Body: John’s Christmas wishlist

6 comments on “Body: John’s Christmas wishlist ”

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1. phillip ure 1

   15 December 2014 at 1:12 pm

   i haven’t been able to think of a better one than a gift-voucher for his local legal-pot shop in hawaii..
2. Tracey 2

   15 December 2014 at 1:50 pm

   A public being deliberately manipulated…

   “…techniques for generating propaganda:

   Appeal to fear: Appeals to fear seek to build support by instilling fear in the general population, for example, Joseph Goebbels exploited Theodore Kaufman’s Germany Must Perish! to claim that the Allies sought the extermination of the German people.
   Appeal to authority: Appeals to authority cite prominent figures to support a position idea, argument, or course of action.

   Bandwagon: Bandwagon and inevitable-victory appeals attempt to persuade the target audience to take the course of action that “everyone else is taking.”
   Join the crowd: This technique reinforces people’s natural desire to be on the winning side. This technique is used to convince the audience that a program is an expression of an irresistible mass movement and that it is in their best interest to join.

   Inevitable victory: invites those not already on the bandwagon to join those already on the road to certain victory. Those already or at least partially on the bandwagon are reassured that staying aboard is their best course of action.
   Direct order: This technique hopes to simplify the decision making process. The propagandist uses images and words to tell the audience exactly what actions to take, eliminating any other possible choices. Authority figures can be used to give the order, overlapping it with the Appeal to authority technique, but not necessarily. The Uncle Sam “I want you” image is an example of this technique.

   Glittering generalities: Glittering generalities are intense, emotionally appealing words so closely associated with highly valued concepts and beliefs that they carry conviction without supporting information or reason. They appeal to such emotions as love of country, home; desire for peace, freedom, glory, honor, etc. They ask for approval without examination of the reason. Though the words and phrases are vague and suggest different things to different people their connotation is always favorable: “The concepts and programs of the propagandist are always good, desirable, virtuous.”

   Rationalization: Individuals or groups may use favorable generalities to rationalize questionable acts or beliefs. Vague and pleasant phrases are often used to justify such actions or beliefs.

   Intentional vagueness: Generalities are deliberately vague so that the audience may supply its own interpretations. The intention is to move the audience by use of undefined phrases, without analyzing their validity or attempting to determine their reasonableness or application.

   Transfer: Also known as association, this is a technique of projecting positive or negative qualities (praise or blame) of a person, entity, object, or value (an individual, group, organization, nation, patriotism, etc.) to another in order to make the second more acceptable or to discredit it. This technique is generally used to transfer blame from one member of a conflict to another. It evokes an emotional response, which stimulates the target to identify with recognized authorities.

   Oversimplification: Favorable generalities are used to provide simple answers to complex social, political, economic, or military problems.

   Common man: The “plain folks” or “common man” approach attempts to convince the audience that the propagandist’s positions reflect the common sense of the people. It is designed to win the confidence of the audience by communicating in the common manner and style of the target audience. Propagandists use ordinary language and mannerisms (and clothe their message in face-to-face and audiovisual communications) in attempting to identify their point of view with that of the average person.

   Testimonial: Testimonials are quotations, in or out of context, especially cited to support or reject a given policy, action, program, or personality. The reputation or the role (expert, respected public figure, etc.) of the individual giving the statement is exploited. The testimonial places the official sanction of a respected person or authority on a propaganda message. This is done in an effort to cause the target audience to identify itself with the authority or to accept the authority’s opinions and beliefs as its own.

   Stereotyping or Labeling: This technique attempts to arouse prejudices in an audience by labeling the object of the propaganda campaign as something the target audience fears, hates, loathes, or finds undesirable. For instance, reporting on a foreign country or social group may focus on the stereotypical traits that the reader expects, even though they are far from being representative of the whole country or group; such reporting often focuses on the anecdotal.

   Scapegoating: Assigning blame to an individual or group that isn’t really responsible, thus alleviating feelings of guilt from responsible parties and/or distracting attention from the need to fix the problem for which blame is being assigned.

   Virtue words: These are words in the value system of the target audience which tend to produce a positive image when attached to a person or issue. Peace, happiness, security, wise leadership, freedom, etc. are virtue words.

   Slogans: A slogan is a brief, striking phrase that may include labeling and stereotyping. If ideas can be made into slogans, they should be, as good slogans are self-perpetuating.

   Unstated assumption: This technique is used when the propaganda concept you want to transmit would seem less credible if explicitly stated. It is instead repeatedly assumed or implied. Market populism was mostly spread this way — few came out and said the market should replace democracy, but many talked about how much more responsive and efficient the market was, how it was overthrowing the old order, etc. …” from wikipedia on propaganda http://www.netcharles.com/orwell/articles/col-propaganda.htm

   Notice that ALL are utlised by this Government. The media, through being gullible or complicit are choosing to ignore the well designed and implemented strategy behind the creation of our PM. Hager tried to set it out for them, with evidence, in several books. They use all of the above techniques, blogfers, media spokespeople, PR and pollsters, business leaders and misnamed organisations. It is a web, not an accidental one.
   • batweka 2.1

     15 December 2014 at 2:00 pm

     thanks for linking Tracey 🙂
3. mac1 3

   15 December 2014 at 3:19 pm

   This year Santa may have figured out that John’s been a naughty boy, and that while Rudolph has a red nose, John’s is still growing.

   I’m one who plays the ‘white bearded role’, and I have found there are some parents who dump their screaming and unhappy child into Santa’s lap and then stand back and wait for a good photograph.

   They soon find out that smiling and waving, like naughty John, actually doesn’t stop the crying, the distress and the rejection. Sometimes Santa has to say to the parent, your child needs cuddles, comforting and love, not photo opportunities, and the promise of sweets and presents is not a substitute.
4. Pat O'Dea 4

   16 December 2014 at 8:00 am

   Santa could please give me a compliant opposition, who support me on surveillance. who support me on the GST rise, who support me on deep sea oil drilling, who support me on fracking, who support me on new coal mines, who support me on subsidising the fossil fuel industry. who support me on the TPPA, who support me on never ending war.

   That’s all I ask for Santa

   And please, if you could make them so indistinguishable from me, that the public might as well vote for me, or not vote at all.
5. spades' A spade 5

   16 December 2014 at 9:01 am

   Dear Santa, please bring my masters world domination. Love from Dohn.

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