Got a crazy forwarded political email from your family? Post them here.

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Soviet Commubot: Oct 22, 2008

RagnarokAngel posted:

This was brought up earlier, I think the conclusion that was come to was that technically any state can do this if they wanted, it's just a question of what the federal government will allow.

Texas, contrary to popular belief, doesnt have super unique rights of secession or division etc.

Texas got preapproved to split into multiple states.

http://www.snopes.com/history/american/texas.asp

# ? Nov 15, 2012 16:51

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# ? Apr 23, 2024 18:16

Guilty Spork: Feb 26, 2011; Thunder rolled. It rolled a six.

EDGECRUSHER posted:

Will there be funding for those of us who choose to not leave and stay in the US? My family has been here since 1929 or so; 4 generations of us grew up here, and I can say without any doubt that the problems we have in Arizona are from people who cannot say they are true Arizonians. Every politician, from McCain to Brewer to that fuckface Russel Peace did not grow up here, do not have roots here, know nothing but the bullshit they brought from elsewhere.

This state was built by some of the hardest working people. Our Latino population is an integral part of our history and our legacy, and everyone who has tried to dismiss them and purge them deserves to be purged themselves.

I can't lie; I love this desert. I know this desert. I know the people who struggled and fought and worked to build something better here, with little or nothing but searing heat and dust in every part of their body. It's being ruined now by lazy fuckheads who swept in here like loving carpetbaggers of the 19th century and sought to build their own "Bullshit Mountain" on our backs.

Goddamnit, I want my state back.

The other thing about the secession idea is that even if we decide that all it takes is enough residents wanting to secede, what percentage would be enough? The Texas one has about 107k signatures, which sounds like a lot until you remember that it's a state with 25 million people, so around, what 0.4% of the population has expressed interest in secession? Doing the math with Arizona gets 0.3%. If we're ridiculously generous and assume that for every petition signature there are 100 people who agree wholeheartedly, that's still ~40% of a state at most.

The pro-secession crowd would be big if you crammed them into a stadium or whatever, but as a portion of the actual population they are nothing.

# ? Nov 15, 2012 17:20

Sprecherscrow: Dec 20, 2009

Guilty Spork posted:

The other thing about the secession idea is that even if we decide that all it takes is enough residents wanting to secede, what percentage would be enough? The Texas one has about 107k signatures, which sounds like a lot until you remember that it's a state with 25 million people, so around, what 0.4% of the population has expressed interest in secession?

That's being very generous since it assumes all those signatures are from Texans.

# ? Nov 15, 2012 17:22

Axolotl: Jan 23, 2002; Whatever

Dr. Arbitrary posted:

I've had good results from asking if it's okay for employers to refuse to cover organ transplants or psychiatric care under the same religious objection.

Unfortunately, every time I've used this tactic, the person just says "get another job if you don't like it."

# ? Nov 15, 2012 17:30

Absurd Alhazred: Mar 27, 2010; by Athanatos

Dr. Arbitrary posted:

I've had good results from asking if it's okay for employers to refuse to cover organ transplants or psychiatric care under the same religious objection.

"Would you like your kid to die because your Jehovah's Witness employer refused to allow your insurance to cover blood transfusions?"

Axolotl posted:

Unfortunately, every time I've used this tactic, the person just says "get another job if you don't like it."

Rebuttal: "If you quit your job right now, how quickly could you find another job, and will your kid survive that long?"

# ? Nov 15, 2012 17:39

NatasDog: Feb 9, 2009

Got another one from the same guy complaining about businesses not being able to restrict what type of procedures their employees are covered for:

Retired Guy I Used To Work With posted:

shared The Tea Party's photo.
Wednesday, November 14 at 6:28pm (17 hours ago) �
‎?

‎"LIKE" if you agree
Like � � Unfollow Post � Share
4 people like this.

First Responder posted:

Even Malcolm X spoke out about this. I will try to find the video. But it's just utter stupidity.
Wednesday, November 14 at 6:56pm (16 hours ago) � LikeReply

Some Guy I've Debated Before posted:

Teach a man to fish and he has to buy a fishing license, rod, reel, lures waders maybe a boat....
Wednesday, November 14 at 8:08pm (15 hours ago) � Like � 1Reply

Natas Dog posted:

You may be interested in the fact that most red states receive more federal dollars than they pay in. Kind of makes the opposite case. http://i.imgur.com/29Iln.jpg

i.imgur.com
9:08am (2 hours ago) � Like � Remove PreviewReply

Responder #3 posted:

Interesting, but not particularly conclusive. As always the devil is in the details which aren't shown in this graphic. However, the first 20 states are generally among the highest per capita income states and the last 20 are generally the poorer rural states.
11:32am (21 minutes ago) � LikeReply

Natas Dog posted:

Correct, hence the fallacy that somehow democratic states are more dependent on government money than republican ones.
11:39am (14 minutes ago) � LikeReply

The guy I've debated before was pretty hot and heavy for drug testing of welfare recipients; if you've been following this thread for a while he was the guy expressing disgust that kids getting free lunches at his wife's school weren't ashamed enough for his liking. It seems as if in this case he at least recognizes that there's more to 'fishing' here than just tossing a line in the water and that welfare actually helps them come closer to hurdling those barriers. It's hard to tell though.

# ? Nov 15, 2012 18:04

Sarion: Dec 24, 2003

I think everyone should calm down about the secession stuff. Yeah, it's funny/aggravating that these people don't realize just how much their lives rely on the Federal Government for a dozens of tiny (and massive) things they take for granted everyday. But it's an online petition, it has no merit or value. There's no need to get that upset about them, or get upset at the idea that your state may leave the country. It's not going to happen. Other notable petitions on the White House website have included: "Deport everyone who signs a secession petition", "Everyone punch Grover Norquist in the dick", and "Make Batman Secretary of Defense".

NatasDog posted:

Woke up to this one on FB this morning, I'm the blacked out one obviously.

This one showed up last night on my wife's Facebook feed too. The thing that drives me up the wall about it is that it's not their money anymore. Hobby Lobby pays Insurance company as part of an employee's compensation. It's at that point up to the employee how they wish to spend that compensation. The thing is, a woman working for Hobby Lobby could take her paycheck, cash it, and use to pay for an abortion. Does Hobby Lobby have a right to tell the woman she can't use the paycheck they gave her in that way, because it violates the owner's religious beliefs? What if they don't want her buying beer, or porn, or caffeine? The thing is, the money paid by an employer to deductibles is really the employee's income. It's just that if the employer buys a big plan to cover all their employees and their families, they can get a much better deal than if they gave the money directly to the employee and said "go buy your own".

That being said, I think the best tack is what others here have suggested - "If your boss believes X, should he be allowed to keep you from having insurance coverage for Y?"

Sarion fucked around with this message at 18:40 on Nov 15, 2012

# ? Nov 15, 2012 18:35

AFewBricksShy: Jun 19, 2003; of a full load.

My friend's dad posted this on Facebook:

quote:

One of the most remarkable impressions of election night was seeing, in places like Times Square and the Obama campaign stadium in Chicago, crowds of young people, cheering, laughing, dancing, crying with joy over the result. Since these are the people who will have to live with the consequences of this election the longest, it is worth asking: what is it exactly that they are cheering? What do they believe?

They must believe that their future is bright, that it has been saved from the ravages of the evil, uncaring, racist and homophobic Republicans with that rich, white vulture of the weird cult at the top of the ticket. Their free education, free student �loans,� and free health care including contraception and abortion services are now secure. The fact that so many college graduates can�t find work today is George Bush�s fault, and that circumstance will soon be resolved by the wise policies of the revitalized Obama administration.

What do they believe about Republicans? They must believe that the 48% of Americans � half the country � hate women, gays and minorities, would force all women to have invasive ultrasounds, gays to be burned next to witches, and blacks sent to the back of the bus if not back to the cotton fields as chattel slaves. They must believe that Paul Ryan wishes to commit a Texas (or is it Wisconsin?) chainsaw massacre upon the entitlement programs that they are counting on and that those programs will now be solvent with no sacrifice required on their part.

What do they believe about America�s role in the world? They must believe that a foreign policy of apologizing for American Imperialism, bowing to Saudi kings, supplicating for a �reset� of relations with Russia, leading in reverse gear in Benghazi and throwing Israel under the bus, is completely adequate to the challenges of Iran�s nuclear ambitions, China�s expanding Pacific navy, the global Jihad network and the rest of geopolitics for the next four if not forty years, as long as we don�t have a warmongering president with an itchy trigger finger looking for another Iraq to invade unnecessarily. They must believe that it is a good thing for Obama to have greater �flexibility� with Russia, Saudi Arabia and the Muslim Brotherhood in his second term. And they have to believe that the United Nations is a greater force for good in the world than America, and that America�s exceptionalism should be subordinated to the international �community.�

What do they believe about the economic issues? What little economics they have been spoon-fed in our schools and universities must be of the pseudo-Keynesian variety, whereby all good things come from the government and nothing good comes from greedy capitalist one-percenters. The fact that the federal government consumes a higher percentage of GDP today than at any time since World War II is not seen as a problem, because government tax revenue and spending is what brings about prosperity. They must believe that it was the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan that bankrupted the nation; that fat-cat pure-capitalist bankers caused the financial crisis by redlining minority communities; that increased social spending such as on Obamacare has a positive multiplier effect on the economy. They must believe that entitlements and unfunded defined-benefit pension liabilities for unionized government employees are sacrosanct contracts that must be honored above any rights accorded to private-sector taxpayers yet to be born; that the federal budget deficit and the national debt are abstractions, old tin cans that may be kicked down the dirt road. They have to believe that there are fifty million people in America without access to health care who will now get it free of charge with no impact on the already-insured, on unemployment, on public finances or any other sector of the economy; that high-earning individuals and successful small businesses pay little or no taxes; that businessmen get fat in their sleep. They must believe that corporations are chauvanistic to the point of utter stupidity, preferring to hire and pay men 30% more for the same work that women willing to work for 30% less are perfectly capable in every way of doing, in spite of being driven by greed and greed alone. Any budget shortfalls can always be made up by raising taxes just one more time on the rich; after all, the 1 percent of income earners that now pays 40 percent of the taxes can always afford to pay a little more, with no harm to economic growth or unemployment.

It is difficult to tell what they believe about socialism, communism and capitalism, because it is doubtful they have any real understanding of the significance of those words, what are the histories of the nations that have attempted to implement them, and of the peoples who have lived under them. If they possess any understanding at all of what socialism is, they will deny that they are socialists while agreeing with at least 90% of the principles that animate European political parties that have no qualms about using the word in their names; and they will zealously strive to implement the same policies here under the labels of Hope, Change, Fairness, Justice and Forward.

Or perhaps they are not terribly concerned with any of these things, because espousing a purely self-interested point of view they have the expectation of being on the inside, of having government careers and/or belonging to unions whose power will insulate them from any crises; that their salaries, job security and pensions will be protected from any general economic conditions as long as they can hold off attacks by barbarians like Scott Walker and Chris Christie. They do not blame the United Auto Workers for the economic devastation of Detroit and the industrial Midwest, but celebrate its clout in the auto bailout. They do not blame collective bargaining on the part of employees whose salaries are paid by taxpayers for the bankruptcy of Michigan, New Jersey, California and cities across the fruited plain. Or they don�t care, because the point is not do what�s right but to get what one can, to work the system for one�s own and one�s (preferably protected) group�s benefit.

These cheering, sunny-faced young people will be left to deal with the real-world consequences of these beliefs and policies on their own for thirty years after this author and his cohort are gone. May God help them.

It's all young people's fault that Obama got re-elected, but we sure will learn how wrong we were 30 years from now.

The sad thing is that there is a lot of stuff in this article that is actually a good thing, but it's painted in a bad light.

# ? Nov 15, 2012 18:37

Blarghalt: May 19, 2010

If the guy who wrote that knew anything about history he'd know that communist governments came about from violent revolutions and coups, not gradual legislation.

# ? Nov 15, 2012 18:40

Amused to Death: Aug 10, 2009; google "The Night Witches", and prepare for

Young people are so self absorbed they voted for the party that gave some other people health care and isn't vowing to change medicare and social security :qq:

# ? Nov 15, 2012 18:42

I Before E: Jul 2, 2012

Sarion posted:

I think everyone should calm down about the secession stuff. Yeah, it's funny/aggravating that these people don't realize just how much their lives rely on the Federal Government for a dozens of tiny (and massive) things they take for granted everyday. But it's an online petition, it has no merit or value. There's no need to get that upset about them, or get upset at the idea that your state may leave the country. It's not going to happen. Other notable petitions on the White House website have included: "Deport everyone who signs a secession petition", "Everyone punch Grover Norquist in the dick", and "Make Batman Secretary of Defense".

Don't forget the petition to institute Mega-City One's Judge system of law enforcement.

# ? Nov 15, 2012 18:44

Blarghalt: May 19, 2010

Actually, that piece echoes something that has been a trend among conservative hack writers recently.

Fine! Take America! We didn't want it anyway!

# ? Nov 15, 2012 18:46

myron cope: Apr 21, 2009

Sarion posted:

This one showed up last night on my wife's Facebook feed too. The thing that drives me up the wall about it is that it's not their money anymore. Hobby Lobby pays Insurance company as part of an employee's compensation. It's at that point up to the employee how they wish to spend that compensation. The thing is, a woman working for Hobby Lobby could take her paycheck, cash it, and use to pay for an abortion. Does Hobby Lobby have a right to tell the woman she can't use the paycheck they gave her in that way, because it violates the owner's religious beliefs? What if they don't want her buying beer, or porn, or caffeine? The thing is, the money paid by an employer to deductibles is really the employee's income. It's just that if the employer buys a big plan to cover all their employees and their families, they can get a much better deal than if they gave the money directly to the employee and said "go buy your own".

This is a really good point.

quote:

What do they believe about Republicans? They must believe that the 48% of Americans � half the country � hate women, gays and minorities, would force all women to have invasive ultrasounds, gays to be burned next to witches, and blacks sent to the back of the bus if not back to the cotton fields as chattel slaves. They must believe that Paul Ryan wishes to commit a Texas (or is it Wisconsin?) chainsaw massacre upon the entitlement programs that they are counting on and that those programs will now be solvent with no sacrifice required on their part.

Paul Ryan does want to slice up entitlement programs, he said so! Do I believe ALL Republicans want to do those awful things? No. But a lot of the assholes who are republican candidates do. Especially the "hate gays" and "force women to have invasive ultrasounds" parts.

Also as a note: I don't actually think we should let anyone secede. As nice as it would be to jettison the crazies...

# ? Nov 15, 2012 18:58

Sarion: Dec 24, 2003

AFewBricksShy posted:

My friend's dad posted this on Facebook:

It's all young people's fault that Obama got re-elected, but we sure will learn how wrong we were 30 years from now.

The sad thing is that there is a lot of stuff in this article that is actually a good thing, but it's painted in a bad light.

Free student loans? The Income Based Repayment plans are great, but for my wife and I, we're still going to paying $570 a month on it. Assuming our income never increases, that's $136,000+ over the next 20 years. But you know, $136,000 is practically free.

I Before E posted:

Don't forget the petition to institute Mega-City One's Judge system of law enforcement.

I had not seen that one, nice.

# ? Nov 15, 2012 19:12

Amused to Death: Aug 10, 2009; google "The Night Witches", and prepare for

Sarion posted:

Free student loans? The Income Based Repayment plans are great, but for my wife and I, we're still going to paying $570 a month on it. Assuming our income never increases, that's $136,000+ over the next 20 years. But you know, $136,000 is practically free.

Well you know, just take a loan from your parents, or sell some parts of your portfolio to help pay it off quicker.

# ? Nov 15, 2012 19:17

InternetJunky: May 25, 2002

AFewBricksShy posted:

My friend's dad posted this on Facebook:

They must believe that their future is bright, that it has been saved from the ravages of the evil, uncaring, racist and homophobic Republicans with that rich, white vulture of the weird cult at the top of the ticket. Their free education, free student �loans,� and free health care including contraception and abortion services are now secure. The fact that so many college graduates can�t find work today is George Bush�s fault, and that circumstance will soon be resolved by the wise policies of the revitalized Obama administration.

Uh....yes? I'm pretty sure that's a main reason a lot of them where cheering.

# ? Nov 15, 2012 19:20

800peepee51doodoo: Mar 1, 2001; Volute the swarth, trawl betwixt phonotic
Scoff the festune

^^^^^
haha that whole fb post is "uh yes?"

AFewBricksShy posted:

My friend's dad posted this on Facebook:

"They must believe that it was the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan that bankrupted the nation; that fat-cat pure-capitalist bankers caused the financial crisis by redlining minority communities; that increased social spending such as on Obamacare has a positive multiplier effect on the economy. They must believe that entitlements and unfunded defined-benefit pension liabilities for unionized government employees are sacrosanct contracts that must be honored above any rights accorded to private-sector taxpayers yet to be born; that the federal budget deficit and the national debt are abstractions, old tin cans that may be kicked down the dirt road. They have to believe that there are fifty million people in America without access to health care who will now get it free of charge with no impact on the already-insured, on unemployment, on public finances or any other sector of the economy; that high-earning individuals and successful small businesses pay little or no taxes;"

Uh yes?

# ? Nov 15, 2012 19:30

RagnarokAngel: Oct 5, 2006; Black Magic Extraordinaire

AFewBricksShy posted:

My friend's dad posted this on Facebook:

It's all young people's fault that Obama got re-elected, but we sure will learn how wrong we were 30 years from now.

The sad thing is that there is a lot of stuff in this article that is actually a good thing, but it's painted in a bad light.

Good job voting for Obama, I don't lose out, I'll be dead.

Checkmate.

# ? Nov 15, 2012 19:44

tvb: Dec 22, 2004; We don't understand Chinese, dude!

AFewBricksShy posted:

My friend's dad posted this on Facebook:

It's all young people's fault that Obama got re-elected, but we sure will learn how wrong we were 30 years from now.

The sad thing is that there is a lot of stuff in this article that is actually a good thing, but it's painted in a bad light.

This guy practically hits all the "republican grief" rationalizations we've been seeing in one fell swoop. I'm always particularly fond of the "You know, this is just sad, because you fools don't know what you've done" argument. Truly, the minority that voted Republican is just too smart for this electorate, and we others were suckered in by the hucksters. If only we had listened! Oh, it is sad indeed to see people reveling in the eventual self-destruction we unwittingly caused, because we were so tantalized by the promise of free stuff!

# ? Nov 15, 2012 19:50

Waffles Inc.: Jan 20, 2005

The Long Post Above posted:

It is difficult to tell what they believe about socialism, communism and capitalism, because it is doubtful they have any real understanding of the significance of those words, what are the histories of the nations that have attempted to implement them, and of the peoples who have lived under them.

Is there an :ironicat:

that grows out of the mouth of another :ironicat:

that grows out of another :ironicat:

that then loops into our nightmares and consumes our souls because goddamn this segment deserves that.

# ? Nov 15, 2012 19:59

Strom Cuzewon: Jul 1, 2010

Waffles Inc. posted:

Is there an that grows out of the mouth of another that grows out of another that then loops into our nightmares and consumes our souls because goddamn this segment deserves that.

An ironiklein-bottle perhaps?

# ? Nov 15, 2012 20:03

Mo_Steel: Mar 7, 2008; Let's Clock Into The Sunset Together; Fun Shoe

Waffles Inc. posted:

Is there an that grows out of the mouth of another that grows out of another that then loops into our nightmares and consumes our souls because goddamn this segment deserves that.

This is the best I've got, though I suppose you could loop it like that image of the words gently caress YOU rising up and flying past the viewer forever, or vomiting ironicats out. Maybe mix it with the psyduck head explosion exploding ironicats that vomit more ironicats until nothing can be seen.

I think my favorite part though is probably this sentence: "Or they don�t care, because the point is not do what�s right but to get what one can, to work the system for one�s own and one�s (preferably protected) group�s benefit."

Yes I am 100% certain that businesses and the wealthy don't work the system for their own benefit. That is a thing that never happens.

# ? Nov 15, 2012 20:13

NatasDog: Feb 9, 2009

AFewBricksShy posted:

My friend's dad posted this on Facebook:

It's all young people's fault that Obama got re-elected, but we sure will learn how wrong we were 30 years from now.

The sad thing is that there is a lot of stuff in this article that is actually a good thing, but it's painted in a bad light.

Republican tears sure do taste better when they're bitter.

I love how he determines that liberals believe "48% of Americans � half the country � hate women, gays and minorities, would force all women to have invasive ultrasounds, gays to be burned next to witches, and blacks sent to the back of the bus if not back to the cotton fields as chattel slaves.", when many of their candidates this cycle do believe those things; albeit with slightly less outright racism. If you don't want us to paint you in that light, you might want to stop nominating candidates who advocate those things.

It's like they want to deflect as much blame as they possibly can instead of taking a sober look at why they lost this election and try to find a way to reconnect with the majority of the public again. I only hope that they keep this up for another 4 years, so democrats can win another presidency.

# ? Nov 15, 2012 20:19

Petey: Nov 26, 2005; For who knows what is good for a person in life, during the few and meaningless days they pass through like a shadow? Who can tell them what will happen under the sun after they are gone?

Petey posted:

I just wanted to add that I work with the developer of this plugin, so let me know if you have feedback / ideas / etc. I think it's a great idea and wanted to plug it again.

http://www.lazytruth.com/

PerniciousKnid posted:

Is it actually available yet?

It is now! (but very slow)

http://lazytruth.com/

Writeup from NiemanLab

http://www.niemanlab.org/2012/11/lazytruth-tackles-false-claims-in-email-chain-letters/

NiemanLab posted:

Your Uncle Larry from Pensacola, the one who still has a faded �Impeach Clinton� bumper sticker on his pickup, wants you to know something: Barack Hussein Obama, that socialist we just re-elected, is abolishing the national Christmas tree this year. This isn�t a rumor; this is a fact. And now you have two choices: delete this email or forward it to everyone you know.

The Internet�s oldest social network still hums with chain emails like this. FactCheck.org calls it a zombie rumor, returning from the dead every year since Obama took office. The president is a constant target of the email rumor mill: He is a radical Muslim; he canceled the National Day of Prayer; he gave away part of Alaska to Russia; he lets his dog fly on its own jet.

We just went through a highly fact-checked election, but it�s unclear what the final score was between truth and fiction. One reason why myths persist is that fact-checking is often out-of-reach at the moment it would be most useful � like the moment where you open your inbox. Forwarding an email is a lot easier than hunting for evidence. So Matt Stempeck, a graduate student at the MIT Media Lab, is tackling the problem closer to its source.

Stempeck and developers Justin Nowell, Evan Moore, and David Kim have written a Gmail plugin called LazyTruth that quietly scans your email for chain letters, urban legends, and phishing scams. When you open a forwarded email, an �Ask LazyTruth� button invites you to investigate. The software checks the email against data pulled from PolitiFact and FactCheck.org, and, if needed, offers a correction and a link to find out more.

Once a user clears the first (and only) hurdle � installing it as a Chrome extension � the plugin does all the work. The gap between the consumption of misinformation and the correction is reduced to nearly zero. (When it works.)

�The Washington Post has a great fact-checking column, but it�s for people who read the Post once a week, dive into a fact-check for 500 words,� Stempeck said. �There�s a much larger audience of people who would want the summary of that in one sentence if they get the email with that lie or mistruth in it. Basically, as far as journalism goes, it�s seeing if we can take the homework and the research and the knowledge that goes into an individual article and bring it out into the world and give it to people when they really want and need it.�

Take FactCheck�s fact-check of a chain letter claiming the president secretly criminalized protests against him. The deconstruction of that claim is breathtaking in precision and rigor, but it�s unlikely to reach the people who ought to read it. The people who trust the chain letter in the first place probably want to believe the claims are true. This is the essence of truthiness: �the quality of preferring concepts or facts one wishes to be true, rather than concepts or facts known to be true.�

Which gets to another problem: Are the people who install LazyTruth the people who really need it? And shouldn�t LazyTruth be an AOL plugin instead of a Chrome extension?

Stempeck said he expects LazyTruth users to be a mostly self-selecting, technically inclined audience. And that does not defeat the purpose, he said. He may not be able to reach Uncle Larry, but maybe he can empower Uncle Larry�s relatives with facts to help bring him back down to earth.

�I�ve received emails from friends of my family saying that climate change has nothing to do with mankind,� Stempeck told me. �Off the bat, I know that that�s not true, but I�m not always going to take the time out of my day to go summarize the recent science on it in two quick paragraphs for my friends. If I had a tool that surfaced that for me, I might be more likely to respond with that information.�

Stempeck wants to see if LazyTruth inspires people to push back in any number. Would 1 percent of users pushing back make a measurable impact on the spread of those emails?

If it sounds similar to Dan Schultz�s Truth Goggles, the work we wrote about last November and again in May, it is. The two have worked together at the Media Lab�s Center for Civic Media. Stempeck hopes to make use of Schultz�s work with natural-language processing to identify variations of common phrases in chain letters. For now, LazyTruth can only match exact strings against Stempeck�s huge and growing database of chain letters and their variations.

Chain letters have a lot of common features: They tend to be laced with exclamation points. They tend to be anonymous. They tend to be conservative. They tend to be riddled with spelling errors. And they always insist this is not a hoax!!!!!!!!!

To help debunk � and not reinforce � email myths, Stempeck has studied The Debunking Handbook from Australian researchers John Cook and Stephan Lewandowsky. �If your content can be expressed visually,� the guide advises, �always opt for a graphic in your debunking.� So for the zombie Christmas tree hoax (Stempeck�s favorite), LazyTruth offers a photograph of First Lady Michelle Obama and Malia Obama in front of the horse-drawn wagon conveying the national Christmas tree, the sign reading �White House Christmas Tree 2010.�

Other tips from the handbook:

Emphasize the facts, not the myth, to avoid an �overkill backfire effect.�
Don�t overload the correction with facts, because �a simple myth is more cognitively attractive than an over-complicated correction.�
Explain why the myth is wrong and what might have motivated the mythmakers.
Finish with a strong, memorable, tweetable phrase that people will want to share with their friends.
Next Stempeck wants to mine the data to learn more about the content of chain letters, how they mutate, who the primary actors are.

�Some of these emails, they�ll get updated for different nations and context,� Stempeck said. �I would also love to do some network analysis of how these things spread, how many people need to forward them for them to stay alive, and how many people actually forward them versus people that don�t? Is it like spam, where .001 percent is enough to keep it alive?�

Please forward this story to 10 people in the next five minutes.

# ? Nov 15, 2012 21:19

clockworx: Oct 15, 2005; The Internet Whore made me buy this account

Facebook is a never-ending well of stupid

# ? Nov 16, 2012 02:49

Bombadilillo: Feb 28, 2009; The dock really fucks a case or nerfing it.

clockworx posted:

Facebook is a never-ending well of stupid

precious. Im sure in 4 years when they still have their guns and their rights to say bullshit like this, they will totally acknowledge they were full of poo poo. No? They'll pretend this didnt happen and complain about the newest talking point? Guess reality never comes to the idiots.

# ? Nov 16, 2012 04:04

Mornacale: Dec 19, 2007; n=y where
y=hope and n=folly,
prospects=lies, win=lose,

self=Pirates

Bombadilillo posted:

precious. Im sure in 4 years when they still have their guns and their rights to say bullshit like this, they will totally acknowledge they were full of poo poo. No? They'll pretend this didnt happen and complain about the newest talking point? Guess reality never comes to the idiots.

More accurately, the Democrats will continue to be a center-right corporatist party and the Republicans will continue to refuse any compromise short of a return to feudalism, and when those forces combine to keep significant positive change from occurring conservatives will blame it on Obama being a socialist and say we need to move further to the right.

# ? Nov 16, 2012 05:57

1stGear: Jan 16, 2010; Here's to the new us.

clockworx posted:

Facebook is a never-ending well of stupid

Yeah, that is pretty terrible. I mean, its not like the stock market has been steadily rising for most of the past year, unemployment is clearly unaffected by the massive hurricane that just devastated the East Coast, and the layoffs have been more about companies throwing shitfits over their candidate not getting elected.

# ? Nov 16, 2012 06:04

Melaneus: Aug 24, 2007; Here to make your dreams and nightmares come true.

AFewBricksShy posted:

My friend's dad posted this on Facebook:

"that fat-cat pure-capitalist bankers caused the financial crisis by redlining minority communities"

Original Republican talking point: "If bankers can't redline then crisis"
Therefore, opponent's argument must be the opposite: "If bankers can redline then crisis"

Logic, like many tools, is kinda dangerous in the hands of the inexperienced.

AFewBricksShy posted:

It is difficult to tell what they believe about socialism, communism and capitalism

Yesssssss, tell me what you think these words mean in great detail.

AFewBricksShy posted:

because espousing a purely self-interested point of view

That's... that's frikkin' objectivism.

# ? Nov 16, 2012 12:17

Troll Bridgington: Dec 22, 2011; Keeping up foreign relations.

1stGear posted:

Yeah, that is pretty terrible. I mean, its not like the stock market has been steadily rising for most of the past year, unemployment is clearly unaffected by the massive hurricane that just devastated the East Coast, and the layoffs have been more about companies throwing shitfits over their candidate not getting elected.

Clearly the stock marketed is not being affected by the eurozone or fiscal cliff worries.

# ? Nov 16, 2012 13:34

Lord Hawking: Aug 8, 2002; SHUT UP!
SHUT UP!
SHUT UP!!!

Now my Facebook feed is telling me all about how Obama's union thug cronies shut down Hostess. Ironically, most of these posts are coming from fat libertarians. CNN link here

# ? Nov 16, 2012 17:07

Mo_Steel: Mar 7, 2008; Let's Clock Into The Sunset Together; Fun Shoe

Lord Hawking posted:

Now my Facebook feed is telling me all about how Obama's union thug cronies shut down Hostess. Ironically, most of these posts are coming from fat libertarians. CNN link here

If they can't afford a strike maybe they should give in to the worker's demands. :smug:

Or you know, Hostess could also be a company whose market share has been getting eaten up by competitors like Entenmann's and Little Debbie, and that's why they don't have the financial resources to handle an extended strike. The article even alludes to such:

quote:

"The industry has overcapacity. We're overcapacity. Our rivals are overcapacity," said Rayburn in an interview on CNBC. Asked if the shutdown decision could be reversed if the Bakers' union agreed to immediately return to work, he responded, "Too late."

But

Union Thugs!

# ? Nov 16, 2012 17:12

Amused to Death: Aug 10, 2009; google "The Night Witches", and prepare for

Lord Hawking posted:

Now my Facebook feed is telling me all about how Obama's union thug cronies shut down Hostess. Ironically, most of these posts are coming from fat libertarians. CNN link here

Check out from the gbs thread what these workers were supposed to accept

quote:

-- An immediate 8 percent wage cut.

-- Shifting 20 percent more of health care costs onto the workers (for some workers, this would mean an increased cost of $240 a month for medical insurance).

-- Eliminating retiree Medigap insurance, which covers gaps in Medicare.

-- Eliminating Pension Supplement to pay health and funeral costs.

-- Closing an undisclosed 10 to 12 plants.

-- Eliminating the eight-hour day, which would mean no time-and-a-half pay after eight hours per day.

In addition, the company illegally froze pension contributions mandated under the contract for all of 2012, in violation of federal law. This is still being contested before the National Labor Relations Board.

I believe last night earlier in the thread someone had said during the same time period, pay at the top had gone up. Meanwhile, the two holding companies for Hostess probably knew the company was sinking and were delighted to just offload a bunch of debt into it right before going under that they'd no longer have to deal with.

But you know, UNIONS :argh:

Our wonderful job creators would never let twinkies go away. It's not like the company managers might be a bunch of idiots who couldn't keep it afloat.

# ? Nov 16, 2012 17:15

Aeka 2.0: Nov 16, 2000; Have you seen my apex seals? I seem to have lost them.; Dinosaur Gum

Haha, amazing. I heard the news and I knew they were going to pin it on Obama.

# ? Nov 16, 2012 17:37

VideoTapir: Oct 18, 2005; He'll tire eventually.

Amused to Death posted:

I believe last night earlier in the thread someone had said during the same time period, pay at the top had gone up. Meanwhile, the two holding companies for Hostess probably knew the company was sinking and were delighted to just offload a bunch of debt into it right before going under that they'd no longer have to deal with.

After Romney's dirty laundry being aired, I'd hope, but not expect, this kind of thing to be more widely understood.

# ? Nov 16, 2012 17:41

ZobarStyl: Oct 24, 2005; This isn't a war, it's a moider.

Aeka 2.0 posted:

Haha, amazing. I heard the news and I knew they were going to pin it on Obama.

Even if they weren't going to blame Obama, it was still going to be heavily tilted against the unions. This morning they covered the story on my local Fox affiliate and it was couched in anti-labor rhetoric, with nary a mention of the fact that workers were asked to take large cuts or that the industry was oversaturated. Given that the right get mad at Obama for their own social programs, I'd say anything union related is his fault too.

# ? Nov 16, 2012 17:50

pillsburysoldier: Feb 11, 2008; Yo, peep that shit

Okay this is being shared around now:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DL-a-r7iJIU

Judge Judy is the threshold for reality

# ? Nov 16, 2012 19:58

Big K of Justice: Nov 27, 2005; Anyone seen my ball joints?

pillsburysoldier posted:

Okay this is being shared around now:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DL-a-r7iJIU

Judge Judy is the threshold for reality

I saw this pop up and I lambasted the guys who posted this on my timeline. They blame the minority who is ripping off a county program for around $5,000 a year.

You need a billion of those guys to account to the massive amount of Debt the US has vs something like the F-35 boondoggle which is going to run us over a trillion in cost overruns and support costs.

By all means, ignore social security, defense spending, Medicare and the ongoing tax cuts as the culprit.

Easier to blame slackers like in the video or the Obama phone lady....

:cripes:

# ? Nov 16, 2012 20:30

Homocow: Apr 24, 2007; Extremely bad poster!
DO NOT QUOTE!; Pillbug

Geared Hub posted:

Easier to blame slackers like in the video or the Obama phone lady....

It's a simple and easy to understand explanation (albeit wrong) so naturally people are attracted to it.

# ? Nov 16, 2012 20:35

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# ? Apr 23, 2024 18:16

1stGear: Jan 16, 2010; Here's to the new us.

Media Matters has a thorough and completely-sourced breakdown of Hostess' financial troubles, including executive pay being significantly raised, if you want to head off any Facebook friends.

# ? Nov 17, 2012 01:30

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Debate & Discussion > Got a crazy forwarded political email from your family? Post them here.

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