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PROPAGANDA ARCHITECT. "Edward Bernays: Born 1891 in Vienna, nephew of Sigmund Freud, Bernays is credited as the "farsighted architect" of modern propaganda techniques. From the early 1920's onward, he helped consolidate a marriage between theories of mass psychology and schemes of corporate and political persuasion." http://lnkd.in/dum5MFq View in LinkedIn

INFORMAL FALLACY. "Typically, informal fallacies occur in non-deductive reasoning, which relies on content as well as form for cogency. Also, because content is important in informal fallacies, there are cogent arguments with the form of the fallacy." http://www.fallacyfiles.org/inforfal.html View in LinkedIn

THE RECENT HISTORY OF TOBACCO is replete with successful manipulation of the facts. Not long ago, there were many adverts by doctors advocating cigarettes. They hired Edward Bernays, the inventor of public manipulation to help their campaigns, such as 'Torches of Freedom'. "Cigarettes were described as symbols of emancipation and equality with men." http://lnkd.in/dwNc6A2 View in LinkedIn

IMPATIENCE WITH AMBIGUITY. "The claim that whatever has not been proved false must be true, and vice versa (e.g., There is no compelling evidence that UFOs are not visiting the Earth; therefore UFOs exist - and there is intelligent life elsewhere in the Universe ... This (is) impatience with ambiguity." (Carl Sagan). http://www.science20.com/archyfantasies/blog/absence_evidence View in LinkedIn

THE TOBACCO ATLAS BY WHO. "This book illustrates, in an accessible and creative format, how tobacco is not just a simple health issue, but involves economics, big business, politics, trade, litigation, deceit and crimes such as smuggling." Extremely sobering pictorial data. http://www.who.int/tobacco/resources/publications/tobacco_atlas/en/ View in LinkedIn

GIRDED WITH THE BAG OF TRICKS, it is instructive to look at the oldest, biggest, nastiest trickster of all: Big Tobacco. The achievements of these giant corporations in crafting the public perception and acceptance of a toxic product is the crowning glory of spin, undue influence, and unbridled private power. It is also being imitated by other entities including Big Food. View in LinkedIn

ADDITIONAL DIRTY TRICKS. Generalizations; double speak; euphemisms; assertions; the common man; transference; repetition; labelling; ignoring proof; destroying proof; creating proof; lies and omissions. http://lnkd.in/dkCqJ8Y View in LinkedIn

ADDITIONAL TRICKS OF SPIN. Half truths; dumbing down the news; creating diversions; lying about numbers; false logic; how dare you; mud-slinging; appeal to false authority; fear-mongering; bandwagons; false choices; lesser of two evils. http://lnkd.in/dkCqJ8Y View in LinkedIn

TECHNIQUES OF SPIN, a handy guide to many of the tricks of the trade that are plied with such skill and regularity we become blind to them. Remember, naming something is a way to make it real. http://lnkd.in/dkCqJ8Y View in LinkedIn

FAKE PRECISION. "This fallacy occurs when an argument treats information as more precise than it really is. This happens when imprecise information contained in the premisses must be taken as precise in order to adequately support the conclusion." http://lnkd.in/dY6ufkp View in LinkedIn