Why Polls Are Bullshit! …and Why You Care. December 7, 2007
Posted by Joe in : Crumbling Society, Political Circus , add a comment
Go on over to YouTube to watch this clip from an episode of Penn and Teller’s Bullshit! (a series on Showtime kind of like Myth Busters - debunking bullshit!).
This is a great look at how “polls” are really conducted. You’ve read them in papers, magazines; watched them on news channels; heard about them from one person to another. Polls like which presidential candidate is winning, or what people think about immigration reform. Well, see for yourself in the aforementioned clip about how that information is gathered.
By asking someone the same question a dozen different ways, you’ll eventually end up with the answer that you (or the person/company conducting the poll) is looking for. For instance, if you were Fox News, you’d probably want to run a poll that shows most Americans believe in god. But if you poll a large amount of atheists, how do you twist that the way you want it? Just ask them what they believe in, and when they tell you they don’t believe in god, just ask them if its possible that god exists. Most would say yes (I would, even though I’m an atheist and don’t believe in any god), so you could surmise that they believe in god, even though they do not. Now, you’ve got the right answers to the poll. Time to put it on TV!
Keep in mind that as the media tightens its grip over our reality and our government becomes more and more entrenched in its corruption, that some of us need to stay sharp. Don’t let your friends, your family, your coworkers, or even strangers go about thinking that what they get spoon-fed to them every day is the real deal. Because sadly, that’s the direction we’re headed in. Our constitution is in shreds, our leaders are selling us to the highest bidder like slaves, and that natural instinct to sense deceit and to rise up against the powers that be has faded.
I read a news headline the other day, probably from Digg, that mentioned how 18 year old voters were 11 years old when Bush became president. Now that they can vote, the only government they’ve ever known has been the Bush administration. The next generation is going to suffer far worse than our own because of this.
Education really is power. Do your part; whatever it may be.
Smile at the Airport (They’re Watching) August 16, 2007
Posted by Joe in : Crumbling Society , add a commentAn interesting article over at MSNBC indicates that the airports will now be visually monitoring your behavior.
They’re called “Behavioral Detection Officers,” and they’re watching your expressions for signs of “danger.” Micro-expressions, as the line of study is called, indicate how you’re really feeling through small facial actions which could indicate things like anger. Have you ever been angry at an airport? This sounds promising.
Click through to the MSNBC aricle for more details on the “face police,” coming soon to an airport near you.
