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Month: September 2017

Disaster Propaganda Part 2: Is there anything it can't do?

Disaster Propaganda Part 2: Is there anything it can't do?

This is not the Part 2 I was planning to post. Guess there will be Part 3! Earthquakes! A 7.1 or 7.2 magnitude earthquake occurred near Mexico City. Mexico is the 7th most seismically active country due to the intersection of 3 tectonic plates. An 8.1 magnitude earthquake took place near there in 1985, causing massive destruction to Mexico City. Large magnitude quakes are very common in Mexico (click for list) Big quakes in Mexico are not unusual and they…

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Exaggerated headline: Cellphone bomb found hidden in passenger luggage

Exaggerated headline: Cellphone bomb found hidden in passenger luggage

An IndiGo flight from Mangalore to Dubai was delayed on Tuesday following a major security scare when a suspicious “clay-like” item was detected by airport scanners Source: Cellphone bomb found hidden in passenger luggage by X-ray machine at Mangalore Airport in India – Mirror Online Read the story – they did not find a bomb. They found a crude, home made battery for a cell phone where the battery was held in place with some clay. This might actually be…

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Begging the question (fallacy) in propaganda messaging

Begging the question (fallacy) in propaganda messaging

“Begging the question, sometimes known by its Latin name petitio principii (meaning assuming the initial point), is a logical fallacy in which the writer or speaker assumes the statement under examination to be true. In other words, begging the question involves using a premise to support itself. If the premise is questionable, then the argument is bad.” Source: Begging the question (fallacy) – Grammarist This is explained by example at a conservative leaning blog: This insidious process of begging the…

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Is this one of the nation’s worst fire seasons?

Is this one of the nation’s worst fire seasons?

It has been a bad fire year but some mainstream reporting is getting ahead of itself and seems more intent on providing a propaganda message. In fact, its the worst fire season since … 2015! Propaganda: Note the reference to “in one of the nation’s worst fire seasons”. And: “worst fire seasons we’ve ever seen”? Some news writers confused record spending with record wildfires. While there is a linkage, it is not an accurate 1:1 correlation nor is the spending…

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Is this one of the nation's worst fire seasons?

Is this one of the nation's worst fire seasons?

It has been a bad fire year but some mainstream reporting is getting ahead of itself and seems more intent on providing a propaganda message. In fact, its the worst fire season since … 2015! Propaganda: Note the reference to “in one of the nation’s worst fire seasons”. And: “worst fire seasons we’ve ever seen”? Some news writers confused record spending with record wildfires. While there is a linkage, it is not an accurate 1:1 correlation nor is the spending…

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