POLITICS. Just got a new book about gaslighting, or claiming something obviously wrong to wind up a political opponent or to just confuse the situation.
"Trump might indeed have been speaking metaphorically in this case. But the broader context here is vital. And that context is that Trump has repeatedly invoked the prospect of actual violence by his supporters while speaking about similar circumstances... We also saw a pronounced example of his supporters seizing on his rhetoric when they stormed the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021."
Does anyone doubt him? His whole show is hyperbolic rhetoric, but that doesn't mean he won't instigate it or that his blood-thirsty following won't follow. Some have already crossed over.
Destructive, violent and subversive as it happened, January 6 was just a harbinger.
"Mary Trump's dire warning after Donald Trump's 'bloodbath' remark"
@quinsibell
I recall from school lessons decades ago that #rhetoric is the study and elucidation of the use of words, and that the classical Greeks “invented” it (and used the word, rhetoric, to describe it all. They had names for all kinds of word tricks like that so I suspect there’s a name for when a word is an antonym to itself. (Antonym is an example of this, meaning words of opposite meaning.)
#CfP für den #Workshop für Nachwuchswissenschaftler*innen "Ars dictaminis im Spannungsfeld von #Rhetorik und #Poetik. Wissensspeicher und ihre kreative Verwendung", der am 11. September 2024 an der Universität Göttingen stattfinden wird.
"Speaker of the House Mike Johnson was forced to walk back a claim he made after CNN’s Jake Tapper debunked it live on-air in real time after the Christian nationalist Republican of Louisiana tossed out several unsubstantiated “facts” about the southern border."
Calling all educators in journalism and media studies!
I'm a molecular biologist at #PennState. In the spring I am piloting a new general education course for non-science majors: "Science in Media."
The aim is to combine media literacy skills with hard science topics, through the lens of our shared experience consuming science media during the COVID-19 pandemic.
I am looking for introductory texts on "media" writ large. What has worked for you?
I've found Campbell, Martin, & Fabos; Ott & Mack; Long & Wall; and Deuze. Which do you like? What have I missed?
Any other effective, insightful readings you can recommend?
In the world of comic books, you get groups calling themselves names like “the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants”. This is ridiculous because nobody calls themselves evil, especially when they are.
Instead, they use euphemisms to convey their identity to their supporters while hiding the truth behind a positive-sounding label.
In America, fascism hides behind “freedom” and socialism hides behind “justice”. Of course, freedom has nothing to do with fascism and justice has nothing to do with socialism. Those are just euphemistic brands; dog whistles.
“While MAGA Republicans are focused on taking away abortion access and cutting Social Security and Medicare, Democrats in Congress are focused on bringing down the cost of your insulin – which is why they passed legislation that allows Medicare to negotiate the cost of prescription drugs.”
OK, the grace period is over. If you're still using #Twitter, you're an evil, #Jew-hating #antisemite. Why? Because there's no daylight between one who openly espouses #antisemitic views, and one who passively supports antisemitic #platforms and power-structures. By remaining on Twitter, you are saying that you're OK with the #bigoted#rhetoric that defines the platform. You're saying that #antisemitism isn't a deal-breaker for you. And that's pathetic.
Conservative rhetoric over Carbon Tax.
For 2000 liters of gasoline @$0.13 tax equals $260.
For 1500 liters (above the yearly average per home) of home heating oil @$0.17 equals $255.
Total is around $500 or less than $10 per week per household. With rebate, 80% of households get more than this back. Carbon Tax essentially costs nothing, yet is somehow, by Conversative economics, breaking the backs of Canadians.
While finally getting all my blog posts published on my newly updated website, I realized most of the followers I now have probably didn't read those first posts. It's amazing to reflect on how much the community I'm a part of here has grown since I began publishing these in February! And heck, doing some light proofreading and editing as I uploaded the piece, I realize my voice as a writer has grown too!
My fourth #TranspiringConsiderations piece was a bit snarky, but worked to help apply and communicate emerging trans scholarship from the field of Genocide Studies. You can now find "It's not genocide, it's just sparkling eradication" on my website now:
Suggestion: If a source repeatedly makes multiple easily refutable claims (#GishGallop), then this source should be considered "Gish-branded" and be ignored in further communications – until they make a good-faith demonstration (in a forum that is equivalent to the one they received the brand), that they are capable of conducting a well-reasoned and #Rational argument.
"I think an important feature this is combined with, in the #rhetoric enabling civilians to be dehumanised and killed by both #Hamas and #Israel, are claims that civilians are not really civilians," @emmalbriant says. "Both have made this claim. Hamas did so on #AlJazeera, claiming settlers on occupied territories are not really civilians. Israel has repeatedly conflated #Palestinian people with Hamas…
This is a textbook example of #stochasticterrorism. An influential figure intentionally and relentlessly attacks a targeted group with #innuendo and #rhetoric intended to #incite their audience to #violence. Then, when the inevitable #attack takes place, the #influencer acts shocked that something like that could happen, and disavows any responsibility.
Today is the anniversary of the Kent State shootings, or more appropriately the "May 4th Massacre". In the wake of recent events and our consideration of gun control laws I think this day deserves a great deal of reflection. Four Americans were murdered, and nine more wounded, by our own national guard simply for participating in an anti-war demonstration. If we want to consider limiting access to guns on american soil lets start with our own national guard and police, not our citizens. The last thing I want to see is an unarmed populace needing to deal with a well-armed police and military force. Lets focus on securing the rights of the citizen, not giving them up
Counterpoint; maybe #police would never have been able to justify being so heavily armed in the first place, if it wasn't EASIER to get a #Gun in the #USA than to get a #Degree, a #Home, or a #Job.
The "defence against tyranny" #rhetoric LOST ANY and ALL water it may have held once the #NRA got in bed with the most tyrannical #President elected to date.