THE "CHATBOX"

A place to relax and socialize - to muse, think aloud and suggest
thisisunreal
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Re: THE "CHATBOX"

Unread post by thisisunreal »

The rise and rise of corporations.

Public warning: this is not a racy post.

This is in response to a general trend of increasing corporate power, with specific reference to today's news of the merger of Asda and Sainsburys (two large British supermarkets). It piqued my interest because of the manner in which it is sold to us.

http://www.bbc.com/news/business-43933517

An issue previously discussed at length in the 1990's was that of competition and market power (a limit to the market share a single company is allowed to possess). The case you might remember was that of Microsoft, policed by American Antitrust Laws or that of British Airways under Lord King policed by the Monopolies and Mergers Commission in the UK.

In classical economics and common sense, large market share and market power is against the consumers interests because companies always misuse this power, hence the need for policing.

This issue of a maximum size limit of companies has gone conspicuously quiet in the last decade and given way to seemingly high concentrations of power or monopolies such as, Google (the world's single platform for information), The News Media, The Banks, Gas Supplies, Paypal, Uber, Rightmove, Air B&B and groceries to name, but a tiny number that come to mind.

Clearly policy and legislation are driven by the owners of the game, but interestingly and counter intuitively, consumers seem to be encouraging this self inflicted wound by enabling these behemoths.

Anyway, to the article. http://www.bbc.com/news/business-43933517

Title: Sainsbury's and Asda in merger talks

Bolded introduction: Merger talks between British supermarket chains Sainsbury's and Asda are at an "advanced" stage, Sainsbury's has confirmed.

So…..we are being informed that it is a fait accompli. It is already decided so there’s obviously nothing to worry about, nothing to object to and nothing unusual. Had there been.....it would have been flagged up in this very article by the watchdog or the incisive, probing, daring BBC journalist who won't rest until the facts are found in a balanced, fair and open handed manner and presented to us in a comprehensive, shortened, detailed, but understandable format.

The article continues, “Sainsbury's and Asda - the UK arm of Walmart - are the second and third largest supermarkets in the UK”.

So, it is not a merger between the two, but actually Walmart (an American company who already own Asda) are to buy Sainsbury’s also! Where does this leave us competition wise?

Well, the article states, “The combined group would comprise 2,800 stores and would represent around 30% of the UK grocery market - similar to that of market leader Tesco”.

In other words, 60% of the market for groceries would be controlled by 2 companies (one British and one American)! So goodbye competition and goodbye UK ownership.

A statement from Sainsbury's,

"Sainsbury's confirms that it and Walmart Inc. are in advanced discussions regarding a combination of the Sainsbury's and Asda businesses,"

So, more confirmation of a done deal. Why is this the first we are hearing of it? Well actually, it's not. The idea dates back to 2007 and seems that this discussion was floated perhaps 10 years ago when initially poopooed. You can have a look at the deals history in the article below should you wish. To me though, this suggests that the corporation will eventually get what they want, regardless of consumer interests.

https://www.forbes.com/2007/03/27/sains ... de16bb4cd6

Of course the issue of competition is acknowledged, but let’s see how this thorny issue is taken on….welcome the Economics expert, Richard Lim...

Richard Lim, from economics research consultancy Retail Economics, said the merger would be a "game changer in the UK grocery market of epic proportions".

"The potential tie-up would see the combined business take Tesco head-on," he added.

Richard gives a classic 'Trumpesque' statement where words come out but so devoid of meaning they almost dissolve on contact with air.

There is another minor acknowledgement that there may be a bump in the road,

“Sainsbury's concedes that some store disposals will be required to satisfy them, so the 30% market share figure may well go down”.

This is nothing more than an accounting swindle, which can be navigated around by disposing of a couple of stores and buying back at a later date or simply grow more by acquiring more stores after the fact!

This is the most elegant line, which I admire the most,

“The two brands will be retained as they appeal to a different customer…...

In essence, the two brands colours (Asda and Sainsbury's) will be retained to give the illusion of of choice and diversity and allow the swindled abused customer to feel comforted.

It is all about fooling the customer. It matters not who you give your money to, it ends up in the same hands, eventually.

So, the deal is done without a word on the effect of the smaller businesses or possible anti consumer practices. How can smaller companies hope to compete? How much will we lose by the inevitable price fixing and destructive aggressive anti competitive behaviour to smaller firms?

The article more resembles a press release about a deal done than news informing us of the prospect of something happening. I'm going to guess that the next we here about this will be the congratulatory, celebratory 'deal done' news.

My conclusion here is that the more one looks, the more the media simply seems to performs the role of advertiser. This means you have advertising masquerading as news, serving as a platform for yet more advertising. In effect, when we read the news, we are simply reading press releases.

Whilst the nature of this post isn't media fakery exactly, it is more about what is possible and what can be sold or achieved framing words creatively. The more I look, the more I see very few limitations as to what can be achieved when you have the media in your hands as messenger boy.
scud
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Re: THE "CHATBOX"

Unread post by scud »

Well I think it’s always noteworthy when the ‘MSM’ talk ‘conspiracy theories’.

This is UK morning TV; incredulous I tell ya...incredulous at the suggestion that it might all be done in a ‘Hollywood studio’.


full link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=erA3WQE9Zes
Kham
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Re: THE "CHATBOX"

Unread post by Kham »

scud has posted the above confusing drivel of a video with zero explanation of its contents, except to write generally about conspiracy theories.

Interestingly, the hosts and guests in the video also offer no explanation to explain earths curve but does try to use gravity to muddy the whole conversation.

The above video is cleverly designed to support flat earthers views AND support empire science all the same time. It does nothing to dispel either. One can tell by the lack of serious explanation on both sides.

Consider the following:

1) laser & lake, a straw man experiment

LASERS SPREAD OUT
Lasers spread like cones the farther out they go. Depending on the laser, at a couple miles, the diameter of the cone could be 10 feet or more prohibiting accurate measurements of the earths curve.

MORE THAN A MILE
Water DOESN’T lay flat, or freeze flat either. In order to observe the bulge that water lays or freezes over one must observe it in terms of miles with a telescope. Such viewing is done every day by ship crews as they view shoreline buildings, mountains and trees disappear behind bulges of water without diminishing much in size as ships sail away from shore. Yes, one can use a telescope to bring items back into the view of the human eyeball which has viewing limits, but only momentarily. Even with a telescope as one moves away from the shoreline the earths or waters bulge will conceal what’s behind it eventually.

This demonstrates the formula for the curvature of the earth: curvature = (8 inches) x (distance in miles away) squared. (c=8d^2 if you will).

Miles away ..... ​inches of drop or bulge in the water
1 ..... ..... ..... ​​8
2​​ ..... ..... ..... 32
3​​ ..... ..... ..... 72
4​​ ..... ..... ..... 128

At 4 miles away there’s over 10 feet of concealment behind the waters bulge. Ships crews count on this measurement to be able to tell from a telescope the distance of other ships by sighting what parts of their hulls are visible and if they are approaching or moving away. It’s an industry standard, not hard to find.

Concerning flat earthers so called experiments, they just have to simply lie about their results or reply ‘you shouldn’t be able to see it’ or ‘light distorts the image’ etc and then the flat earth believers believe AND the empire science supporters still support their side as no clear explanation is ever given, on both sides.

These friendly-type morning tv shows are among the most precisely produced military grade empire propaganda products, imho.
thisisunreal
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Re: THE "CHATBOX"

Unread post by thisisunreal »

Lovers of democracy.......lovers of free and fair elections……….great news! It’s safe to go back in the water. Cambridge Analytica are to close, breaking 'news' today (Thursday 3rd May, 2018)

Cambridge Analytica: Facebook data-harvest firm to shut
http://www.bbc.com/news/business-43983958

The company who became famous for swinging the Trump US election and Brexit (no less) are to close after a continued media circus over their disproportionate media influence!

I first noticed Cambridge Analytica as they burst onto the scene with the story, ‘The week Facebook's value plunged $58bn’, (March 23rd 2018).

The week Facebook's value plunged $58bn
http://www.bbc.com/news/business-43517995

Both articles (and all those in between) suggests that this single entity, Cambridge Analytica (CA) had the power to swing both Brexit and the US election, completely unbeknown to the intelligence services! Does it seem possible that a single company could outsmart the entire intelligence services and Governmental apparatus? Beat them at the very game in which is their lifeblood?

I suspect CA is a total fiction because the delivery of their story seems to serve so many purposes, simultaneously, so elegantly.

To me CA is suspicious because it is being covered by the mainstream media by those such as the Trevor Noah show, VICE news and scoring hundreds of thousands of hits on YouTube in record time. Can all this coverage be organic?

You can get a sense of the hype surrounding CA by watching the first 15 seconds of this slick media presentation, set to music with pink haired computer genius, whistleblower, Christopher Wylie unburdening himself for his grievous role.


full link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zb6-xz-geH4

The opening quote gives a sense of the massive drama,

“I played a pivotal role in setting up a company that has done a lot of harm to the democratic process”!

The only way (CA) can be real is if they have the approval of the intelligence services. If not, I sense they would simply not be allowed to perform these activities or would have been spotted coming a mile away. So in order to believe this story regarding CA, you are forced to believe either one of the following,

1.) The intelligence services knew about CA and approved.
2.) The intelligence services are completely inept and knew nothing about it.
3.) CA are a fictitious entity and do nothing whatsoever. CA are a scripted entity.

I see CA as nothing more than a vehicle to direct hate and suspicion when in fact they are doing nothing more than what is performed by the Government on a day to day basis. It is clear who shapes opinion in our world, the media and their owners.

So, can CA shape opinion? I don’t think it’s impossible, but to my mind they simply wouldn’t be allowed. Not unless their specific direction aligned perfectly with our masters.

The value of CA as a propaganda story can be summarized as follows:

1.) The media look probing and aggressive, fighting for the abused ordinary citizen.
2.) Cambridge Analytica were funded by Republican linked money. Divide and conquer.
3.) The Government can now posture to shut them down, clip their wings and drag the story out for months to come.
4.) The populace feels threatened, yet informed and supported simultaneously!
5.) The Government claim the right to regulate social media in light of this new danger.
6.) The whistle blowing is a favourite to give the sense that the truth always outs.
7.) The story promotes the concept of democracy, which scores bonus points with the public.
8.) A ‘suspicious package’ found at the CA offices is a vague reminder of terrorism and fear and how frightening our world is.
9.) The story has a nice Cold War continuity by tying in the Russians.

Allow me to share a quote from the aforementioned BBC article in regards to Cambridge Analyica’s closure.

"Despite Cambridge Analytica's unwavering confidence that its employees have acted ethically and lawfully... the siege of media coverage has driven away virtually all of the company's customers and suppliers".

Anybody who knows anything about advertising will see straight through this quote. When you have single handedly swung a US election and Brexit, you will NOT be short of customers. When you have the power attributed to the Gods, you will NOT be short of customers. I would suggest instead that you will be inundated with high rollers for the remainder of your life! More customers than you know what to do with. My favourite element of the quote is the "suppliers' remark! Cambridge Analytica doesn’t have any suppliers. It's not a fruit and veg shop! Quotes like these often give themselves away. And as a final thought,

"As a result, it has been determined that it is no longer viable to continue operating the business."


The sharp share price fall of Facebook (mentioned earlier) is neatly blamed on CA. If this is totally scripted, one can see the economic value of a little short selling in advance of a story breaking. Or..... a large buy up of shares on the cheap after the bad news! What a nice little earner! This is the apex, the absolute zenith of market manipulation. Buy the assets you want and profiteer by controlling the news surrounding those assets!

This is akin to being able to predict every single grand national winner for the rest of time! I leave you to contemplate the image below and what it could mean for those who script the news in money terms!

Image
Seneca
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Re: THE "CHATBOX"

Unread post by Seneca »

Good findings!
antipodean
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Re: THE "CHATBOX"

Unread post by antipodean »

The fact that Cambridge Analytica was born out of Strategic Communications Laboratory makes it very suspicious. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SCL_Group
An entity mentioned here.
http://cluesforum.info/viewtopic.php?f= ... L#p2353563
http://cluesforum.info/viewtopic.php?f= ... L#p2361996

What needs to be known is who were Cambridge Analytica working on behalf of ? Or they could just be a sacrificial lamb to overturn the Brexit & Trump elections.
thisisunreal
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Re: THE "CHATBOX"

Unread post by thisisunreal »

Thanks Seneca and Antipodean for your interest. It is genuinely appreciated.

I sincerely don't think Cambridge Analytica are working for anybody. I would hazard a guess (as I speculated before) that they are a shell, a prop, a non entity, a name, some faces, a script, put in place as part of the matrix to uphold the notion that 'somebody' is tampering with your views, opinions and votes and that dark forces exist. Sneaky ones like the Russians for example! How else do they get such media interest? If they were this nefarious and in cahoots with Government, would they not be hidden and shielded?

In reality? Who is doing this all the time? Not Cambridge Analytica or any of these other 'data harvesting' outfits. It is the Government, The Intelligence apparatus and it is achieved via the mainstream media.

For a nice example of how perverted people's views can become with long term exposure to too much media, look at the US election of Trump and the UK election of May. How could Trump and May have outshone Sanders and Corbyn, in a rational world where news is received openly, honestly and in unbiased fashion? I would hazard that it is impossible, simply because the two losers represent numerically far far greater numbers than the two winners! So.....how did so many people vote against their own interests?

Moreover, and much sadder still......look at the contempt, mocking and hate that people have towards those two political losers! Heartbreaking. Please note that I wrote that without a shred of political allegiance. I could not care less who 'wins' or 'loses', but, I call that double anomaly out as a clear distortion to illustrate that you can convince people that black is white and white is black if you have the mainstream media on your side.

Nobody has the power to hijack the hijacking of our hearts and minds because this is the power reserved for the apex predators and elites whose unearthly power is wielded by sock puppet politicians on their behalf. It simply would not be allowed. So, in short..... I don't believe 1% of the story that an election was swung by anybody other than the mainstream media, which is situation normal. Media is nothing more than a tool, set up, whose architecture was always meant to 'do this'.

Do we believe the Government would allow a tiny private profit motivated company to swing an election? Or rather, would they leave it to chance of the success of a campaign run by such a company?

In terms of being a 'sacrificial lamb', it's a little late in the day to overturn an election. Who would want to anyway? Trump is absolute gold as a US president. He is the most successful President I have seen for turning the Presidency into a crass reality TV show, which is stunning coo for TPTB. People 'follow' him and feel that are tuned in politically and know what's going on, but of course they are only watching him for his next gaff or racist remark! He's brought the level down to the British TV show, TopGear.

If you notice, there's never a single detail or focus on an actual policy. He is the ultimate smoke screen behind which, we truly have no idea what is going on. He is a genius plant and is gold for the monied classes. Long live Trump will be the word on Wall Street.
omaxsteve
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Re: THE "CHATBOX"

Unread post by omaxsteve »

thisisunreal » April 26th, 2018, 6:06 am wrote:The worm has turned! North Korea has finally 'come in from the cold'. One of the longest running news based propaganda series has reached its season finale! North Korea has become a friend! The 'news' broke on 21st April. What follows is a quick synopsis of how banal and trivial the game is to supplant his old persona for a new, updated one. First of all, the good news...

North Korea 'halts missile and nuclear tests', says Kim Jong-un
(http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-43846488)

The article pictures the terrifying dictator looking more benign, without his generals and against a pleasing, relaxing, colourful, artistic work. Whilst the article is qualified, it is the first positive news regarding North Korea in some time. The not so subtle 180 degree turn in opinion of the BBC and World media took less than 24 hours.

How leisure time is changing for North Korea's privileged
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-42910896

The article whilst qualified, leads with a picture of ladies frolicking in an open air pool. It goes on to discuss the new emerging middle class. It does take time to reinforce some old myths such as the secrecy and number of defectors, such as Jayden. Jayden's quote is unabashedly made up.

"I spent my spare time playing football and computer games or watching movies," he says. "Although, there were many restrictions on what could be done. Many of the movies and games were illegal but I did these things on the sly."

The positive propaganda continues on the 24th showing that Kim Jong Un is not entirely wicked and without conscience as he was moved by a recent bus crash.

Kim Jong-un's 'bitter sorrow' as bus crash kills Chinese tourists
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-43875526

The article pictures a tender scene in the hospital as he squeezes the hand of one of the victims who has a terrifying arm and is missing his nose. Again, no military flunkeys in sight. Two quotes from the article show that this dangerous lunatic megalomaniacal tyrant is actually just like the rest of us at heart!

"[Mr Kim] said that the unexpected accident brought bitter sorrow to his heart," the official KCNA news agency reported.

"He couldn't control his grief at the thought of the bereaved families who lost their blood relatives."

The BBC manage to sneak another piece of positive reportage of the hitherto madman on the same day.

Kim Jong-un Swiss summit dish to remind him of school
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-43878889

The article is a both probing and serious and discusses at length the menu at the upcoming Summit!

"North Korea's Kim Jong-un is to be served a Swiss potato dish at a summit dinner with the South, in an apparent attempt to remind him of school".

Curiously the article omits to say why they intend to transport him back to his school days with a fish! The BBC follow this up with more incisive reportage,

"It is believed that Mr Kim went to school in Switzerland, but this has never been confirmed officially by North Korea".

I wonder how long it will take in the minds of people to re align Kim Jong Un as 'on side', 'a goodie', rather than the pantomime villain that he was?

Could clues forum members be on the lookout for a new panto villain to be terrified of in the absence of Kim Jong Un? Could the unveiling of a new hate figure or regime or group with an acronym be upon us?
Interesting post. I was wondering if the Bus crash was real, or faked so that Kim Jung could show his "human" side, and did a quick Google Search. It seems that the Chinese Govt is also a proponent of staging media events. While this video is not the same bus crash referred to above, it shows that the Chinese have no qualms about broadcasting obviously fake news stories as do the Americans:

Watch the bus driver get "sucked" out the window after the crash;


full link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pEc3izmfaTY


regards,

Steve O.
patrix
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Re: THE "CHATBOX"

Unread post by patrix »

the Chinese have no qualms about broadcasting obviously fake news stories as do the Americans
Watch the bus driver get "sucked" out the window after the crash
Not disputing China manufactures fake news, for example numerous “space walks”, but I fail to see why this is so obviously fake. The bus seems to be rolling after the collision which can explain why the driver gets “sucked out” as you put it. The bus (and the camera) is subjected to an outside force which causes it to rotate and the inertia of the passengers make them appear to go the other way.
Seneca
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Re: THE "CHATBOX"

Unread post by Seneca »

I don't know, Patrix. As soon as the driver passes through the window he changes direction and goes up (relative to the camera). How do you explain that? Bus going down faster than driver falls? At the exact moment he leaves the window?
Faye
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Re: THE "CHATBOX"

Unread post by Faye »

The story of CA is very interesting. Thank you thisisunreal for this extended presentation of your interpretation of it.
Especially the idea that CA is a fictitious entity immediately made evident to me, that this is what I was missing.

The whole story makes sense as a psyop. The aims of that psyop would be:

-to simulate that there is competition and controversy between traditional and "new" media
-to simulate that there are various parties involved which have distinct "political" interests (democrats, republicans, russians, etc.)
-to result in a enhancement of the democratic belief of the public
thisisunreal
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Re: THE "CHATBOX"

Unread post by thisisunreal »

Thanks Faye. Your list makes total sense. Stories reinforcing stories. If you write the script....you control the story for as long as you wish. At some point in the future the story is forced to change, but you simply change the propaganda. An example would be North Korea finally agreeing to open up to Western markets. The USA and China and South Korea share 25m new customers and North Korea get to be the good guy in the press as a reward, drop the sanctions and in rush Costa coffee et al and maybe even tourism kicks off too.

Cambridge Analytica draws the attention away from the usual suspects. Given the US media is controlled by 5/6 large (aligned) companies, with Facebook and Google thrown into the mix.... why would you need a tiny PR firm to do your bidding? They could never muster the clout. Total media control isn't actually that conspiratorial once you look at media concentration in the US and UK.

How hard could it be to bring to fruition? Find a figurehead (Alexander Nix or Nigel Oakes or whomever). Tell them they're going to write some things about him and elevate his career to that of PR God. Here's the pitch....

"All you have to do is say nothing when you read stories about yourself" (assuming these are real people).

Besmirch Alexander or Nigel in public with wild claims and when the press ask him for comment, he confirms their suspicions by denying interviews as he legitimately has nothing to say! Simple.

Or, take a real PR agency or 'data harvesting outfit' (to use the modern media parlance) with real history of analysing social media and simply inflate the claims of their efficacy with a pitch similar to above.

Or, as has been seen before, invent corporate names and offices and employees and bring the paper based script to life with an ongoing drama. I can't confirm any of this other than it being a suspicion. I would liken these stories to a TV drama that starts strong and then loses its way somewhat, perhaps like the show, 'Lost'. After reading few of the CA articles, I started to have that feeling! What on earth is the writer / director thinking? It's all too much, too fanciful and far far too convenient!
simonshack
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Re: THE "CHATBOX"

Unread post by simonshack »

*

I'm scratching my head as to why this forum's activity has dwindled in the past few months (or more). What may possibly have caused this?

I'll be grateful for any thoughts on this issue - from old and new forum members alike.

In the meanwhile, here's a song I wrote and recorded with my band about three years ago - which now sounds to me sort of 'foresighted'...

https://thesocialservice1.bandcamp.com/ ... er-of-time
antipodean
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Re: THE "CHATBOX"

Unread post by antipodean »

I'm scratching my head as to why this forum's activity has dwindled in the past few months. What may possibly have caused this?

I'll be grateful for any thoughts on this issue - from old and new forum members alike.
I think some of the leading posters may have concentrated on the Tychos stuff. With only a few other posters responding.
If your not into it (the Tychos), there hasn't been much other subject matter to reply to. I took an initial interest, but I haven't got the head space or time to study it.
pov603
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Re: THE "CHATBOX"

Unread post by pov603 »

Certain topics seem to have become "mired" in debate rather than have data provided with comment/description for discussion.
This tends to make for a more academic read than one of intrigue, discovery and wonder.
I'm not advocating that discussions get "dumbed down" but some topics have become less interesting to read at certain stages partly because some have become primarily opinion-driven.
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