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Thread: I never heard of QAnon until today.......

  1. #1
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    I never heard of QAnon until today.......

    .....when the NYT put something in my inbox declaring the far-right organization mainstream. This is what they said:

    . The rise of QAnon

    A man wearing a QAnon shirt at a pro-police rally in Brooklyn on Sunday.Stephanie Keith/Reuters
    Over three years, the far-right conspiracy theory QAnon has spread from the outskirts of the internet into the mainstream. And by next year, it will most likely make its way into Congress: A QAnon supporter is almost sure to be elected after winning a Republican House primary runoff in Georgia this week.

    It’s a remarkable rise for a group that believes in, among other things, a ring of Satan-worshiping, child-trafficking criminals led by prominent Democrats. We spoke with our colleague Kevin Roose, who has covered QAnon extensively, to get a sense of how the movement expanded its reach.

    Social media platforms are a big part of it. “It’s still very fringe in terms of its ideology, but not in terms of its scale,” Kevin said. “We’ve seen QAnon Facebook groups swell to hundreds of thousands of members, and they are routinely driving conversations on social media.”

    This week, NBC News reported that an internal Facebook investigation found thousands of QAnon-supporting groups and pages with millions of members and followers. Twitter permanently suspended thousands of accounts associated with the movement last month. And TikTok has blocked searches for QAnon-related hashtags.

    But these companies have “realized belatedly that this is a major problem,” Kevin said. “The horse has left the barn.”

    The pandemic, which led many people to spend more time online, has also bolstered the movement, Kevin said: “Our social interactions are mostly taking place online, and that means that the communities that have power online, including QAnon, are a much bigger part of the discourse.”

    Much of its growth also comes from its ability to attach itself to, and then absorb, both legitimate causes and “every major conspiracy theory of the past 50 years,” Kevin said.

    Its followers are “deliberately attempting to radicalize new groups of people,” he noted, by infiltrating Facebook groups focused on vaccine safety, parenting, and natural food and health.

    “These are people who might be skeptical of mainstream science or authorities,” Kevin said, “and they’re inserting their messages to those communities. So that’s what people need to be made aware of — these aren’t people hanging out in the dark corners of the internet anymore.”
    This is agenda-driven reporting at its finest. I suppose I will have to turn over my bubba card since I still dont know what a Qanon is.
    "Back after 5 years. I thought you had died.

    don"


    Splitting my time between the montane and the mesas

    The woods are lovely, dark and deep.
    But I have promises to keep,
    And miles to go before I sleep,
    And miles to go before I sleep.

  2. #2
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    Quote Originally Posted by CactusCurt View Post
    I suppose I will have to turn over my bubba card since I still dont know what a Qanon is.
    I'll have to sign up for the re-edjumication class too......Ben
    The future is forged on the anvil of history...The interpreter of history wields the hammer... - Unknown author...

  3. #3
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    This is not a creation of the NYT. There is plenty of information out there from many sources--pro and con. It has recently gained more exposure by the primary win of an outspoken believer in Georgia who is most likely going to end up in Congress come Nov.
    "A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity, an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty” ---Sir Winston Churchill
    "Political extremism involves two prime ingredients: an excessively simple diagnosis of the world's ills, and a conviction that there are identifiable villains back of it all." ---John W. Gardner
    “You can’t go back and change the beginning, but you can start where you are and change the ending.” ---C. S. Lewis

  4. #4
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    The NYT declared it mainstream. They are once again fabricating a boogeyman to scare the people who only see the world from a window.
    "Back after 5 years. I thought you had died.

    don"


    Splitting my time between the montane and the mesas

    The woods are lovely, dark and deep.
    But I have promises to keep,
    And miles to go before I sleep,
    And miles to go before I sleep.

  5. #5
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    Quote Originally Posted by CactusCurt View Post
    The NYT declared it mainstream. They are once again fabricating a boogeyman to scare the people who only see the world from a window.
    Isn't fear mongering what so many practice as their stock in trade these days? I would argue this is not mainstream but it does seem to be growing.
    "A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity, an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty” ---Sir Winston Churchill
    "Political extremism involves two prime ingredients: an excessively simple diagnosis of the world's ills, and a conviction that there are identifiable villains back of it all." ---John W. Gardner
    “You can’t go back and change the beginning, but you can start where you are and change the ending.” ---C. S. Lewis

  6. #6
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    We should call out fearmongering every time we see it, especially when it is done by a corporation with such influence. It's not the same as some crank in his basement with a blog.
    "Back after 5 years. I thought you had died.

    don"


    Splitting my time between the montane and the mesas

    The woods are lovely, dark and deep.
    But I have promises to keep,
    And miles to go before I sleep,
    And miles to go before I sleep.

  7. #7
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    Quote Originally Posted by CactusCurt View Post
    It's not the same as some crank in his basement with a blog.
    Who you callin' a crank?...And I don't have a basement......Ben
    The future is forged on the anvil of history...The interpreter of history wields the hammer... - Unknown author...

  8. #8
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    Even a cursory examination of history reveals that humans are susceptible to and accepting of some of the craziest crap someone else can dream up and follow it to their deaths. They are so crazy, they think I am crazy.
    ...............
    “You can vote your way into socialism, but you have to shoot your way out.” — Too fundamental to have an attribution


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