Chapter 12: Taking Back Your Own Back Yard

The acronym NIMBY, also known as "Not In My Back Yard," is gradually being changed to NIABY meaning Not In Anybody's Backyard; which is much more appropriate in making the effort to have a clean and healthy environment.  In NIMBY activism, people are taking an active role in shaping their futures and in running their government instead of letting it run them. Rural families, whose heath or property has been damaged by toxic sludge, are heroes for spending their own time and money while enduring personal attacks from the government and corporate PR people.  When reading this chapter in Toxic Sludge, I thought of and related it to the movie Erin Brockovich.  Her efforts were portrayed in this movie as she advocated against the harmful effects of chemicals that existed in people's backyards.  Brockovich pursued many anti-pollution cases that affected the health and wellness of children and families.  She was instrumental in the case against PG&E, which alleged contamination of drinking water with hexavalent chromium, also known as chromium(VI), in the southern California town of Hinkley.  If everyone became a "NIMBY" activist, their understanding of government would be profoundly changed and deepened.  

Chapter 11: "All the News That's Fit to Print"

The Revolving Doors section in Chapter 11 "All the News That's Fit to Print" interested me because of the truth to the statement that the media habitually fails to report on itself. Additionally, the media fails to report on the PR industry. When a TV news show airs a video news release, the PR firm that produced the segment pays for all the costs of scripting, filming, and editing.  Likewise, PR-supplied experts enable reports to produce authentic-sounding stories with a minimum of time and effort.  The public rarely notices the bias that creeps into the news with these stories. It is a problem that corporate advertisers have such power to influence news coverage, even though editors' state the contrary.  Furthermore, the idea that "business and editorial decisions in the press and media are totally separate is a myth." An interesting quote from Susan Trento appealed to me when finishing this section.  She stated, "Nothing seems to change.  Nothing seems to get done.  Nothing seems to get cleaned up... it seems that the same people are doing the same things over and over, and never getting punished--and no one seems to care.  The triangle--the media, the government, and the lobbying and PR firms--protect each other."

Chapter 10: The Torturer's Lobby

In Chapter 10: The Torturer's Lobby, a section titled "From Villain to Victim" discusses Colombia's reputation as the world's largest drug empire. The country's image suffered an additional blow in 1991 when the government stopped extradition of drug traffickers into the US and negotiated an in-country "surrender" of Pablo Escobar, the head of the notorious Medellin drug cartel.  At the time, Escobar was facing nine indictments in the US for drug trafficking and murder.  Under the terms of the surrender, he was picked up by a government helicopter and flown to a luxury jail dubbed the "Hilton prison" by US Congressman James Traficante.  Escobar's mountaintop jail came equipped with jacuzzi, air conditioning, three huge bedrooms and a guest room, walk-in closets and private baths, phone and fax machines, a soccer field, a game room, and a panoramic view of the Medellin valley.  He was also allowed to designate his own prison guards, and although police were banned from entering the "prison," well-placed bribes enabled Escobar to "escape" and "surrender" at will.   I think that entire report is absolutely ridiculous.  It gives Colombia the terrible reputation it deserves as they treated their criminals like kings.  It is as though the government disregarded all the crimes Escobar committed because they were willing to accept bribes, which is corrupt and absolutely absurd.   Furthermore, the Colombian Army's frequent collaboration with drug traffickers is despicable.  Turning a villain into a victim is a crime, and transforming the victim into a hero and leader in the war on drugs is simply ridiculous.  It seems that every country's government puts a spin on things to make themselves look favorable and right in any situation. 

Staying Unspun

It is important to respect facts and stay unspun in the world of disinformation.  Fact checking can save lives as well as money and embarrassment. You could live years longer if you are a woman who respects the facts about what most women really die of, then follows the medical advice that reduces those risks  You could avoid dying young if you are a teenager who respects the fact that teen drivers are four times more likely than older drivers to crash.   

Fact checking takes very little time and proves to pay off in the long run.  Being informed with the correct information is always better than having little or inaccurate knowledge.  Often, we are tricked by the media and advertisement that embellish 'facts' and data. To avoid this, it is always better to check the facts.  It may take only a few more minutes of your time, but it is essential and absolutely pays off.  

Chapter 8: Was Clarence Darrow a Creationist?

In this chapter the reader learns that it is absolutely imperative to make sure facts are proved to be 100% accurate.  Even if an idea seems like it is true, it cannot be considered a fact until it is absolutely proved certain.  For example, on page 156 in Unspun, the sidebar shows a few 'then and now' quotes from former President Bush and CIA Director George Tenet.  President Bush questions Tenet about all the intelligence he has received about Iraq having weapons of mass destruction.  Tenet expressed absolutely confidence that the intelligence was true.  A few years later, after he was proven wrong, Tenet expressed his remorse in being certain without having all his facts straight.   Furthermore, in 1997 a civil jury was certain that OJ Simpson will never find the real kill of his wife because he was the real killer.  Meanwhile, sixteen months earlier, a jury found him not guilty of the same crimes.  It is a curious situation because both votes were unanimous.  How is it possible, with all given evidence, that two different juries can come up with two completely different verdicts? Is there a way to be completely certain of what actually happened in the OJ Simpson case and trials?

In addition, it has been proven that people tend to overestimate how well they remember things.  Some people even possess a 'selective memory' where they remember the things they choose to remember or the things that make them look good.  Seeing should not necessarily mean believing because researchers have proven that we can easily be talked into seeing (or saying we see) things that are not there.  All of the information discussed provides the notion that we cannot be 100% certain of anything.  

Chapter 6: The Great Crow Fallacy

To me, the idea of crows being intelligent enough to use cars to crack walnuts seems a bit far-fetched.  Although, as I write that sentence I can't help but think that if I observed a crow continuously dropping walnuts or some sort of other hard shelled food specimen, I might attempt to come to the same conclusion that Terry Maple or David Grobecker did.  After several tests, research showed that birds often drop food onto hard surfaces in order to crack it open.  They do not, in fact, drop food onto hard surfaces with the intention of having a car crack it open.  

Further into the chapter, the great fertilizer scare is mentioned.  It seems that it is so easy to lead the public astray and trick them with unlikely evidence that does not actually consist of thorough research, just strings of assumptions and possibilities.  The lesson from this section states that not all studies are equal.  It is shocking how gullible we, as society, are in everyday life.  It appears that we will believe anything the news or any 'scientific' study without backup research tells us.  Furthermore, without proper evidence and thorough research, simply saying something does not make it true.  

There are so many false claims in advertisements that products are better than others when in reality most serve the same exact purpose.  The current trend is for advertisers to state that it is "clinically proven" that their product to do or prevent various things.  These claims are usually false or proved from ancient, out-dated data.  The bottom line is that we must be careful with what we believe to be true and "scientifically proven."  Research is the key. 

Chapter 5: Facts Can Save Your Life

In Chapter 5: Facts Can Save Your Life, the section titled 'Selling False Hope' was particularly disturbing.  The point of this chapter was that getting facts wrong can cost you money, get you in trouble with the law, or even take your life.  The story of the cancer patient so desperate to beat the disease was terrible.  Any person who would take advantage of a person fighting cancer is absolutely despicable and deserves severe punishment.  It is devastating that people are so desperate that they will do virtually anything to cheat death.  Anything that claims it has a '100 percent cure rate for bone cancer' is simply lying.  Furthermore, clues seemed to be present everywhere that this product was not going to be positively effective.  

Being misinformed consistently ruins lives.  Teens put their health at risk by getting facts wrong about sex.  By assuming that everyone is doing it, teens feel pressure to keep up with their peers. STDS are contracted and seem to be so common these days, which is extremely terrifying.  If teens and college students got their facts straight about what others are actually doing then they might feel less pressured to have sex.  Unwanted pregnancies are more and more common.  These days, each of my friends know at least one person who has gotten pregnant at a young age.  It is a true statement that facts can save lives.

Unspun: UFO Cults and Us

In Chapter 4 of Unspun, the primary focus is how people are generally easy to convince and sometimes becomes followers rather than leaders.  The story that interested me most in this chapter was about Marian Keech, who claimed that she had received messages from beings called Guardians on Planet Clarion saying that North America would be destroyed by a floor, but her followers would be taken to safety on a UFO before the calamity.  People were frantic and prepared for their journey.  Of course, the tragedy did not occur and Mrs Keech claimed that she had received another message saying it had been called off because of the believers' devotion.  It intrigues me how people can follow absurd things without question.

The idea of this as a cult reminds me of the Jim Jones' cult, the Peoples Temple.  I think it is ridiculous how many followers he maintained.  The cult began in Indiana, moved to California, and became famous in Guyana.  The cult members believed everything Jones told them and were incredibly devoted to him.  Eventually the government became suspicious of the cult and Jones acted by giving his members a drink laced with cyanide so they could kill themselves.  The mass murder was the result of the followers being unable to think for themselves. 

It is scary how people will believe everything they hear and it seems to be the case in Unspun.

Unspun

When reading Unspun I was especially interested the chapter "From Snake Oil to Emu Oil" for various reasons.  On page 21, the use of tall tales were mentioned.  One example was the book A Million Little Pieces, written by James Frey.  I remember when the book came out, many people praised its story and the author for writing about his experience in overcoming his horrible additions.  It was highly recommended and a best seller on Oprah Winfrey's book list.  Later it came out that the book was a fabrication and lied about many events in order to be more popular.  When I read this chapter in Unspun, it was relevant to me because I am currently reading A Million Little Pieces.  While I have the knowledge that many "truths" in this book are false, many previous readers were unaware of this fact and their hearts broke for the author. I can understand why the audience would be upset that many lies were told to embellish the story.  The supposed memoir seems to lose its appeal because in some ways it is just another book of fiction, whereas before it inspired readers whose family members deal with addiction.  When the truth came out that the 'memoir' was not entirely true, many readers lost faith in the idea that a person with that serious of an addiction to so many substances can come out of it. 

Another portion of Unspun that I enjoyed was the Fahrenheit 911 lie that the bin Laden relatives were able to fly on a chartered plane out of the United States.  Downright lies are inappropriate and the film should have clarified that this was completely untrue.  It was so unnecessary for Michael Moore to lie in his documentary and allow the American people to believe such a falsity. I actually did not hear of the "bin Laden Baloney" at the time of September 11, but if I had I definitely would have believed it. I guess I am too gullible but I would not have thought to check the facts because I sometimes assume that others will not lie to me.  Obviously, in this world I have to be more careful.

On another note, Unspun reminds me of the Bill O'Reilly Show because of his "no spin zone".