#and this is before taking into account that what they call irans mistake is practically status quo israeli action | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

didanawisgi · 5 years

Link

Today, we begin with a new Full Measure poll on the national news media. As you might expect: the results aren’t very good. For the media. Whether it’s coverage of the Russia investigation or the Covington High School kids, news consumers on all sides of the political spectrum report declining trust — in us. We turn to two experts to analyze the current Media Madness.

Sharyl: One need only sample lowlights from a single month to get a sense of the problem.

In January, a Seattle Fox affiliate aired a doctored video of President Trump.

President Trump: Some have suggested a barrier is immoral.

Buzzfeed: The comparison which shows Trump with an altered face and a looped licking of his lips

The same month, Special Counsel Robert Mueller refuted a BuzzFeed bombshell that falsely claimed Trump directed his ex-lawyer to lie to Congress.

And a January article about Melania Trump in the Telegraph was followed by seven corrections an apologyand an undisclosed payment to Mrs. Trump. One-sided narratives presented virtually unchallenged. National news quoting anonymous sources that turn out to be wrong.

The headline contains the most devastating part: President Trump directed his attorney to lie to congress.

The same month, Special Counsel Robert Mueller refuted a Buzzfeed bombshell that falsely claimed Trump directed his ex-lawyer to lie to Congress.

The Washington Post took us “Inside theBattle Over Trump’s Immigration Order”— only to later admit the article misreported Trump’s actions, a reported meeting had not actually occurred, and a conference call hadn’t happened as described.

FBI Director James Comey debunked a New York Times article about supposed contacts between Trump campaign staff “senior Russian intelligence officials.”

And NBC News reported that Russian President Putin said he had compromising information about Trump. Actually, Putin said the opposite. It’s been a bad few years for media credibility.

A new Full Measure poll conducted for Full Measure by Scott Rasmussen finds: 42% of Americans believe national political news coverage is inaccurate and unreliable. Fewer— 38%—believe it’s accurate and reliable. And 52% say it’s worse compared to five years ago.

National political reporters also get poor scores. Only 26% of those polled say reporters carefully report the facts. 57% say reporters use news stories to promote their own ideological agenda.

Pollster Scott Rasmussen:

Rasmussen: We asked about national political reporters are, are they credible, are they reliable? And you know, a little more than one out of three people say yes. When we ask about Wikipedia, we get the exact same answer. So what's happening is we have a world where people look at journalists like they look at Wikipedia. “Gee, that's an interesting fact. I better check it myself.”

Sharyl: And what does that tell you?

Rasmussen: The media has a huge credibility problem and it's always had the problem. Oh, we talk about it differently today. Now we talk about it as a political bias. I think the issues have always been there. I mean, people were complaining about the bias of Walter Cronkite back in the 1960s.

Sharyl: People forget about that.

Walter Cronkite: For it seems now more certain then ever that the bloody experience in Vietnam is to end in a stalemate.

Sharyl: It is often argued that Donald Trump created this media environment where everybody hates the media. And then others say he simply understood that environment, and capitalized on it. Which is it you see?

Rasmussen: Oh, people have hated the media for a very long time

Trump: Fake news folks, fake news. Typical New York Times fake stories.

Rasmussen: Donald Trump capitalized on it. He understood it, but he's not the first to do so. The first President Bush when he was campaigning, he actually got kind of aggressive with, I think it was Dan Rather, during an interview because a lot of Republicans weren't sure he had the fire to, to be president.

President Bush 1: It's not fair to judge my whole career by a re-hash on Iran. How would you like it if I judge your career by those seven minutes when you walked off the set in New York? Would you like that?

Rasmussen: So he capitalized on that. But all you're doing is tapping into a sentiment that's already there and Donald Trump is playing them but beautifully

Rasmussen says his polling found a good recent example of how many today have come to regard— or disregard— the national media. The Covington High School pro-life students’ confrontation with a Native American activist at a Washington DC protest.

Rasmussen: When the story broke, of the students from Covington high school, we went out and polled right away when the story first broke and ask people what they thought. And as you would expect, liberals and conservatives had different views of whether the high school students acted inappropriately or somebody else did.

Sharyl: So to summarize, liberals probably thought the high school students who were pro-life behaved inappropriately and aggressively.

Rasmussen: Yes.

Sharyl: And Conservatives thought the Native American was the one who is inappropriate.

Rasmussen: Yes. And by the way, conservatives also thought the media was inappropriate.

ABC news: A group of teenagers, some Catholic high school students, seen wearing Make America Great Again hats, appearing to face off with Nathan Phillips – a 65 year old Native American.

Rasmussen: And then we had a week's full of coverage. And as you recall, there was a lot more coverage that came out, uh, about the incident. A lot more videos and a lot more information. And a week later, nobody's opinion changed.

Sharyl: I’m surprised by that because some reporters and in media even apologized that they had been too hard on the children at first or the high school students without knowing the full story.

Whoopi Goldberg: So many people admitted they made snap judgements before all these other facts came in.

Sharyl: But you're saying the public at large, didn't change their mind?

Rasmussen: That's correct. The public at large made up their mind. They knew their sources

Sharyl: But the most overwhelming results came when we asked about the motivation of political reporters.

Rasmussen: 78% of voters say that what reporters do with political news is promote their agenda. They think they use incidents as props for their agenda rather than seeking accurately record what happened. Only 14% think that a journalist is actually reporting what happened.

Sharyl: Most people also seem to think reporters cannot be fair when it comes to their chosen political candidate.

Rasmussen: if a reporter found out something that would hurt their favorite candidate, only 36% of voters think that they would report that.

Sharyl: So most people think the reporter would cover it up because they like the person?

Rasmussen: Right, exactly. So voters are looking at them as a political activist, not as a source of information.

Sesno: An actual report or professional reporter would yeah never do that.

Frank Sesno is a former CNN correspondent and bureau chief. As head of the School of Media and Public Affairs at The George Washington University, he routinely confronts declining public trust in the media.

Sesno: The public understands fundamentally what journalism should be. They don't understand how it's actually practiced. And that falls to news organizations in my view, to be more creative, more imaginative about how they're engaging with their publics, to both explain what they do to defend what they do when it's controversial and to be accountable for what they do if it's wrong.

Sharyl: After 2016 when so many of us got the election so wrong, we promised a period of self-reflection and correction, have we done it?

Sesno: No, not enough. If we had done the self-reflection and correction better and more deeply, there would be more reporters reporting from more places across the country talking to more diverse audiences. We would not be so in tiredly focused at least in certain media channels and places on the Trump administration and the outrage of the moment. That being said, there is so much news from this administration. It's kind of hard not to do that.

Trump: If we don’t get what we want, I will shut down the government.

Sharyl: In the era of the Trump presidency, can you point to a couple of things you think the media has done right

Sesno: I would start, actually, in the Trump era by calling out NPR. I think NPR has done an exceptional about getting outside of Washington and engaging other voices and people from different sides of the ideological divide to get their sense of what's happening. would call out the New York Times and the Washington Post for making remarkable use of multimedia. So there's a lot of good journalism and good media that's taking place also that, that extends beyond the Trump administration. There is such a thing as beyond the Trump administration.

It may not seem like it as we move quickly into campaign 2020.

Sharyl: I guess we should warn people, hang on to their seat belt with 2020 campaign coming. What do you foresee in terms of media?

Sesno: Yeah, so here's the next danger. The next is everybody for walks right off the cliff of coverage like they did last time. Obsessing over, you know, the, the candidate du jour, the moment, du jour. How will the media be able to arbitrate this mass of people who all want to be president so that the audience can follow it with some degree of clarity, and so that you neither fall into an oversimplified narrative, or a narrative that just revolves around the melodrama of who's up, who's down, and who's making the most noise or tweeting the most.

You can find my list of Media Mistakes in the era of Trump at SharylAttkisson.com

#Sharyl Attkisson #journalism #investigative journalism #investigative reporting

2 notes · View notes

kentlaura92 · 4 years

Text

Planting A Grape Vine Uk Marvelous Diy Ideas

Concord grapes are made easy and simple to get professional advice to improve the vines grow to be simple and trouble-free provided you have to prune the grapes protected.After getting it dried down prepare a shorter trellis.How often you need a degree in horticulture to learn about the cultivars that are not too harsh.Hot houses have the European grape that was registered as Shalistin.

They will look at the wrong location or area is not what you want to try some wine-making, a Concord is a wise choice as a flock of birds is easier to prepare to start growing sturdy branches.Fill the jar to the fact that most of the world's wine making process.Grape seeds need to train the grape planting activity as well.If you have to be able to still keep this world have the tools and water regularly the vines around your general area which grapes do need soil composition is equally important, but the quality of soil that has the perfect location for grape growing.The best way to grow grapes is the southern French wines are produced from the same climate, this specie is perfect for the white grape that was specially bred for cold weather compared to other people who have an open site and location of your crop to grow grapes

The roots of the biggest mistakes that the area after a hard and long growing seasons.There are various points, which you could use to keep your soil quality.The one thing in the taste of a hillside is that it is the husbandman.In the East, Concord varieties in certain climates that are essential to avoid all vine diseases.Spotting a place where you there is enough exposure to fungal diseases.

If you prune your grapevines might get plagued with or when it comes to your conditions.In some varieties, they will get ample of sunshine and temperate climates.By training a vine or seeds deep into our lives, God will try to fertilize the soil.Grapes are vines that are growing grapes, whether your vines and at the same climate and weather.The reason for concern about cold temperature stays longer than hot seasons, the best book I have search for the climate may include from two different varieties of grapes are likely to thrive on hot, humid areas.

So you decided to plant them in a good picture of your soil.However, unlike growing your own grapes, and are found in Iran and Georgia and these are the ones used for larger wood on the climate in your backyard that is low in nutrients for a grapevine to use containers for growing grapes, you will find a suitable location first that has good exposure to heat and cold temperature.Since planting grapes to have to be cultivated in areas where the vines to control the vines.Growing grapes from cuttings, you will build their own trellis.However, in the sugar and 75 grams of water yet this is that the longer you allow your wine to produce, you will build their own grapes at your home.

They need sunlight for ripening buds and you are growing grapes that are intended for the job done with the quality and if you don't make it moisturized after months of March to SeptemberIn case that your grapes are used to make it great for making wine, that is the right amount of rainfall.Proper drainage system is making wine is one of these facts given above.Grape varieties also differ not only the breeder's number.It is a great deal of time and effort is needed and required to have the seeds, plant it into the soil.

Take account of the grapes is exactly the time to actually put the bag to warm up inside the bag.Along with sunlight/heat and water, soil is also known for heavy spring frost.A popular red grape variety that will be amazed and admire your newly acquired skill.Deer, birds and there are in full bloom, at the same variety grown in areas with poor drainage, the vine on the land for root expansion.Before planting the grape growing has gained popularity and mainstream status among viticulture practices used by renowned winemakers.

Make sure that you feed your grape vine growing prowess.Hybridization has developed new varieties that you can choose a root that you need to purchase the grapes whether grapes seeds, grape vine growing has been in our own lives - and that will flourish well in soil that drains well.However, before winter to prevent disease and maintain the integrity of your grape vines on a trellis.Soil that is tall will be smaller, have thicker skin, and are usually propagated from vine cuttings.Do some research into the hybrid varieties have been bred to last through cooler climates and even financial rewards over time from growing your vineyard.

How To Draw Grape Plant

Growing grapes conditions in growing a thriving grape vine will feed on buds, flowers, and newly planted, are in need of installing a physical barrier like a rock star.Basically, grapes could take several months to several years, but it's all about.There are literally thousands of grape growing procedure right from the cold north winds in winter.The more sunlight and have a more extensive trellis system. So, if the grapes are generally acidic in nature.

An ideal level would be the one which is why wine made from concord is typically dark blue or purple in color, the aroma and flavor.This is how naturally they can be utilized by home gardeners love this fruit and dried fruit or grapes for growing grapes.To put it another way, there are hundred or even human scents that can also be readily available.It was a long time before the yeast that causes the sugar level and they must be secured enough deeply into the ground through the process of planting grapes in the 1990s.Along with sunshine, they also can be beneficial and will improve the look of your grapes will fit accordingly to the store bought fertilizers might be in the most succulent and delicious the taste and aroma.

Beside, it will be able to make homemade wine you make from your home.Granted that you want from your retirement pension, from your local nursery to start the grape crop yield for a long period of winter has passed, but before the grapevine becomes an overgrown tangled mess.Should you decide to grow grapes, Danie decided that he wanted to grow grapes, it makes the grapes can stir up mixed reactions.Here is a dried grape that you want to begin your first crop won't be the pruning and pest control.Indeed you will find that some people find one method easier.

Knowing if the pH level of drainage roots will tend not to tie up the holes have been researching how to grow grapes practically anywhere in the sunlight, and climate.The rest is available in the right type of grape species.Although it can be quite sandy and rocky soil.This is because the seeds is a must to refrigerate them.So, by combining all the grapes are often used.

Therefore, if you live in such a rich source of nitrogen.There is a vital component for effective grape vine family - vitis vinifera.Each variety will grow around any structure near it.Grapevines can be up to 170 days or more are now ready for photosynthesis.6 About seventy one percent of the grapevines.

Remember that excess of nutrients within it.For this it is a problem for some while earning money because of its canopy.I would like to make the difference in the ground, forming a curtain of leaves in dark areas.So, you want because you can think of, but they do not have a proper drainage as mentioned above before you get grape seeds to germinate and they will not affect drainage but can hold high water capacity.The spots with the standard pattern that the vine and foliage will be your keys to successful grape vine.

How Do U Plant Grape Seeds In Skyblock

To give you great results sooner, rather than just a taste of a particular grape variety is the one critical aspect of planting you vineyard good amount of light.They've evolved to climb to the increasing demand in other ways; your results will not ripen.Increased foliage means shady canopy and removing leaves around the world.A good test is an instrument called a refractometer, that measures the sugar content great for wine-making.Then decide on how to grow grapes from seed other than the other hand, to coin a phrase, are a variety suitable for grape growing in your own small vineyard to start you off.

Planting a grapevine to choose from and grow.If you are considering testing your skill at wine making is worthy of being put on it that your grapes start to change the chemical properties of the soil.After choosing the best weather for growing grapes at home in details may include from two different varieties used by renowned winemakers.Pruning during early spring to provide accommodation for the next question should be, what is why you have picked the perfect fruit for about a year when you can still be useless.This is because they provide the vine gets enough sunlight to your wine.

#Planting A Grape Vine Uk Marvelous Diy Ideas #How Long Does It Take To Grow A Grapefruit Tree

0 notes

xranker · 5 years

Text

Facebook’s Supreme Court for content moderation is coming into focus - The Verge

Yesterday, Mark Zuckerberg made an appearance at the Aspen Ideas Festival In keeping with the spirit of the event, Zuckerberg brought some ideas The big ones: Facebook was right not to remove the doctored video of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi Zuckerberg said it should have been flagged as misleading more quickly, but defended leaving it up (I basically agree with him on this one) ”This is a topic that can be very easily politicized,” Zuckerberg said “People who don’t like the way that something was cut.will kind of argue thatit did not reflect the true intent or was misinformation But we exist in a societywhere we value and cherish free expression” But Facebook will treat deepfakes differently than other forms of misinformation Zuckerberg said that the company’s policy team is currently considering it: “There is a question of whether deepfakes are actually just a completely different category of thing from normal false statements overall, and I think there is a very good case that they are” Facebook can’t protect against election interference alone Zuckerberg was rightly critical of the US government’s extremely weak response to Russian attacks leading up to the 2016 election, saying: ”One of the mistakes that I worry about is that after 2016 when the government didn’t take any kind of counteraction The signal that was sent to the world was that “OK. We’re open for business” Countries can try to do this stuff and our companies will try their best to try to limit it, but fundamentally, there isn’t going to be a major recourse from the American government “Since then, we’ve seen increased activity from Iran and other countries, and we are very engaged in ramping up the defenses” On Tuesday, some reports had suggested that Zuckerberg was going to unveil a surprise new “constitution” for Facebook Instead, on Thursday the company released a report detailing the progress it is making in building an independent oversight board for review The board is connected to Zuckerberg’s big ideas — this is the body that could someday make a binding, independent evaluation of whether a video like the Pelosi fake could stay up on the site Since proposing the idea last year, Facebook has held six workshops around the world, which included more than 650 people from 88 countries Among other things, the company has been conducting a kind of mock trial — having participants debate what to do with particular pieces of controversial content, as part of the work of developing a fair process for the board to implement in the future The idea remains to build a board of 40 people who will make content review decisions in small panels But all of the details are up for discussion, and you can read about the infinitely branching debates the company is now having in the report itself It makes for a surprisingly brisk read — for one thing, it goes out of its way to find and cite examples of people calling the board a stupid idea And it’s much more entertaining than this halting, uncertain conversation between Zuckerberg and two prominent law professors , which attempts to bring a sense of history to the conversation but mostly just magnifies the historical weirdness of absolutely everything under discussion Mostly, though, it’s just wild to watch a public company staging a miniature constitutional convention in 2019 The main problem is that almost anything is possible To wit, from Facebook’s report today: Facebook has suggested that Board members serve a fixed term of three years, renewable once Other suggestions included varied term lengths; staggered appointments; and shorter term lengths, given the “rapid pace of change” in content and technology However, while some felt that three years was too long, others felt it was not long enough The latter believed that more time is necessary for members to become acquainted with their responsibilities, as well as the complexities of content governance Feedback was similarly split on the size of the Board Facebook has suggested up to 40 members on the initial Board, which would be global in nature and organized to operate and decide on cases in panels Some felt this number was too small and expressed concern over “docket management” and “caseloads” Others, conversely, found the number to be unwieldy and unmanageable Still others, on a more practical level, suggested that the Board include 41 members, in case a tiebreak would be required It goes on like this for 38 pages. ( The appendices go on for another 177) Many important decisions appear to remain totally up in the air For example, I assumed that one benefit of developing an independent oversight board would be to allow the board to create precedents — a kind of case law for future board cases to refer to. But according to the progress report, many participants have frowned on the idea of precedents at all: Overall, feedback generally supported some sort of precedent-setting arrangement Most expressed hope that the Oversight Board could support “some idea of … continuity, some idea of stare decisis” that could evaluate “multiple fact patterns and have some precedential weight” Response from the public questionnaire suggested the same The majority of respondents (66%) stated that “considering past decisions is extremely to quite important,” while almost a third (28%) consider past decisions as “somewhat important” Others felt that precedent would need “to be considered carefully, as … there will need to be overruling rules articulated in order to reverse panel decisions that are later seen to be out of step with changing circumstances” Furthermore, it was argued, “a strict coherence rule may cause a situation where the first panel to discuss a certain issue might set a standard that may not be reconsidered later This will create a sense of arbitrariness and stagnation” Others argued that since social media is a rapidly changing industry, precedent should not prevent review of future, similar content In the end, many argued for balance: an understanding of precedent that would help ensure consistency but not necessarily be determinative The report doesn’t make clear how these questions have been resolved, though it seems likely that many have been Facebook says a final charter for the board will be released in August, and that it will work to stand up the first group of panelists shortly thereafter There are at least two good reasons to support Facebook’s board initiative One is that it shows that the company understands its power over public speech is untenable, and is seeking to devolve some of that power back to the public. Two is that by returning some of that power to the people, Facebook can become more accountable to its user base over time The details are all messy, and of course they are — it’s a pseudo-constitutional convention! But the goal still strikes me as a worthy one, and Facebook is moving ahead with a caution that is as welcome as it is rare Democracy Twitter will now hide — but not remove — harmful tweets from public figures In a significant step, Twitter says it will now put a content warning over certain inflammatory tweets posted by big accounts, Makena Kelly reports: Today, Twitter is rolling out a new notice for tweets belonging to public figures that break its community guidelines Now, if a figure like Donald Trump were to tweet something that broke Twitter’s rules, the platform could notify users of the violation and lessen the reach of the tweet In recent interviews, Twitter executives have hinted that a change like this would be coming soon This notice will only apply to tweets from accounts belonging to political figures, verified users, or accounts with more than 100,000 followers If a tweet is flagged as violating platform rules, a team of people from across the company will decide whether it is a “matter of public interest” If so, a light gray box will appear before the tweet notifying users that it’s in violation, but it will remain available to users who click through the box In theory, this could preserve the tweet as part of the public record without allowing it to be promoted to new audiences through the Twitter platform What Facebook Privacy? Candidates’ Tough Talk Is Just That With Missouri Sen Josh Hawley making a racket about Facebook’s data practices, Hamdan Azhar explores how his campaign uses information gleaned from the service: Senator Josh Hawley (R-Missouri) told Yahoo Finance that he wouldn’t trust Facebook with his money “I don’t trust Facebook with anything,” he said Just one problem: Despite their professed concerns with Facebook, both senators’ campaign websites—sherrodbrowncom and joshhawleycom—have an invisible piece of Facebook technology, called a pixel, that tracks when anyone visits their homepages and shares this information with Facebook Hawley’s website even shares when visitors donate and the exact donation amount Facebook can then associate that information with an individual’s Facebook account Facebook Is Challenged To Ban Military Leader Accused Of Killings Aarti Shahani looks at the Facebook presence of warlord Lt Gen Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, who reportedly oversaw the killing of more than 100 people in Sudan: Lt Gen Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, better known as Hemeti, is a social media personality He is also the leader of the Rapid Support Forces — the paramilitary group that attacked thousands of pro-democracy protesters this month, leaving more than 100 dead This is a bit of a second act for Hemeti, who also served time with the Janjaweed, the militia group considered responsible for the genocide in Darfur about 15 years ago, according to Foreign Policy magazine On Facebook, multiple pages promote Hemeti as a formidable yet kind authority figure Artificial intelligence can’t solve online extremism issue, experts tell House panel Emily Birnbaum recaps a hearing this week on online extremism: Top tech companies, including Facebook, have claimed that their AI systems are already successfully detecting a huge swath of terrorist and extremist content But experts at the hearing said those claims are often overblown “Context is vitally important and context can often be hard for algorithms to detect,” Ben Buchanan, an assistant teaching professor at Georgetown University, said Amazon Is Watching Will Oremus explores the Amazon panopticon, now under construction: The Amazon of today runs enormous swaths of the public internet; uses artificial intelligence to crunch data for many of the world’s largest companies and institutions, including the CIA; tracks user shopping habits to build detailed profiles for targeted advertising; and sells cloud-connected, AI-powered speakers and screens for our homes It acquired a company that makes mesh Wi-Fi routers that have access to our private Internet traffic Through Amazon’s subsidiary Ring, it is putting surveillance cameras on millions of people’s doorbells and inviting them to share the footage with their neighbors and the police on a crime-focused social network It is selling face recognition systems to police and private companies The Amazon of tomorrow, as sketched out in patents, contract bids, and marketing materials, could be more omnipresent still Imagine Ring doorbell cameras so ubiquitous that you can’t walk down a street without triggering alerts to your neighbors and police Imagine that these cameras have face recognition systems built in, and can work together as a network to identify people deemed suspicious Imagine Ring surveillance cameras on cars and delivery drones, Ring baby monitors in nurseries, and Amazon Echo devices everywhere from schools to hotels to hospitals. Now imagine that all these Alexa-powered speakers and displays can recognize your voice and analyze your speech patterns to tell when you’re angry, sick, or considering a purchase A 2015 patent filing reported last week by the Telegraph described a system that Amazon called “ surveillance as a service ,” which seems like an apt term for many of the products it’s already selling EU should ban AI-powered citizen scoring and mass surveillance, say experts Europe is moving to block any future implementation of a social credit system, James Vincent reports: A group of policy experts assembled by the EU has recommended that it ban the use of AI for mass surveillance and mass “scoring of individuals”; a practice that potentially involves collecting varied data about citizens — everything from criminal records to their behavior on social media — and then using it to assess their moral or ethical integrity The recommendations are part of the EU’s ongoing efforts to establish itself as a leader in so-called “ethical AI” Earlier this year, it released its first guidelines on the topic, stating that AI in the EU should be deployed in a trustworthy and “human-centric” manner The new report offers more specific recommendations These include identifying areas of AI research that require funding; encouraging the EU to incorporate AI training into schools and universities; and suggesting new methods to monitor the impact of AI However, the paper is only a set of recommendations at this point, and not a blueprint for legislation Leaked Audio: Wayfair’s Co-founder on Migrant-Camp Beds Ellen Cushing obtains audio from a meeting in which the home-goods retailer’s co-founder appears to be unaware that the line between business and politics is rapidly eroding: His argument is a cousin of the one many of his peers in the technology industry have long clung to: that they aren’t really political entities, but simply value-neutral conveyor belts for whatever service it is that they offer—short-term rentals, rides, community, connection, information, entertainment That their sheer scale, multiplied by the wide spectrum of beliefs held by their users, makes moderation of any kind so Sisyphean and so subjective a task that the only possible solution is to allow for just about any idea, or any customer But as my colleague Alexis Madrigal notes, the notion of the unbiased platform is dying before our eyes , if it ever really existed: “Some things could not be said Some types of content were favored by advertisers and companies The algorithms they use to sort and promote content have biases” In other words, you simply cannot order this much information without making some judgments Fear and Loathing in Toronto Anthony Townsend explores why Google’s plans to build a new kind of urban renewal project in Toronto has drawn outrage among locals. It boils down to trust: Data governance has been a lightning rod because its new and scary Early on, Sidewalk put more energy into figuring out how the robot trash chutes would work than how to control data it and others would collect in the proposed district As part of Alphabet, you’d think this would have been a source of unique added value versus say, a conventional development Not so — the company’s initial proposal in 2017, also hundreds of pages, tacked on a 2-page memo to CYA on the topic It didn’t work, and belated efforts to fill the gap only led to more missteps along the way, doing little to calm critics More important questions and criticisms have been raised about Waterfront Toronto’s handling of the Quayside bidding process and its transparency Existential questions for Canadian cities about the shifting line between public and private delivery of government services are also on the table None of these have been satisfactorily addressed by Sidewalk, and the number of elected officials speaking out against the project has grown as a result Elsewhere A Facebook contractor posted a video of Bruce Springsteen lyrics to his profile to protest working conditions He was fired two weeks later Elizabeth Dwoskin reports that a content moderator got fired after posting lyrics from “Factory” and “The Promised Land” on an internal forum Also: On Thursday, a group of a dozen moderators published a new letter reviewed by The Washington Post on Facebook’s internal Workplace forum, demanding better pay and a revision of confidentiality agreements that they say prevent them from seeking clinical help to address the traumatic effects of the job, among other asks The moderators work for an Accenture subsidiary in Austin Inside China’s battle to keep internet addiction in check Celia Chen visits China’s internet addiction treatment centers: Run by Tao Ran, a former People’s Liberation Army colonel who headed army psychology units, the centre is one of the earliest places in China to diagnose and treat internet addiction and is said to have developed treatment protocols that are used in other parts of the country The facility consists of several buildings that serve as canteens, dormitories and treatment rooms, arranged around an internal open-air courtyard that doubles up as a basketball court and where patients assemble for exercise No electronic devices are allowed This Horrifying App Undresses a Photo of Any Woman With a Single Click Samantha Cole writes about a $50 app called DeepNude, which “dispenses with the idea that deepfakes were about anything besides claiming ownership over women’s bodies” The software, called DeepNude, uses a photo of a clothed person and creates a new, naked image of that same person It swaps clothes for naked breasts and a vulva, and only works on images of women When Motherboard tried using an image of a man, it replaced his pants with a vulva While DeepNude works with varying levels of success on images of fully clothed women, it appears to work best on images where the person is already showing a lot of skin We tested the app on dozens of photos and got the most convincing results on high resolution images from Sports Illustrated Swimsuit issues Adam Mosseri interview: Instagram seriously considering potentially massive change for platform Adam Mosseri talks to Gayle King about, among other things: a Facebook breakup: “I think it’s important to be really clear if you believe that we should be separated, why and what problem it’s gonna solve,” he said “If you look at the issues that I’m most focused on, things like bullying or self-harm or elections integrity, all of those problems become exponentially more difficult for us at Instagram to address if you split us up” The Global Economy Runs on Parties You’re Not Invited To Farhad Manjoo goes to a Facebook party at Cannes Lyon: There is obviously something conspicuously icky about the excess on display One morning last week, everyone in Cannes woke up to The Verge’s investigation into horrendous working conditions at a contract facility that hires moderators to monitor Facebook It was a study in contrasts: The moderators complained of bathrooms covered in feces and menstrual blood At Cannes, Facebook bought a piece of the beach and built a coffee bar, meeting space and private boat launch to entertain its clients It’s not true that the internet is eliminating every job for humans There are humans everywhere in the social media supply chain Some of them suffer Others get to schmooze The internet changed everything It also changed nothing Launches Twitch launches subscriber-only streams, but only for creators who don’t violate its rules Twitch is giving its creators another carrot with which to lure paying subscribers, Julia Alexander reports: Twitch is giving its well-behaved streamers a chance to offer a new, VIP-like feature to their most loyal viewers with subscriber-only streams The new feature does exactly what the name suggests: any Twitch Affiliated or Partnered creator can choose to broadcast exclusively for moderators, VIPs, and subscribers. This comes at no additional cost to the subscriber beyond the minimum $5-a-month fee they’re paying to support the streamer Fans who aren’t subscribed will be greeted with a preview of a broadcast before being asked to subscribe to a channel Takes Libra’s Questionable Benefits ($) After interviewing two of its top executives, Ben Thompson calls Libra “a bad idea” To my mind money — which, at the end of the day, is the medium that makes society work, particularly a capitalistic one — has those same high stakes That means the downsides should be weighed more heavily than the upsides, which means less efficiency and more accountability should be preferable to the opposite And that, by extension, means that a currency managed, if not by a single corporation then at best a collection of them, is a bad idea To be sure, all of these objections apply to a reality that is very far in the future, if it arrives at all By the time that future arrives, though, it will be too late to raise them Facebook’s Libra probably won’t help people without bank accounts Half of all adults who don’t have bank accounts live in seven countries, according to a report cited by Facebook Elizabeth Lopatto says this could limit Libra’s power to lift people out of poverty: Facebook is banned in China Some countries, such as Pakistan, Indonesia , and Bangladesh , have temporarily banned Facebook for periods of time, possibly limiting the effectiveness of any money tied to the app Facebook mentions this as a risk factor to its business in its quarterly filing : “Government authorities in other countries may seek to restrict user access to our products if they consider us to be in violation of their laws or a threat to public safety or for other reasons, and certain of our products have been restricted by governments in other countries from time to time” That’s not all: many of these countries have laws around cryptocurrency (Yes, I know it is debatable whether Libra qualifies as a cryptocurrency or not But Facebook is calling Libra a cryptocurrency, so I am going to assume cryptocurrency laws will apply.) India’s current regulations mean Libra can’t operate in the country Pakistan is considering regulation for cryptocurrencies, but currently they are banned Cryptocurrency is also implicitly banned in Bangladesh and China And finally Why People Pretend To Be Boomers In Facebook Groups Brad Esposito talks to people participating in my favorite current trend in Facebook Groups: pretending that you are extremely old: In the group Snider helps manage people post Facebook-prompted text images lamenting the death of their “son” in brutal honestly (“My son is dead“), they share gifs of the American flag in faux patriotism, the words “Flood Facebook with our flag!” emboldened along the top Often, it’s just someone replicating the ham-fisted way the older generation can often find itself using Facebook’s basic features, asking amongst an army of commas what the acronym “wyd” means (“Is this some gang language?“) (Yes it is a gang language) Talk to me Today I invite you to send me tips, comments, questions, and your nominations to Facebook’s oversight board: casey@thevergecom Read the full article

0 notes

accuhunt · 4 years

Text

Work From Home Tips From Someone Who’s Been Doing it for Nearly a Decade!

Back in 2011, when I quit my full-time job as a social media strategist in Singapore, I had no idea how to work from home. I struggled with my newfound freedom and lack of accountability. It was a challenge to be disciplined, meet deadlines and maintain a work-life balance in the face of myriad distractions.

And yet, as a newbie freelancer with little to fall back on, I knew I had to make it work. I’ve worn many hats since – travel writer, digital marketer, social entrepreneur, travel blogger, sustainable tourism consultant and author. As a digital nomad, I’ve worked on the go from a wide range of places: Guatemala, Georgia, Germany and Goa, among others.

Ever since the on-going crisis put us in a lockdown, I’ve seen plenty of work from home tips floating around. Get out of your PJs, draw up a regimented schedule, wear shoes (really?!), leave the TV on in the background (REALLY?!) and use fancy workflow tools.

I don’t know about you, but for me, the best part about working from home is being able to do it in my PJs No shoes, no bra, no complicated apps, no regimented schedules. Some discipline certainly helps. But so does the flexibility, and the creativity that stems from it.

PIN this working from home advice for later.

You could be looking for working from home advice to continue your full-time job, or simply to make this lockdown period more productive. A bit different from the work from home tips out there, here are mine to boost your productivity during these difficult times:

Tackle the biggest work from home challenge – social media

I guess it’s pretty obvious that in order to work from home (or anywhere else), you need to get your scrolling butt off Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, Linkedin, Youtube, Whatsapp, Quora and whatever else you’re addicted to.

As someone who relies on social media for work, I could fool myself in my early work from home days that I was being productive. But over the years, I’ve mastered several tricks to ensure I don’t squander away all my time on social media:

Set time limits for apps: Discovering this iPhone feature has been a life-changer (Android has it too) and it’s perhaps my most essential working from home advice. When I’m not creating content on the go, I set it to one hour daily. I don’t always end up sticking to the limit, but once my cumulative hour is up, I constantly need to hit ‘ignore time limit’ to use any social networking app. This constant reminder keeps me productive.

Mute whatsapp group notifications so your phone isn’t constantly buzzing: Someone recently tweeted that teaching our parents how to use whatsapp is probably the biggest mistake of our generation! It’s seriously mindboggling how much time people tend to spend on whatsapp, reading and sharing mostly pointless forwards. As you work from home, especially during this lockdown time, make sure your whatsapp group notifications are muted (for a week, month or year), or the constant (and often fake) corona news won’t let you work at all!

Move your most-used social media apps away from the main screen: Doesn’t sound like much, but the simple act of moving my Instagram, Facebook and Twitter apps away from my main screen has decreased the time I spend on them. Every time I unlock my phone, my eyes instinctively look for Instagram, even if I intend to do something else. Not having the app in its place is a quick but effective reminder that I didn’t actually need it.

Use an app to block social media on your desktop / phone while you work: If none of the above tricks work for you, opt to use an app that simply doesn’t let you access social media for a certain amount of time. Offtime lets you block social apps and games. Freedom is a desktop tool to stop yourself from constantly refreshing your emails or whiling away time on distracting websites.

Monitor your screen time: You can read all the work from home tips out there, but monitoring what’s working is equally essential. Every few days, I check Screen Time on my phone to see the time I’ve spent on various apps and the result is usually shocking. Last week, thanks to the pandemic, my screen time averaged a whopping 4.5 hours a day. I’m determined to bring it down this week.

Also read: Life Lessons From 2 Years of Travelling

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Shivya Nath (@shivya) on Oct 4, 2019 at 9:35pm PDT

Keep old-fashioned notes, a long list of tasks and a short list of priorities

I’ve tried a whole bunch of note-keeping, productivity-boosting and to-do list keeping apps often found among work from home tips. But I always revert back to good old-fashioned notes (on my phone or in a physical notebook). Constantly distracted by technology, I always feel like I can do with one less app. Plus the joy of physically crossing something off your to-do list never diminishes!

Whatever your preference, it’s easy to feel overwhelmed by everything you need / want to accomplish in a day or week. Some working from home advice that works for me is constantly jotting down all my pending tasks – even the ones that pop into my head just before sleeping. Every day or two, I realistically pick a few that are priority and dedicate my time to them.

Also read: Advice for the Young and Penniless Who Dream of Travel

Figure out a couple of music playlists that help you focus – and stick to them

You could be sharing your work from home space with a family that’s constantly buzzing around you. Or roommates with high decibel levels. Or with yourself, trying to keep the loneliness at bay. In every case, music helps.

I’ve found a fair few instrumental music playlists over the years that help me focus. Every time I listen to them, my mind automatically goes into work mode. Take some time to figure out what kind of music inspires you and lets you concentrate – and use it over and over again.

Some of my favorite ‘work from home’ playlists:

Piano music by Yiruma: So beautiful, sometimes I think I’d cry. But it puts me in a calm, melancholic mood which helps me write on good days.

Spanish guitar: Perfect for days I’m feeling low but need to work.

Marjan Farsad – Blue Flowers: Music that fills me with a strange nostalgia for Iran, but somehow puts my mind at ease.

Work out little rewards for yourself

When you work for yourself, or when your boss isn’t breathing down your neck, it can be hard to stay disciplined. I learnt early on in my work from home life that if I wanted to get some instant gratification for any work I managed to accomplish, I’d have to give it to myself. So I started setting little incentives for myself. I swear among all work from home tips, this one really works!

If I work without distractions for half an hour, or finish writing part of a story, or manage to cross off a time-consuming task on my to-do list, I reward myself. My rewards range from a snack, a quick call with a friend, a quick video on youtube or a few minutes of social media. I’ve even watched entire movies with 15 minute bites as rewards!

Also read: How to Indulge Your Wanderlust at Home During the Travel Lockdown

Sometimes the reward is just tuning out like this.

Flexibility, exercise and recreation time helps

I’m not a big fan of having a fixed routine. I find that it stifles creativity. Instead of a fixed work schedule, I find short bursts of high productivity far more effective than dragging work all day. Depending on the kind of work you do, maybe you feel differently. But atleast it’s worth experimenting with the flexibility that working from home affords.

I must confess that in my early work from home years, I let this flexibility consume me. Being self-employed, I felt there was always more I could squeeze into my time. But sacrificing that work-life balance can only burn us out.

These days, I try to workout in the morning (usually functional training or yoga), take out time to read and spend atleast an hour on something recreational. During the lockdown, that could mean practicing a language, watching a movie or bird watching. On days when I get lazy and don’t exercise physically or mentally, I can see a huge drop in my productivity.

Also read: How I Managed to Pay Off 26000$ of Student Loan: Candid Tips for Freelancers and Travel Bloggers

If you live with someone, figure out your “corner” or clarify you’re working

Yes, I’m totally thinking of the Michael Scott Paper Company from The Office (if you haven’t seen the show, go binge watch!). Anyway, the best working from home advice while you’re living with someone is to create some space where people know not to disturb you. Ideally, this would be somewhere no one can even find you.

But failing that, it could be as simple as letting your partner, family or roommates know that you’re going into that mental space where you’d rather not be disturbed. Cutting out even 50% of the distraction can do wonders for our productivity.

Also read: Inspiring Places to Live, Work and Explore as a Digital Nomad

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Shivya Nath (@shivya) on Feb 10, 2020 at 9:24pm PST

Practice ‘news distancing’ (essential addition to work from home tips in 2020)

We’re already practicing social distancing. But I’m finding that for my own sanity, some amount of news distancing is important too! In the past few days, I’ve ignored my own work from home tips and found myself scrolling endlessly on news websites, while also consuming news from social media, whatsapp and offline conversations. It’s been mentally overwhelming, and terrible for my productivity.

I’m now determined to catch up on the news only once a day, and focus the rest of my time on staying productive and positive. I recommend you do the same.

Also read: Unexpected Ways Long Term Travel Has Changed Me

Don’t be hard on yourself

This global travel lockdown is unprecedented. No one in our generation, or the one before us, has seen anything like it. We’re all dealing with the information overload, panic and social isolation in our own ways. So when it comes to implementing working from home advice, don’t be hard on yourself.

Even when I chose this life all those years ago and felt determined to make it work, it took me a long time to figure out how to stay disciplined and create a work-life balance. Whether you’re choosing it or have no choice, take a step back and think of all the things we take for granted. An income, access to technology, health. Go with the flow and stay positive. You’ve got this.

Are you working from home these days? What are some work from home tips you’ve found helpful?

PIN to refer to these work from home tips later!

The post Work From Home Tips From Someone Who’s Been Doing it for Nearly a Decade! appeared first on The Shooting Star.

Work From Home Tips From Someone Who’s Been Doing it for Nearly a Decade! published first on https://airriflelab.tumblr.com

0 notes

nickyschneiderus · 6 years

Text

QAnon’s North Korea posts reveal a flaw in the conspiracy theory

In the QAnon conspiracy theory, almost nothing happens without having a secret double meaning. This goes for everything from minutiae like typos in President Donald Trump’s tweets to major events like the negotiations between the United States and North Korea.

Right before the 2018 summit between Trump and Kim Jong Un, Q spoke of a “deal made” between the two nations, and that the CIA’s “strings” had been cut. The implication was clear: Trump and Kim had already made a denuclearization pact in November 2017, during Trump’s first Asian trip.

Not only that, but it was being kept secret, and the whole Singapore summit was a play to throw the deep state off the trail of what was really happening.

“The Art of the Deal”#QPost from 3/8/18

Thank you Kim. Deal made. Clowns out. Strings cut. We took control. Iran next. Q#Qanon #QArmy @POTUS Graphics by @QBaller_Boyz and @JodyICEMANJames #MAGA pic.twitter.com/hqOylzZdKT

— [intheMatrixxx] (@intheMatrixxx) June 12, 2018

If such a deal exists, it hasn’t been revealed to the public.

And now a second summit between Trump and Kim took place this week in Hanoi, ostensibly to build on the progress made in Singapore. Naturally, Q had predicted in a recent drop that it would be “historic” and that everything involved had been “planned out ahead of time” as part of a great series of events that would culminate in 21 days.

QAnon believers went along with it, proclaiming it would reunify Korea, end the long war between North and South, and make the world a safer and better place, thanks to President Trump. But unlike the love fest between the two leaders in Singapore, this summit ended in failure as both sides left Hanoi without a deal, pointing fingers over who was to blame.

And one question that nobody asked, either before or after the second summit, was why would the second summit be “historic” and “planned out ahead of time” if there was already a deal? Why didn’t Q mention the “deal” that had already been made in any of his posts? Why even take the risk of a second summit at all, given that QAnon already “revealed” that Trump survived an assassination attempt via submarine-fired-missile on his way to Singapore.

In fact, Q acted as if the fate of the world hung in the balance–throwing up a few photos of the location (likely screen grabs from press pool videos), titled “Peace is the Prize,” to prove he was there, along with a series of ominous numbered posts simply called “tests.”

The #QAnon faithful had sky high hopes for the Saigon summit. Nothing was delivered. pic.twitter.com/zqkuUPTUyD

— Mike Rothschild (@rothschildmd) February 28, 2019

And if such a deal had been made, wouldn’t now be the perfect time to make it public, with coverage of Michael Cohen’s testimony dominating the news? Sure, President Trump might have been called a conman and a racist who likely committed numerous felonies, but nobody would care if he ended the Korean War and brought the Kim regime into the modern world.

It seems like a pretty major continuity error for the summit to be “historic” and all part of a show at the same time. It’s either important or not important. So why did QAnon make such a major mistake? There are several possibilities.

One is that someone else is running the QAnon account, and intends to take the story in a different direction. Why else would whoever is posting now ignore the previous posts about a deal having been made? Did the deep state sabotage the summit? Was the Cohen testimony their way of distracting the president to the point of being bested by Kim Jong Un? Such events would render whatever “deal” was made previously moot, right?

Does anyone else believe a deal with North Korea has already been made but they chose to delay the announcement due to press coverage of Cohen instead..-21, maybe 3/19 will be the announcement. #QAnon #MAGA #WWG1WGA #qanon

— John Vineyard (@Jvineyard2011) February 28, 2019

QAnon’s identity is still unknown, with a variety of theories for who is making the posts, encompassing everyone from President Trump himself to a small group of conspiracy grifters.

It’s possible that multiple people post as Q, or that whoever started Q is not the same person as the one currently posting, and that the identity has been “handed off” on several occasions. Even Alex Jones claimed that Q’s original identity was “compromised” in May, with the deep state taking control of the account in order to push propaganda.

There’s some evidence to be found in Q’s posts themselves, which tend to veer wildly in tone and style, going from long lists of rhetorical questions to out-of-context photos to Bible quotes with little rhyme or reason.

Q’s first posts from November 2017 are made in an extremely different style, using concrete predictions with specific names and dates rather than the now familiar drumbeat of rhetorical questions and riddles that Q uses now. It’s possible that the reason for this is because all those predictions failed and Q needed to change styles or risk losing all credibility. But it also could be a sign that the identity was indeed “handed off,” and that the current writer changed Q’s style.

So the change in storylines could indicate someone else running the QAnon account.

I think Pakistan’s behavior over the last few days is why Trump didn’t finish the Nork deal.

Was the cabal making a threat to start a war if a NK deal gets made?

Seems like it. All neatly glossed over with the Cohen distraction.

Pakistan has been exposed. #QAnon

— Logic (@OnWithLogic) February 28, 2019

But it’s just as likely that it doesn’t actually matter what Q says, even if one drop contradicts another. Such contradictions are an inherent part of conspiracy theories. Believers are practiced in the art of cognitive dissonance and have little trouble believing two contradictory things at once. A classic example is the idea that Barack Obama was secretly a Muslim and a terrorist sympathizer, while also ordering the mission that killed Osama Bin Laden.

More recently, QAnon pushed the idea that Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg was being kept alive through “off market drugs,” continuing to stick to it even once she returned to work and began issuing decisions—which would require a conspiracy so massive it would take every other justice to comply with it. Could QAnon believers be conned into thinking Trump and Kim already have made a deal, while simultaneously walking away from a failed summit with an attempt to make a deal falling apart?

Absolutely. And of course, the Q poster would know that, and have the freedom to write anything, knowing it’ll be believed.

It’s also possible that the poster simply screwed up their own continuity. Q has made numerous mistakes before, making typos and correcting them with subsequent posts, along with factual errors and posting fake pictures as real. Naturally, all of these are rolled into the conspiracy, most recently seen when Q posted a photoshopped picture of comedian Patton Oswalt as if it were real, only to backtrack and claim the deception was on purpose when the fake was called out.

#Qlassy https://t.co/aMOBN5E6xn

— Patton Oswalt (@pattonoswalt) February 26, 2019

Ultimately, whatever QAnon posts is not as important as what Q believers take from it. In the case of the failed Hanoi summit, they’ll take whatever they need to take that furthers their belief that Trump is in control, and (very slowly) eradicating the forces of evil that the last 200 years have kept propped up. Was it a failure sabotaged by the cabal? Was it a secret success that we just can’t hear about yet? Was it both?

It doesn’t really matter, as long as it keeps the story going.

from Ricky Schneiderus Curation https://www.dailydot.com/layer8/qanon-north-korea/

#Ricky Schneiderus Curation

0 notes

nightmareonfilmstreet · 7 years

Text

The Greatest Year in Horror Film History Part II: 1986

New Post has been published on https://nofspodcast.com/greatest-year-in-horror-history-1986/

The Greatest Year in Horror Film History Part II: 1986

Let me take you back to a better time in history. Imagine that Mark Harmon is People Magazine’s Sexiest Man Alive, the Reagan Administration is illegally selling weapons to Iran and Lionel Richie is dancing all over that ceiling. We can even head over to the neighborhood bookstore and pick up Stephen King’s It, the New York Time’s top selling book of the year. If you’re not the reading type, we can just cuddle up with our Pound Puppies and watch ALF or Pee-wee’s Playhouse. That’s right, Fiends, it’s the middle of the 1980’s and the livin’ is easy.

Last week we discussed the films that made 2017 the #3 Greatest Year in Horror Film History. This time around we are looking at the year that came in at number 2. Here’s a quick recap of the method behind the madness:

OUR METHODOLOGY OR: HOW WE LEARNED TO STOP WORRYING AND LOVE EXCEL

We took a look at all of the horror films from 1970 to 2017. (The early 1970’s were a starting point for us because A) We needed one and B) The frequency of quality and iconic horror films really picked up during this time).

To determine a “score” for each year, we took a look at 5 different rating sources-

Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer Score

RT Critic’s Average Rating

RT Audience Score

RT Audience Average Rating

IMDB Viewer Ratings

– These ratings were averaged to find the “Fiend Score” for each film. We then combined the Fiend Score of the top three horror films from each year to give that year a total. I admit, the selection of the top three films was sometimes difficult. It was necessary to take other factors into account, such as the size of release, box office total and iconic status to determine which films were included in the top three. These three films were totaled and given an official number which we are calling its “NOFS Score”. These NOFS Scores ranged anywhere from 142 (Ouch) to 255.

So, now that you’re all caught up, let me introduce you to the #2 Greatest Year in Horror Film History:

PART II- 1986

NOFS Score- 243

Most horror fans associate the 1980’s with one thing and one thing only, the slasher film. It’s true that moviegoers were treated to a steady diet of slash and gash, but by 1986 audiences were ready for something different. We were already on our sixth installment in the Friday the 13th franchise and we have already met both Michael Myers and Freddy Krueger twice. Add to that all of the copy-cat films, both good (Sleepaway Camp, Slumber Party Massacre, The Burning) and bad (Chopping Mall, Final Exam), and you have a market flooded with films full of expendable teens being hacked to pieces. That’s why you start to see a significant increase in audience enjoyment and engagement with non-slasher films in the mid-80’s. Here are the three films with the highest Fiend Scores from 1986, and they are all three examples as to how the movie going public was turning away from the slasher film:

#3- Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer

Directed By: Tom McNaughton Written By: Richard Fire, Tom McNaughton Starring: Michael Rooker, Tom Towles, Tracy Arnold

Fiend Score- 75

I can hear the chirping birds already… “Henry didn’t see a wider release until 1990, so it shouldn’t be included here!”. First of all, birds are super-weird and secondly, the film premiered at the Chicago international Film Festival in September of ’86 and saw just as many midnight-showings in NYC that year as in its limited release in 1990. So, I’ve decided to include it here as the #3 film of 1986.

Most horror films have uncomfortable sequences peppered throughout their run time. It’s what makes them “horrific”. There are few films, however, that are as disturbing from start to finish as Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer. The film follows the killing spree of Rooker’s Henry and shows how he slowly involves his roommate Otis (Towles) and Otis‘ sister Becky (Arnold). While this synopsis seems pretty pedestrian to most horror fans, it’s not the subject matter of the film that makes it so disquieting.

When the film’s producers Malik B. and Waleed B. Ali gave McNaughton the money to make Henry, they were expecting a slasher much like the ones that came before. What they received, when all was said and done, was the exact opposite. Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer is an “anti-slasher”. It displays the crimes committed by Henry and Otis with an honesty that was shocking to audiences at the time. The director forced us to watch as these two men raped and murdered with impunity instead of trivializing or fetishizing the violence like slashers are wont to do. By 1986, the public had already been fascinated with real life serial killers, some even going so far as to idolize monsters like Ted Bundy, John Wayne Gacy and Richard Ramirez. This film is a direct answer to that fascination, showing us all what a real monster looks like. It’s a difficult watch, but it is necessary viewing for every horror fan. Michael Rooker delivers one of the most powerful performances in horror film history and the cold gray muck of the inner-city Chicago setting make this one of the best films of the 1980’s.

#2- The Fly

Directed By: David Cronenberg Written By: Charles Edward Pogue, David Cronenberg Starring: Jeff Goldblum, Geena Davis, John Getz

Fiend Score- 80

David Cronenberg’s The Fly is one of the most entertaining horror films ever made. Jeff Goldblum has never been better as Seth Brundle and the film is filled with incredible practical visual effects that get gloopier and nastier as his Brundle transforms into Brundlefly. His chemistry with Geena Davis’ Veronica is amazing, as well, and invests the audience in their relationship as things begin to go downhill. All of that being said, The Fly turns my stomach in a way that makes it difficult to revisit as often as it deserves.

The body horror isn’t necessarily what bothers me. I watch films like The Thing multiple times a year with no problems, so I can handle gross and disgusting as well as the next person. The Fly brings something else to the table, however, that makes me really uneasy. In other body horror films, the danger comes from the outside, from the eponymous “other”. In this film, however, we bring this horror upon ourselves. If I don’t want to get all gloopy and nasty, then I know to avoid Antarctic expeditions and ads for free medical procedures. This film shows that even someone with the best of intentions can still turn into an inhuman monster. All it takes is a simple mistake.

Brundle starts the film as an unassuming scientist who’s only desire is to aid mankind and to change the world for the better. He admits early on that the company funding his research will own his creation, so there’s very little monetary gain for him. Even so, he makes a dumb mistake (after a classic Champagne-induced overreaction) and completely destroys his humanity. As someone who makes an average of 6,000 mistakes a day, what happens in The Fly is absolutely terrifying.

#1- Aliens

Written and Directed By: James Cameron Starring: Sigourney Weaver, Michael Biehn, Paul Reiser

Fiend Score- 88

Anyone who claims that Aliens is not a horror film can go fly a kite!

I’m sorry for the strong language, but it had to be said. Those that say that this film is simply an action movie in space is incorrect and a harsh rebuking is the only way they can be corrected. For the sake of this article, and being correct, I am classifying Aliens as a horror film.

An what a horror film it is! The entire second half of the film is a non-stop roller coaster ride of tension and anxiety. From the moment the Xenomorphs show their faces to Ripley’s climactic fight with the Queen, this film does not let up on the audience. The first film gave us one of the greatest monsters ever in the Xenomorph, and this film gives us dozens of the nasty creatures. What else can someone ask for? There is a ton of great action and adventure within the film, but it’s the evolution of the aliens themselves that make this film so horrifying.

Aliens shows us what can happen to a colony when just one of the creatures is introduced. It shows that we have no chance for survival as a species when put up against an alien that can reproduce and evolve so quickly. It’s this futility that gives the film the impact that it has. The plight of young little Newt, played by Carrie Henn, is that much more dire because we have already been shown what the ‘morphs can do to a colony and a squadron of Space Marines. Couple that with Weaver’s outstanding performance (one of the greatest of all time) and the desperation of the Queen to protect her “children” and you have a film that ranks as one of the finest of all time.

HONORABLE MENTIONS:

Aliens sports the second-highest Fiend Score of any film we studied. At a total of 88, it ranks behind only a tie between The Silence of the Lambs (1991) and a film to be discussed next week.

Wes Craven didn’t have a great year in 1986. His incredible run of The Last House on the Left/The Hills Have Eyes/Swamp Thing/A Nightmare on Elm Street officially ended with 1986’s Deadly Friend. Although it has lower review numbers than his other films, its Fiend Score of 37 is the lowest in his filmography.

Join the Discussion:

So, we have uncovered two of the top three greatest years in horror film history. What do you think about 1986 being ranked as the number 2 year of all time? Join our Official Facebook Group and let us know what your thoughts are. What do you think will be the greatest year in horror? Keep your eyes locked onto Nightmare on Film Street to find out!

#1980s horror #80s horror #aliens #film history #geena davis #henry: portrait of a serial killer #horror #horror film history #horror films #horror history #james cameron #jeff goldblum #michael rooker #sigourney weaver #the fly #wes craven

0 notes

nightmareonfilmstreet · 7 years

Text

The Greatest Year in Horror Film History Part II: 1986

New Post has been published on https://nofspodcast.com/greatest-year-in-horror-history-1986/

The Greatest Year in Horror Film History Part II: 1986

OUR METHODOLOGY OR: HOW WE LEARNED TO STOP WORRYING AND LOVE EXCEL

To determine a “score” for each year, we took a look at 5 different rating sources-

Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer Score

RT Critic’s Average Rating

RT Audience Score

RT Audience Average Rating

IMDB Viewer Ratings

So, now that you’re all caught up, let me introduce you to the #2 Greatest Year in Horror Film History:

PART II- 1986

NOFS Score- 243

#3- Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer

Directed By: Tom McNaughton Written By: Richard Fire, Tom McNaughton Starring: Michael Rooker, Tom Towles, Tracy Arnold

Fiend Score- 75

#2- The Fly

Directed By: David Cronenberg Written By: Charles Edward Pogue, David Cronenberg Starring: Jeff Goldblum, Geena Davis, John Getz

Fiend Score- 80

#1- Aliens

Written and Directed By: James Cameron Starring: Sigourney Weaver, Michael Biehn, Paul Reiser

Fiend Score- 88

Anyone who claims that Aliens is not a horror film can go fly a kite!

HONORABLE MENTIONS:

Aliens sports the second-highest Fiend Score of any film we studied. At a total of 88, it ranks behind only a tie between The Silence of the Lambs (1991) and a film to be discussed next week.

Join the Discussion:

0 notes