The Caribbean Tree Planting Project forges a spiritual connection with Jamaica’s diaspora

It was a hot, dry Saturday morning in Kingston, and the polished pews gleamed at the New Testament Church of God on Eastwood Park Road. There was an …

The Caribbean Tree Planting Project forges a spiritual connection with Jamaica’s diaspora

Chico Buarque

Pensamentos.me/VEM comigo!

” O que será, que será?

Que andam suspirando pelas alcovas

Que andam sussurrando em versos e trovas

Que andam combinando no breu das tocas

Que anda nas cabeças, anda nas bocas

Que andam acendendo velas nos becos

Que estão falando alto pelos botecos

E gritam nos mercados que com certeza

Está na natureza

Será, que Será

O que não tem certeza nem nunca terá

O que não tem conserto nem nunca terá

O que não tem tamanho

O que será, que será?

Que vive nas ideias desses amantes

Que cantam os poetas mais delirantes

Que juram os profetas embriagados

Que está na romaria dos mutilados

Que está na fantasia dos infelizes

Que está no dia a dia das meretrizes

No plano dos bandidos, dos desvalidos

Em todos os sentidos

Será, que será?

O que não tem decência nem nunca terá

O que não tem censura nem nunca terá

O…

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#OTD 1863: Union troops repelled a massive artillery assault on Cemetery Ridge during the third day of the Battle of Gettysburg – 💥Peace & Truth – (Me: some fools-traitors think it is OK to talk about Texas leaving the Union that more than 300,000 died to save…)

Source: #OTD 1863: Union troops repelled a massive artillery assault on Cemetery Ridge during the third day of the Battle of Gettysburg – 💥Peace & Truth

I watched hundreds of flat-Earth videos to learn how conspiracy theories spread

Countering disinformation on social media is difficult when people internalize it as a personal belief. Fact-checking can be ineffective and backfire, because disinformation becomes a personal opinion or value.

Responding to flat Earthers (or other conspiracy theorists) requires understanding the logic that makes their arguments persuasive. For example, if you know that they find arguments from authority unconvincing, then selecting a government scientist as a spokesperson for a counterargument may be ineffective. Instead, it may be more appealing to propose a homemade experiment that anyone can replicate.

If you can identify the rationality behind their specific beliefs, then a counterargument can engage that logic. Insiders of the group are often key to this – only a spokesperson with impeccable credentials as a devout Christian can say that you do not need the flat-Earth beliefs to remain true to your faith.

Overall, beliefs like flat-Earth theory, QAnon and the great replacement theory grow because they appeal to a sense of group identity under attack. Even far-fetched misinformation and conspiracies can seem rational if they fit into existing grievances. Since debates on social media require only posting content, participants create a feedback loop that solidifies disinformation as points of view that cannot be fact-checked.

Source: I watched hundreds of flat-Earth videos to learn how conspiracy theories spread

An American’s Murky Path From Russian Propagandist to Jan. 6 – The New York Times

Central to his transformation was a series of websites he created pushing anti-America, pro-Russia themes, as well as racist and homophobic messaging. Some of his posts have racked up millions of views, and his 5,000-word screed on “the Jewish problem” has been hailed by antisemites around the world and translated into multiple languages…

After surfacing as a voluble defender of Russia’s 2014 invasion of Crimea, Mr. Bausman became an outspoken Trump supporter. With white nationalism on the rise, he threw himself into promoting it, relocating to rural Pennsylvania and hosting neo-Nazis at his property. He joined Republican protests against coronavirus restrictions and the 2020 election and most recently has reappeared in Russian media to criticize the West’s response to the war in Ukraine.

Royal Navy promoted sailor despite joining neo-Nazi group | Far right | The Guardian (Me: Does Boris care if neo-Nazis in British navy?)

The revelations, however, raise concerns over the navy’s approach to rooting out extremism, along with fresh questions over the effectiveness of the government’s Prevent counter-terrorism programme to which McCourt was referred following the initial claims. The latest data indicates that, in 2019, a total of 14 serving military personnel were referred to Prevent, with 11 of those prompted by far-right concerns.

Last year, McCourt was promoted to the position of petty officer as a weapons engineering technician submariner, allowing him to work with the UK’s “most advanced defence technology”, including ballistic missile systems and potentially Trident, Britain’s nuclear weapons deterrent.

Yet navy sources said that McCourt had refused to be vaccinated against Covid, meaning he had not received the necessary security clearance to be deployed on a submarine, despite still being paid to do so.

Hope Not Hate, whose undercover informant exposed McCourt after infiltrating the UK branch of the pan-European Identitarian movement, said the navy’s inability to force the sailor out of the service sent a message that far-right support was condoned. David Lawrence, senior researcher at Hope Not Hate, said: “The navy’s failure to take disciplinary action against McCourt when we exposed him three years ago sent a message that far-right activism would be tolerated in its ranks.

“The fact that he has since shifted towards an even more fascistic organisation, one that is rife with Holocaust deniers and run by a man who recommends Mein Kampf to his audience, is dismaying but also unsurprising. The forces must move decisively to root out extremism whenever it is found.”

 

Source: Royal Navy promoted sailor despite joining neo-Nazi group | Far right | The Guardian