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by Reedx 2298 days ago
Saying "they don't work" followed with "we need them" is especially blatant. It cancels itself out. After all, no one would need them if they didn't work.

Another recent example was this on CNN and others: "38% of Americans wouldn't buy Corona beer "under any circumstances" because of the coronavirus, according to a recent survey."

This spread like... well, a virus. Even after it was debunked[1], CNN didn't remove or correct it[2].

1. https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2020/02/about-coro...

2. https://twitter.com/CNN/status/1233406525491814400 https://www.cnn.com/2020/02/28/business/corona-beer-marketin...

2 comments

I was finally able to get access to the full questions asked in the poll. These make clear that the survey was a fishing expedition designed to elicit viral stats. The questions asked in the poll include “Is Corona related to the coronavirus?” and “In light of the coronavirus, do you plan to stop drinking Corona?” Those presumably didn't get interesting answers, so they omitted them from the report, and instead published on the question of whether people "would not buy Corona under any circumstances now" and made it sound like the first questions. Good lord, it really is like the "Yes, Prime Minister" clip:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G0ZZJXw4MTA&t=28s

I like the quote under the video:

Politicians use statistics in the same way that a drunk uses lamp-posts — for support rather than illumination.

-- Andrew Lang

> Saying "they don't work" followed with "we need them" is especially blatant. It cancels itself out.

I have seen this lie/conflict of interest being told by Harvard medical board by the leaders of the disease fighting squad and I realized that I can't even know what other information I should believe from them.

Is it crazy to think that if they work (and they do) they'd be much more useful if they're used by health workers than by the average joe ?

But to me the real question is how fucked up your country is if it isn't able to reallocate stocks to hospitals instead of supermarkets/online shops. France isn't China but they requisitioned factories to produce masks and disinfectant exclusively for hospitals and pharmacies.