New release!
In 'The Birth and Death of Liberal Democracy in Hungary', Emilia Palonen explores Hungary’s post-communist #political transformation. The book is published in the Pro et Contra series and is freely available in #openaccess at: https://doi.org/10.33134/pro-et-contra-4
Dans un contexte de #polarisation, il est tentant de chercher une option neutre. Cette opinion est basée sur la croyance voulant qu'en face des problème, chacun doit s'ajuster pour trouver une solution acceptable.
Est-ce que cette option est toujours efficace ? C'est la préoccupation de ce texte --> Les angles morts de l’extrême #centre.
« Ses angles morts, qui occultent autant le passé que l’avenir, témoignent d’une vision binaire et réductrice du politique. »
https://www.ledevoir.com/opinion/idees/901453/idees-angles-morts-extreme-centre?
When nobody’s there anymore to observe those in power from an independent perspective, get to the bottom of issues and provide context:
“Less than a quarter-century ago, the United States had about 40 journalists per 100,000 residents on average. Now, the equivalent number is 8.2.”
https://muckrack.com/research/local-journalist-index via @paleofuture #journalism #media #polarisation #disinformation
#OpenSource implementation of #polarisation-resolved single-shot differential phase contrast #microscopy (pDPC) on a modular #openFrame-based #microscope:
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ohx.2024.e00622
#DIYbio #lab #LED #instruments #µManager #pDPC #imaging
This raises some important points
The best way to build genuine support for climate action in rural Australia is by supporting them in times like this, not trying to use their suffering for political gain or throwing "i told you so's", and showing support on this will help build much needed connection on other issues that we need their support on
https://www.europesays.com/uk/119549/ Elections, war in Gaza and polarisation in Germany contribute to rise in political crimes #Elections #EU #Europe #ExtremistGroups #FarRight #Featured #Germany #Polarisation #PoliticalViolence #PoliticallyMotivatedViolence #radicalisation #Violence #WarInGaza
Germany reports a surge in extreme-right crime.
Extreme-right crime in Germany surged by nearly 50% last year.
Overall, politically motivated crimes increased by more than 40% last year in comparison to the prior year, reaching 84,172.
Authorities attributed the surge to increasing radicalisation and political polarisation in a year of elections.
I'll write a lot more if it gets accepted somewhere! But it's a short article so if you care about #polarisation (whichever way you spell it) you might want to read it now.
Doing some experiments with #RayTracing #ComputerGraphics using #Bonzomatic #GLSL #shader editor.
I define a 24-cell as the intersection of 24 half-spaces in 4D (with normals all permutations of (±1,±1,0,0)), then slice through constant 4th coordinate to get a 3D object, and simulate it as a glass-like material with reflection and refraction.
Future enhancement ideas:
- handle polarised light properly (currently I ignore polarisation, simply averaging the Fresnel reflection coefficients)
- wavelength-dependent index of refraction and absorption
- anti-aliasing (currently the edges are steppy as there is only 1 sample per pixel in a regular grid)
- improve efficiency (internal ray bounce is O(N^2) where N is the number of surfaces, could probably be O(N) with some extra maths insights)
- do 4D->3D slicing on CPU instead of every ray bounce
- add other 4D shapes
#Polarisation is something I haven't done before, so I'm curious to see how to implement it and how it changes appearance.
https://www.europesays.com/uk/25178/ America is lost without the centre #Centrism #DonaldTrump #HannahArendt #Polarisation #Politics #UnitedStates #us #USA
“The silencing of pro-Palestinian or anti-genocide voices is the reason why this genocide is still going on after 10 months.”
Ghassan Abu-Sittah, Rector of the University of Glasgow, 1 August 2024
----
https://www.securityincontext.org/posts/hegemony-factories-or-independent-thinkers (source: [1])
It contains a HUGE misunderstanding:
"pro-Palestinian" and "anti-genocide" voices are two *VERY* different things.
Perhaps NOT from the PoV of Palestinians, but DEFINITELY from the viewpoint of most west-EU citizens, their media and their governments.
Sunday I joined a protest in Rotterdam that was announced as an emergy protest "do not let Gaza starve" (in Dutch: [2]).
However, *AGAIN* it was a *PRO-PALESTINE* protest (see the video I made in https://infosec.exchange/@ErikvanStraten/114291502939774579).
West-EU people, and possibly "their" think tanks, are made to believe that they have to choose between *either* Palestine *or* Israel to exist "from the river to the sea".
Enormously affecting western thinking, the Israeli propaganda machine does their utter best to continuously remind us of the Holocaust, and to make us believe that anyone who denies Israel from "defending themselves against terrorism" is a Holocaust-denier and/or an antisemite. Unfortunately, this *just works*.
On Dutch TV viewers are reminded of WWII *every day*. It simply is #Hasbara without viewers noticing it, and even the media fail to see their bias.
[Note: my grandfather, born in 1900, was a Jew. He was sent to nazi labour camps (instead of Auschwitz) because he was maried to a Dutch woman. His family was murdered by the nazi's. I do not hate non-Zionist Jews.]
Pro-Palestine demonstrations have been counter-productive from the start. If the most extremist arguments are not removed, like shouting "From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free", I will remain one of the very few Dutch people who is willing to join such protests. And I'm getting tired, because it feels pointless.
IMO #FrancescaAlbaneseIsRight - but her PoV is considered to be too extremistic, in particular when taking into account the immense failure of EU-countries to protect Jews during WWII. It is why hasbara works so well (in Germany in particular).
The cold blooded execution of the rescue workers made it to the news on Dutch TV, but the murder of approx. 17,000 Gazan children and the starvation of 2 million hardly gets any attention.
If polarization is not reduced RIGHT NOW, the media will turn away again. In particular because this year it's 80 years ago WWII ended in NL (victim remembrance day is on May 4), the tone of the debate needs to change. NOW.
If not, 2 million Gazans will die.
[1] Bilal Barakat (@bifouba) in https://kolektiva.social/@bifouba/114302380048285492
[2] https://acties.todon.nl/event/noodprotest-laat-gaza-niet-uithongeren
@joenepraat : do you know how to get my message to the protest organizers?
I'm going to attempt to make the move again. I wonder if anyone here thinks there's more activity on Bluesky? This is a quiet place compared with Twitter! What I'd love is to have a level of debate and discussion on #ecologicalemergency and related topics #climate #biodiversity #polarisation #fragmentation #collapse and how to #mitigate
"#Polarisation stops political parties from cooperating and poisons relations between individuals."
Political scientist Frederico Ferreira da Silva and his colleagues at UNIL have studied the increase in what he describes as a "threat to #democracy."
»#Polarisation and #CollectiveAction: The #EU at a Crossroads.« https://www.e-ir.info/2025/03/19/opinion-polarisation-and-collective-action-the-eu-at-a-crossroads/ ?Populist.in #FactsCrisis #Populism #Populist #Movement
#OpenSsource implementation of #polarisation-resolved single-shot differential #phase contrast #microscopy (#pDPC) on a modular #openFrame-based #microscope:
-cost: ∼£2.5 k
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ohx.2024.e00622
#DIYbio #lab #instruments #QPI #imaging #fluorescence #infrared
5/ Un des reproches principaux : le fact-checking pourrait aggraver la polarisation du débat public. Mais les journalistes vérificateurs insistent : ils se concentrent sur les faits, pas sur les opinions. La question est de savoir comment garantir cette neutralité. #Polarisation
La #désinformation est un enjeu qui vient compliquer le travail des gestionnaires de plateforme numérique. Les conséquences sont amplifiées par la #polarisation que ces fausses informations favorisent. #MédiasSociaux
Gérer les émotions sur les plateformes numériques --> Entrevue avec Camille Alloing (professeur /chercheur dans le domaine des #communications publiques à l'UQAM) #Podcast #Balado
The Authoritarian Divide: Populism, Propaganda, and Polarization by Orçun Selçuk, 2024
In the context of the global decline of democracy, The Authoritarian Divide analyzes the tactics that populist leaders in Turkey, Venezuela, and Ecuador have used to polarize their countries.
@bookstodon
#books
#nonfiction
#politics
#authoritarianism
#populism
#propaganda
#polarisation
This is a super interesting paper on EU affective #polarisation #polarization a) love table b) would love to see table 4 compared to RU and Musk in-language propaganda spend, particularly plotted over time.
https://www.cogitatiopress.com/politicsandgovernance/article/view/8531/3968
Affective Polarization Among Radical‐Right Supporters: Dislike Differentiation and Democratic Support
@
Populism 
