Month: September 2012

Today In Dishonest Fox News Graphics

Today In Dishonest Fox News Graphics

Fox used a dishonest comparison of two different measures of unemployment to suggest the unemployment rate has nearly doubled since President Obama took office.

During a segment criticizing the Obama administration for its messaging on the economy, a Fox & Friendsgraphic claimed that the "real unemployment rate" had increased from 7.8% in 2009 to 14.7% now:

But in order to make the claim that unemployment had increased from 7.8% to 14.7% during Obama's time in office, Fox had to conflate two different statistics and completely distort Obama's jobs record.

The 7.8 percent figure is the official unemployment rate from January 2009. This statistic reports on people who are unemployed and actively looking for a job. But as of the latest report, the official unemployment rateis 8.1 percent (0.3 percent higher than it was in January 2009), not 14.7 percent.

The 14.7 percent figure is a completely different measurement of the unemployed, which in addition to those who are actively looking for work, also counts people who are unemployed and discouraged from looking for a new job, part-time workers who prefer full-time employment, and more. This alternative measure of unemployment, which conservatives often call the "real" unemployment rate, was 14.2 percent in January 2009 -- 0.5 percentage points lower than it is today.

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The Economy (Ron Paul V. Zeitgeist)

http://youtu.be/ELEwjVRxxGE

RAP NEWS episode 9. 2011 hits harder than a pre-apocalyptic hangover as "the economy" threatens to annihilate our stock-piles of imaginary, inflated wealth, spawning a battle of epic proportions as insurgent grassroots forces move in to #OccupywallStreet and coalitions of indignados hold their ground in Athens, Madrid and Tel Aviv; facing up to the riotgear, batons and tazers that stand between them and a more equal redistribution of the proverbial pie. ...But enough action and excitement! It's time for some heroic armchair philosophy: Join your affable host, Robert Foster as he attempts to shine some light on this mysterious creature, "the economy". Is this the failure of capitalism that we are witnessing, or its triumph? Is it the end of the end of history, or yet another crazy chapter in the whimsical journey of the human experiment? Postscript: For the occasion, we've pulled out the big guns: admittedly it was a tough choice deciding who to interview: we could've had Alan Greenspan on the show, or the Emperor himself, Milton Friedman; the first lady, Christine Lagarde; or financial buffs like Gerald Celente, Peter Schiff and Donald Trump. But to get the freshest juice we knew we had to go further - much further. Rap News 9 features two VIP Internet grandees who have uploaded gigabytes of juice via the one remaining free frequency to feed a discerning and ravenous audience, thirsty for answers. Whilst these two fine folk agree with each other on many things, fortunately, there's no shortage of issues to rap-battle about. Well, time's short - so let the rhyme-rodeo begin as we blast off on a rollercoaster odyssey. It's the stupid Economy, in all its gory glory. Juice Rap News: written by Giordano Nanni; lyrics and performance by Hugo Farrant. Created by Farrant & Nanni in a back-yard studio in suburban Melbourne.

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Moody's Threatens U.S. Credit Rating Cut

Moody’s rating agency says it may cut the U.S. government’s credit rating. A new report says the U.S.’s triple-A could depend on Congressional debt negotiations in 2013.

The report says the triple-A will stay if Congress can enact legislation to bring down the country’s debt-to-GDP ratio — meaning national debt as a percentage of total output. If not, expect a rating cut before 2014, likely to a AA1.

The U.S.’ credit rating has already been cut once before. S&P cut the rating to AA+ last August when Congress took till the eleventh hour to avoid a government shutdown.

A writer for Forbes says since then agencies like Moody’s have used the threat of a ratings cut to push for “fiscal discipline and action from Congress.”

Business media reacted differently to the news. For instance, a CNBC panel points out last year’s rating cut didn’t lead to the gloom and doom analysts predicted.

“The yield on the 10-year promptly plunged.”
“Right. … And equities, too.”
“I mean, literally, this was one of those moments where the vast majority of people had it wrong.”

But an analyst for Bloomberg says the threat of higher interest rates on government debt as a result of the cuts is too serious to ignore.

“How many times do you see bonds rally the way they did when they got cut by S&P? Very unlikely to happen if Moody’s takes action again. So they really need to pay attention what that means for interest rates.”

A few sites were largely critical of Moody’s. A writer for Barron’s asks, if the negotiations aren’t until next year, why give the warning now...

“...the morning of the 11th anniversary of the Sept. 11th attacks, in the midst of a heated presidential campaign ... and during a week in which the Fed is widely expected to announce further quantitative easing measures...”

A Business Insider writer was even more harsh, criticizing not just the timing, but also the idea of a “debt deal.” The site notes efforts to cut spending always seem to lead to more debt.

“So not only does this warning from Moody's come at a terrible time, it's asking Congress to do something impossible, which is reduce debt-to-GDP by focusing on debt-to-GDP rather than focusing on growth. Our advice to everyone is to ignore Moody's.”

But a CNN radio reporter noted on Twitter, the report hits just as Congress gets back to work, and is likely meant as a warning.

Current government figures put the debt-to-GDP ratio at 101.6 percent — just over $16 trillion.

Moody’s Threatens U.S. Credit Rating Cut

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The Biological Advantage of Being Awestruck – by @JasonSilva

http://vimeo.com/46264514

This video was created by @JasonSilva and shot and edited with my friends at Bravo Media, and is non-commercial and for educational and inspirational purposes only. Full credits and clip attributions can be found below. This video was inspired by three big ideas: 1) The ideas of psychologist Nicholas Humphrey who has written of "THE BIOLOGICAL ADVANTAGE OF BEING AWESTRUCK". Basically, our ability to awe was biologically selected for by evolution because it imbues our lives with sense of cosmic significance that has resulted in a species that works harder not just to survive but to flourish and thrive... "Humphrey refers to consciousness as a magic show that you stage for yourself inside your head, which lights up the world and makes you feel special and transcendent... this magical theater provides a reason to live, a love of occupying the present moment, and a desire to sustain it into the future, that over time has proved stronger than anything else, and accounts for humanity’s swift and triumphant success-- Humphrey says “being enchanted by the magic of experience, rather than being just an aid to survival, provides an essential incentive to survive.” "We relish just being here. We feel “the yen to confirm and renew, in small ways or large, our own occupancy of the present moment, to go deeper, to extend it, to revel in being there, and when we have the skill, to celebrate it in words..” Our desire to understand brings exquisite pleasure... and feeds our exploratory voyage, our scientific inquiry, our technological development, and even our poetic self-regard.. More: online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703858404576214771893335998.html 2) The Stanford study that found that AWE is clinically good for you, expanding perception of time, increasing compassion and empathy and promoting well being: More: theatlantic.com/health/archive/2012/07/study-awe-inspiring-experiences-change-our-perception-of-time/260138/ 3) Ross Andersen's rapturous meditation on the ontological awakening of our psyches provided by the Hubble Space Telescope: "At first glancing the Deep FIELD “one might mistake it for gemstones scattered across black velvet, but a closer look reveals that each smudge of light, 2,600 in all, is a galaxy dense with billions of star-fired worlds, pinwheeling in deep time. … To that point, astronomy had imaged objects only four billion light years away, and poorly at that. Here a telescope reached 11 and a half billion light years into space and delivered an image legible to the layman: an unprecedented expansion of human vision." More: lareviewofbooks.org/article.php?id=331 **Music by John Murphy - "Kaneda's Death Pt 2" from Sunshine Soundtrack itunes.apple.com/us/album/sunshine-music-from-motion/id297702863

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1 In 7 Ohio Conservatives Think Mitt Romney Killed Osama bin Laden

When asked “Who is more responsible for Osama bin Laden’s death, Barack Obama or Mitt Romney?”, 15% of Ohioan voters who identified themselves as “very” conservative gave credit not to the Commander in Chief and mission strategist, but to former Governor Mitt Romney … ummm … say what??! Also, 6% of “somewhat conservative” people named Mitt as their pick for the bin Laden operation mastermind.

Liberals fared better, but, surprisingly, 4% of “very liberal” Ohioans still give Romney (Yes, the man who last held state-level office FIVE YEARS AGO) the nod for killing bin Laden.

Perhaps more disturbingly, a whopping 1 in 3 Ohioans surveyed (31%) said they were not sure who was responsible for bin Laden’s death, with 51% of America’s far-right and 14% of America’s presumed far-left not knowing the answer. This is America’s (mis)-information system at work!

Overall, Barack Obama now has a comfortable 5 point lead over Mitt Romney in the Buckeye State, 50-45. Perhaps due to the Democratic Convention bounce, Obama is up two points from 48-45 last month. Not surprisingly, Ohio voters say by a 2-1 margin that Obama delivers better speeches than Romney.

Public Policy Polling surveyed 1,072 likely Ohio voters from September 7-9, 2012. The margin of error is +/-3.0%. This poll was not paid for or authorized by any campaign.

Access the full report here:http://www.publicpolicypolling.com/pdf/2011/PPP_Release_OH_9912.pdf.

1 In 7 Ohio Conservatives Think Mitt Romney Killed Osama bin Laden

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Bush warns: Watch out for 'shysters'

President George W. Bush is warning Americans not to fall for scams trying to raise money off the disaster in Haiti.

"I need to put a pitch in for the clintonbushhaitifund.org," Bush told NBC's David Gregory. "One of my concerns is shysters show up and take advantage of people's good will and generosity. So people want to help, one avenue besides the established NGO's would be to tap on that website and we'll help make sure your money is spent in a transparent accountable way," he said.

Bush warns: Watch out for ‘shysters’

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