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Author: Edward MS

Using a “false dilemma” poll to influence the public

Using a “false dilemma” poll to influence the public

I spotted this sign at a political party booth at a county fair. This poster is designed to frame the discussion and limit it to 3 items: ObamaCare, TrumpCare or Universal Health Care. I removed any indications as to which political party used this poster as it does not matter and truthfully, more than one party could have posed this set of questions. The “false dilemma” method implies you have a set of specific choices – and leaves out other…

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We have lost our ability to think?

We have lost our ability to think?

The Seattle Times publishes an opinion column advocating Medicare for All. The column gives quotes of insurance prices with and without Medicare (the author of the column is now on Medicare) and says, see, Medicare costs so much less why can’t we do this for everyone? Incredibly she left out that she has spent her entire working life subsidizing Medicare by paying Medicare payroll taxes.  She fails to recognize the accumulated Medicare fund is subsidizing those lower prices (a fund…

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Did a Federal law make U.S. Civil War Confederate solidiers the equivalent of U.S. veterans? No.

Did a Federal law make U.S. Civil War Confederate solidiers the equivalent of U.S. veterans? No.

This past week, my Facebook news feed showed a shared item that claims Confederate soldiers of the U.S. Civil War were declared as “U.S. veterans by an Act of Congress”. Not exactly. In fact, most of this claims is false. Snopes.com explains that this is mostly false. This item works as social media propaganda because it appears to cite what sound like legitimate sources for the information (an appeal to authority). The item also appeals to patriotism (U.S. veterans) and…

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TV news focuses on political outrage and selling eyeballs to advertisers

TV news focuses on political outrage and selling eyeballs to advertisers

TV audiences can’t get enough news coverage of Donald Trump. Reporting on pretty much anything else is ratings poison. Source: Broadcast News Misses Ratings Bonanza With Too Little Trump – Bloomberg This year I had a chance to travel to several U.S. states. Among all the people I met, politics was avoided. Most seem fed up with politics and the purveyors of politics and definitely fed up with the culture of perpetual outrage. Media targets a narrow demographic of the…

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Social media outrage mob falsely accuses professor of racism, calls for his firing

Social media outrage mob falsely accuses professor of racism, calls for his firing

Social media outrage led to amateurs falsely identifying a University professor as participating in the Charlottesville, VA mob, leading to people publicly calling him a racist and calling upon the university to fire the professor of engineering. He was verified and confirmed at University event 1,100 miles away at the time of the riot. Imagine if this happened to any of us – and we did not happen to be at an event providing us with an alibi. Social media…

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No they didn’t: “2 Florida students find 6 NASA space suits worth up to $20,000”

No they didn’t: “2 Florida students find 6 NASA space suits worth up to $20,000”

Headline says “space suits“. Lead photo shows astronauts in space suits. But they actually found blue coveralls worn by some Shuttle astronauts, not “space suits”. The headline is fiction. Source: NEW: 2 Florida students find 6 NASA space suits worth up to $20,000 Clicks always outrank accuracy. Journalism has becoming a whopping joke of bull shit.

Eating too much protein will kill you? No, but it grabs the emotions and gets shared on #socialmedia!

Eating too much protein will kill you? No, but it grabs the emotions and gets shared on #socialmedia!

Eating too much protein will kill you? That’s the message left by hundreds of headlines and news stories earlier this week. But the statement was misleading at best and untrue in regards to the individual who died. Yet most stories ran with quotes like this: Meegan Hefford, a mother of two and bodybuilder, died after an overconsumption of protein shakes, supplements and protein-rich foods. Source: Bodybuilder mom dies from too much protein before competition | New York Post or “That…

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Rent A Crowd “Crowds on Demand” – and How Absolutely Everything is Fake

Rent A Crowd “Crowds on Demand” – and How Absolutely Everything is Fake

A local politician came out to speak to an enthusiastic audience? Could be an entirely fake audience of paid participants.[1] A local protest takes to the streets to demand ACTION over whatever – and gets extensive media coverage? Could be a fake group of paid participants. Or sometimes, it is a mix of paid actors plus others who think its an organic, grass roots event. But its fake too. There are “public relations” firms (a.k.a. propaganda firms) that specialize in…

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Photo said to be from August 12 – Charlottesville, VA, circulating on social media is not from August 12

Photo said to be from August 12 – Charlottesville, VA, circulating on social media is not from August 12

The following photo is now circulating widely on social media as shown in this screen capture from Twitter:  The image used here appears, currently, in Google Image search results spanning an astounding 15 pages. The above tweet has alone been shared 227,000 times on social media. This is not the only social media copy, either. It is likely this has now been shared tens of millions of times on social media. The photo, while from Charlottesville, is of a different…

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Update to Oregon Health Authority Propaganda Story from yesterday: Director fired today

Update to Oregon Health Authority Propaganda Story from yesterday: Director fired today

Propaganda, propaganda, propaganda: Oregon Health Authority Lynne Saxton has resigned in the wake of news of her involvement in a plan to plant negative and misleading news about a local nonprofit health provider to influence lawmakers. Source: Pamplin Media Group – Oregon Health Authority Director Lynne Saxton resigns in the wake of planted news coverage OHA has a long track record of incompetence and poor management and leadership and public relations staff that tell lies.