Another example of “Begging the Question” fallacy

Another example of “Begging the Question” fallacy

The very first passenger train with paying customers crashed on a brand new rail line with a brand new locomotive.  A spokesperson then proceeds to tell us that the railroad is safe: “It’s important to note, this is not a comment on the safety of those tracks. We have no reason to believe those tracks are anything but safe,” WSDOT spokeswoman Barbara LaBoe said. “This is a decision based on sensitivity both to the people involved in Monday’s tragic events and…

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Taking “selfies” may be a sign of a behavioral health disorder say psychologists

Taking “selfies” may be a sign of a behavioral health disorder say psychologists

Term was first coined in 2014 as part of a spoof article claiming selfitis was to be deemed a mental disorder Now researchers from the UK and India have confirmed that ‘selfitis’ does exist There are three categories – borderline, acute and chronic, they say ‘Selfitis’ is a genuine mental disorder Says if you take 3 or more selfies a day, even if not posted on line, you are borderline. People taking 6 or more selfies per day are suffering…

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Climate communications: Polar bears, social media, and how our emotional response may have helped a PR stunt

Climate communications: Polar bears, social media, and how our emotional response may have helped a PR stunt

(This item – featuring a polar bear – emotionally hooked many people – and for some, any discussion is controversial. However, this post is not about polar bears or climate change but about successful propaganda messaging.) Here is the original dying polar bear photo and post from photographer Paul Nicklen. Read carefully. He – and his associate – never say this polar bear is dying due to climate change but he does link climate change to polar bear habitat and…

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Extraordinary popular delusions

Extraordinary popular delusions

As described in 1852: We find that whole communities suddenly fix their minds upon one object, and go mad in its pursuit; that millions of people become simultaneously impressed with one delusion, and run after it, till their attention is caught by some new folly more captivating than the first. …. Men, it has been well said, think in herds; it will be seen that they go mad in herds, while they only recover their senses slowly, and one by…

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Full text of the comment that was shadow banned by Oregonian newspaper

Full text of the comment that was shadow banned by Oregonian newspaper

The next morning, my comment remains shadow banned by the Oregonian. Here is the description of the shadow ban, from last night with a screen capture of how the ban appears. (This link goes to the old WordPress.com website for this blog: https://socialcoldstreams.wordpress.com/2017/12/11/i-was-shadow-banned-by-oregonian-censorship-a-powerful-form-of-propaganda/) Here, I present the full text of the shadow banned comment plus the supplementary information for how I obtained the facts presented in the comment. Here are actual price quotes from HealthCare.gov. The first quotes are for…

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I was shadow banned by Oregonian censorship, a powerful form of propaganda

I was shadow banned by Oregonian censorship, a powerful form of propaganda

Today, the Oregonian ran a story from the AP about the high costs of ACA insurance policies. I added two comments to the story. One of my comments appears online and the other is “shadow banned”. When I am logged in to the Oregonian, I see this When I am not logged in, I see only this which is presumably what everyone else sees as well. In other words, my comment is visible only to me but invisible to everyone…

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Never, Ever leave a reporter in a room alone, with a number

Never, Ever leave a reporter in a room alone, with a number

Sheer idiocy to have written this: The “baby boom” is officially defined as those born from 1946 to 1964. Per the above, in the year 2060, the aging baby boomer population will be aged 96 to 114, and apparently life spans will have increased by decades by the year 2060. The study is not accessible to the public. The reporter who wrote this article and the editor who let this fly by are idiots. In a literal sense, the baby…

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Bill Gates never gave this high school speech

Bill Gates never gave this high school speech

This crossed by Facebook crap feed this week. It is a fake, of course. The “rules” were written by author Charles Sykes in a couple of books he wrote. This has nothing to do with Bill Gates or even a high school. Did Bill Gates create a list of ‘Rules Kids Won’t Learn in School’? Source: Bill Gates High School Speech But thanks to social media, this was shared, Liked and re-shared again this past week.

And now for the rest of the story …

And now for the rest of the story …

Source: Seattle hits record high for income inequality, now rivals San Francisco The data presented in the article is correct. But it leaves out critical information for understanding what this means overall, or even if it means what it purports to mean. Almost 20 years ago in a graduate economics course we learned that the “static” view of income at an instant in time is not a full picture. Not surprisingly, incomes change over time, often by a lot. Consider…

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No, the “OK” Gesture Is Not a Hate Symbol

No, the “OK” Gesture Is Not a Hate Symbol

Has the simple thumb-and-forefinger “OK” hand gesture become a white supremacist hand sign? Source: No, the “OK” Gesture Is Not a Hate Symbol says the Anti-Defamation League. Another day, another Internet meme – this time claiming that people making a popular “Ok” symbol with their thumb and index finger are actually expressing a symbol for “white power”. This in turn has been used to publicly accuse people who display the “ok” symbol as clandestinely flashing a white power symbol. All thanks…

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