Download or read book Pizzagate written by Ace of Ace of Swords and published by . This book was released on 2019-05 with total page 137 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In early 2016, WikiLeaks released thousands of hacked emails from Clinton 2016 campaign chairman John Podesta. When online sleuths discovered a handful of emails containing incomprehensible cheese pizza references, floodgates opened as observers realized that in dark web pedophile communities, "cheese pizza" functions as shorthand for "child porn." Before long, a global phenomenon erupted that would cause a frenzy in media outlets, drawing scrutiny from politicians and journalists worldwide. But publishing on Aceloewgold.com, a little-known finance and alt-news opinion blog, an obscure blogger calling themselves Ace of Swords wasn't ready to dismiss it all as fake news. Equally, Ace rejected the fanatical and conspiratorial Alex Jonesian approach to processing the phenomenon. From 4Chan to the New York Times, all the way to a real-life shooting at a pizza joint in Washington, D.C. that became the dramatic climax of the controversy, this is Ace's report. Read it and draw your own conclusions. Whatever you believe, one thing is for sure: the intersection of politics, journalism, conspiracy theory culture, and the world wide web just doesn't get any stranger than Pizzagate. Whether it was a conservative fake news hoax, an example of how conspiracy theories can harm real people, or a genuine case of ritual child abuse in the highest centers of power, you'll see how it unfolded and what it--and the reaction to it--reveals about the 21st-century cultural zeitgeist.
Download or read book QAnon the Pizzagates of Hell written by Michael J. Cat and published by TrineDay. This book was released on 2022-07-01 with total page 553 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Most of the rational world is currently asking, “What is wrong with these Qanon people?” My book, #Pizzagates of Hell: Unreal Stories of Occult Child Abuse by the CIA, asks, “What is right with them?”Sure, Qanon is an unhinged, mostly right-wing group of individuals that believe the world is run by a left-wing cabal of satanic pedophiles. But, by the time of the 2020 U.S. presidential election, their numbers were growing. And not just in the United States. There have been contingents in the U.K., Germany and Australia. 89 Qanon supporters in the U.S. ran for Congress, suggesting that Qanon has come to represent a minor political constituency. My book doesn't ask what sort of deranged media and cultural environment gave rise to Qanon. Instead, it asks what it is about their ideology that has caught fire. More specifically, it asks: is there something in the supposedly delusional ravings of this new political movement that might actually be accurate? •Pedo cabal? Check. Notorious pedophile and spook Jeffrey Epstein had ties to two U.S. presidents, the king of Saudi Arabia, two Israeli prime ministers, and the British Royal Family. •Occultism? Check. British intelligence relied on Aleister Crowley, the disputed grandfather of satanism, as a spy from World War One and beyond. U.S. intelligence agent Lt. Col. Michael Aquino was an open satanist accused of ritual sexual abuse of children at multiple daycare centers across the U.S. and possibly abroad. •The Illuminati? Check. The Illuminati may not exist, per se, but numerous secret societies do exert undue influence on global affairs, from the Freemasons and Skull and Bones to Bilderberg and Le Cercle. It's hard not to argue that we are ruled by a secret elite. •Turning Us All into Sex Slaves? Question mark. Though the long-rumored Monarch Program is feasible when one examines the history of the CIA's MK ULTRA, there is, so far, no proof of its existence.Once we've asked what Qanon has gotten right,
Download or read book Creating Conspiracy Beliefs written by Dolores Albarracin and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2021-11-25 with total page 327 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Drawing on psychology, political science, communication, and information sciences, this book explores the birth of conspiracy theories.
Download or read book They Knew written by Sarah Kendzior and published by Flatiron Books. This book was released on 2022-09-13 with total page 158 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: FINALIST FOR THE LOS ANGELES TIMES BOOK PRIZE “Every sentence delivered. The pathos of truth-seeking left me thinking of Herman Melville." —Timothy Snyder, #1 New York Times bestselling author of On Tyranny NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLING author Sarah Kendzior delves into the difference between conspiracy and conspiracy theory, "deftly separat[ing] fact from fiction in a conspiracy-addled nation" (VANITY FAIR). Conspiracy theories are on the rise because officials refuse to enforce accountability for real conspiracies. Uncritical faith in broken institutions is as dangerous as false narratives peddled by propagandists. The truth may hurt—but the lies will kill us. They Knew discusses conspiracy culture in a rapidly declining United States struggling with corruption, climate change, and other crises. As the actions of the powerful remain shrouded in mystery—“From Norman Baker to Jeffrey Epstein, Iran-Contra to January 6" (VF)—it is unsurprising that people turn to conspiracy theories to fill the informational void. They Knew exposes the tactics these powerful actors use to placate an inquisitive public. Here, for the first time, Kendzior blends her signature whip-smart prose and eviscerating arguments with lyrical and intimate examinations of the times and places that haunt American history. "America is a ghost story," writes Kendzior, as she unearths decades of buried history, providing an essential and critical look at how to rebuild our democracy by confronting the political lies and crimes that have shaped us.
Download or read book Nobody s Victim written by Carrie Goldberg and published by Penguin. This book was released on 2019-08-13 with total page 306 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Nobody's Victim is an unflinching look at a hidden world most people don’t know exists—one of stalking, blackmail, and sexual violence, online and off—and the incredible story of how one lawyer, determined to fight back, turned her own hell into a revolution. “We are all a moment away from having our life overtaken by somebody hell-bent on our destruction.” That grim reality—gleaned from personal experience and twenty years of trauma work—is a fundamental principle of Carrie Goldberg’s cutting-edge victims’ rights law firm. Riveting and an essential timely conversation-starter, Nobody's Victim invites readers to join Carrie on the front lines of the war against sexual violence and privacy violations as she fights for revenge porn and sextortion laws, uncovers major Title IX violations, and sues the hell out of tech companies, schools, and powerful sexual predators. Her battleground is the courtroom; her crusade is to transform clients from victims into warriors. In gripping detail, Carrie shares the diabolical ways her clients are attacked and how she, through her unique combination of advocacy, badass relentlessness, risk-taking, and client-empowerment, pursues justice for them all. There are stories about a woman whose ex-boyfriend made fake bomb threats in her name and caused a national panic; a fifteen-year-old girl who was sexually assaulted on school grounds and then suspended when she reported the attack; and a man whose ex-boyfriend used a dating app to send more than 1,200 men to ex's home and work for sex. With breathtaking honesty, Carrie also shares her own shattering story about why she began her work and the uphill battle of building a business. While her clients are a diverse group—from every gender, sexual orientation, age, class, race, religion, occupation, and background—the offenders are not. They are highly predictable. In this book, Carrie offers a taxonomy of the four types of offenders she encounters most often at her firm: assholes, psychos, pervs, and trolls. “If we recognize the patterns of these perpetrators,” she explains, “we know how to fight back.” Deeply personal yet achingly universal, Nobody's Victim is a bold and much-needed analysis of victim protection in the era of the Internet. This book is an urgent warning of a coming crisis, a predictor of imminent danger, and a weapon to take back control and protect ourselves—both online and off.
Download or read book The Big Black Book of Government Conspiracies written by Andrè RavenSkül Venås and published by Lulu.com. This book was released on 2019-09-05 with total page 530 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This is a compilation of Government Conspiracies from the U.S. and the World.
Download or read book It Came from Something Awful written by Dale Beran and published by All Points Books. This book was released on 2019-07-30 with total page 208 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: How 4chan and 8chan fuel white nationalism, inspire violence, and infect politics. The internet has transformed the ways we think and act, and by consequence, our politics. The most impactful recent political movements on the far left and right started with massive online collectives of teenagers. Strangely, both movements began on the same website: an anime imageboard called 4chan.org. It Came from Something Awful is the fascinating and bizarre story of sites like 4chan and 8chan and their profound effect on youth counterculture. Dale Beran has observed the anonymous messageboard community's shifting activities and interests since the beginning. Sites like 4chan and 8chan are microcosms of the internet itself—simultaneously at the vanguard of contemporary culture, politics, comedy and language, and a new low for all of the above. They were the original meme machines, mostly frequented by socially awkward and disenfranchised young men in search of a place to be alone together. During the recession of the late 2000’s, the memes became political. 4chan was the online hub of a leftist hacker collective known as Anonymous and a prominent supporter of the Occupy Wall Street movement. But within a few short years, the site’s ideology spun on its axis; it became the birthplace and breeding ground of the alt-right. In It Came from Something Awful, Beran uses his insider’s knowledge and natural storytelling ability to chronicle 4chan's strange journey from creating rage-comics to inciting riots to—according to some—memeing Donald Trump into the White House.
Download or read book Social Media and the Post Truth World Order written by Gabriele Cosentino and published by Springer Nature. This book was released on 2020-03-16 with total page 151 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book discusses post-truth not merely as a Western issue, but as a problematic political and cultural condition with global ramifications. By locating the roots of the phenomenon in the trust crisis suffered by liberal democracy and its institutions, the book argues that post-truth serves as a space for ideological conflicts and geopolitical power struggles that are reshaping the world order. The era of post-truth politics is thus here to stay, and its reach is increasingly global: Russian trolls organizing events on social media attended by thousands of unaware American citizens; Turkish pro-government activists amplifying on Twitter conspiracy theories concocted via Internet imageboards by online subcultures in the United States; American and European social media users spreading fictional political narratives in support of the Syrian regime; and Facebook offering a platform for a harassment campaign by Buddhist ultra-nationalists in Myanmar that led to the killing of thousands of Muslims. These are just some of the examples that demonstrate the dangerous effects of the Internet-driven global diffusion of disinformation and misinformation. Grounded on a theoretical framework yet written in an engaging and accessible way, this timely book is a valuable resource for students, researchers, policymakers and citizens concerned with the impact of social media on politics.
Download or read book Conspiracy and Triumph written by Aaron John Gulyas and published by McFarland. This book was released on 2021-11-08 with total page 211 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Conspiracies have always been part of American culture, but with the rise of social media has come an increase in belief in nontraditional explanations of events. This book highlights a subset of conspiratorial beliefs that grew in popularity in the early 21st century. These beliefs and the growing cynicism of the media have left conspiracy theorists with deep distrust of those in authority. A number of theories that have arisen over the years are explored. From QAnon beliefs regarding the United States government to UFO reports and other hidden agendas, it is clear that we continue to challenge old ways of thinking.
Download or read book Designing for Democracy written by Jennifer Forestal and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2021 with total page 233 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "How should we 'fix' digital technologies to support democracy instead of undermining it? In Designing for democracy, Jennifer Forestal argues that accurately evaluating the democratic potential of digital spaces means studying how the built environment-a primary component of our 'modern public square'-structures our activity, shapes our attitudes, and supports the kinds of relationships and behaviors democracy requires. Through extended analyses of Facebook, Twitter, and Reddit, Forestal shows precisely how well these digital platforms meet the criteria for democratic spaces, or whether they do so at all. The result is a more nuanced analysis of the democratic communities that form-or fail to emerge-in these spaces, as well as more concrete suggestions for how to improve them."--Page 4 of cover
Download or read book Fake News in America written by Anthony R. DiMaggio and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2023-07-31 with total page 295 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The term 'fake news' became a buzzword during Donald Trump's presidency, yet it is a term that means very different things to different people. This pioneering book provides a comprehensive examination of what Americans mean when they talk about fake news in contemporary politics, mass media, and societal discourse, and explores the various factors that contribute to this, such as the power of language, political parties, ideology, media, and socialization. By analysing a range of case studies across war, political corruption, climate change, conspiracy theories, electoral politics, and the Covid-19 pandemic, it demonstrates how fake news is a fundamentally contested phenomenon, and how its meaning varies depending on the person using the term, and the political context. It provides readers with tools to identify, talk about, and resist fake news, and emphasizes a need for education reform with an eye toward promoting critical thinking and information literacy.
Download or read book Alt Right written by Mike Wendling and published by Fernwood Publishing. This book was released on 2018-04-03T00:00:00Z with total page 249 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book is a vital guide to understanding the racist, misogynist, far-right movement that rose to prominence during Donald Trump’s successful election campaign. To some, the movement appears to have burst out of nowhere, but journalist Mike Wendling has been tracking the Alt-Right for years. He reveals the role of technological utopians, reactionary philosophers, the notorious 4chan bulletin boards, and a range of bloggers, vloggers and tweeters, and the extreme ideas they attempt to popularize. Analyzing what the Alt-Right stands for, based upon interviews with movement leaders and foot soldiers, Wendling provides evidence linking extremists with terror attacks and hate crimes. Ultimately the book argues that, despite its high profile support, the movement’s contradictory tendencies will lead to its downfall.
Download or read book Radicalization and Counter Radicalization written by Derek M.D. Silva and published by Emerald Group Publishing. This book was released on 2020-09-09 with total page 325 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The fifteen chapters in this volume of Sociology of Crime, Law, and Deviance discuss a number of issues researchers in the fields of sociology, criminology, and criminal justice theorize, conceptualize, and measure racialization and counter-radicalization.
Download or read book Critical Theory and Authoritarian Populism written by Jeremiah Morelock and published by University of Westminster Press. This book was released on 2018-12-17 with total page 299 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: After President Trump’s election, BREXIT and the widespread rise of far-Right political parties, much public discussion has intensely focused on populism and authoritarianism. In the middle of the twentieth century, members of the early Frankfurt School prolifically studied and theorized fascism and anti-Semitism in Germany and the United States. In this volume, leading European and American scholars apply insights from the early Frankfurt School to present-day authoritarian populism, including the Trump phenomenon and related developments across the globe. Chapters are arranged into three sections exploring different aspects of the topic: theories, historical foundations, and manifestations via social media. Contributions examine the vital political, psychological and anthropological theories of early Frankfurt School thinkers, and how their insights could be applied now amidst the insecurities and confusions of twenty-first century life. The many theorists considered include Adorno, Fromm, Löwenthal and Marcuse, alongside analysis of Austrian Facebook pages and Trump’s tweets and operatic media drama. This book is a major contribution towards deeper understanding of populism’s resurgence in the age of digital capitalism.
Download or read book Alt America written by David Neiwert and published by Verso Books. This book was released on 2017-10-17 with total page 554 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Just as Donald Trump's victorious campaign for the US presidency shocked liberal Americans, the seemingly sudden national prominence of white supremacists, xenophobes, militia leaders, and mysterious "Alt-Right" leaders mystifies many. But the extreme Right has been growing steadily in the US since the 1990s, with the rise of Patriot militias; following 9/11, when conspiracy theorists found fresh life; and in virulent reaction to the first black president of the country. Nurtured by a powerful right-wing media sector in radio, TV, and online, the Far Right, Tea Party movement conservatives, and Republican activists found common ground in "Producerist" ideology and "constitutionalist" interpretations of US law-an alternative America that is resurgent, even as it has been ignored by the political establishment and mainstream media. Investigative reporter David Neiwert has been tracking extremists for more than two decades, and here he provides a deeply reported and authoritative report on the background, mindset, and growth on the ground of Far Right movements across the country. The product of years of reportage, and including the most in-depth investigation of Trump's ties to Far Right figures, this is a crucial book about one of the most disturbing sides of the US.
Download or read book Trumping Truth written by Salvador Jiménez Murguía and published by McFarland. This book was released on 2019-06-27 with total page 252 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: When Kellyanne Conway, counselor to President Trump, coined the phrase "alternative facts" in January 2017, objectivity in public discourse--the long-held belief in a more or less agreed-upon set of verifiable truths--went into a tailspin. The use of alternative facts and narratives quickly became the go-to rhetorical strategy, especially among Trump's administration and base. Rebuttals based on fact-checking and hard data were demoted to mere choices in a media bazaar where consumers are free to source their own versions of reality. This volume explores the social and political disruption accompanying the loss of faith in objectivity, along with reflections on the disregard for truth and honesty, both within the Trump Administration and in contemporary popular culture.
Download or read book Alternative Paths to Influence written by Giulio M. Gallarotti and published by Taylor & Francis. This book was released on 2023-06-06 with total page 233 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book offers new and cutting-edge analyses of under-explored subjects and issues in the realm of soft power. It attempts to fill significant scholarly gaps in understanding the process by which soft power is created, as well as gaps in demonstrating its impact. Soft power is one of the most influential ideas in the study of international politics over the past thirty years. Can nations attain their most vital foreign policy objectives in agreeable ways? Advocates of the concept of soft power have vociferously answered in the affirmative. After many years of thinking in the field of international affairs that the only effective path to influence in international politics was military and economic power, the idea of soft power offers new and exciting possibilities of gaining such influence through a more benign path, one that elevates cooperation and esteem as preferred alternatives to violence, threat and military capacity. This book posits that the realization of the full potential of soft power as a foundation for international relations is a crucial goal for our present world, one beset by war and planetary crises. The book will be of special interest to researchers across political science, international relations, cultural studies and foreign policy. It was originally published as a special issue of the Journal of Political Power.
