Deception, Obfuscation & Misdirection

This is a concatenation of posts I originally made in 2016-2017--even more relevant today...

Most are familiar with the concept of #FUD—short for #Fear, #Uncertainty & #Doubt. It summarizes a strategy often used in marketing and political propaganda. Its effects are pernicious, divisive and lead to exploitation. Examples abound. Fear is a strong motivator! To resist FUD one must understand how it is practiced using the principles of #Deception, #Obfuscation and #Misdirection.

https://mdpaths.com/rrr/commentary/deception_obfuscation_misdirection/index.html

Starting to feel like #tarrifs are #misdirection. What's in the hand we're not watching?

Meanwhile, in Florida, home of the #GQP #TrumpVirus #cult.... eh

https://twitter.com/drmikenyc/status/1893027853031068083

1. To see how the magician does the trick, do not follow the misdirection.

2. Throwing spaghetti against wall is not always to see whether it sticks.

In the United States and the United Kingdom there is currently a lot of noise and a lot of #misdirection.

As a famous chess player once observed:

“The point of modern #propaganda isn't only to #misinform or push an agenda. It is to exhaust your #criticalthinking, to annihilate #truth.”

Looking critically at #Trump's flurry of #ExecutiveOrders
https://emptycity.substack.com/p/looking-critically-at-trumps-flurry

Threatening to take over Greenland, Canada or Panama.

The #misdirection strategy looks like this: when you want to flood the news cycle—pick a theoretical, cultural issue, position it as a threat, throw it out to the public, and let them fight it out. The idea is to incite a strong theoretical debate and distract from action—or inaction— on something more meaningful. It’s classic ‘misdirection’, and a tactic used across the political spectrum. ~ Rebecca Mitchell

https://www.elle.com.au/culture/politics/misdirection-political-strategy-explained/

As a sociologist who studies political rhetoric and, more important, as a magician, Trump is misdirecting us. As Gary Kurtz, a prominent Canadian magician put it, misdirection “has nothing to do with distraction” and “everything to do with controlling audience attention at all times.”

Equally do those troubled over and over again by #Trump’s lies fail to appreciate what he intuitively understands: the power of #misdirection and #illusion. ~ Barry Glassner

https://www.latimes.com/opinion/op-ed/la-oe-glassner-trump-magician-misdirection-20190419-story.html

As a sociologist who studies political rhetoric and, more important, as a magician, Trump is misdirecting us. As Gary Kurtz, a prominent Canadian magician put it, misdirection “has nothing to do with distraction” and “everything to do with controlling audience attention at all times.”

Equally do those troubled over and over again by #Trump’s lies fail to appreciate what he intuitively understands: the power of #misdirection and #illusion. ~ Barry Glassner

https://www.latimes.com/opinion/op-ed/la-oe-glassner-trump-magician-misdirection-20190419-story.html

Cualquier cosa para distraer la atención. #Misdirection

Ayuso eliminará la prohibición expresa del toro embolado en Madrid | Radio Madrid | Cadena SER
https://cadenaser.com/cmadrid/2024/12/05/ayuso-eliminara-la-prohibicion-expresa-del-toro-embolado-en-madrid-radio-madrid/

This is the sort of irresponsible journalism that has been coming out of the ABC for a while now. Look at the headline, no really take a good read. Do you see ‘renewable energy’ in that sentence? Now read he article and try to find those two words again. Good luck because you wont.

So what was the purpose of putting those two words in the headline? Really, why? Why even mention renewables? Isn’t that bow just a bit too long to draw from a copper mining company project to renewable energy? So why do it? Clickbait? Why the need to implicate a link between renewables and competition for water in WA? Why tie renewables with water scacity? Really. WTF did you do it for?

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-11-13/groundwater-demand-spikes-wa-wheatbelt/104509248

#Trumpism #LNPplaybook #misinformation #dishonesty #misdirection
#ThisIsNotJournalism #GiveMeBackMyABC #renewables #Mining #ABC #WaterScacity

Same as it ever was.

#misdirection, #power and #money

I keep on seeing articles about Elizabeth Olsen returning to the #MCU under the right circumstances, but all of it screams to me that she’s just going to appear in Agatha All Along. #Misdirection #AgathaAllAlong

Problems & Scapegoats

'Spy mania': Why is Russia accusing its own physicists of treason?
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c8001gvp4dpo ##russia #spy #mania #physicists #hypersonic #treason #flattery #misdirection

Dear Alberta,
Now look for what the left hand is doing…

removing protections for parks
approving controversial mines
giving more of the province over to O&G?

Game Theory and the Monday Night Incentives of Duolingo

In this essay I will… 1/63

So… I know what the right hand of the GoA is doing: manufacturing outrage, controversy and confusion about the CPP; fear-mongering on federal energy policy.
As a long-time fan of magic and sleight of hand, I wonder what is the other hand busy doing?