>=========
>Ok, but how else do we check for falsehoods and counter dishonesty, if
>not by sharing assertions that can be checked?
>
>semi-apologetically,
>
>Ian
:) i was going to call you habermas when you first said this. i have no
problem with you or anyone else who forwarded it. i'm sorry i didn't say
this earlier in an offlist...if i'm not looking at my inbox i don't reply
to inbox mail frequently since most mail is filtered to lists or to special
boxes for frequent correspondents. sorry about that!
anyway, forwarding things is forwarding things. it happens. it's email. i think we should be a bit more skeptical but what can we do?
i tried to make it clear that i put far more blame at the feet of the people who wrote that press release. as / dave / pointed out, the press release was a product of at least two people, probably more. what stopped them from seeing the problems. my biggest criticism was that there was a complete lack of a wider left consciousness about police state repression.
as for press releases and dishonesty. i think the structure of a press release, in and off itself, is bound to generate dishonesty. we see them so much, i don't think we bother to think critically about them anymore. they're designed to _look_ like journalism, but they're not: they're made to sell something. so, right off the bat, a press release is suspect, no matter who it's from. and i think it's a good idea to stay away from that structure since it's what people see all the time. even so, the critical readers will be suspicious: if it's used to sell soap, then why is it being used by people who purport to be speaking from outside the mainstream?
anyway, apologies, Ian. I didn't mean to make you feel badly about this yet again. I wasn't upset with you, but upset mainly with the lack of integrity--the press release was missing crucial information that would actually enable a reader to decide. the first thing i asked was, anyone else been searched and detained for similar reasons? then I saw the Interview she did and noticed the glaring difference between the PR and the interview--important parts of the story had been left out.
i have too much respect for you to have attacked you backhandedly by bitching generically at anyone. if i thought you were remiss, i would have said so?! :) ask dennis, i think he's heard me tell my boss to FOAD.
kelley