Good morning.
Sunday in Whitewater will be mostly cloudy with a high of 19. Sunrise is 7:11 AM and sunset 5:04 PM for 9h 53m 05s of daytime. The moon is a waxing gibbous with 59.5% of its visible disk illuminated.
On this day in 1845, “The Raven” is published in The Evening Mirror in New York, the first publication with the name of the author, Edgar Allan Poe.
A call to do one’s own research requires sound evidentiary and analytical standards. It’s not enough to look at an object: a serious examination requires that someone assess with reasoned standards. The populists have spent years telling others they’ve researched COVID-19, masks, vaccines, etc. Their examinations leave something to be desired.
Unsurprisingly, some of these same types find themselves suckers, pigeons, and dupes for confidence schemes. Stuart A. Thompson writes On Trump’s Social Network: Ads for Miracle Cures, Scams and Fake Merchandise:
Between posts about conspiracy theories and right-wing grievances was an unusual advertisement: a photo of former President Donald J. Trump holding a $1,000 bill made of gold, which he was apparently offering free to supporters.
But there were a few catches: The bill was not free, it was not made of gold, and it was not offered by Mr. Trump.
The ad appeared on Truth Social, the right-wing social network started by Mr. Trump in late 2021, one of many pitches from hucksters and fringe marketers dominating the ads on the site.
Ads from major brands are nonexistent on the site. Instead, the ads on Truth Social are for alternative medicine, diet pills, gun accessories and Trump-themed trinkets, according to an analysis of hundreds of ads on the social network by The New York Times.
….
Some ads pushed coins, bills and gold-plated bars.
These ads often used Mr. Trump’s portrait. While the items are often described as “gold,” the checkout pages describe them as gold-plated, meaning they may have a patina of real gold. Mr. Trump’s supporters have been inundated with the ads since before his electoral victory in 2016.
….
Over time, the low-quality ads on Truth Social have irritated its own users, who have complained to Mr. Trump after repeatedly seeing the same disturbing images or after falling for misleading gimmicks.
“Can you not vet the ads on Truth?” asked one user in a post directed at Mr. Trump. “I’ve been scammed more than once.”
Purchasing from advertisers on the site shows insufficient judgment, but having been scammed “more than once” shows an absence of judgment. There’s a difference between research and credible research. (If there were not, no one would need to use credible as a modifier of research.)
The populists are given to flimsy standards, efforts, and inquiries. They excel, however, in promoting their own flimsy standards, efforts, and inquiries as world-class insights. At that, they’re quite accomplished.
Plane Passenger Captures Incredible Glimpse of Northern Lights: