The Fourth Estate is teetering. If it doesn't correct itself soon, it will go the way of transistor radios.
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Speaking of those who propagandize by promoting"fake news," the Washington Post comes to mind. The WaPo recently passed along a story without even bothering to check it for accuracy or integrity. The article was about conservative websites in the U.S. that have been blacklisted by a website called PopOrNot.org. The researchers at PopOrNot.org accused 200 websites of being uncritical puppets of Russian propaganda -- i.e., websites that promote or pass along "fake news" whether they know it or not. Unfortunately, the PopOrNot folks outed themselves as a fake news source. So what does the WaPo do? It passes along the fake news -- otherwise known as propaganda -- as if it was a fact. You can't make this stuff up. It's a good example of how ideology influences our view of reality. You will find the backstory here and here.
Once you've read it, you'll want to read the response made by one of the blacklisted websites, Naked Capitalism. The website historically has focused on financial markets and Wall Street news in general. But it also dabbles in politics and public policy. In response to the WaPo article, Naked Capitalism offers up a parody on how to do propaganda correctly. The tongue-in-cheek riposte is titled: Is it Propaganda or Not? Your Friendly Guide to Better Propaganda.
It's an amusing read.
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For anyone still interested in the global warming scam, here's a reminder that "the science" (whatever that means) is far from settled:
All global temperature data sets confirm that global temperature has fallen rapidly in recent months as the recent El Nino ended.
Over the last couple of years there have been many articles about how they have been record-breakers in global temperature. It’s often sold as a simple ‘the planet is getting warmer only because of us’ story. As I have discussed before the concurrent El Nino was dismissed by some climate scientists as having an insignificant contribution to that record. However, there is a great deal of confusion and diversity in the assessment of its contribution. Some scientists maintain that it was the recent very strong El Nino that elevated the temperature to record levels.
Nevertheless some maintain that warm records would have been broken without the El Nino (although the significant contribution made by the highly unusual warm “Pacific Blob” is usually ignored).
As the 2015/16 El Nino started to wane wiser heads said the records would fade along with it, “No El Nino, no record,” they said, showing that the El Nino was responsible for edging the years to be records.
It is obvious that the world is cooling after the El Nino and nobody knows how much it will as global temperatures bottom out. So the time is right, one would have thought, to monitor that cooling process and see what can be deduced to set the recent record warm years into their proper context.
Wait for it in 3...2...1. Someone will respond that global cooling is just one more proof of global warming. Seriously. Watch for it. The complainant's name will rhyme with Al Hore. And he will make no more sense tomorrow than he did yesterday. On a different note, does he look like a beached whale, or what? Yes, that is derisive. And intentionally so. He stood to make a fortune off the global warming scam.
Fighting against those whose opening comments begin with statements such as "the literature says" or "experts agree" just proves those folks don't understand "the literature" or the nature of hard science. Just ask Ptolemy and Newton. For every one of them there is an Einstein. The list goes on.
So don't sweat global warming. My advice is to grab a jacket and button up. A 'norwester is on its way.
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