Make no mistake: Mind control is happening and in ways most people fail to recognize. The term “mind control” reeks of George Orwell’s “1984” and a dystopian universe in which humans are semi-automatons regulated by a higher authority resident in science-fiction movies.
In reality, people are affected every day by a kind of “mind control” — campaigns and messaging meant to persuade, convince, cajole or coerce them to buy product A as opposed to products B-Z; to support or vote for particular candidates or issues; or to impress others.
Two of the most striking examples of the subliminal application of mind control were Brexit (the 2016 referendum in Great Britain about whether to remain or leave the European Union (EU)) and in the 2016 U.S. presidential election by a relatively unknown UK firm called Cambridge Analytica (CA). In 2019, Netflix released a blockbuster documentary about CA called “The Great Hack.”
Cambridge Analytica was formed in 2013 as a subsidiary of a UK behavioral research, data analysis and communications company called SCL (Strategic Communications Laboratories) funded by UK Tory politicians and ex-UK military officers. SCL was engaged in influencing elections in several countries by manipulating data to affect voters’ perceptions and subsequent votes.
The main American CA investors were billionaire hedge fund manager Robert Mercer and his daughter Rebekah Mercer, both of whom became strong Trump supporters, and Steve Bannon, Trump’s future strategist, who at the time was at Breitbart News, owned by the Mercers.
First, Johnson adviser Dominic Cummings, who would turn against the prime minister in late 2021 when he was dismissed from 10 Downing Street, made a decisive observation. About one million British voters did not belong to any party. It was these voters who would be targeted by the “Leave” campaign and ultimately decide the referendum.
Concurrently and second, the Russians drew the same conclusion. Using social media, Russian propaganda focused on these same undecided British voters to support “Leave” as part of Moscow’s effort to divide the Western alliance. While not fully proven, Russian “active measures” likely contributed to the “Leave” vote.
Third was Cambridge Analytica. CA had harvested thousands of pieces of data from Facebook on many millions of Britons. Shareholder legal suits would follow for which Facebook would be fined for violating privacy laws. But in December 2021, a U.S. federal court dismissed more serious charges and allegations that Facebook management knew and permitted CA to loot its data.
By compiling personal data and using a combination of AI and data processing, CA tailored campaigns specifically designed to affect individual Britons. While Russia may not have deployed such a targeted strategy, its use of social media clearly was aimed at the uncommitted Britons. And the combination worked. “Leave” won.
The 2016 Trump campaign hired CA, which collected data on somewhere between 50-90 million Americans, affecting roughly a quarter of the U.S. population, largely from Facebook, to shape the vote for Trump.
The lesson is that by manipulating private data, one can impose a form of mind control on any cohort of the population. All political parties understand this and could plagiarize these techniques in the future.
Harlan Ullman, Ph.D, is senior adviser at Washington, D.C.’s Atlantic Council and the primary author of “shock and awe.” His latest book is, “The Fifth Horseman and the New MAD: How Massive Attacks of Disruption Became the Looming Existential Danger to a Divided Nation and that World at Large.”
OTTAWA – Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says the NDP is caving to political pressure from Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre when it comes to their stance on the consumer carbon price.
Trudeau says he believes Jagmeet Singh and the NDP care about the environment, but it’s “increasingly obvious” that they have “no idea” what to do about climate change.
On Thursday, Singh said the NDP is working on a plan that wouldn’t put the burden of fighting climate change on the backs of workers, but wouldn’t say if that plan would include a consumer carbon price.
Singh’s noncommittal position comes as the NDP tries to frame itself as a credible alternative to the Conservatives in the next federal election.
Poilievre responded to that by releasing a video, pointing out that the NDP has voted time and again in favour of the Liberals’ carbon price.
British Columbia Premier David Eby also changed his tune on Thursday, promising that a re-elected NDP government would scrap the long-standing carbon tax and shift the burden to “big polluters,” if the federal government dropped its requirements.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
Simon Jolin-Barrette, minister responsible for consumer protection, has tabled a bill to force merchants to calculate tips based on the price before tax.
That means on a restaurant bill of $100, suggested tips would be calculated based on $100, not on $114.98 after provincial and federal sales taxes are added.
The bill would also increase the rebate offered to consumers when the price of an item at the cash register is higher than the shelf price, to $15 from $10.
And it would force grocery stores offering a discounted price for several items to clearly list the unit price as well.
Businesses would also have to indicate whether taxes will be added to the price of food products.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 12, 2024.
Quebec legislature member Youri Chassin has announced he’s leaving the Coalition Avenir Québec government to sit as an Independent.
He announced the decision shortly after writing an open letter criticizing Premier François Legault’s government for abandoning its principles of smaller government.
In the letter published in Le Journal de Montréal and Le Journal de Québec, Chassin accused the party of falling back on what he called the old formula of throwing money at problems instead of looking to do things differently.
Chassin says public services are more fragile than ever, despite rising spending that pushed the province to a record $11-billion deficit projected in the last budget.
He is the second CAQ member to leave the party in a little more than one week, after economy and energy minister Pierre Fitzgibbon announced Sept. 4 he would leave because he lost motivation to do his job.
Chassin says he has no intention of joining another party and will instead sit as an Independent until the end of his term.
He has represented the Saint-Jérôme riding since the CAQ rose to power in 2018, but has not served in cabinet.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 12, 2024.
