20/20 Special this Friday - Lies, Myths, and Stupidity by John Stossel

[Columbia]

I just saw a commercial for this program and it mentioned that they will do a part on guns. Any guesses on what will be discussed?

The ABC site only says this:

This Friday, Jan. 23, at 10 p.m.
• John Stossel has a one-hour special: "Lies, Myths, and Downright Stupidity." It turns out that a lot of what you may think is true, is just wrong.

http://abcnews.go.com/Sections/2020/

[Disandra]

1. John Stossel makes me want to

:puke:

Right-wing propoganda.

http://www.fair.org/media-outlets/stossel.html

[PROGRESSIVE1]

2. That's "Librul" ABC for you!

:puke:

[kanrok]

3. Stossel's a douchebag

My apologies to douchebags.

[happyslug]

4. He has no credibility with me

Many years ago I watched him do a 20/20 piece on Time beach Missouri and a similar Dioxin mess in Italy. He mentioned that in Italy all they did was bury the dioxin, but at Time Beach they burned the Dioxin and the soil contaminated bu the Dioxin.

He call What the EPA did at Times Beach a waste of money. I remember hearing the Italian City name and remembered it had been a glass making place in the Middle ages. If you are not familiar with the Making of Glass, Glass is made from sand (which is plentiful) but clay is used to form the molds for the glass. Thus almost all Glass making is in areas of a lot of Clay.

One of the characteristics of clay is its ability to resist the flow of water. Thus any area of Clay you will have minimal transfer of contaminates through the soil, clay does not permit such movement of water.

Times Beach on the other hand is in some of the richest soil in the world. Rich not only because of its loam but its ability to permit water to flow through the soil.

Thus the Italian city could bury its Dioxin BECAUSE IT COULD. Times Beach COULD NOT. If Times Beach had buried the Dioxin, the Dioxin would have kept on spreading throughout the area contaminating everything its wake.

Any body with any idea of how water flows through different types of soil would have seen that the comparison that John Stossel was doing was bogus, worse a outright lie. Burying the Dioxin at Times Beach would NOT have stop the Dioxin (unlike the Italian city where the clay would stop its flow). Burying the Dioxin at Times Beach would have made a bad situation worse, but John Stossel just repeated what industry wanted to have heard. Thus John Stossel accepted industry’s opinion that if a solution is good in one location it must be good in all location if the solution is cheap.

John Stossel has a very bad background in science and uses his non-knowledge to support what industry wants even if it is bad science. The above just shows you how his lack of knowledge (I am giving him the benefit of the doubt i.e. he is stupid NOT that he knows better but he has been bought and paid for) and his refusal to even do basic background on the science involved leads to very bias pieces by him.

I would not trust his "science". His Science is the science of being bought and paid for by the highest bidder.

[alwynsw]

6. A small point

Soil doesn't burn. Neither does dioxin. (Nearly 20 years in Hazwaste disposal before I went entrepenurial in another field. Times Beach was one of the jobs I contracted on.) Just because it's an EPA approved method, doesn't mean it works. The EPA also allows deep well injection of certain hazardous wastes: I can hardly wait for that stuff to rise a few thousand feet and hit the groundwater. Believe me, it will.

You're right on the money about the leaching at Times Beach. Containment was necessary.

[happyslug]

8. I grew up in W. Pa

And we use to curse clay on a regular basis. It was bad soil for crops (retained Water when it rained, and kept out water when it didn't). On top of that it was hard to grow grass on it if you walked on the grass to much (I slipped many a time on a clay patch).

The Coal miners hated it even more (would retain water for a long period of time and than break, flooding entire mines).

Thus when I saw that Special I just could not believe any one would compare a clay area with someplace in the American Midwest with its excellent soil. I am NOT a mining expert but the comparison was just plain DUMB.

It is an example of how John Stossel likes to play with Facts. If I had a meeting with him at Noon and he came in and said it was daylight I would walk outside to check. I just can not believe anything he says when it comes to facts and/or Science.

[alwynsw]

5. One can only hope

That the gun segment will dispel some of the myths surrounding the anti-RKBA crowd; such as accurately describing AW's (as opposed to firearms that "look" like AW's)and possibly give some accurate stats on successful cases wherein firearms have been used to defend lives and homes.

on edit; Stossel rates with athlete's foot in my book, but I'll not pass advance judgement until I see the report.

[mistertrickster]

13. Of course guns have been used to defend lives and homes--

they've also been used to commit millions of suicides and accidentally kill thousands of kids.

In my city of 300,000, two criminals with a shotgun tried to force their way into a man's home. He met them at the door with his handgun drawn. Now in fear for their own lives, they shot him dead.

What's it prove? You can always find evidence on both sides. That's the only thing it proves.

[FeebMaster]

14. Right.

"In my city of 300,000, two criminals with a shotgun tried to force their way into a man's home. He met them at the door with his handgun drawn. Now in fear for their own lives, they shot him dead. "

No doubt he would have been better of without a gun.

[Columbia]

7. Sorry for posting this thread

I didn't realize people harbored such strong feelings against the guy. To be honest, I wasn't really familiar with his work. I just saw the commercial and thought I'd just ask for predictions on the what the segment might talk about.

[happyslug]

9. We do not shoot the messager here (to often)

I will like to see what he has to say also, but with his background I would double check what he says. He is just a bad reporter and what I and other commentors are saying that he is bad and to watch what he says. I liked the fact you did report that he will do a segment. Keep it up how else are we to find out what someone like him is doing to us.

[Disandra]

10. Don't be sorry!

I don't think anyone is attacking you, we just don't like John Stossel, and you got our opinions!

:-)

[MrBenchley]

15. Too TOO Funny

Why didn't you find out something about his work before you posted it?

If so, you might have found stuff like this:

"ABC reporter John Stossel is the state of the art in the lucrative field of sell-out journalism. While there are countless other reporters who are willing to be dishonest if the price is right, in Stossel’s case the price is always right. He has publicly admitted that he cashiered his principles in order to increase his standard of living, which equates to candidly acknowledging that nothing he says should be believed. "

http://www.makethemaccountable.com/podvin/media/020122_Stossel.htm

"It's the second dispute in a year involving Stossel, a libertarian who has rankled environmental and consumer groups with his views. Stossel had to apologize last August for a misleading report on organic produce, and the Environmental Working Group, which called for ABC to fire him then, was instrumental in Monday's complaint.
The Environmental Working Group asked ABC News to fire Stossel last year because he reported the results of a test on organic produce when, in fact, such a test never took place. Stossel's segment on organic produce was repeated even though activists pointed out that it was wrong."

http://www.usatoday.com/life/television/2001-06-26-parents-complain-abc.htm


http://www.tompaine.com/feature2.cfm/ID/3496

http://www.fair.org/extra/9406/neufeld-stossel.html

[Columbia]

16. I saw a commerical and asked for predictions

If people want to voice their opinions about him, all the better.

[milliner]

17. it is easier to assault the messenger before the message

Saves lots of time and facts are so bothersome

[MrBenchley]

18. Holy Koresh forbid we ever

question what right wing pieces of shit who lie about every other subject under the sun have to say about sacred guns....

What's next from the RKBA crowd: Ann Coulter's opinion?

(By the way, guess which side of the aisle that lying skank comes down on?)

[Name removed]

21. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[MrBenchley]

22. Too TOO frigging funny.....

You posted to ME, not the other way around.

I'm not the one pretending that this idiot Stossel is anything but a infamous right wing ass...and THAT's reality.

[mistertrickster]

11. Yeah, Stossel is always into haraunging the "nanny state" etc.

He's kind of a jerk, really, but it might be worth watching.

There's some studies that seem to show having more guns reduces crime, but there are other studies that show the opposite, so I hope he doesn't just tout one side.

If guns made people safe, Baghdad would be the safest city on earth.

[beevul]

12. I'm guilty...

of not knowing anything about the guy other than hearing his name before in blurbs...

I guess when he was doing his reporting, I was watching farscape, or maybe playing everquest. Hell, I never watched ABC much other than monday nights and then only for football.:)

"I'll not pass advance judgement until I see the report."-alwynsw

I agree, and I will be watching as well. It will be interesting to see if any of his information bears fact, considering his reputation amongst folks so far that I have seen. I will be as one poster put it "checking for daylight".

[Wild Bill]

19. can somebody tape it.....

cause I have to miss it..... I got to go celebrate my birthday.

[Columbia]

20. I'll tape it

Happy Birthday! :party: