As Claude would say I would like to push back a little. I would say it is both, a massive distraction but also a form of rebranding.If I look at all the things that are named Trump (like his failed university and his failed casinos and his failed magazine etc) then I get the impression that putting his name on everything is all he knows. This kind of "self-marketing" is his core competency and the way his business used to work. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_things_named_after_Donald_TrumpHe is doing the same now for his new business "America". And he has apparently found out that it is a useful distraction technique too. As George Lakoff said diversion/distraction is one of his 4 basic techniques (preemptive framing, diversion/distraction, deflection and trial ballons). -J. -------- Original message --------From: Eric Charles <[email protected]> Date: 9/7/26 10:25 PM (GMT+01:00) To: The Friday Morning Applied Complexity Coffee Group <[email protected]> Subject: Re: [FRIAM] Rename all the things Counterpoint: All evidence is that it is working 100% perfectly. It is *not* an exercise in branding, it is an exercise in distraction, and you are distracted, The Atlantic is distracted, and CNN is distracted. It is an effort to get us to be talking less about how bad it is on the ground in our economy, how we are not-winning a war we never had to get into in the first place, etc. Best,EricOn Mon, Sep 7, 2026 at 3:25 PM Jochen Fromm <[email protected]> wrote:It is a form of rebranding, isn't it? Marketing is the only thing Donald Trump used to be good at. But in this case it alienates and confuses everybody.The Atlantic writes "American students are now the best at geography because there is only one possible answer to every question"https://www.theatlantic.com/newsletters/2026/08/everything-called-america-now/688443/What is the name of the lake? Lake America. What is the name of the gulf? Gulf of America. What is the name of the state? New America.-J.-------- Original message --------From: Roger Frye <[email protected]> Date: 9/7/26 8:47 PM (GMT+01:00) To: The Friday Morning Applied Complexity Coffee Group <[email protected]> Subject: Re: [FRIAM] Rename all the things Leave Jersey, York and Amsterdam, Hampshire, England, Brunswick, Orleans, Haven, Bedford, Rochelle, … alone!> On Sep 7, 2026, at 12:34 PM, Jochen Fromm <[email protected]> wrote:> > Do you find this urge to rename everything to America ("Gulf of America" and "Lake America" and now "New America") embarassing? Will it help to make America great again? I have doubts. > https://edition.cnn.com/2026/09/06/politics/trump-map-renames-new-mexico-as-new-america> > -J.> > .- .-.. .-.. / ..-. --- --- - . .-. ... / .- .-. . / .-- .-. --- -. --. / ... --- -- . / .- .-. . / ..- ... . ..-. ..- .-..> FRIAM Applied Complexity Group listserv> Fridays 9a-12p Friday St. Johns Cafe / Thursdays 9a-12p Zoom https://bit.ly/virtualfriam> to (un)subscribe http://redfish.com/mailman/listinfo/friam_redfish.com> FRIAM-COMIC http://friam-comic.blogspot.com/> archives: 5/2017 thru present https://redfish.com/pipermail/friam_redfish.com/> 1/2003 thru 6/2021 http://friam.383.s1.nabble.com/.- .-.. .-.. / ..-. --- --- - . .-. ... / .- .-. . / .-- .-. --- -. --. / ... --- -- . / .- .-. . / ..- ... . ..-. ..- .-..FRIAM Applied Complexity Group listservFridays 9a-12p Friday St. Johns Cafe / Thursdays 9a-12p Zoom https://bit.ly/virtualfriamto (un)subscribe http://redfish.com/mailman/listinfo/friam_redfish.comFRIAM-COMIC http://friam-comic.blogspot.com/archives: 5/2017 thru present https://redfish.com/pipermail/friam_redfish.com/ 1/2003 thru 6/2021 http://friam.383.s1.nabble.com/.- .-.. .-.. / ..-. --- --- - . .-. ... / .- .-. . / .-- .-. --- -. --. / ... --- -- . / .- .-. . / ..- ... . ..-. ..- .-.. FRIAM Applied Complexity Group listserv Fridays 9a-12p Friday St. Johns Cafe / Thursdays 9a-12p Zoom https://bit.ly/virtualfriam to (un)subscribe http://redfish.com/mailman/listinfo/friam_redfish.com FRIAM-COMIC http://friam-comic.blogspot.com/ archives: 5/2017 thru present https://redfish.com/pipermail/friam_redfish.com/ 1/2003 thru 6/2021 http://friam.383.s1.nabble.com/
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