Typical Misrepresentation

 

The following article by thenewspaper.com
http://www.thenewspaper.com/news/42/4250.asp#source
has the headline and byline

"Federal Court Upholds Overnight Jail Over $15 Parking Ticket
Federal appeals court rules woman can be jailed overnight over a $15, non-jailable parking offense."

A Parking Ticket! Really?

Of course, it caught my attention.

I read the article and, in addition to the two uses of "parking" in the headlines, the article states:
"The appellate court rejected her lawsuit, arguing there was no constitutional problem with detaining her over a parking ticket."

I wondered what the appellate court decision would say and so I followed the link provided:
http://www.thenewspaper.com/rlc/docs/2013/us-seatbeltjail.pd...
and tried to find the word "parking". As the link would indicate, the violation was "seatbelt". The court decision has no mention of "parking".

If it is true in Georgia that a "seatbelt" charge would be considered the same as a "parking" violation, I will have to apologize to thenewspaper.com. Otherwise, I will have to save this as just one more example of how that organization misrepresents facts in order to attract readers and inflame their true believer audience.

Typical Misrepresentation

Similar to "If you like your health care plan, you can keep it. Period" ?

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1490LMT 1450LMT 295w

And similarly

spokybob wrote:

Similar to "If you like your health care plan, you can keep it. Period" ?

And similarly, it was said that "The United States has 'the best health care delivery system in the world.'" and "the finest health care system in the world.".

I suspected when I posted the link that I would get feedback from Camera opponents.

So my question to you is how do you justify thenewspaper.com not using "seatbelt" instead of "parking"?

Why do you think they chose to use "parking"

Since thenewspaper.com has been a staple of camera opponents in their quest to justify their positions, I felt justified in starting this thread.

However, the forum rules say, in part
"Let's avoid topics that already have a long list of Democrat or Republican talking points or that name specific politicians."

I suggest that we have each made a point and that should be enough.

I hope you will agree.

You expect Journalists

To be honest, unbiased, and only report the truth? ROTFLMAO....

--
*Keith* MacBook Pro *wifi iPad(2012) w/BadElf GPS & iPhone6 + Navigon*

The Truth ??????

kch50428 wrote:

To be honest, unbiased, and only report the truth? ROTFLMAO....

The truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth, so help me (whoops, am I allowed to say the word anymore ???) - - - !

--
MrKenFL- "Money can't buy you happiness .. But it does bring you a more pleasant form of misery." NUVI 260, Nuvi 1490LMT & Nuvi 2595LMT all with 2014.4 maps !

Agreed

But I am with Keith

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1490LMT 1450LMT 295w

Nothing but the Facts!

Let's face it, the website name says it all:

THEnewspaper.com

It must represent accurate journalism, it has "newspaper" in it's name razz

whoops

Unbiased news reporting? Warning Warning - Oxymoron!

--
I never get lost, but I do explore new territory every now and then.

Drifting from the Story

spokybob wrote:

Similar to "If you like your health care plan, you can keep it. Period" ?

They force you to switch plans to something many do not need. When it all crumbles (I think this is what they want) before them they will try and move us all to socialized medicine. This is the true end game for the politicians in Washington and states that want the Government to control our lives.

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John B - Garmin 765T

I take

@jgermann I take it your ok with spending the night in jail on a case of mistaken identity.

No!

blake7mstr wrote:

@jgermann I take it your ok with spending the night in jail on a case of mistaken identity.

No, I am not OK with the fact that the lady was held - especially when the consensus became that she was not the lady being sought.

It would appear that a false arrest suit would be in order.

Essentially, thenewspaper reported the basics of the incident correctly. However...

jgermann wrote:

So my question ... is how do you justify thenewspaper.com not using "seatbelt" instead of "parking"?

Why do you think they chose to use "parking"

@blake7mstr, do you think anyone is going to respond to my question?

try again

jgermann wrote:
blake7mstr wrote:

@jgermann I take it your ok with spending the night in jail on a case of mistaken identity.

No, I am not OK with the fact that the lady was held - especially when the consensus became that she was not the lady being sought.

It would appear that a false arrest suit would be in order.

Essentially, thenewspaper reported the basics of the incident correctly. However...

jgermann wrote:

So my question ... is how do you justify thenewspaper.com not using "seatbelt" instead of "parking"?

Why do you think they chose to use "parking"

@blake7mstr, do you think anyone is going to respond to my question?

go back to your other thread, 'criminal vs civil' so it is ok with you that they used the pretext of a traffic infraction to hold her.

???

blake7mstr wrote:

...
go back to your other thread, 'criminal vs civil' so it is ok with you that they used the pretext of a traffic infraction to hold her.

I above said NO - it was not OK with me.

Please detail what I said in 'criminal vs civil' that leads you to believe that I would think that holding the lady overnight was appropriate.

Are you using this approach as a way to avoid answering the question as to why thenewspaper.com chose to use the word "parking" rather than "seatbelt"?

OT - health plans

John.jcb wrote:
spokybob wrote:

Similar to "If you like your health care plan, you can keep it. Period" ?

They force you to switch plans to something many do not need.

I realize this is going off-topic, but I don't understand the comments above. Neither my nor my wife's employer's health care plans are changing for 2014. We're not seeing anyone being forced to switch plans.

Obfuscation

johnc wrote:

...
I realize this is going off-topic, but I don't understand the comments above. Neither my nor my wife's employer's health care plans are changing for 2014. We're not seeing anyone being forced to switch plans.

It seems several people do not like my statement that thenewspaper.com often misrepresents the facts in order to inflame the passions of anti-camera adherents.

Rather than comment on thenewspaper.com and its propensities, they are attempting to distract by bringing up other misrepresentations - I assume saying "see, other people do it."

However that does not make it proper, does it?

I'll note again that comments are straying into the political arena and this is frowned upon by our Forum Rules.

Once again, I ask - why use "parking" instead of "seatbelt"?

Back on topic

The OP already believes thenewspaper is not a credible source of news. The story does have an untrue headline. It could be a mistake by the headline writer or it could be an editorial decision.

Quote:

jgermann:Otherwise, I will have to save this as just one more example of how that organization misrepresents facts in order to attract readers and inflame their true believer audience.

jgermann's comment reflects my view of The Miami Herald in a recent high profile case.

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1490LMT 1450LMT 295w

Yet...

johnc wrote:
John.jcb wrote:
spokybob wrote:

Similar to "If you like your health care plan, you can keep it. Period" ?

They force you to switch plans to something many do not need.

I realize this is going off-topic, but I don't understand the comments above. Neither my nor my wife's employer's health care plans are changing for 2014. We're not seeing anyone being forced to switch plans.

Soon, it will be determined that your employer plan is no longer ACA compliant, and will have to be changed to make it ACA compliant - so you can't keep your plan... Which is exactly what has been done to everyone on individual plans. While the letter of the ACA law says existing plans get grandfathered - subsequent rule changes (made possible by language in the original bill that contain the "at the direction of the HHS director" language...) have made existing plans essentially illegal under administrative law. And it's all being done by plan - as in plan to fail - and the solution that will be offered to clean up this ordure will be single payer.

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*Keith* MacBook Pro *wifi iPad(2012) w/BadElf GPS & iPhone6 + Navigon*

Linkbait

jgermann wrote:

Once again, I ask - why use "parking" instead of "seatbelt"?

Will lie for web page hits and ad revenue.

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*Keith* MacBook Pro *wifi iPad(2012) w/BadElf GPS & iPhone6 + Navigon*

again

jgermann wrote:
blake7mstr wrote:

...
go back to your other thread, 'criminal vs civil' so it is ok with you that they used the pretext of a traffic infraction to hold her.

I above said NO - it was not OK with me.

Please detail what I said in 'criminal vs civil' that leads you to believe that I would think that holding the lady overnight was appropriate.

Are you using this approach as a way to avoid answering the question as to why thenewspaper.com chose to use the word "parking" rather than "seatbelt"?

which are more people familiar with 'parking' ticket or 'seat belt' tickets, people are probably more familiar with parking tickets as most municipalities are now moving seat belt violations from a secondary offense to a primary one. Is either a 'criminal' offense. I suspect more people have had contact with parking tickets than seat belt tickets is why they used parking.

bottom line is they used them(seat belt, parking) as equivalents.

Follow the link again

blake7mstr wrote:

...
which are more people familiar with 'parking' ticket or 'seat belt' tickets, people are probably more familiar with parking tickets as most municipalities are now moving seat belt violations from a secondary offense to a primary one. Is either a 'criminal' offense. I suspect more people have had contact with parking tickets than seat belt tickets is why they used parking.

bottom line is they used them(seat belt, parking) as equivalents.

I think I am following your logic as saying that thenewspaper.com would attract more readers by using 'parking' rather than the factual 'seatbelt'. If so, that was my point. By misrepresenting the actual offense, more readers would click on the link.

I believe kch50428 had it right when he said

kch50428 wrote:
jgermann wrote:

Once again, I ask - why use "parking" instead of "seatbelt"?

Will lie for web page hits and ad revenue.

spokybob noted:

spokybob wrote:

The OP already believes thenewspaper is not a credible source of news. The story does have an untrue headline. It could be a mistake by the headline writer or it could be an editorial decision.

I need to give thenewspaper.com some credit, however. When you follow the link again, you will see that - instead of the headlines:
the headline and byline
"Federal Court Upholds Overnight Jail Over $15 Parking Ticket
Federal appeals court rules woman can be jailed overnight over a $15, non-jailable parking offense."

they now read

"Federal Court Upholds Overnight Jail Over $15 Seatbelt Ticket
Federal appeals court rules woman can be jailed overnight over a $15, non-jailable seatbelt offense."

However, they did leave the sentence
"The appellate court rejected her lawsuit, arguing there was no constitutional problem with detaining her over a parking ticket."

Wonder if they read our website.

I tend to think it was more an editorial decision which got partially corrected.

You're Lucky...!

johnc wrote:
John.jcb wrote:
spokybob wrote:

Similar to "If you like your health care plan, you can keep it. Period" ?

They force you to switch plans to something many do not need.

I realize this is going off-topic, but I don't understand the comments above. Neither my nor my wife's employer's health care plans are changing for 2014. We're not seeing anyone being forced to switch plans.

Well, you're one of the LUCKY ones then! rolleyes

Nuvi1300WTGPS

--
I'm not really lost.... just temporarily misplaced!

Do we have to spoil threads by using political references

We are all guests on this forum and agree to abide by some simple rules in using it. So is the following so hard to understand:

"Let's avoid topics that already have a long list of Democrat or Republican talking points or that name specific politicians."

Jail over night - seems not so bad to me....

Jail over night - seems not so bad to me....

Forced enema and colonoscopy???? Then threatened with collections to pay for it!! Now that's seems to be a bit over the top!

http://dailycaller.com/2013/11/05/horror-police-force-man-to...

P.S.
My insurance went up only 48% - and I feel lucky?????

Real or Perceived Bias

jgermann asked why the headline of the story referred to a parking ticket when the actual situation involved a seatbelt violation. I believe that was a rhetorical question because jgermann knows the answer.

Bias in the media is something we face every day - but our perception of bias actually reflects our own bias. We read a story and assign validity based on whether it is from "faux news" or the "lame-stream media". We think we are using our internal BS meter, but we are actually applying our own internal bias. And we will occasionally/regularly perceive a bias even when one does not exist. And that reflects our bias.

I don't want to speak for jgermann, but I think he is trying to encourage critical thinking.

Not everything that appears in the media (especially the Internet) is true or accurate - even when it fits with your perception of the issue. Don't disregard something just because you disagree with it, and don't always accept things as factual just because you agree with it.

And that is my sermon from Biostats 101!

It takes some time, but

DanielT wrote:

...
I don't want to speak for jgermann, but I think he is trying to encourage critical thinking.

...

Daniel is correct.

With the advent of the internet, social media, and the proliferation of cable TV, many people tend to get their news from only those outlets that tend to confirm beliefs already held.

I get a daily feed from thenewspaper.com - not because I trust it, but because it produces news that is pertinent to this site. I follow all the links and try to determine what the facts are.

It takes some time to research statements purported to be factual but - if more people took the time to do so - our country would be better off because of an informed electorate (as opposed to an "inflamed" electorate).

There have been many instances on this site of members claiming that cities have shortened yellow lights for profit. I would check all of these claims only to find out that cities had been found to have certain red light intersections where the yellow interval was shorter that guidelines. There was never any evidence that even these short yellows had occurred after the red light camera had been installed.

However, when HawaiianFlyer posted a link from mercutynews.com claiming that Oakland had shortened yellow lights apparently for revenue motives, I quickly responded with my determination that the changes were strictly revenue driven.

Being a proponent of Automated Traffic Enforcement, I did not like those facts about Oakland because it gave fodder to opponents who now, for the first time I could find, indeed had proof that yellows had been shortened for profit.

I had to follow the facts wherever they led.

It takes some time - but that is the right thing to do.

but that is the right thing to do?

jgermann wrote:
DanielT wrote:

...
I don't want to speak for jgermann, but I think he is trying to encourage critical thinking.

...

There have been many instances on this site of members claiming that cities have shortened yellow lights for profit. I would check all of these claims only to find out that cities had been found to have certain red light intersections where the yellow interval was shorter that guidelines. There was never any evidence that even these short yellows had occurred after the red light camera had been installed.

So do you think that it's perfectly legitimate (and ethical) for a jurisdiction to change the yellow interval or speed limit in anticipation of installing automated traffic enforcement, or to not adjust the yellow interval to what is consistent and or legal when installing an automated traffic enforcement device?
Mark

@baumback

baumback wrote:

So do you think that it's perfectly legitimate (and ethical) for a jurisdiction to change the yellow interval or speed limit in anticipation of installing automated traffic enforcement, or to not adjust the yellow interval to what is consistent and or legal when installing an automated traffic enforcement device?
Mark

Mark,
No, I do not and I am at a loss to understand why my comments above would have led you to ask the question.

Yellow light timings should, in my opinion, be at least equal to the suggestions by the ITE. Indeed, I think the NMA is correct in asking to have these made into standards. see http://www.motorists.org/other/NMA%20to%20FHWA%20-%20Short%2...

Now, some comments on the specific situations you mention above.

I will have to review my notes but I do not remember any instance where a municipality had changed a yellow interval to a value below guidelines/standards prior to the installation of Automated Traffic Enforcement (ATE). I do recall there were reports of changes in intervals at ATE locations before installation but those changes standardized timings. If you are aware of any instances where a change was made before installation at ATE locations to a value below standards/guidelines, I would appreciate a link.

In my research on "Six Cities That Were Caught Shortening Yellow Light Times For Profit" - see http://www.poi-factory.com/node/30127#comment-202324
I found that there were instances where a yellow light had improper timing prior to ATE installation and was not corrected after ATE installation until someone complained. These were isolated instances. Still I commented then that there was no excuse one could give for all of the timings not being verified. I would add that municipalities should have anticipated that there would be opposition to ATE from some segment of their citizens and, thus, should have wanted to make sure that there would not be any problems show up later.

Well Said

jgermann wrote:

- our country would be better off because of an informed electorate (as opposed to an "inflamed" electorate).

Very well said.
One of the problems is that there is more money to be made by inflammatory information sources than there is for the dry unvarnished truth that requires thought on the part of the receiving party.