wish to swap.

So, our society is warped. The rich get richer and the poor get by. Everyone knows their place. It used to be a class structure – now it is more an income gulf. The wealthy give just enough to prevent the poor rebelling. We are controlled.

In the USA they dangle the American Dream – an impossible dream but it keeps the ignorant on board.

We are told we are privileged because we are westerners. We could be living in extreme poverty like much of the world. We are meant to feel superior. Patriotism and nationalism are key tools.

Following the wars in Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria, Somalia and the rest, following the rise of Muslim extremism, terrorism and climate change, all leading to mass migrations, there was a mass disillusionment with the system. People felt threatened.

Then we had the internet and social media to spread disinformation and magnify it through their algorithms.

Then came the wave of right-wing popularists – Trump, Johnson, Modi, Bolsonaro, Meloni, Le Penne, Oban and the Whole MAGA movement. They offered black and white solutions, promised to drain the swamp, represent the people, make everything right.

They had a simple series of tactics:

a. Harness discontent

b. Spread fear

c. Undermine experts and science

d. Provide simplistic solutions.

e. Identify scapegoats

It was easy. The war in Ukraine, Covid and the collapse of the money markets had caused prices to rise, energy prices soared, then global warming provided the need to ditch old technologies and develop new technologies (putting people out of work and costing money to change). People were poor, angry and felt threatened. So…

a. Undermine all experts and scientists (they always get it wrong and are in the pay of big business)

b. Declare that all these issues are scams thought up by the controlling elite (Covid is a scam, Global Warming is a scam – they were used to control us). Make an issue out of it – no masks, no vaccination, return of coal, steel, gas and oil – they are lying to us!

c. Spread conspiracy theories via internet so that nobody can believe a single word that comes out of the media or politicians, even history is fabricated (paved the way for Holocaust deniers, flat-earthers, CIA blowing up twin towers, Covid conspirators, Sandy Hook, moon landings and the rest). Sow doubt and confusion. Become the only source of information. All reporting of their own lying and criminal actions is Fake News. The establishment is trying to bring them down!

d. Identify scapegoats – first we had the Muslim terrorists and then the immigrants. They are all terrorists, rapists, murderers, religious extremists, criminals and drug dealers who are raping your women, beating up your men, eating your pets and looking to take over. Immigration is a plot to get votes and take control.

e. Drum up hate with simple slogans (a la Orwell) – lock her up, build a wall, and unify your base.

f. Provide simplistic answers – build a wall, drill drill drill, Putin’s a friend, disband education, enemy within, the opposition are lying, are criminal, are evil – drain the swamp.

To get back to my point:

Once you have completely undermined the tenets of society so that people are confused, conspiracy rules, they no longer know what to believe or who to trust, all they know is that the establishment is corrupt and evil, we have anarchy.

Some people look forward to anarchy. I don’t. Anarchy is when law and order breaks down. That is when the nutcases with the gig guns take over the streets. It’s lawlessness. We see it in places like Libya, Somalia, Haiti and many other countries broken by war, where the establishment was overthrown giving rise to warlords and extreme religious groups. Rape, murder and criminality become the order. Violence rules. It is impossible to lead any normal life.

When the fabric of society crumbles what emerges is not something better; it’s something frightening.

Back before all this, prior to social media, prior to Trump, I knew where I stood. The government was controlled by the establishment. Politicians were corrupt. The rich ran the show. We were shat on but it wasn’t too bad. We could moan but could get by.

Now I fear that we are on the edge of collapse. The basic tenets of our society are coming apart, the social cohesion is dissolving. Conspiracy rules. Profiteering populists are sowing the seeds for their own benefit and they do not care what happens.

If society does crumble it is not going to be at all pleasant and I do not believe we will build something better the other side of it.

Who prospers from this?

What happens when we stop believing?

Posted on by Opher

Everybody knows:

  1. Experts always get it wrong.
  2. You can’t trust scientists they are all employed by Big Business or Governments.
  3. Science doesn’t have answers.
  4. Governments always lie.
  5. The establishment controls everything.
  6. We are all being fed a diet of misinformation.
  7. All politicians are greedy, self-serving scum.
  8. The whole mainstream media is controlled by the government.
  9. We are being lied to and manipulated by everyone.
  10. We need to get ‘the real facts’ from other sources.

I used to select my newspapers with the knowledge of their ownership and bias. I used to watch news on the telly with a skeptical eye. I mixed up a variety of inputs. I read between the lines and tried to keep abreast of situations.

I am a scientist so I am used to reading scientific papers. I look at the sources. I am well aware that the Oil Industry will pump out propaganda about Green Energy. I know that the tobacco industry used to tell us how healthy smoking was. I know the power of Big Pharma and the Agriculture industries. I add that into my thinking.

As an intelligent, rational, well-educated human being I rate myself capable of reaching well-thought-through conclusions.

The right-wingers, under the likes of Trump, Farage and Johnson, have spent the last decade disparaging experts, undermining science, spreading disinformation and supporting conspiracy. It was in their interests to sow the seeds of doubt and undermine the establishment.

Now, I have always been very anti-establishment. I know the entire system is run by the wealthy to maintain the wealth of the wealthy, to gain power and control us. I know Big Business just wants to exploit us and make lots of money. That’s obvious.

But… the end result of all this knocking experts, scientists, media and the establishment is that nobody knows what to believe anymore, nobody trusts any source of information and the conspiracists have risen in power. All this confusion is just what the right-wingers want. They have exploited it ruthlessly:

There are swamps to be drained

We don’t trust experts or scientists

All mainstream media tells lies

The establishment is pushing great conspiracies – like climate change and covid vaccination – in order to fleece us

Everything said against them is fake news

The only people you can trust are Trump, Farage, Johnson and Tice

So people turn to the internet and choose to believe conspiracy spreaders like David Icke and Alex Jones (who have made millions out of it). Social Media connects people and reinforces these nutty and often dangerous ideas. Deliberate disinformation and malicious information is targeted by interested parties – enemy governments, big business, political parties. Conspiracy groups like QAnon rise and gain traction.

Our algorithms are studied – Alexa knows more about us that we do ourselves – our political views, likes, dislikes and hates. He who has access to that information has the power to manipulate us

Now governments interfere with elections in other countries

Lies and disinformation are carefully targeted

Elon Musk runs disinformation on Twitter

Fake news is a cry when the right-wingers are accused of lying

We think elections were stolen, court cases rigged and a rapist, serial sex pest, repeated felon billionaire is really a good guy who has been framed and has the interests of working people at heart

We believe that immigrants are paradoxically taking all our jobs and scrounging off the system. They eat pets and are wrecking the country. Their all murderers, terrorists, drug dealers, rapists and thieves who work in gangs and target white women. It’s immigrants making us poor and not the billionaires profiteering.

We think the holocaust didn’t happen

We never landed on the moon

Putin is a good guy

Covid was a con

The CIA blew up the twin towers

Global warming is a global conspiracy

The Earth is flat

The only real source of information is via our selected internet site run by Cindy-Lou in Texas. She may be illiterate, having dropped out of school in the fourth grade, but she has her finger on the pulse. God directs her. We believe everything Cindy-Lou says. It’s backed up by Alex Jones, David Icke and Fox News. Besides, Elon Musk wouldn’t put it out on Twitter (X) if it wasn’t true and all my buddies on social media wouldn’t fall for it!

So, we were persuaded to vote Brexit, even though it is costing us an arm and leg, we elected a total self-serving, incompetent, lying clown as PM, suffered 14 years of corruption and the destruction of our public services and now have a fascist, lying nincompoop as a President!

I think I preferred it when I knew where I stood. We knew we were being conned but it was not as extreme.

So who do we believe? Where is this heading?

Who has their finger on the nuclear trigger? Is Donald, Mickey or Goofy?

In for a rough ride!!

Posted on by Opher

What’s at the end of this? A police state? No wonder Trump loves Putin!

Disinformation, undermining science, rubbishing experts, touting conspiracy – taking control.

It’s all about power and money!