The 9pm Information Warfare in a Dying Empire

A New York cityscape with a huge TV screen showing the message: Curfew starts at 8pm @NYCGovCuomo.
A digital billboard announces an 8pm curfew in New York City, signed with the governor’s Twitter handle. (@meaganrosae)

In this episode we hear the death rattle of an empire in decline. We hear some examples of 21st century information warfare. And we hear just how important the US protesters are to the American people.

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For this the previous two episodes it’s thanks to Bob Ogden, Joop de Wit, Kimberley Heitman, Oliver Weidlich, Pete Lawler, Ross Nye, and Simon Harris. And for birthday drinks and funds for same it’s thanks to Karloskar, Peter Leiverdink, and one person who’s choosing to remain anonymous.

Donald Trump holds aloft a Bible at St John’s Episcopal Church in Washington DC. (NBC News)

Episode Links

  • Richard Travis Hall (born June 10, 1954) is an American comedian, writer, and musician, first coming to prominence as a sketch comedian in the 1980s.
  • A BBC Four documentary from 2011 presented by Rich Hall that looks at the American Road Movie. Witty, wonderfully shot and opinionated. This link will take you to the section on the Beat Poets and related topics.
  • Jean-Louis Lebris de Kérouac (/?k?ruæk/, March 12, 1922 – October 21, 1969), often known as Jack Kerouac, was an American novelist of French-Canadian ancestry and, alongside William S. Burroughs and Allen Ginsberg, a pioneer of the Beat Generation.
  • Vesuvio: This world-renowned San Francisco saloon located in North Beach just across from the infamous City Lights Bookstore, was first established in 1948.
  • President Trump walked from the White House, crossed Lafayette Square, and stood in front of St. John's Church holding a Bible moments after telling reporters he would deploy the military if state officials could not contain protests across the nation.
  • White House video of Trump crossing Lafayette Park to St John's Church.
  • This was the scene outside of the White House on Monday as police used tear gas and flash grenades to clear out peaceful protesters so President Trump could visit the nearby St. John’s Church, where there was a parish house basement fire Sunday night
  • It has come to our attention that a couple of our officers met with a group as they prepared to attend Monday’s protest. This was not a Department-sanctioned contact, and we are investigating the incident.
  • A truck driver who drove into Minneapolis protesters has been released from jail without criminal charges. The governor said the driver was "frustrated" when he drove onto the highway, just before it was closed to traffic. No protesters were injured.
  • The crowd is chanting “I don’t see no riot here, why are you in riot gear?”
  • "Can I ask you what's going to happen at 8, sir?" "What's going to happen is we're going to start beating the fuck out of you."
  • Three years ago, I was investigating the small but growing industry of insurance and reputation management for individual police officers. I wasn't able to get enough people to speak to me so it never got off the ground, but it was dark as hell.
  • The Seven Mountain Mandate is a manifesto for conquering all aspects of American life.
  • The human rights organization WITNESS provides guidance on exposing violent and discriminatory policing.
  • In an anti-racist move that demonstrates their formidable social-media power, K-Pop fans took over the hashtag #whitelivesmatter, drowning out white-supremacist messages with nonsensical or anti-racist posts. The move was met with wide approval online early Wednesday morning.
  • The iWatch Dallas app, which allows citizens to report crime, caught the wrath of BTS and Taemin fans during a mass prank this weekend.
  • Here's an interesting one. This Account with 120k followers claiming to represent "Anonymous" was a fake K-pop giveaway account up until 3 days ago, when it changed name and began tweeting about BLM.
  • Trump, a ferocious campaigner, will try to find ways to use both tragedies to his advantage and, importantly, makes things worse for his challenger.
  • SuspendThePres began directly copying and reposting U.S. president Donald Trump's tweets on May 29. Run by a user who also tweets as BizzareLazar, the experiment was prompted by Trump's recent executive order calling for social media companies' protections to be reconsidered. Trump issued the order after Twitter applied a fact-check label to two of his tweets.
  • Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump delivered a speech in Michigan Friday focused on the African American community, urging black voters to "try Trump," asking "what the hell do you have to lose?" (19 Aug 2016)
  • So pathetic to watch the Fake News Lamestream Media playing down the gravity and depravity of the Radical Left, looters and thugs, ripping up our Liberal Democrat run (only) cities. It is almost like they are all working together?
  • A majority of Americans sympathize with nationwide protests over the death of an unarmed black man in police custody and disapprove of President Donald Trump's response to the unrest, according to a Reuters/Ipsos poll released on Tuesday.
  • Trump has previously threatened to move the convention from North Carolina, claiming that the state’s Democrat governor was in a “shutdown mood” and hadn’t committed to allowing full attendance at the event.
  • Here’s Jenny Durkan saying that Seattle police didn’t turn their body cams on when they maced children because they hate the idea of a surveillance state
  • I shit you not this is a real thing aired on real television: stock market response after similar news stories.
  • Guy on his way home from work gets stuck in traffic because of protest march in Richmond Heights near St. Louis. He’s loving it.
  • American officials who refer to American streets as "battlespace" shouldn't BE operating on American streets. Thinking is shaped by language. The fact that we don't even HAVE non-military terms is the goddamned point. If the only word you have for citizens is "enemy..."
  • Americans have taken to the streets in dozens of cities to protest the death of George Floyd, police brutality, and systemic racism. President Trump has focused his attention on looting and violence, which he calls “domestic terror” and insisted governors “dominate” the protestors. The gang talks about the role of the military and the Insurrection Act, the role of Bill Barr and the Justice Department, and Trump’s use of other federal forces as America heads into another day of public demonstration amidst a still raging pandemic.
  • this is the most intentional thing I’ll ever do. I’ve made my way from intel/CT work overseas to local cop in my home town. I’m a truly terrible twitter follow
  • Dude that came out with an AR-15 to the Protests quickly learned why we are screaming #BlackLivesMatter
  • This is Commander Cory Palka with @LAPDHQ throwing WHITE POWER sign on live @KTLAMorningNews interview.
  • And the Trump campaign just changed his MAGA hats to camo and is now referring to supporters as the "Trump Army." Totally not concerning at all.
  • Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff #GenMilley: "We all committed our lives to the idea that is America--We will stay true to that oath and the American people." Read the Chairman's full message to the Joint Force: https://go.usa.gov/xwDJ2
  • Regardless of the failure, President @realDonaldTrump tells us again and again: “No, I don’t take responsibility at all.”
  • No patriotic American should brandish or proudly celebrate the iconography of a rebellion that resulted in tremendous devastation, the loss of more than 620,000 American lives, and the continued subjugation of Black America.
  • My Admin has done more for the Black Community than any President since Abraham Lincoln. Passed Opportunity Zones with @SenatorTimScott, guaranteed funding for HBCU’s, School Choice, passed Criminal Justice Reform, lowest Black unemployment, poverty, and crime rates in history…
  • President Trump: "Our country is doing well."
  • In the new @MonmouthPoll, a third of voters (33%) say that race relations will be a major factor in their vote for president this November.
  • Glass half full? Glass half empty? Choose your own adventure!
  • NSW Police Commissioner Mick Fuller says the officer filmed throwing an Indigenous teenager to the ground during an arrest in Sydney this week "had a bad day".
  • The Australian Government has just appointed a group of experts to help it tackle modern slavery. Most are from big business. Not a union or human rights organisation in the room. HRLC and 20 other orgs wrote yesterday calling for an immediate rethink.
  • "The police operation began following the victim's death during the celebration of a mystic ritual based on the inhalation of venom of the bufo alvarius toad," a police statement said.
  • Two men hired to carry out a stranger's sexual fantasy of being tied up while clad in his underpants went to the wrong NSW rural address with machetes but politely left after realising their mistake.
  • We will not be silent. Black Lives Matter.
  • The guy who lead the team that KILLED OSAMA BIN LADEN (Admiral Mcraven) tells it like it is about @realDonaldTrump. And before Trumpettes lose their cool, this guy served under numerous Dem & Rep Presidents for over 30 yrs. Fox is afraid to host him. #Biden2020Landslide
  • It sickened me yesterday to see security personnel—including members of the National Guard—forcibly and violently clear a path through Lafayette Square to accommodate the president's visit outside St. John's Church. I have to date been reticent to speak out on issues surrounding President Trump's leadership, but we are at an inflection point, and the events of the past few weeks have made it impossible to remain silent.
  • This is an awful man, waving a book he hasn’t read, in front of a church he doesn’t attend, invoking laws he doesn’t understand, against fellow Americans he sees as enemies, wielding a military he dodged serving, to protect power he gained via accepting foreign interference...
  • Five years since we lost Joan [Kirner].
  • We reviewed the rules governing police use of force in America's largest city police departments to determine whether they include meaningful protections against police violence.
  • One of my best and oldest friends broke up with his high school girlfriend over a decade ago. Today, his wife of 7 years found this absolute ornament in their mailbox.

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Series Credits