Newest Study: Fox News Viewers Are Most Misinformed…

 

…and that should come as no surprise to anyone on the planet. This is not the first time that some study concluded that Fox viewers were the most ignorant group when it came to current events such as politics,health care,and a host of other issues of life in the United States.

WorldPublicOpinion

In most cases those who had greater levels of exposure to news sources had lower levels of misinformation. There were, however, a number of cases where greater exposure to a particular news source increased misinformation on some issues.

Those who watched Fox News almost daily were significantly more likely than those who never watched it to believe that most economists estimate the stimulus caused job losses (12 points more likely), most economists have estimated the health care law will worsen the deficit (31 points), the economy is getting worse (26 points), most scientists do not agree that climate change is occurring (30 points), the stimulus legislation did not include any tax cuts (14 points), their own income taxes have gone up (14 points), the auto bailout only occurred under Obama (13 points), when TARP came up for a vote most Republicans opposed it (12 points) and that it is not clear that Obama was born in the United States (31 points). The effect was also not simply a function of partisan bias, as people who voted Democrat and watched Fox News were also more likely to have such misinformation than those who did not watch it--though by a lesser margin than those who voted Republican.

   I would note that Fox was not entirely alone in reporting news in a not so truthful manner,they are just the best at being a propoganda outlet for the Republican Party and their wealthy friends.

   Read the entire article here,and if you feel really bold, go here for more of this:

This study corroborates a previous PIPA study that focused on the Iraq war with similar results. And there was an NBC/Wall Street Journal poll that demonstrated the break with reality on the part of Fox viewers with regard to health care. The body of evidence that Fox News is nothing but a propaganda machine dedicated to lies is growing by the day.

In eight of the nine questions below, Fox News placed first in the percentage of those who were misinformed (they placed second in the question on TARP). That's a pretty high batting average for journalistic fraud. Here is a list of what Fox News viewers believe that just aint so:

• 91% believe that the stimulus legislation lost jobs.
• 72% believe that the health reform law will increase the deficit.
• 72% believe that the economy is getting worse.
• 60% believe that climate change is not occurring.
• 49% believe that income taxes have gone up.
• 63% believe that the stimulus legislation did not include any tax cuts.
• 56% believe that Obama initiated the GM/Chrysler bailout.
• 38% believe that most Republicans opposed TARP.
• 63% believe that Obama was not born in the US (or that it is unclear).

The conclusion is inescapable. Fox News is deliberately misinforming their viewers and they are doing it for a reason. Every issue above is one in which the Republican Party had a vested interest. They benefited from the ignorance that Fox News helped to proliferate.

  You Betcha! FoxNews:Fairly Unbalanced!

Technorati Tags: FoxNews,Republicans,World Public Opinion,Program on International Policy Attitudes,Propaganda,Current Events

Obama Loses Round Over Health Care Law…

 

….and it is one rule that I am happy to see shot down by US District Judge Henry Hudson of Virginia.

    As you may well know, Obama’s health care law contains a requirement that Americans have to purchase some type of health insurance or face a fine if they do not. The last time that I checked,the United States was still a free country,somewhat.

   Judge Hudson ruled in favor of the state’s Attorney General,saying that this provision of the law was unconstitutional.  Of course,this case will be decided ,one of these days, by the Supreme Court.

       BBC

The judge wrote in a 42-page decision that the disputed provision was "neither within the letter nor the spirit of the Constitution".

But he declined to invalidate the entire law, in what correspondents say was a small victory for Barack Obama.

Technorati Tags: Obama,HealthCare,Obamacare,Virginia,Constitution,News,Current Events,BBC

 

  

Who Benefits From WikiLeaks Embassy Cables?

 

     Whether you agree with what WikiLeaks is doing or not,you have to admit that they have been very adept at making sure that the site just doesn’t happen to vanish into thin air because of the United States government. we all know that the site problems have basically come about because of the U.S. government, with a few smaller ones thrown in.

   So. Who is going to benefit because of the cable leaks? A  newspaper in Belgium has a pretty decent answer to the question.

Watching America

La Libre, Belgium
WikiLeaks: Who Will
Benefit from the Crime?

By Pierre Piccinin

Isn’t it interesting ... that the only “pertinent” information basically concerns only the Middle East?
2 December 2010      Edited by Jessica Boesl

Belgium - La Libre - Original Article (French)

The “revelations” of the WikiLeaks site, which has just published tens of thousands of American diplomatic letters and correspondence, are, alas, some of the most disappointing — at this stage at least — due to a disturbing common detail.
For example, on the role of the United States, there is nothing about the destabilization of the Iranian government, nor about its intervention in the “green revolution” that followed the June 2009 elections; there is nothing about the computer science virus “stuxnet” that would be paralyzing the Iranian army and its centers of nuclear research; there is nothing about Syria; there is nothing about the Israeli-Palestinian negotiations that recently began again and are at the center of American politics in the Middle East; and there is absolutely nothing about Israel.
Furthermore, there is no information on the origin of these documents or their authenticity (that the principal parties of interest don’t deny, however).
In fact, globally, nothing was really interesting in what was published until now.
Indeed, this correspondence contains some negative words said by one second-rate diplomat or another regarding one head of state or another, but it’s nothing over which to start a fight. Overall, nothing seems out of the ordinary in this area of informal exchanges, since all the leaders in the world are quite familiar with this sort of talk: Mohammad Gaddafi* likes pretty girls, Hamid Karzai is corrupt, Vladimir Putin likes to work out his biceps, Silvio Berlusconi is old and tired, Angela Merkel is insensible, and as for Nicholas Sarkozy, he would be insensitive and authoritarian. Breaking news! The French president is also described as “the naked king,” but here, no one understands nor dares to interpret it. And Washington spies on the U.N. Incredible!
For the rest, the main “news” is that most leaders of Arab states (Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, the king of Jordan, the dictators on the Persian Gulf, etc. — all old allies of the United States) have very fiercely declared that they are opposed to Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and his government and wish to have an American intervention. No joke?! This has been the case since 1980 and the war between Iran and Iraq, during which all these states overtly supported and financed Saddam Hussein against the ayatollahs of the Islamic Republic.
In brief, we’re not learning anything.
Isn’t it interesting, however, that the only “pertinent” information basically concerns only the Middle East? And could we wonder if these leakages were organized and used, only partly, by the White House itself?
The fact that these sorts of statements were disclosed makes it possible to reinforce the pressure on Iran a little more and makes its isolation more official within the Arab world. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu did not hesitate to go one step further by rejoicing in what, from now on, Israel and the Arab countries are officially agreeing upon as the Iranian danger and the way to suppress it.
Also, the other “big news,” the issue of Iran’s purchase from North Korea of rockets that are capable of reaching Europe, arises at the right moment for the United States' foreign policy, not only regarding Iran, but also precisely at the time when NATO wants to construct its famous antimissile shield. And this is how to kill two birds with one stone.
Thus, the bulk of these “revelations” brings us back to Iran, which is also designated as a threat to the world, as Saddam Hussein’s Iraq was before it was confirmed by illegal war in 2003 that the country was, in reality, without defense.
On second thought, this case noticeably resembles a well-formed propaganda stunt that could aim at justifying aggression toward Iran. In policy, the old tested recipes are often used again. Following Sherlock Holmes’ tracks, let’s find out who will benefit from this crime. …
Most of the columnists and commentators are talking about a “Sept. 11 of diplomacy.” It’s very overdone and too excessive. And they guarantee that American diplomacy will not be the same in the future. Nothing could be less certain.
*Editor’s Note: This is in reference to Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi.

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Technorati Tags: WikiLeaks,Embassy Cables,Cablegate,Watching America,Middle East,News

Latest Rasmussen Polling…

 

…. on President Obama’s approval rating rating says that the President has suffered a decline, especially after his “compromise” on the tax cuts for the wealthy which he made with the Republicans.

    As of Saturday,December 11, only 27% of voters polled approve strongly of the job that Obama is doing while 39% basically say that his performance sucks,strongly.

     Rasmussen

Overall, 46% of voters say they at least somewhat approve of the president's performance. Fifty-three percent (53%) disapprove.

Fifty-six percent (56%) favor the tax cut deal reached by President Obama and Congressional Republicans.

Technorati Tags: Rasmussen,Political Polling,Voter Polling,Tax Cuts,Obama,Current Events