U.S. cities fall behind in wealth measure! :)
TL;DR Summary Poster SourceSince the post asks, “What’s wrong with this picture?“, let’s take a look!
Accurate quote, but the quote itself is false
TL;DR Summary Good, simple design, good eye contact, simple message, easily processed. Former President Bill Clinton really did say this in a speech in 2013. The Washington Post, however, says the claim is not true: Three Pinocchios. As a propaganda poster, this uses the “Appeal to Authority” method. The poster was shared on Facebook. I like the poster design – clean with a simple message. Bertrand Russell noted that facts are either true or false, and their truthfulness is independent…
The Fairness Doctrine never applied to cable TV
TL;DR Summary A long time ago, there was a law known as the Fairness Doctrine that required over the air broadcast stations to give equal time to different perspectives, typically meaning left versus right on political topics. This rule applied only to over the air broadcasters and never applied to cable television “broadcasters” who do not use the over the air spectrum. This propaganda poster asserts that Fox News came about because Reagan vetoed a bill to re-instate the already…
Part 6: Paying for Denmark’s Free Health Care
TL; DR Summary Part 1: Denmark is the world’s happiest nation because of the following reasons (Not true) Part 2: Denmark has a $20/hour minimum wage (No, it does not). Part 3: Denmark has a 33 hour work week (No, it does not) Part 4: Denmark has Free University ? Yes but read why – it’s not why you think) Part 5: Denmark has Free Childcare? No, it does not – this claim is a lie). Part 6: Denmark has…
“Click Bait” “fake news” operation employs 11 writers
These fake news sites are apparently more profitable than “real news” web sites. One of the websites that ended up on a widely-shared list of “fake news” purveyors is run out of a house in Seattle. Source: Seattle’s own ‘click-bait’ news site serves up red meat for liberals And employs 11 writers and makes tons of money. As we have been saying, for profit, social media-based, emotionally laden publishing has been around a long time and crosses the full political…
Social media publishing propaganda for profit
BuzzFeed News identified more than 100 pro-Trump websites being run from a single town in the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia. Source: How Teens In The Balkans Are Duping Trump Supporters With Fake News – BuzzFeed News As this blog has pointed out, fake news sites are prevalent across the political spectrum. They aim for the emotional response of their target audience – and generate revenue from click through advertising. The young Macedonians who run these sites say they don’t…
Teens earn $1000s from producing fake news distributed on social media
“A 16-year-old who runs a site called BVAnews.com told him it’s averaging 1 million page views per month. “
Social media sucks – pink and red iceberg photos are fakes
Studying geology is a hobby for me. I subscribe to some FB groups that feature items about geology. However, this post from Geology of the world and the Environment is fake. I fell for it and stupidly shared it into my timeline, tagging my youngest daughter, who is a geologist and microbiologist, seeking her input (she was out of town at the time so I did not get a reply). When I first saw it, I read up on “Watermelon…
False assertion and False choice: Tesla versus Edison poster
The following poster has appeared many times in my social media feed. The conclusion you are intended to draw is also false. Source Another variation: TL; DR Summary Read on for the details …
Did a Court ban Native Americans from protesting on their own land?
TL;DR Summary Native Americans and others are protesting oil pipeline construction in North Dakota. This “news” item says the “U.S. government bans Native American Tribe from Protesting on their own land – send in police to remove protesters”. The graphic image looks scary. Except that is not a Native American and this photo is from 2012, in Rio de Janiero, Brazil and has nothing to do with the events occurring in North Dakota. That is a first clue that this may…