Funny you should mention the pleasures of sipping cocktails while reading The Bulwark. At this very moment I am enjoying a Campari soda. I find the bitterness perfectly complements today's topic. Ciao, Joe!
What are campaigns to do? Potential voters are too lazy to do any research into the candidates. they won't read a news story. They just watch videos all day, fake or not fake. How to reach them without the influencers? (of all the horrible job titles) And influencers want to get paid. It should be revealed of course. But we are in the enshittification stage of our democracy.
Didn’t we learn about influencers receiving thousands of dollars from Russia to ‘influence’ possible voters not to vote for Democrats but to vote for Republicans. How people were shocked, shocked, shocked over this. Oh well. That was so yesterday! Why bring it up now?/s
Off topic but in case you haven't heard the grifter in chief just endorsed Paxton in TX, the most corrupt candidate in the country. Come on TX, there is so much to despise about this man, put James Talarico in the senate.
Ban AI in political campaigns yesterday! It just ensures we will keep racing to the bottom in our political discourse, and further merge the entertainment and political worlds…more idiocracy guaranteed.
"...bipartisan support doesn’t necessarily translate into political will." All I can say is, I had BETTER -- or else it will truly be the end of us as a Republic. No one will be able to trust anything. I just cannot imagine that both parties wouldn't be on fire about this. AI-created depictions of people saying or doing things they would never say or do are -- as far as I am concerned -- a particularly virulent form of libel or slander. It should be a punishable offense. Both parties need to get behind this NOW before it is too late.
Facebook is a mine field; formerly a forum for communication with friends and sharing of pictures has become a predator. My wife is very concerned about her memory. She has shown me videos, all lengthy and full of promises by Ben Carson, Sanjay Gupta, and Bill Gates about breakthroughs in treatment of Alzheimer’s disease. The common element is that “big Pharma” is trying to suppress these cures, and the videos will be taken down if you don’t act soon. The most polished one is of Bill Gates discovery of a formula that cures Alzheimer’s and makes use of the fact that Bill Gates has funded research with millions of dollars because his father died from Alzheimer’s disease. It’s true that his father died from this terrible illness and that he’s funded research with millions of dollars. I try to convince her that these are false and AI generated. I refused her use of my debit card for the Gates cure, and she just accused me of being skeptical of everything. I went to Google and pulled up the interview with Gates on a Sunday network show supporting his research with no claim of a cure. I showed it to her. No, she saw Bill Gates claiming to have found the cure and offering a pill “at this price only for a brief time with supplies going fast and months before the supply could be restored. She wanted me to watch the video (off Facebook of course). I had seen it, and it did appear to be Gates and his voice. The other cure promised is for IBS/ diarrhea/constipation. They are all polished and follow the same format. I quit Facebook over a year ago because of fake political news. Where are the content screeners?
I care deeply about everyone's estate. Generational wealth is the best source to correct generational harm. No on should be able to dictate where this much money goes after they are dead and gone. Estate taxes are essential for democracy.
This was true of the last 2024 too. There were a bunch of paid Biden supporters saying some really nasty stuff about Bulwark people when they were calling for Biden to step aside for Kamala who suddenly went quiet when he actually did.
re the influencers and content, I'm sure all will be well if we just "do our research."
(Truly terrifying times we're in. But, thank you very much for the Lagerfeld dessert to slightly lessen the sour, bitter, awful flavor of the main course!)
Huh, for me the Lagerfeld story was poison on top of bitterness. How many children are dying because of the cuts to USAID that could be alive if the programs were funded with the funds of centimillionsires and billionaires WHO AREN'T EVEN ALIVE!! I have nothing against Choupette, but this is disgusting endstage "capitalism" destruction of humanity right up there with using our dwindling water resources to cool computers instead of feeding humans.
The first amendment should not apply to political advertising. That’s one of the biggest problems with our system. A ban on all TV, radio and online advertising is a much needed reform that unfortunately will never happen.
Great reporting. I post a lot of videos of Iowa political figures, so you inspired me to make clear to my readers that I do not and will not ever accept payment for coverage on any platform.
Funny you should mention the pleasures of sipping cocktails while reading The Bulwark. At this very moment I am enjoying a Campari soda. I find the bitterness perfectly complements today's topic. Ciao, Joe!
What are campaigns to do? Potential voters are too lazy to do any research into the candidates. they won't read a news story. They just watch videos all day, fake or not fake. How to reach them without the influencers? (of all the horrible job titles) And influencers want to get paid. It should be revealed of course. But we are in the enshittification stage of our democracy.
Recently I had the thought that 'influencer' is just a fancy term for 'salesperson'.
Didn’t we learn about influencers receiving thousands of dollars from Russia to ‘influence’ possible voters not to vote for Democrats but to vote for Republicans. How people were shocked, shocked, shocked over this. Oh well. That was so yesterday! Why bring it up now?/s
Everyone’s forgotten all about that. Meanwhile, foreign malign influencers have learned to be more careful.
Off topic but in case you haven't heard the grifter in chief just endorsed Paxton in TX, the most corrupt candidate in the country. Come on TX, there is so much to despise about this man, put James Talarico in the senate.
I wonder if the far right will still use influencers paid by Vladimir Putin.......Probably.
Agree. But the Russians are likely more careful now.
That must be a Burmese cat. A very wealthy Burmese cat.
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/women/life/choupette-karl-lagerfelds-belovedbirman-became-worlds-famous/
If you mean the white cat, it doesn't look anything like a Burmese.
The late Queen of Mean, one Leona Helmsley, left a substantial portion of her (inherited) fortune to her mop-on-a-leash, Trouble.
Ban AI in political campaigns yesterday! It just ensures we will keep racing to the bottom in our political discourse, and further merge the entertainment and political worlds…more idiocracy guaranteed.
"I would also say that used to happen offline, too."
There was a joke (sort of joke anyway) about 25 years ago about many new laws being "This already illegal thing, but online."
"...bipartisan support doesn’t necessarily translate into political will." All I can say is, I had BETTER -- or else it will truly be the end of us as a Republic. No one will be able to trust anything. I just cannot imagine that both parties wouldn't be on fire about this. AI-created depictions of people saying or doing things they would never say or do are -- as far as I am concerned -- a particularly virulent form of libel or slander. It should be a punishable offense. Both parties need to get behind this NOW before it is too late.
Facebook is a mine field; formerly a forum for communication with friends and sharing of pictures has become a predator. My wife is very concerned about her memory. She has shown me videos, all lengthy and full of promises by Ben Carson, Sanjay Gupta, and Bill Gates about breakthroughs in treatment of Alzheimer’s disease. The common element is that “big Pharma” is trying to suppress these cures, and the videos will be taken down if you don’t act soon. The most polished one is of Bill Gates discovery of a formula that cures Alzheimer’s and makes use of the fact that Bill Gates has funded research with millions of dollars because his father died from Alzheimer’s disease. It’s true that his father died from this terrible illness and that he’s funded research with millions of dollars. I try to convince her that these are false and AI generated. I refused her use of my debit card for the Gates cure, and she just accused me of being skeptical of everything. I went to Google and pulled up the interview with Gates on a Sunday network show supporting his research with no claim of a cure. I showed it to her. No, she saw Bill Gates claiming to have found the cure and offering a pill “at this price only for a brief time with supplies going fast and months before the supply could be restored. She wanted me to watch the video (off Facebook of course). I had seen it, and it did appear to be Gates and his voice. The other cure promised is for IBS/ diarrhea/constipation. They are all polished and follow the same format. I quit Facebook over a year ago because of fake political news. Where are the content screeners?
So sorry you are going through this. Wish you and your wife good health and hope, if nothing else, she will trust you.
I follow Choupette on Instagram. She's simply a pretty cat. I could care less about Lagerfeld 's estate.
I care deeply about everyone's estate. Generational wealth is the best source to correct generational harm. No on should be able to dictate where this much money goes after they are dead and gone. Estate taxes are essential for democracy.
Thanks for the reminder about the importance of generational wealth. It does matter
This was true of the last 2024 too. There were a bunch of paid Biden supporters saying some really nasty stuff about Bulwark people when they were calling for Biden to step aside for Kamala who suddenly went quiet when he actually did.
re the influencers and content, I'm sure all will be well if we just "do our research."
(Truly terrifying times we're in. But, thank you very much for the Lagerfeld dessert to slightly lessen the sour, bitter, awful flavor of the main course!)
Huh, for me the Lagerfeld story was poison on top of bitterness. How many children are dying because of the cuts to USAID that could be alive if the programs were funded with the funds of centimillionsires and billionaires WHO AREN'T EVEN ALIVE!! I have nothing against Choupette, but this is disgusting endstage "capitalism" destruction of humanity right up there with using our dwindling water resources to cool computers instead of feeding humans.
The first amendment should not apply to political advertising. That’s one of the biggest problems with our system. A ban on all TV, radio and online advertising is a much needed reform that unfortunately will never happen.
Great reporting. I post a lot of videos of Iowa political figures, so you inspired me to make clear to my readers that I do not and will not ever accept payment for coverage on any platform.