Propaganda
oracknows | September 11, 2017Humans are visual creatures. That's why one of the most effective methods to communicate a message is through visual means, and among the most powerful visual media are movies and television shows. Cranks, quacks, and antivaxers know this, and, unfortunately, they've increasingly been taking advantage of this by making their own propaganda movies disguised (thinly) as documentaries to promote their message. I've documented a number of such movies, ranging from The Beautiful Truth (a film promoting the cancer quackery known as the Gerson protocol), The Greater Good and VAXXED: From Coverup to…
oracknows | May 25, 2016There's always been a major thread of distrust of the medical profession in the African-American community, understandably so given the history of abuses such as the Tuskegee Syphilis Experiment, in which the natural progression of untreated syphilis was studied in African-American men for 40 years. It’s not just that experiment that’s responsible, either. During the time of slavery, slaves often served as the subjects of medical experimentation. Dr. Crawford Long, for instance, conducted most of his early experiments with ether on slaves, while Dr. Walter F. Jones used slaves to test a…
oracknows | January 15, 2016I feel as though I'm experiencing an acid flashback to 2011, and I've never in my entire life once tried acid—or any mind-altering substance other than booze.
What am I talking about? Let's take a trip down memory lane, if you will, back to those halcyon days of—oh—five years ago. That was the time when I first took an interest in the Polish oncologist wannabe named Stanislaw Burzynski. Although I had mentioned him before because he featured prominently in Suzanne Somers' 2009 paean to quackery Knockout: Interviews with Doctors Who Are Curing Cancer–And How to Prevent Getting It in the First…
milhayser | December 5, 2013Not too long ago, when the media became excited about a study saying genetically modified corn causes tumor growth in rats, ScienceBloggers were quick to point out that the study featured some of the worst science ever. Now the paper has been officially retracted by its publisher, but to what end? On Pharyngula, PZ Myers speculates that the study authors avoided statistical analysis of their small, cancer-prone rat packs precisely because there was no statistically significant effect of being force-fed GMO corn. PZ also says "journalists who got the paper in advance had to sign…
mikethemadbiologist | July 27, 2011Update/clarification: I want to clarify something critical. This is not about picking on a researcher or a country. It very well could have happened in the U.S. or anywhere else. I, nor you the reader, have any idea about the internal constraints these groups experience, or what was communicated to government officials. To the extent that data sharing didn't occur due to concerns over publication, this represents an instance where the publication process--and the import attributed to it--affected the need for rapid release. That's the key point, not assigning blame to individuals or…
mikethemadbiologist | July 23, 2011Mike Konczal is disappointed in the behavior of one of the members of the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission ('FCIC'), Peter Wallison, movement conservative and member of the rightwing faith tank, the American Enterprise Institute. Like many conservatives, Wallison blames the housing crisis on efforts to provide African-Americans with loans, even though, as Konczal explains, that's simply not true. Here's what the FCIC was charged to do:
First off, let's remember what this document is. The FCIC report was designed to be our age's Pecora Commission, a collection and investigation of…
mikethemadbiologist | July 17, 2011Because these are the idiots you've allied yourselves with:
...many of these voucher advocates claim they simply want to expand school choice and improve the quality of education for all.
Yet one group that has been influential in the school voucher push -- the Independence Hall Tea Party, which has run a major PAC that operates in Delaware, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania -- is finally admitting that its true goal is to abolish public education.
Here's what the head batshitloonitarian thinks:
"We think public schools should go away,'' says Teri Adams, the head of the Independence Hall Tea…
mikethemadbiologist | July 6, 2011In light of the recent E. coli outbreak in Germany that has killed nearly forty people, one would think the U.S. would be strengthening, not weakening microbiological surveillance in agriculture. One would be very, very wrong:
At a time of rising concern over pathogens in produce, Congress is moving to eliminate the only national program that regularly screens U.S. fruits and vegetables for the type of E. coli that recently caused a deadly outbreak in Germany.
The House last month approved a bill that would end funding for the 10-year-old Microbiological Data Program, which tests about 15,…
mikethemadbiologist | June 24, 2011Recently, ScienceBlogling Jeff Toney responded to Chief Veterinarian of the National Pork Producers Council Liz Wagstrom's argument that widespread antibiotic use in agriculture has little effect on the antibiotic resistance problem. He concludes:
However, the scientific facts support this idea [of agricultural misuse being a problem] - imagine the effect on our population of literally thousands of tons of antibiotics used in agriculture and animal husbandry, not intended in any way to support public health. Any microbiologist knows that if you grow bacteria in low levels of antibiotics, you…
mikethemadbiologist | June 6, 2011It would be nice if educational 'reformers' took a break from busting teachers unions to deal with the infiltration of pseudo-scientific falsehoods into the science curriculum:
...the most brazen example is buried in the middle of the story: a coal-industry produced propaganda film for kids selling the lie that the atmosphere needs more greenhouse gas:
...the Coal Education Development and Resources foundation, known as CEDAR, offers small grants to teachers whose lessons dovetail with its industry-driven mission...
...CEDAR also offers a video to teachers called "The Greening of Planet Earth…
mikethemadbiologist | April 13, 2011Hopefully, I'll suffer the same lack of consequences. Regarding Planned Parenthood, Republican Senator John Kyl recently uttered this factually disabled statement:
...Sen. Jon Kyl (R-AZ) defended Republicans' willingness to shut down the government over funding for Planned Parenthood by falsely claiming that abortion is "well over 90 percent of what Planned Parenthood does." In reality, just three percent of its work is related to abortion. This afternoon, CNN brought on Planned Parenthood's Judy Tabar to discuss his comment. During the interview, CNN anchor TJ Holmes relayed a statement…
mikethemadbiologist | March 15, 2011I'm starting to think that Fox News' primary function isn't catapulting conservative propaganda, but Will Rogers-esque comedy:
One name seems out of place on the graphic [of Japan's nuclear power plants] -- that of "Shibuyaeggman."
It doesn't show up on the International Atomic Energy Agency's list of Japanese nuclear power stations, and this map of Japanese nuclear installations from the Department of Energy's International Nuclear Safety Center doesn't have any listing for "Shibuyaeggman," and doesn't show a nuclear power plant anywhere near the location on the Fox News map.
So what is "…
mikethemadbiologist | March 2, 2011That's really the only way to think of it. Fox 'News' Bill O'Reilly's show has an average viewership age of 71, which isn't 'middle-aged', but elderly. Anyway, one of the propaganda pieces Fox has been catapaulting is the false notion that the Wisconsin protests are out-of-control or violent (police have described the crowd as 'civil'). So this video from O'Reilly's show shouldn't be surprising:
What is surprising is what you see at the 0:16 mark. Go back, look at it again.
That's right: Palm trees. In Wisconsin. In February.
They're not even trying anymore.
Seriously, how is this any…
mikethemadbiologist | February 23, 2011I want to follow up on something from a post about the educational failure committed by our political press corps (italics original; boldface added):
That so many people lack even a basic understanding of how government works and what it does--even among likely voters (keep in mind that your average Tea Buggerer spends a lot of time gathering 'information' and is a likely voter)--is a catastrophic failure of our news media.
The more I roll that around in my head, the more terrified I get. For those not familiar with wonky political terms, a low information content voter is a euphemism for…
illconsidered | February 17, 2011Below is an urgent call for support regarding an important issue for Canadians interested in a responsible Canadian media environment. The arrival of "Fox News North" comes with proposed rule changes that severely weaken public protections against false news. Please see below the appeal from Avaaz.org and the accompanying information and if you are persuaded, sign the petition.
Sources:
CRTC plan to lift ban on false news prompts political investigation:
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/crtc-plan-to-lift-ban-on-false-news-prompts-political-investigation/article1898147/
CRTC…
mikethemadbiologist | February 16, 2011For those who haven't heard, CBS news reporter Lara Logan suffered a "suffered a brutal and sustained sexual assault and beating before being saved by a group of women and an estimated 20 Egyptian soldiers." Just last week, conservative pundit Ann Coulter uttered the following while at the Conservative Political Action conference:
...conservative commentator Ann Coulter was asked what is more important to America's values: maintaining a strong relationship with Israel or "knowing there are jailed dissidents and journalists."
"What do you mean, 'knowing that there are jailed journalists?'"…
mikethemadbiologist | January 17, 2011Reading the prepared text of Obama's speech at the Tucson Memorial Thursday night, there was one part I really liked:
And if, as has been discussed in recent days, their deaths help usher in more civility in our public discourse, let's remember that it is not because a simple lack of civility caused this tragedy, but rather because only a more civil and honest public discourse can help us face up to our challenges as a nation, in a way that would make them proud.
I would prioritize honesty--that is, speaking with words that have meaning and are not simply utterances designed to manipulate--…
mikethemadbiologist | January 11, 2011There are two sides to every story (at least), but often one of those sides is flat out stupid, if not immoral. Yet journalistic convention, in part, helps contribute to the tide of eliminationist rhetoric. That's a point I touched on yesterday, but RMuse fleshes it out much more:
...the main stream media is silent in reporting the connection between the shooter and comments' suggesting violence is an acceptable means of facilitating change in government. What the media is reporting are the offensive responses from Republican legislators that both sides need to dial back the violent…
mikethemadbiologist | January 4, 2011Last week, Forbes had an article about the advances in genomics, which focused on the Ion Torrent sequencing platform. It's a good overview of genomics and the Ion Torrent technology, albeit a bit much on the cheerleading side. For instance, this:
Audaciously named the Personal Genome Machine (PGM), the silicon-based device is the smallest and cheapest DNA decoder ever to hit the market. It can read 10 million letters of genetic code, with a high degree of accuracy, in just two hours. Unlike existing DNA scanners the size of mainframes and servers, it fits on a tabletop and sells for only $…
mikethemadbiologist | September 29, 2010A recent report bemoaning the sorry state of STEM training and education has been updated and re-released. Like most of these reports, it fits into the typical morality play of educational decline. Sadly, even bloggers I respect have bought into this. We'll leave aside the calls for more awarding of advanced degrees in the sciences, even as there is a scientist glut (that's been going on since I was an undergraduate; why do you think all those quants went to Wall Street?). What I want to discuss is STEM (science and mathematics actually) education in K-12.
As regular readers of this blog…