Tuesday, May 15, 2012
How words can manipulate us
Wikipedia; Manual of Style/Words to watch:
(Though I have not used quotation marks, all text in this post has been cut and pasted from the Wikipedia article linked.)
Words that may introduce bias
(Though I have not used quotation marks, all text in this post has been cut and pasted from the Wikipedia article linked.)
Words that may introduce bias
Puffery
| ... legendary, great, eminent, visionary, outstanding, leading, celebrated, cutting-edge, extraordinary, brilliant, famous, renowned, remarkable, prestigious, world-class, respected, notable, virtuoso ... |
- Peacock example:
- Bob Dylan is the defining figure of the 1960s counterculture and a brilliant songwriter.
- Just the facts:
- Dylan was included in Time's 100: The Most Important People of the Century, where he was called "master poet, caustic social critic and intrepid, guiding spirit of the counterculture generation".[2] By the mid-1970s, his songs had been covered by hundreds of other artists.[3]
Contentious labels
... cult, racist, perverted, sect, fundamentalist, heretic, extremist, denialist, terrorist, freedom fighter, myth, pseudo-, -gate, controversial ... Unsupported attributions
... some people say, many scholars state, it is believed, many are of the opinion, most feel, experts declare, it is often reported, it is widely thought, research has shown, science says ... 
Phrases such as these present the appearance of support for statements but can deny the reader the opportunity to assess the source of the viewpoint. They are referred to as "weasel words" by Wikipedia contributors. They can pad out sentences without adding any useful information and may disguise a biased view. Claims about what people say, think, feel, or believe, and what has been shown, demonstrated, or proved should be clearly attributed.[5]The examples given above are not automatically weasel words, as they may also be used in the lead section of an article or in a topic sentenceof a paragraph, where the article body or the rest of the paragraph supplies attribution.Expressions of doubt
... supposed, purported, alleged, accused, so-called ... Editorializing
... notably, interestingly, it should be noted, clearly, certainly, without a doubt, of course, fortunately, happily, unfortunately, tragically, untimely ...
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It Was the Power, Stupid!
Victor Davis Hanson "But, of course, the Obama (who attacked each and every element of the war on terror as a legislator and senator) Left never had any principled objection at all. Instead, whatever Bush was for, they were in Pavlovian fashion against. I can say that without a charge of cynicism, because after January 2009, Obama embraced or expanded every Bush-Cheney protocol that he inherited. In response, the anti-war Left simply kept silent, or indeed vanished, or went to work extending the anti-terrorism agenda. Guantanamo Bay, in other words, was a national sin until the mid-morning of January 20, 2009."
In the same article, Mr. Hanson weaves in the Martin-Zimmerman case:
"Perhaps before the second-degree-murder charge is thrown out, the prosecution can so entangle Zimmerman in testimony that they can recharge him with perjury or conspiracy and then plea bargain him down to a year or two. The case is now not concerned with justice, but with politics, defusing threats of violence, and salvaging the careers of so many who so foolishly rushed to judgment."
"Perhaps before the second-degree-murder charge is thrown out, the prosecution can so entangle Zimmerman in testimony that they can recharge him with perjury or conspiracy and then plea bargain him down to a year or two. The case is now not concerned with justice, but with politics, defusing threats of violence, and salvaging the careers of so many who so foolishly rushed to judgment."
Carney Struggles After Being Hammered On Hypocrisy of Obama Attacking Romney’s Private Equity Work Then Attending Fundraiser At Top Private Equity Exec’s Home…
Weasel Zippers "I almost (key word being almost) feel bad for Carney, he’s being put in an unwinnable situation by the Obama campaign attacking and embracing private equity on the same day."
Rick Moran: Dear Barry: About that Bain Capital attack ad...
More on this subject here: Former steel worker Joe Soptic, who was prominently featured in President Obama's new anti-Romney ad, is actually a familiar face on the anti-Bain beat.
Lavine, according to the Los Angeles Times, is a top Obama bundler and a managing director at . Lavine, who has raised over $100,000 for the president, was at the firm when GST Steel declared bankruptcy. So according to the Obama team's logic, Romney, who had left Bain, is responsible for GST Steel's demise, but Lavine, who was there, is not? Expect to hear more about this connection."We've got to elect Romney president. If he can affect the fortunes of a company two years after his departure from the helm, just think of what he can do remotely to terrorists."
More on this subject here: Former steel worker Joe Soptic, who was prominently featured in President Obama's new anti-Romney ad, is actually a familiar face on the anti-Bain beat.
"He has a hefty stake in JP Morgan Chase, the megabank that just made a bad $2 billion bet. Obama has an account worth between $500,000 and $1 million.
"Despite the nation’s $15.6 trillion debt, he is a believer in government paper. More than half his assets are in Treasury bills and notes.
"The disclosure statement lists assets and liabilities in dollar ranges, so pinpointing the president’s net worth is difficult. His assets appear to tally between $2.6 million and $9.9 million. He holds a mortgage on his Chicago home of $500,000 to $1 million." Weasel Zippers
A Censored Race War
Thomas Sowell "...Similar episodes of unprovoked violence by young black gangs against white people chosen at random on beaches, in shopping malls, or in other public places have occurred in Philadelphia, New York, Denver, Chicago, Cleveland, Washington, Los Angeles, and other places across the country. Both the authorities and the media tend to try to sweep these episodes under the rug."....
"A wave of such attacks in Chicago were reported, but not the race of the attackers or victims. Media outlets that do not report the race of people committing crimes nevertheless report racial disparities in imprisonment and write heated editorials blaming the criminal-justice system."
...."These latter would include not only race hustlers like Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson but also lesser-known people in the media, in educational institutions, and elsewhere who hype grievances and make all the problems of blacks the fault of whites. Some of these people may think that they are doing blacks a favor. But it is no favor to anyone who lags behind to turn their energies from the task of improving and advancing themselves to the task of lashing out at others.
U.S. Army soldier brutally beaten in South Tampa "The victim was not able to tell police much more: they're all in their late teens to early 20's. Two were black men with an average build, police said. One attacker was possibly Hispanic, also with an average build. The fourth man was also black, but with a heavier build."
"A wave of such attacks in Chicago were reported, but not the race of the attackers or victims. Media outlets that do not report the race of people committing crimes nevertheless report racial disparities in imprisonment and write heated editorials blaming the criminal-justice system."
...."These latter would include not only race hustlers like Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson but also lesser-known people in the media, in educational institutions, and elsewhere who hype grievances and make all the problems of blacks the fault of whites. Some of these people may think that they are doing blacks a favor. But it is no favor to anyone who lags behind to turn their energies from the task of improving and advancing themselves to the task of lashing out at others.
"These others extend beyond whites. Asian-American schoolchildren in New York and Philadelphia have for years been beaten up by their black classmates. But people in the mainstream media who go ballistic if some kid says something unkind on the Internet about a homosexual classmate nevertheless hear no evil, see no evil, and speak no evil when Asian-American youngsters are victims of violence.
"Those who automatically say that the social pathology of the ghetto is due to poverty, discrimination, and the like cannot explain why such pathology was far less prevalent in the 1950s, when poverty and discrimination were worse. But there were not nearly as many grievance mongers and race hustlers then."
U.S. Army soldier brutally beaten in South Tampa "The victim was not able to tell police much more: they're all in their late teens to early 20's. Two were black men with an average build, police said. One attacker was possibly Hispanic, also with an average build. The fourth man was also black, but with a heavier build."conservativeblackchick: The recent killing of Trayvon Martin needs more investigation. But where's the outrage over the daily scourge of black-on-black crime?
"The Martin case is very different from the Emmett Till case, in which a white segregationist Mississippi society approved of the murder of a black child. Black America needs to get out of the rut of replaying racial injustices of the past.
"All minority parents fear that children who embrace "gangsta" fashion, tattoos and a thug attitude will be prejudged as criminal." Juan Williams is a political analyst for Fox News and a columnist for the Hill.
Why Democrats must have African-Americans feel they are the victims of white oppresson: House Dems trained to make race the issue "Wiley urged Democrats to appeal to "white swing voters while building support among voters of color." She explained that Democratic outreach to white voters needs to communicate that "people of color are in pain and it's the same pain I, as a White person, would or do feel. It's [about] humanizing people of color." "
Israel Is Today's 1940 Britain
Ken Blackwell "We Americans may well owe our liberty to Churchill and the RAF. But there was not a single American in the sandbagged shelter deep beneath London’s Treasury Building when Winston Churchill guided his War Cabinet’s brave resistance to Hitler tyranny.
"Today, we are in similar peril. Prime Minister Benjamin leads the only democracy in the Mideast. In agreeing with the opposition Kadima party to postpone elections, Netanyahu has created in effect the national government that Churchill was called upon to lead in World War II. United, Israelis stand against the Iranian threat.
"Today, we are in similar peril. Prime Minister Benjamin leads the only democracy in the Mideast. In agreeing with the opposition Kadima party to postpone elections, Netanyahu has created in effect the national government that Churchill was called upon to lead in World War II. United, Israelis stand against the Iranian threat.
"In Iran, the clerics declare that the in-gathering of Jews from Russia, Europe, and the Arab lands into “the Zionist entity” has been an act of God. “It saves us the trouble of hunting them down,” say the mullahs. Like Hitler, they openly call for the extermination of the Jews. Like Hitler, they view America with hatred and suspicion."
Winston Churchill Speech We Shall Never Surrender part 1
Winston Churchill: We Shall Fight On The Beaches:
Winston Churchill: We Shall Fight On The Beaches:
Churchill's determination and eloquence silenced the "occupiers" and the "Code Pinkers" of his time. With God's grace, the same will happen to them when Israel fights for her life, but I see no trace of Roosevelt or Churchill in the present American government today that would come to the aid of Israel.
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