Wednesday 10 November 2021

DeepFake - Bellingcat Move Forward


 I have now finished  "We Are Bellingcat" by Elliot Higgins and in the final chapter it brings up the actuality of Deepfake . This is how video can be amended to show and prove that something happened when it didn't. Apparently there is video of Barrack Obama insulting Donald Trump aggressively and vehemently whish he never did. There are shallower versions in which speech can be altered to make it seem as though the subjects were drunk or maybe had some illness.

We are in a world where anything can be altered to suit the narrative of who has the technology, but luckily organisations like Bellingcat are countering this with lots of forward thinking initiatives but it requires commitment and dedication. You can check out their interesting resource page here but if any of this interests you get yourself a copy of the book.

Music is Midnight Oil's latest "Rising Seas" and my next read is "The House On The Borderland" (Once More) by William Hope Hodgson.

I am not sure if you are aware of my writing on Vocal but these are a few of my stories if you would like to sample them:

  1. The Never Ending Story - My Directory
  2. The Never Ending Music - My Music Directory
  3. The Never Ending Poetry - My Poetry Directory
  4. An Owl In A Towel - A Beautiful Book by Lesley and Cheryl
  5. Three Reasons Why I Love Settle - Scaleber Force, The Hoffman Kiln and Castlebergh Crag

 

Sunday 7 November 2021

The Problem With Attention To Detail: Bellingcat


On the final chapter of  "We Are Bellingcat" by Elliot Higgins and it has just been dealing with the pressures on the organisation and individual members in investigating crimes using their open source method. The nature of the work is incredibly intense , and because it involves war crimes, images and videos on social media and a lot more this can result in PTDS for some investigators.

I wont go into the details and would suggest you read the book to see what this incredible team are doing.

The final sentence in the "Mice Catch Cat" is very pertinent , not just to Bellingcat  , but to other organisations and teams that I know are developing.

"While it's true I could do little to stop an attack, our opponents can do nothing to stop what we are becoming"

Bellingcat are a force for good as are the people that I speak of, and I have just found there is a film here

Appropriate music is Midnight Oil's "Beds Are Burning" , Peter Garrett being an active ecological politician as well as still fronting the band.

I am not sure if you are aware of my writing on Vocal but these are a few of my stories if you would like to sample them:


  1. Three Reasons Why I Love Settle
  2. Keep Me In Your Heart For A While - Warren Zevon
  3. Five Funny Facebook Friends - Stalwarts of The Stand In Newcastle
  4. Become A Vocal Facebook Group Member And Bathe In The Positivity
  5. A True Folk Hero - Nic Jones


Sunday 31 October 2021

Belling on Halloween


 I am really enjoying "We Are Bellingcat" by Elliot Higgins, and just getting amazed by their methods which are essentially a meticulous attention to detail. On instance was tracking down a Russian War criminal though the Russian disinformation and obfuscation by finding a name and mobile phone number on an insurance application.

Thing on this when you fill informs and especially those one offs to find out what kind of potato you are and the like.

I would highly recommend this book to everyone for pointers and how investigative journalism has been turned on it's head.

It is Halloween and published a Halloween playlist here on Vocal if you would like to check it out. When I see all the costumes and creatures out on Halloween I think how would people react if these suddenly became real. Now that would be interesting.

My friend Ana has just had a book published , "Light and Darkness" which you can check out here.

Musicwise as it's Halloween , we are going with "Hellraiser" by Ozzy Osbourne ad Ian Kilmister which I never knew existed but it ghosted in on me, and I really like it.

I am not sure if you are aware of my writing on Vocal but these are a few of my stories if you would like to sample them:

  1. The Never Ending Story - An Index of All My Vocal Writing
  2. A Halloween Film Evening
  3. A Waterfall of Clouds
  4. The Witch's Promise
  5. Waiting For The Green Light - The Genius of Bill Hicks



Saturday 23 October 2021

Still Belling The Cat

I am a slow reader but am halfway through "We Are Bellingcat" by Elliot Higgins, and it is absolutely fascinating

The Bellingcat organisation are a group of individuals who's main modus operandi is minute attention to detail in order to ascertain the truth in the case of War atrocities. They are experts in nothing but the extreme high accuracy of their work has now made them a goto organisations for Police Forces and governments.

They are attacking the obfuscation of the governments behind the atrocities with far less resources that  the people they are now actually supporting. Every war attrocity is a target for them and they are now worldwide.

I know I am telling you nothing about what they do , but just get yourself a copy of the book and be genuinely shocked and awed. Bellingcat have turned investigative journalism upside down.

The music is The One World Orchestra (effectively the KLF) from the first Help album for Warchild.

I am not sure if you are aware of my writing on Vocal but these are a few of my stories if you would like to sample them:

  1. John Martin - The North East’s Greatest Ever Artist
  2. Ich Bien Ein Ausländer (I Am A Foreigner)
  3. Being A Man
  4. Know What's Frightening? Xenophobia
  5. The Benefits of the Windows Clipboard

Tuesday 19 October 2021

Belling The Cat


 My friend Julie lent (is that the past tense of lend) the book "We Are Bellingcat: An Intelligence Agency for the People" by Elliot Higgins. It is a decent size and the print is a good size for my old eyes , but it is slow reading for me because you really have to read every line.

There are only six chapters but the second one about the genesis of Bellingcat is almost sixty pages , a third of the prose in the book. 

This is the blurb about it , I was gonna try and tell you but this does it far better.

 "Bellingcat, the home-grown investigative unit, is redefining the way we think about news, politics and the digital future. Here, their founder - a high-school dropout on a kitchen laptop - tells the story of how they created a whole new category of information-gathering, galvanising citizen journalists across the globe to expose war crimes and pick apart disinformation, using just their computers."

It is thoroughly absorbing and frightening but amazing that a group of people who's main investigative tool is an incredible attention to detail can actually bring such essential news to our intention in a world swathed with absolute disinformation.

An appropriate record is "John Walker's Blues" by Steve Earle from the album "Jerusalem".

I am not sure if you are aware of my writing on Vocal but these are a few of my stories if you would like to sample them:

  1. The Doors of Perception
  2. Too Lazy To Learn
  3. Days
  4. Remembering Sophie Lancaster
  5. Heart as big as Liverpool


Sunday 10 October 2021

The Thurber Album Addendum

Well I have finished "The Thurber Album" and it is going straight to a charity shop. It's dry and 95% boring. Some good lines.

This is an experiment in seeing if my Vocal links will be picked up

Also my friend Keith's fave Mungo Jerry song is "You Don't Have to be in the Army To Fight In The War" so we will go with that

I am not sure if you are aware of my writing on Vocal but these are my top ten stories if you would like to sample them:

  1. The Operation
  2. Lady of the Water
  3. Words With Friends, Our Vocal Connections
  4. So You're A Racist Now MikeyDred
  5. The Vocal/Facebook Pen Name Directory
  6. Mountain Climbing
  7. Become A Vocal Facebook Group Member And Bathe In The Positivity
  8. Your story has NOT been approved
  9. Snackwallahnelle
  10. Home
All these are well read and loved , and you never know you may enjoy them.

Friday 8 October 2021

The Thurber Album

I am currently reading "The Thurber Album" by James Thurber which I probably bought because of his funny but misogynist line "A Won's Place Is In The Wrong" , and to be quite honest I am not too impressed. It is the sort of book you would be given by a particularly obnoxious English teacher.


Admittedly I am more than half way through it and will finish it and there were two instances that brought a smile to my face.  


"On his death bed he was asked if he forgave his enemies , he replied I ain't got any , I licked 'em all"

and

"He instructed the students that they didn't need to take notes, at which points forty of them got out their fountain pens and wrote that down.


My friend Julie has just lent me (is that the right form) "We Are Bellingcat - An Intelligence For The People" , which I am chomping at the bit to read , but need to finish "The Thurber Album" first.

Although it has nothing to do with this post I've included Mungo Jerry's "Lady Rose" because I think it is a beautiful song and I love it.


I am not sure if you are aware of my writing on Vocal but these are my top ten stories if you would like to sample them:

  1. The Operation
  2. Lady of the Water
  3. Words With Friends, Our Vocal Connections
  4. So You're A Racist Now MikeyDred
  5. Mountain Climbing
  6. Home
  7. Your story has NOT been approved
  8. Sonnetwo
  9. Snackwallahnelle
  10. Why Write?
All these are well read and loved , and you never know you may enjoy them.