Unrolled twitter rants
Perhaps now, far too late, it’s finally obvious that Morrison never intended to use or follow the Doherty modelling in any meaningful fashion. At the very beginning of the pandemic he made his political and ideological preferences clear—go to the footy, let it rip—but such was the overwhelming pressure for a medical, scientifically sound path […]
Originally tweeted by Peter Barnes (@infinite8horizo) on 2022/01/08. There’s black humour in peeling back the layers of wrong here (not Allan’s, what he describes). tl;dr —A model’s predictions can be wrong if its assumptions are wrong; —or wrong if they’re correct but are invalidated later. —A model’s predictions are *irrelevant* if politicians only wanted the […]
When journalists defend journalism they always omit editors and publishers, yet journalism doesn’t exist without them.
With the LNP it’s not “better late than never”, it’s “always late – or never” Water bombers- never Bushfire fund – never ICAC – never Quarantine – never Vaccines – late Rollout – late Local mRNA – still late NSW lockdowns – late Boosters – late RATs – never, then late Do you remember Morrison […]
On the one hand we should, again, applaud @latingle for calling a spade a spade when almost the entire MSM and many of her ABC colleagues are doing their usual bucolic gushing. On the other hand, she’s perpetuating the myth. https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-11-06/morrison-glasgow-trip-climate-change-national-security-questions/100598788 The myth that most of the MSM’s employees are actually journalists and bona-fide members […]
Silence is consent. Quite a few genuine, competent journalists have been vocal in the defence of their profession against social-media criticism. Silent, though about the obvious, massive propaganda imbalance. This election, the fourth estate *will be* part of the story. This election, you have no choice. Or at least, you have this choice: Remain silent, […]
I think we might have reached that point where nuance just dies under the appalling load of a megaton of bullshit. THIS IS TOTAL BULLSHIT THIS IS SNAKE OIL DRESSED UP AS FAKERY MASQUERADING AS BULLSHIT THERE IS NO PLAN IT’S BLATANT DO-NOTHING KABUKI THEATRE I appreciate that when a supposedly responsible, serious body like […]
The asymmetry of propaganda warfare. Brief thread. It’s a truism of warfare that defenders have to succeed every single time, while attackers only have to succeed once. It’s true, for example, of cybersecurity, but it’s also true of propaganda. This is because there are infinitely many lies that can be told, many of them plausible, […]
Here’s a perfect worked example of what I call the “Dead Overton Whistle”. It combines the most noxious elements of the Crosby-Textor dead cat, an attempt to move the Overton window, and a typical political dog-whistle. Johnson was supposed to be in parliament, getting excoriated for his part in yet another piece of breathtaking corruption. […]
A deliberate, calculating liar doesn’t have to lie all the time to be an immoral, bad-faith actor. It’s much better strategy to tell the truth about all the little things, & save the lies for occasional, big, important things. No, not Morrison. Murdoch/Costello/Redstone MSM What also works is to lie by omission.What doesn’t get reported […]
Having watched and frequently decried the slow destruction of the ABC from within and without in accordance with Murdoch/IPA/LNP principles, I’m torn by this sudden access of principle. Prima facie, yes, absolutely, this is outrageous. Tediously so. Statement from Ita Buttrose, ABC Chair, on ABC complaints handling process. It’s a typical Dead Overton Whistle, a […]
Leaving aside for a moment the foul reality of Rittenhouse’s (alleged) acts, the size and extent of the real problem is easily revealed in the the batshit-crazy framing of what happened. Here’s the NYT (and let’s also pass over its spurious authority for now), seriously publishing a completely imaginary account of the alleged murders, based […]
I really have to question the motives of the original story. This is a case study. It’s literally N=1. There’s no attempt to go further. The whole point about massive RCTs & double blinds & *extensive* monitoring and statistics is to take this out of anecdotal N=1 territory. The same is true for the TGA […]
Quite apart from the usual problem, where political reporters ignore issues and discuss tactics as though every political problem is only interesting because of the game, not because it’s an existential threat, this “meta” take is facile & inane in its own right. Being “caught wrong-footed, even if we accept that’s an accurate description, implies […]
This generates such dissonance for me. I have huge respect for journalists who put themselves in harm’s way to bring us news. I have nothing but contempt for propaganda organizations that foment the division & violence that endangers journos. The former work for the latter. If the MEAA cares about the welfare of its members […]
infinite8horizon - peter d barnes 