Michael Crichton

...The greatest challenge facing mankind is the challenge of distinguishing reality from fantasy, truth from propaganda. Perceiving the truth has always been a challenge to mankind, but in the information age (or as I think of it, the disinformation age) it takes on a special urgency and importance. 

We must daily decide whether the threats we face are real, whether the solutions we are offered will do any good, whether the problems we're told exist are in fact real problems, or non-problems.... Michael Crichton (from a 2003 speech)

Michael Crichton

Author Michael Crichton was way ahead of most when it came to "fake news" and "junk science". This is quoted from a speech he gave in 2003: 

...The greatest challenge facing mankind is the challenge of distinguishing reality from fantasy, truth from propaganda. Perceiving the truth has always been a challenge to mankind, but in the information age (or as I think of it, the disinformation age) it takes on a special urgency and importance. 

We must daily decide whether the threats we face are real, whether the solutions we are offered will do any good, whether the problems we're told exist are in fact real problems, or non-problems....

ABC Nightline - the Birth of Fake News?

It can be argued that ABC News: Nightline was the birth of fake news. The show's original tagline was  "The Iranian Crisis: America Held Hostage." That was highly editorial and jingoistic in nature if you think about it just for a minute. This should come as no surprise when you realize it was the brainchild of Roone Arledge who was promoted from heading ABC Sports to heading the news department as well. It's even less surprising when you realize that Arledge is the same guy who lost the rights to televise the real sport of NBA games and replaced it on Sunday afternoons with made-up competition of the Superstars. 

Superstars did better ratings on ABC than CBS did with NBA games in the same time slots. Likewise ABC News went from a 3rd place also ran to a ratings juggernaut under Arledge with the creation of ABC News: Nightline. The fact was not lost on ABC's competition and programming news stories for ratings (the clicks of the day) was off and running.

Linky Links

Stuff I found interesting or amusing and thought I'd share.

- Jon Stewart has his show pulled off Apple TV. I forgot he had a show.

- We live in the crazy time

- UPenn says they don't want your money. Good. Hope they raise tuitions.

- I admit - I laughed

More Linky Links

 More stuff I found interesting or amusing and thought I'd share.

- Behavior is a Miracle Drug for Our Health. Movement, real food, and plenty of sleep are the keys to good health.

- Science says that at one point their were only 1,280 breeding pairs of human left on the Earth. Now there are billions,

- VDH on Fake News. The media has nobody to blame but themselves that they frittered away all aspects of public trust.

- The Sounds of Space. Exactly what it sounds like.

Michael Crichton - Truth

 ...The greatest challenge facing mankind is the challenge of distinguishing reality from fantasy, truth from propaganda. Perceiving the truth has always been a challenge to mankind, but in the information age (or as I think of it, the disinformation age) it takes on a special urgency and importance. 

We must daily decide whether the threats we face are real, whether the solutions we are offered will do any good, whether the problems we're told exist are in fact real problems, or non-problems.... Michael Crichton (from a 2003 speech)

Real Life Does Not Fit The Narrative

Interesting article that reminds us to live a real life. Social media and fake news are cancers on our souls.

Reminded of the Roger Stone quote, "I don't watch CNN for the same reason I don't eat out of the toilet." Also reminded that processed food comes in plastic bags or boxes and that you throw away your garbage in plastic bags or boxes. Similar because they are the same - garbage.

Get out in nature; read a book; and eat real food. Your physical and mental health will thank you for it.

Fitting

HT Some It's Just as Well

Truth

Via

Heh Heh

Via

So Anti-Frackers are Actually Pro-Putin?

Matt Ridley on how Russia and Putin spent millions spreading fake news about fracking in England. Keep prices high and keep shale gas in the ground was the goal. It worked.

In the US the foreign oil and gas interests just hand millions to the children of Joe Biden and Nancy Pelosi.  

Harry Potter and the Chamber of Fake News

Reason has a look at how the media is negatively portrayed in the Harry Potter universe. This is a drum I've been beating for a long time.

From 2005: Daily Prophet = NY Times and the MSM. The fifth book (which came out during the 2004 campaign) shows the Daily Prophet clearly taking sides against Dumbledore and Harry Potter, taking every opportunity to ridicule them. Of course The Daily Prophet has never admitted they were wrong for their blatant partisanship.

From this past July: Wonder if the generation(s) raised on Harry Potter books have a deeper and more willing distrust of the media because of the way The Daily Prophet was portrayed in the books? It didn't exactly paint journalists and newspapers in the best light.

Like the youths who grew up on the Harry Potter universe don't watch network news or read newspapers in real life, if there was an 8th book I'd guess that readership of the Daily Profit who probably be down by half because people no longer trusted them as a news source. 

Linky Links

Stuff I found interesting or amusing and thought I'd share.

- How the Pandemic is Changing the Norms of Science. We quickly went from Fake News! to Fake Science! and yet people still wonder why there's an erosion of trust.

- Trust in media hits new low. Speaking of Fake News!

- This seems to be the logic

- Hey Joe - is there anything you could do to weaken Union support for Democrats across the board? Why yes - I have just the thing! 

More Linky Links

More stuff I found interesting or amusing and thought I'd share.

- Glenn Reynolds: US troops rage at their leaders will grow unless there's deep reform.

- China's Emergent Struggle for Food Security

- The stories that are too good to check. Fake News! 

- Matt Stoller on shortages, supply chains, monopolies and Wall Street. Interesting observations.

Quotes for Today

Some quotes I hope may resonate with you.

"There are more copies than originals among people." - Pablo Picasso

"You always have the option of having no opinion." - Marcus Aurelius

"Thinking is difficult. That is why most people judge." - Carl Jung

"The single biggest problem with communication is the illusion that it has taken place." - George Bernard Shaw

"They say that I murdered Custer. But it was a lie. He was a fool who rode to his death." - Sitting Bull

"Fact checkers didn't exist until the truth started getting out." - Michael Malice

"Only a totalitarian society would even claim absolute safety as a worthy ideal because it would require total State control over its citizens lives. Liberty has meaning only if we still believe in it when terrible things happen and a false government security blanket beckons." - Ron Paul 

More Linky Links

More stuff I found interesting or amusing and thought I'd share.

- Glenn Greenwald: FBI's strange anthrax investigation sheds light on COVID lab leak theory and Fauci's emails.

- Heh Heh

- VDH: Living in Our Kingdom of Lies

- Heh Heh

Linky Links

Stuff I found interesting or amusing and thought I'd share.

- Colleges and Universities have lost 650,000 jobs.  Came for the graphic and explanation stayed for the comments which were not sympathetic to those who lost their jobs or the state of education overall.

- Glenn Greenwald on corporate journalism and how they knowingly spread "fake news."  Of course the "mistakes" are always geared to damage one party. The use of Twitter is further evidence Twitter is a sewer.

- Matt Ridley: We no longer need to fear Covid

- Do You Feel You've Been Rehabilitated? Keep this in mind if you're ever asked woke questions expecting woke answers.

Linky Links

Stuff I found interesting or amusing and thought I'd share.

- What has Covid-19 taught us about remote work?

- How simple ideas lead to scientific discoveries

- Vaping innovation and its enemies. 

- Inflammation and insulin resistance. Can high dose aspirin in Type II diabetics significantly drop blood glucose after just 2-weeks? Looks like the answer is "YES" (article from 14-years ago but has not been refuted)

- The year without the flu. Cynics could say that there was "no flu" because all flu cases were counted as Covid-19 cases.

- Washington Post correction points to larger issue with agenda-driven anonymous sources. Still say one way to help correct this is to require social media to label any stories with anonymous sources as "Potentially Fake News" - no matter the media outlet that originates them.

Flotsam and Jetsam

Miscellaneous thoughts and observations.

How long before some people start equating limiting data (data caps) by broadband providers to limiting free speech? Don't think we're far off from that... Cool story of a wedding that took place in Lake Tahoe at the same time the Bruins were playing the Flyers... If before the season I told you the that going into March the two finalists in the Eastern Conference (Boston Celtics and Miami Heat) would be tied with the New York Knicks in the standings - you'd probably think the Knicks must be having a great season. Not so much... Think much of what passes for news but is actually misinformation, rumor or speculation could be greatly reduced if all social media platforms had the policy of simply labeling any story that uses anonymous sources as "potentially fake news." Think of how many stories from the past few years that turned out to be complete bunk that were based on anonymous sources... Speaking of fake news - remember two years ago when outlets such as CNN were touting fraudster Michael Avenatti as a hero? I haven't forgotten (which in part is why I never watch CNN)... 

Michael Crichton and Fake News

Author Michael Crichton was way ahead of most when it came to "fake news" and "junk science". This is quoted from a speech he gave in 2003: 

...The greatest challenge facing mankind is the challenge of distinguishing reality from fantasy, truth from propaganda. Perceiving the truth has always been a challenge to mankind, but in the information age (or as I think of it, the disinformation age) it takes on a special urgency and importance. 

We must daily decide whether the threats we face are real, whether the solutions we are offered will do any good, whether the problems we're told exist are in fact real problems, or non-problems....