Why do we play the national anthem at sports events?

Why do we play the national anthem at sports events?

Sports is entertainment. Why do we play the national anthem at sports events? Why do we not play the national anthem at concerts, plays and other entertainment events? Because professional baseball, about 100 years ago sought to leverage patriotism in their marketing program – playing the national anthem at baseball games used the propaganda method of “transference” – literally transferring a feeling of patriotism to the playing of a pro sports baseball game. This was specifically to market professional baseball…

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

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

Part 1: Disaster Propaganda – Social Panic – many common disaster events are now viewed, incorrectly, as unique and a sign of some human activity. These false claims then get turned into propaganda messages on social media, urging you to believe that disaster X was caused by human activity. “First, many people use unusual events as a platform for propaganda messaging to persuade others of their own agenda. Second, much of this propaganda messaging takes the form of asserting claims…

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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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Repost: 1 in 7 Americans do not go to bed hungry every night

Repost: 1 in 7 Americans do not go to bed hungry every night

We are now in the annual Fall time frame social media tag meme of #hangry and #hungeraction and the “wear orange” meme, in response to the annual release of a USDA report on “food insecurity”. We beat this meme to death previously. If your social media feeds are seeing these posts read it – now.

Disaster Propaganda

Disaster Propaganda

This might be the first of more than one post. I have been collecting, when possible, social media propaganda items regarding recent natural and unnatural disasters (such as local arson caused wildland fires). Examples Validating the Claims Some assertions, like the last one, fail the test of logic. Many assertions can be checked against past history – there is actual data and historical context. Dr. Roger Pielke, Jr, a professor of environmental policy at the University of Colorado and one…

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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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