WOOD-TV on fake news shared on Twitter in Michigan during the election

I began the month by sharing a video from DNews/Seeker with my readers explaining why people fall for fake news.  Today, I'm offering last Thursday's clips from WOOD-TV about the prevalence of fake news on Twitter before last fall's election.  How prevalent?  This prevalent: Fake news accounted for 25 percent of shared campaign links.

A study by London's Oxford University shows that a big chunk of political stories shared out on Twitter before the election in Michigan was fake.

Here is the next segment: Oxford study: ‘Fake news’ flooded Michigan in November.

A study done at London’s Oxford University took a look at election-related posts on social media Goliath Twitter and found that a big chunk of campaign-related news shared in Michigan was of the fake news variety.

Good lord.  As the Seattle Times headline read two weeks ago, "The information war is real, and we’re losing it."

Hugo Awards successfully fighting off Rabid Puppies

In yesterday's entry, I told my readers to "stay tuned for Sunday's entertainment feature, when I plan on writing about the Hugo Awards."  Since it's now Sunday, I'm sharing the media nominees from io9's Here Are the 2017 Hugo Awards Finalists, beginning with the movies and entire series.

Best Dramatic Presentation (Long Form)

Arrival, screenplay by Eric Heisserer based on a short story by Ted Chiang, directed by Denis Villeneuve (21 Laps Entertainment/FilmNation Entertainment/Lava Bear Films)

Deadpool, screenplay by Rhett Reese & Paul Wernick, directed by Tim Miller (Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation/Marvel Entertainment/Kinberg Genre/The Donners’ Company/TSG Entertainment)

Ghostbusters, screenplay by Katie Dippold & Paul Feig, directed by Paul Feig (Columbia Pictures/LStar Capital/Village Roadshow Pictures/Pascal Pictures/Feigco Entertainment/Ghostcorps/The Montecito Picture Company)

Hidden Figures, screenplay by Allison Schroeder and Theodore Melfi, directed by Theodore Melfi (Fox 2000 Pictures/Chernin Entertainment/Levantine Films/TSG Entertainment)

Rogue One, screenplay by Chris Weitz and Tony Gilroy, directed by Gareth Edwards (Lucasfilm/Allison Shearmur Productions/Black Hangar Studios/Stereo D/Walt Disney Pictures)

Stranger Things, Season One, created by the Duffer Brothers (21 Laps Entertainment/Monkey Massacre)

Just looking at the nominees, I could tell that the Rabid Puppies had very little effect on the outcome.  Both "Ghostbusters" and "Hidden Figures," which feature female casts, are exactly the kind of works the Puppies slates attempted to keep out of the voting in previous years.  It turned out they were hardly trying.

Metafilter's post, Hugos 2017: a tale of puppies reported that the Sad Puppies didn't bother to make any recommendations and the Rabid Puppies, instead of full slates, which this year would have been three entries per category, only made one or two.  In the long form/"film" category, File 770's Measuring the Rabid Puppies Effect on the 2017 Hugo Ballot listed it as "Deadpool," which was a worthy nominee anyway.  In fact, all of them are acceptable nominees, although I'm surprised that "Ghostbusters" beat out the "Star Trek" movie or "Fantastic Beasts."  As for "Stranger Things" being here instead of an episode being nominated in the short form category, that's a pleasant surprise.  It really is the year for "Stranger Things," even though I think "Arrival" will win this category in a walk.

Best Dramatic Presentation (Short Form)

Black Mirror: “San Junipero”, written by Charlie Brooker, directed by Owen Harris (House of Tomorrow)

Doctor Who: “The Return of Doctor Mysterio”, written by Steven Moffat, directed by Ed Bazalgette (BBC Cymru Wales)

The Expanse: “Leviathan Wakes”, written by Mark Fergus and Hawk Ostby, directed by Terry McDonough (SyFy)

Game of Thrones: “Battle of the Bastards”, written by David Benioff and D. B. Weiss, directed by Miguel Sapochnik (HBO)

Game of Thrones: “The Door”, written by David Benioff and D. B. Weiss, directed by Jack Bender (HBO)

Splendor & Misery [album], by Clipping (Daveed Diggs, William Hutson, Jonathan Snipes)

When I looked at this list, I first thought that "The Expanse" episode was the Puppies choice; it's their kind of show.  However, File 770 reported that it wasn't; a third episode of "Game of Thrones," "The Winds of Winter,"  was instead.  It earned enough votes to make the top six, but was disqualified because a series can only have two episodes nominated and "Game of Thrones" already had two in the top six, presumably with more votes.

The only entry I found surprising was "Splendor & Misery" by Clipping.  It's a music album, not a movie.  The commenters at Metafilter love the selection, but I have a hard time seeing it here instead of an episode of "Westworld" such as "The Bicameral Mind."  In my opinion, that was the best episode of the best science fiction show on television last year and I have a hard time seeing it not recognized, which the Science Fiction Writers of America did.  From The Verge, here are this year's Nebula Award nominees for dramatic presentation.

Arrival, directed by Denis Villeneuve, screenplay by Eric Heisserer, 21 Laps Entertainment / FilmNation Entertainment / Lava Bear Films / Xenolinguistics

Doctor Strange, directed by Scott Derrickson, screenplay by Scott Derrickson & C. Robert Cargill, Marvel Studios / Walt Disney Studio Motion Pictures

Kubo and the Two Strings, directed by Travis Knight, screenplay by Mark Haimes & Chris Butler; Laika Entertainment

Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, directed by Gareth Edwards, written by Chris Weitz & Tony Gilroy; Lucusfilm / Walt Disney Studio Motion Pictures|

Westworld: ‘‘The Bicameral Mind’,’ directed by Jonathan Nolan, written by Lisa Joy & Jonathan Nolan; HBO

Zootopia, directed by Byron Howard, Rich Moore, & Jared Bush, screenplay by Jared Bush & Phil Johnston; Walt Disney Pictures / Walt Disney Animation Studios

"Westworld" was the only television series recognized by the writers, but the fans didn't even bother to nominate it.  Time to start hyping it for the Saturn Awards.

Fear premium returns with Syria missile strike

I haven't posted an update on oil prices since Supply and demand still work for oil last October.  My last gas price report here came even longer ago than that in June's Oil falls after Brexit vote, pushing prices even lower.  That's because local gas prices have been relatively stable, world oil prices have been rising so slowly as to be boring, and the election and subsequent transition have been much better shiny objects.  That changed Thursday night, when Trump ordered a cruise missile strike on Syria.  That event has had predictable effects on oil markets, as CNN reported yesterday morning in Oil prices leap after US missile strike.

Crude oil prices spiked after the US launched missile strikes against Syria. CNN's Paula Hancocks reports.

CNN's report was based on oil futures.  Reuters showed those increases lasted until closing in Oil rises after U.S. missile strike in Syria, weekly gain 3 percent.

Oil prices rose on Friday, trading near a one-month high and closing the week up 3 percent after the United States fired missiles at a Syrian government air base, raising concern that the conflict could spread in the oil-rich region.
...
Brent crude futures settled up 35 cents at $55.24. Brent reached a session high of $56.08, the highest since March 7, shortly after the U.S. missile strike was announced. For the week, Brent was up 4.4 percent.

U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures were up 54 cents at $52.24 a barrel, off the session high of $52.94.

The wholesale price spike has already had an effect on retail gas prices, as Fox 4 in Ft. Myers, Florida, reported in Gas Prices Rise after Syrian Airstrike.

Overnight, U.S. gas prices went up 3 cents.

I saw the effects of the price spike when I drove through my old neighborhood yesterday to buy gas.  The two stations down the street (the third has been demolished) were selling regular at $2.49, while the one at the corner near my old house was offering the same grade at $2.29.  After using my rewards card, I was able to buy it as $2.26.  Of course I filled up, since I expected prices to rise.  That may have been premature.  Three hours later, the two stations down the street dropped their prices 14 cents to $2.35.  Given my four years of close observation of the three stations' interactions, that was very unusual; normally, the corner station with the high price lowered it to remain competitive.  That behavior, which has all three stations selling well below the Detroit average of $2.53, suggests that the spike may be just that, a temporary panic-driven rise.

I'll keep watching the situation.  If both Syria and the oil markets remain volatile, I'll report on them.  Until then, stay tuned for Sunday's entertainment feature, when I plan on writing about the Hugo Awards.

Gerrymandering and other general politics for the sixth year of Crazy Eddie's Motie News

Happy Flashback Friday -- another perfect opportunity for a retrospective!  As I wrote yesterday, today's entry "will be about politics having nothing directly to do with the election.  Yes, those actually exist."   In reality, they have everything to do with elections in general, but don't particularly have anything to do with last year's election in particular.  They also don't have anything to do with climate change, which will be the subject of the next retrospecive -- but I'm getting ahead of myself.

The eleventh most read entry of the last year was PBS Newshour examines gerrymandering in Maryland and North Carolina from October 1, 2016.  It ended the year with 3022 page views according to the raw counter.  It was also the fourth most read entry during October 2016, the third most read actually posted during the month, ending October with 2805 page views, 2989 according to the raw counter.  Like most of the top entries and all the posts included in today's retrospective, I shared it at the Coffee Party USA Facebook page, where it earned 877 page views and helped attract 909 page views to the site in the first hour.  In the next 24 hours, it got 1714 more page views for a total of 2591, 2640 since it was first posted.  It also helped attract 3099 page views to the site the day it was posted.  It  knocked John Oliver and FiveThirtyEight on Tax Day, which had 2044 page views at the time, out of tenth place on the all-time list at 10:00 A.M. on October 2, 2016.  It passed Clinton wins the news media while Sanders wins the Internet to claim ninth place at Noon.  Then it climbed over 1968 has arrived with a Weimar moment in San Jose to reach eighth at 3 P.M., Republicans on climate change and energy at the CNBC debate at 4:00 P.M. to rank seventh, and WXYZ on redistricting reform at 6:30 PM to place sixth.  Yes, the two top entries about redistricting/gerrymandering were next to each other on the all-time list.  That lasted until the first two entries about the Michigan recount knocked them out on successive days.  Sic transit gloria mundi.

Follow over the jump for more general politics posts.

Holidays for the sixth year of Crazy Eddie's Motie News

Happy Throwback Thursday!  It's the perfect opportunity to resume the retrospective of the top entries of the past blogging year with the subject I promised after entertainment and the election -- holidays!  This is one of the favorite themes for this blog, both for me and my readers, as every blogging year has produced at least one retrospective about holidays, even if the first year's post about a holiday didn't make the top ten until a year later.  Looks like my readers and I both love holidays!


The eighth most read entry posted last year and the ninth most read on the all-time list as of March 20, 2017 is Happy Sweetest Day 2016!.  Posted on October 15, 2016, it finished the blogging year with 3330 page views, 3452 according to the raw counter.  It was also the most viewed entry posted during October 2016, as well as the second most read entry overall for the month, with 3222 page views, 3335 according to the raw counter.  This post earned 2000+ page views in twelve hours purely by other people sharing it on Facebook.  It passed Republicans on climate change and energy at the CNBC debate, which had 2401 page views at the time, between 3:00 P.M. and 4:00 P.M. on Sweetest Day to earn a place on the all-time top ten.  It earned 2991 page views in the first 24 hours, enough for it to place seventh on the all time list.  During the morning of October 16th, it passed CNN and MSNBC interview Libertarian candidates William Weld and Gary Johnson to rank sixth.  Not bad for a throwaway holiday entry that I only posted because previous Sweetest Day entry proved very popular, becoming the sixteenth most read entry of the fifth year of the blog.  This one exceeded its predecessor.

By the way, it's now tenth on the all-time list, with first the three entries about the Michigan recount pushing it down, but also Rusty-Patched Bumblebee finally placed on the Endangered Species List, which is the first entry of the seventh year of this blog to reach the top ten.

Follow over the jump for more popular holiday entries.

National Walking Day 2017

I've observed National Walking Day once on this blog, back in 2013.  Since then, I'd forgotten about it until Facebook's "On This Day" feature showed the post.  It's pretty much the kind of holiday I like to observe, although I'm more for walking as a method of getting somewhere than as exercise, which the holiday really is about.  Watch American Heart Association National Walking Day 30 PSA to see the point.

Heart disease is this country's No.1 killer. But by exercising for as little as 30 minutes each day you can reduce your risk. That's what the American Heart Association's start walking movement is all about:

Walk more. Eat better. Live a longer, healthier life.

Countless people across the country are jumping on board. Join them. Get walking and start taking a more active role in your health!

This event is happening here in Michigan, too, as WOOD-TV's Eight West program shows in Celebrate National Walking Day.

April 5th, we're celebrating an exercise with the lowest drop out rate.

I'm one of those people with a Fitbit who is trying to get their steps.  Tomorrow will be an easy day to meet that goal, as I'll be in a walkable neighborhood.  Today may be a challenge, as I won't be and it could be raining.  I might have to get on a treadmill for my 30 minute walk.  Hmph.  As I wrote, I prefer walking as a method of getting places than as pure exercise.  Besides, that treadmill uses electricity, so walking on it doesn't save fossil fuel energy, which is what I really want.

If I don't walk 30 minutes today, I'll be sure to do so on Saturday, when my geology classes go on their field trip.  That's always a fun way to get my exercise.

Videos for my biology classes--dinoflagellates, thylacines, and pandas

I blog for a number of reasons, but one is a form of professional development.  In addition to organizing my research, I will park videos here that I plan to use in my classes using the stories I tell my students label.  Since I'll be teaching my evolution, ecology, and biodiversity class starting next month as well as new sections of my environmental science class, it's time for me to stock up.  Here are three videos that popped up on my YouTube subscriptions over the past few days.

The first is from AAAS/Science Magazine: Hunting microbe wields a “gatling gun” harpoon.

Single-celled organisms have intricate microscopic weapons evolved for capturing prey.

As soon as I saw the preview image, I knew this was about dinoflagellates.  At least now I have something interesting to tell my students about them other than red tides and bioluminescence.

Follow over the jump for two videos about mammals that work equally well for my advanced students as for my general onces.

SpaceX launches and recovers a reused rocket

I've written before about Elon Musk and SpaceX's plan to colonize Mars and take tourists around Earth's moon.  Key to making both of those happen is being able to reuse at least the first stage of the Falcon rockets SpaceX manufactures and uses for space launches.  Last week, that occurred for the first time, as NTDTV reported in SpaceX reusable rocket completes second space flight and landing.

SpaceX has achieved an industry first. The company sent the same rocket up to space for the second time.

While I'm still skeptical Musk and SpaceX can achieve their goals in the time frame they have set for themselves, I am rooting for them nonetheless.  Here's to them proving me wrong.

Entertainment and the election for the sixth year of Crazy Eddie's Motie News

"Stay tuned for a retrospective on entertainment and the election," I wrote to conclude Minor parties for the sixth year of Crazy Eddie's Motie News.  Since today is Sunday, when I usually post my weekly entertainment feature, it's time to post that retropsective.

The seventh most read entry of the blogging year just finished and the eighth most read of all time is Tyrion Lannister ties Sanders and beats Clinton and Trump" from May 1, 2016, which earned 3421 page views, 3564 according to the raw counter.  Once again, I'm going to be a good environmentalist and recycle the story of its rise from Monthly meta for May 2016.

"Tyrion Lannister ties Sanders and beats Clinton and Trump" from May 1, 2016 may have come in second in page views with 3422 (3486 according to the raw counter), but it tied for first as the most liked on Google+ with 4 pluses.  It earned the page views from being shared at the Coffee Party Facebook page, which helped draw 897 page views to the site in the first hour and 3472 page views in the first day from being posted at the Coffee Party Facebook page.  It got 3000+ page views in the first 24 hours.  I later shared it at both Kunstler's and Greer's blogs.  Those links didn't add much to the readership.  It got its pluses from being shared at the political groups on Google+.  It ended the month as the third most read entry of all time, knocking "James Robertson ABC's Person of the Week" out of the top ten.  That had been the top post for the fourth year of this blog.  Sic transit gloria mundi.

I wrote in Popular entries from the back catalog for the fifth year of Crazy Eddie's Motie News that "James Robertson ABC's Person of the Week...was pushed out by Tyrion Lannister ties Sanders and beats Clinton and Trump in May 2016, a story that I'll repeat in detail next year."  It turns out that I had already written it and just repeated it.  That's an example of a point I make to my students; recycling saves energy.

It also turns out that I have no record of having shared the link at Greer's blog before I wrote the above, not that it would likely have made a difference, so I have retract that claim.  However, I did share it as a comment to Send Out the Clowns at Kunstler's blog, where I wrote the following.

In advance of last week's premiere of Season 6 of "Game of Thrones," SurveyMonkey conducted a poll and found that Tyrion Lannister ties Sanders and beats Clinton and Trump.  The show's fans preferred Sanders to both Clinton and Trump.  That a fictional character might win an election is par for the course.  Last December, Reuters found that both Yoda and Obi-Wan Kenobi would beat Clinton and Trump.  Even Darth Vader would beat Trump!

That's not all.  Vox looked at the candidates and figured out who they'd be in Westeros.  Clinton, no surprise, would be Circei Lannister.  Trump wouldn't be any known character, but he'd fit right in with the Lannisters, too, maybe as Joffrey all grown up.  Americans want a Lannister, but poor Tyrion won't be on the ballot.  Instead, Trump is coming and he's building a wall.

Trump as Joffrey all grown up also made an appearance in Hollywood gets political at the Golden Globes, which rounds out the conceit of last year's candidates as "Game of Thrones" characters.

Follow over the jump for more about the intersection of politics and entertainment from the previous blogging year.

Why people fall for fake news from DNews/Seeker for April Fools Day

Happy April Fools Day!  Today is a day known for fake news.  To prepare my readers for the onslaught of bogus news stories meant to amuse and deceive, I'm sharing Your Gullible Brain And The Spread Of Fake News from DNews/Seeker.

Researchers think they've figured out why some people easily believe things that aren't true.
...
"Erroneous beliefs are difficult to correct. Worse, popular correction strategies may backfire and further increase the spread and acceptance of misinformation. People evaluate the truth of a statement by assessing its compatibility with other things they believe, its internal consistency, amount of supporting evidence, acceptance by others, and the credibility of the source."

Here's to figuring out the hoaxes intended for entertainment, then using the same skills to protect oneself from the fake news with more serious intent than mere amusement.