Stochastic Terrorism: Triggering the shooters.

[EFerrari]

(Thom is talking about this today.)

by G2geek
Mon Jan 10, 2011 at 05:37:39 PM PST

Stochastic terrorism is the use of mass communications to stir up random lone wolves to carry out violent or terrorist acts that are statistically predictable but individually unpredictable.

This is what occurs when Bin Laden releases a video that stirs random extremists halfway around the globe to commit a bombing or shooting.

This is also the term for what Beck, O'Reilly, Hannity, and others do. And this is what led directly and predictably to a number of cases of ideologically-motivated murder similar to the Tucson shootings.

Update: the mechanism spelled out.

(This update is to resolve some ambiguity.)

The person who actually plants the bomb or assassinates the public official is not the stochastic terrorist, they are the "missile" set in motion by the stochastic terrorist. The stochastic terrorist is the person who uses mass media as their means of setting those "missiles" in motion.

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2011/1/10/934890/-Stochastic-Terrorism:-Triggering-the-shooters

[SalviaBlue]

1. I'm listening to Thom. The Beck tape

he has played several times is truly frightening. Beck's apocolypic speech is triggering the lone wolves.

[StarsInHerHair]

57. I must point out-the pic of the guy...he has the SAME look in his eyes as

Beck.........it is so awful I had to block the view of him with my hand. He looks like Beck's son.

[mariawr]

2. Yes, they know what they are doing. Just evil.

[Solly Mack]

3. K&R

[fascisthunter]

4. I Was Just Going to Post This...

thanks!

[EFerrari]

6. This is what Cenk was describing in his segment, isn't it?

[fascisthunter]

15. Thom Hartmann actually covered the definition of the word Stachostic Terrorism

[EFerrari]

16. Yeah, I'm watching it now.

But in his segment, Cenk referred to "hate seeking missiles" iirc.

[Cleita]

5. Listening to Thom too.

We all have known about what is going on and how they are using advertising techniques to push our buttons. I mean Hitler wrote about how Americans and Brits did propaganda in "Mein Kampf", techniques he perfected and used in The Third Reich. but now we have a word for it. I never heard that before today.

[EFerrari]

7. I hadn't, either. n/t

[kestrel91316]

8. Kudos to our own nadinbrznski for originally writing this - it's gone viral.

[EFerrari]

10. Very well done. n/t

[Cleita]

Thom read her post on the radio.

:thumbsup:

[Cleita]

21. cyber burp

[nadinbrzezinski]

31. Thanks my own two seconds of fame

I was blushing when I heard it.

[malaise]

35. Proud of you

:yourock:

[backscatter712]

37. Didn't know it was originally your writing. KUDOS!!!

I'll try to spread it when I see the opportunity!

[nadinbrzezinski]

39. Not on terrorism just on blood libel

and why it is not accidental

[PufPuf23]

60. Kudos Nadine

I had already responded without reading this far.

Stochastic terrorism as a meme in the common consciousness and the media would be excellent.

[Overseas]

52. I'm glad it has. Funny how the "personal responsibility" right wingers

have been so focused on absolving themselves, rather than urging their followers to calm down.

[FiveGoodMen]

9. K&R

[DCKit]

11. Didn't have a name for it, but have known what they're up to for some time.

However, in their willful ignorance and hubris, the stochastic terrorists fail to realize they don't, in fact, have any real control over their missiles. The susceptibilities and mental instabilities of the missiles, so valuable in the grander scheme, also make them dangerous to all. Eventually, one of their own is going to become an unintended target.

The vitriol pumped out over our airwaves is meant to target Progressives, Liberals and Democrats, but how many of the listeners and viewers are only hearing "Politician", "Washington" or "Congress" in these messages?

The mentally ill don't always perceive reality as intended. Using them in this manner is a very dangerous game.

[EFerrari]

12. I've come to the conclusion that a lot of people on the right

have no concept of relationship, so they literally don't understand society or how individual behavior doesn't occur in a vacuum.

[AndyTiedye]

30. That Won't Matter to the People Who Put Them There

They'll just hire some more.

[leftstreet]

13. Much like releasing Abu Ghraib photos

Throw it out there...see what happens

K&R

[EFerrari]

14. Yes. Just like that. n/t

[wiggs]

17. I don't often disagree with Thom but I think he's missed the mark with this one. I

don't think Beck's and Palin's primary or secondary interests are to activate terrorists in order to carry out assassinations or violence. It is more simple than that. They are interested in 1) gathering together a political congregation of blind followers, donors, and faithful voters and 2) intimidating and/or smearing the opposition through words. It is terrorism...they are manipulating groups of people through hate, fear, and threats...but the actual violence or thwarted violence that inevitably occurs is simply collateral damage. It is not the goal. It is an acceptable price to pay for the political gain. In that respect, it's similar to the southern strategy in which the RW utilized (utilizes) racism to solidify their base, and the racism tag and alienation of a group is acceptable collateral damage. It is a simple calculation (and not unlike a car or cigarette manufacturer calculating costs associated with death or disease into the cost of doing business)

With these guys, the ends justify the means always. No road is too low.

My take on it might be even more heinous than Thom's....but I doubt assassination is the goal.

[EFerrari]

19. I don't think Thom was saying this was their primary motivation or goal.

He was more describing a process.

[wiggs]

22. He was equating it with OBL...who clearly does wish to activate violence as a primary

consequence. I only heard about 3/4 of it so I'll say that Thom wasn't clear during the portion I heard.

[EFerrari]

24. I only heard it with one ear

lol, so maybe I got it wrong.

He did say that was what bin Laden does -- apparently the term itself has been used to describe bin Laden by the FBI.

[Cleita]

23. They were definitely looking for the assassination of ideas

like, life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. The problem is they turned on a switch that made a crazy person take them literally.

[wiggs]

25. Assassination of ideas and democracy, yes. I don't think the possibility of

crazy or fringe persons acting out was an over-riding problem. It is a manageable cost. Maybe it was arrogant to think that they could overcome accusations of incitement, but look at all the BS they've managed to convince the nation of over the last ten years. Is it arrogance or confidence?

[nadinbrzezinski]

32. Watch Hotel Rwanda

that is the most direct example of this in real life.

[backscatter712]

34. There's a reason why we should be calling Rush "Radio Rush-wanda". n/t

[Little Star]

27. Does it really matter what the goal is if the outcome is the same?

They had been warned many times what could happen.

Reminds me of the fire at The Station Night Club in Providence, RI. when the band Great White’s pyrotechnics ignited soundproofing foam around the stage and 100 lost their lives and 230 were injured. I think the courts decided that both the band & the club should have known of the danger.

Either way this vitriolic shit has got to stop.

[wiggs]

38. I agree. nt

[EFerrari]

40. I remember that. It's a good comparison.

And Palin et al should be even more aware than that band was because the band's main job was to play music, not influence people.

[Fire Walk With Me]

18. A long-distance version of what happened in the film "Bob Roberts".

Thank you very much for posting this. It's fully time to call out the US terrorists and to shame then into stopping.

[EFerrari]

20. I remember feeling very upset when O'Loofa suggested Al Qaida bomb San Francisco.

And his repeated calling Dr. Tiller "Tiller the baby Killer" was criminal, imo.

[Commie Pinko Dirtbag]

43. If the world was fair, I should be able to rec it twice.

Once for truth, once for geekness.

[slackmaster]

26. Do you see the red queen?

http://www.eleves.ens.fr:8080/home/madore/images/cards/english/queen-hearts.png

[Kurovski]

28. K&R.

A new class for high school students...I wish.

[sabrina 1]

29. 'Statistically predictable'

Exactly and then they have plausible deniability. If a Muslim radio talk show host were to engage in the kind of diatribe these righting lunatics spew over the airwaves every day, it would be an entirely different story. And seen for what it is.

[EFerrari]

36. If Jim Zogby put targets on politicians, or made up an "enemies' list"

like O'Reilly did or suggested guns or bullets are a solution to political debates, he'd be under indictment.

[backscatter712]

33. K&R - this is exactly what the right wing is doing!

The more people hear about this, the better!

[backscatter712]

41. One person on Reddit described this as a form of Russian Roulette.

Eventually, the odds catch up.

"Russian Roulette" sums up the concept behind stochastic terrorism very succinctly.

[backscatter712]

42. On Thom's web site:

http://www.thomhartmann.com/blog/2011/01/are-sarah-palin-glenn-beck-michael-savage-and-rest-gang-guilty-stochastic-terrorism

[Canuckistanian]

44. K&R

Very insightful.

[Judi Lynn]

45. Hadn't heard this term before. Thanks for the information. Rec. n/t

[One Voice]

46. K&R

Holy crap!

[Arctic Dave]

47. K&R

[backscatter712]

48. I'm seriously considering putting together a video on this to put on Youtube.

This concept needs to be spread as widely as possible.

[Major Hogwash]

49. When she mentioned how men used to have dueling matches in this country, she went over the cliff.

I'm not exactly sure when dueling was outlawed, but I know they didn't have cameras, a 24/7 right wing tv channel and 1500 echo chamber radio stations to talk about it that night!

Mass communication is what made Sarah and the Tea Party famous, and it is going to be its undoing.
The longer they spew their radical attitudes on tv or radio, the goofier they look.

There has to be a "bottoming out" point for them.
And if this wasn't it, then I don't know what it's going to take for people to realize the coo-coos the Tea Party really is.
I think that by this summer, the media is going to have to be turned on its head and recreated, because this "Newspeak" crap that they have been engaging in for the last decade is ruining the dialog in this country.

How in the Sam Hell are normal people supposed to figure out who to vote for when the discussions are so far to the right that you have to wave the Bars and Stars and worship Southern Civil War Generals to be heard on the mainstream media?

Maybe President Obama ought to start out his State of the Union speech with "No, you lie" and look right at Rep Wilson when he says it.
Of course, President Obama won't do that.
He won't mention the 400% increase of death threats made to the President of the United States of America over the last 2 years in his speech.
He won't mention the historic number of filibusters (or threats of filibusters) that were the 111th Congress' legacy in the Senate.
Gawd, I hope they're proud of that.
Really, standing in the way of making any real progress must be a sure-fire method of getting reelected to the Senate.

We'll see.
Senator Kay Bailey Hutchinson of Texas announced that she is not running for reelection in 2012.
And I don't think Senator Mitch McConnell will be reelected now, considering his only agenda is to keep President Obama from being reelected.
Really?

Obama against McConnell?
It won't even be close.

I just hope that in this tight housing market that McConnell has picked out a place to move to by the end of next summer, and has his bags packed, because come January of 2013, he won't be in the Senate anymore.

[Overseas]

50. K&R. Those Beck segments were eerie.

Whether he does them to increase his private wealth or shore up Republican power with the rest of the Fox troops, it is easy to understand how they could inflame the several right wing lunatics who have attacked perceived liberals in the past couple of years.

[grahamhgreen]

51. KR

[steve2470]

53. k & r nt

[Name removed]

54. Deleted message

Sub-thread removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[felix_numinous]

55. Addressing the root causes of violence

is crucial for the sanity of this country. The usual reductionist thinking, in an attempt to find resolution to traumatic situations, blame one type of person, one single factor in society, one issue is very common. How many times have we heard, "Oh he was a loner, he was mentally ill...." and the media/discussion moves on as if this explanation is of any help to anybody.

In the process of looking for answers we have to look at the whole system, we have to look for patterns, common denominators, and start working to eliminate them in society. This requires a paradigm shift not everyone is willing or capable of making. People want simple answers--fine. While finding answers, our country is full of toxic broadcasts, toxic movies, games, food, pesticides, groundwater, noise and machines everywhere emitting EMF like never before, and the Earth is going through changes.

We as a country and as human beings have choices to make about the world we live in right now. We can work toward addressing the CATALYSTS that cause the most damage to human beings, by working individually within our own circle of family and friends, and if able work in communities and on a larger scale.

Stochastic terrorism is a method of propaganda, this is an example of one toxic and very dangerous use of media, and one of the keys that has to be turned to free ourselves in order to create a healthy life.

[bobthedrummer]

56. K&R n/t

[bertman]

58. First I hear the term, but the process about any damn idjit could figure out.

Too late to rec, so here's the kick.

"And it's high enough. Is it long enough? It's goooood."

[PufPuf23]

59. The concept of stochastic terrorism should be a meme.

Stochastic means probability.

Many are influenced, some prepare to act defensively a small minority concieves offensives, and some cross the line.

I like this term. Thanks EF. ;o)

[Faux pas]

61. I knew there had to be a name for what all the inciters are doing.

Very interesting.

[Oilwellian]

62. "Progressive Hunter"

Media Matters did an excellent piece on a missile Beck set in motion. Your article quotes:

The stochastic terrorist is the person who uses mass media to broadcast memes that incite unstable people to commit violent acts.

One or more unstable people responds to the incitement by becoming a lone wolf and committing a violent act. While their action may have been statistically predictable (e.g. "given the provocation, someone will probably do such-and-such"), the specific person and the specific act are not predictable (yet).

The stochastic terrorist then has plausible deniability: "Oh, it was just a lone nut, nobody could have predicted he would do that, and I'm not responsible for what people in my audience do."

The lone wolf who was the "missile" gets captured and sentenced to life in prison, while the stochastic terrorist keeps his prime time slot and goes on to incite more lone wolves.

Beck has a follower in jail for attempted mass murder.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MoTpLr-mBLc