Here are two iron-clad rules you should always keep handy in your Bullshit Detection Kit:
- If a headline claims “Study shows…” or “Science says…” assume that it doesn’t, until proven otherwise.
- Whatever a “Fact-Checker” says, assume that they’re wrong or lying, until proven otherwise.
The first is a fundamental principle of science, as summed up by the Royal Society’s original motto, Nullius in verba: Take nobody’s word for it. As the Royal Society explains, “verify all statements by an appeal to facts”. This doesn’t mean that you have to repeat every study for yourself, but the state of science journalism is as parlous as journalism generally. Bias and journalistic ignorance reign supreme: at the very least, don’t believe the headlines. Dig deeper, read the original study for yourself, if you can.
As for “fact-checkers”, from Snopes to Politifact, their record of bias, deceit and fake news is so amply demonstrated that they simply cannot be given any credence by anyone with an ounce of critical thinking ability.
Australia’s taxpayer-funded ABC “Fact-Checking Unit” is even worse than most. Australian politician Craig Kelly supplies the latest case-in-point.
When Kelly claimed, in a tv interview, that “In the first 20 years of this century (2000-2019) we’ve had more rainfall in Australia than the first 20 years of last century”, Australia’s taxpayer-funded leftist propaganda outfit swung into action.
They ruled Kelly’s claim “flawed”.
Except that it is 100% true – as even their own data shows.
This shows why the ABC should be sold off – as they can’t be trusted and are spreading disinformation[…]with the headline and ‘The Verdict’ ABC are not telling the truth.
MY CLAIM is 100% CORRECT – as evidenced by the data buried down in ABC FactCheck‘s report.
Contrary to ’The Verdict’ ABC Fact-Check admits;
‘’Data recorded by the bureau for Australia’s annual average rainfall supports Mr Kelly’s claim …
From 1900 to 1919, Australia’s average annual rainfall was 438mm, which is less than the recorded average (494mm) between 2000 and 2019.’’
They even produce a chart of Australia’s rainfall – showing an INCREASING trend in rainfall.
That should be game, set and match to Kelly – but these facts are inconvenient truth for Climate Change Mafia.
“Straw-manning” is the “fact-checker”s favourite gambit: ignore what their target actually said, and create a straw-man, a perhaps similar but different claim, and “fact-check” that.
So ABC Fact-check then create a ‘strawman’, and Fact-Check something entirely different (to what I said) regarding the regional differences and the high degree of variability in Australia rainfall trends – despite the fact that I’d acknowledged ‘’regional variations across 120 years of data’.
Who cares about pesky facts? The ABC has a hysterical narrative to peddle.
Climate change is the single biggest challenge ever faced by humanity. We have absolutely no time to lose.
If you believe that, you’ll probably believe that the ABC’s “Fact Checking Unit” actually checks facts.
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