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Sunday, November 29, 2020

Jeb Bush's Room Rater 'joke' shows conservatives' mistrust of Twitter - Business Insider - Business Insider

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Former Florida governor Jeb Bush had a Twitter feud with Room Rater, a profile that judges on-camera interiors, accusing it of being a "hyper partisan" gimmick.
Bush, who later said his comments were not serious, became the latest high-profile conservative to accuse Twitter and its users of leaning liberal.
President Donald Trump has joined a chorus of conservative voices raising concern about Twitter.
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Former Florida governor Jeb Bush this week traded barbs with a semi-well-known Twitter handle that uses TV screenshots to rate pundits' room decor, a lighthearted scuffle that nonetheless placed Bush in company with a conservative outcry over partisan divisiveness on Twitter.

"Are you a room rater or a hyper partisan person that is the problem? We need less hyper partisanship on backgrounds at this time for our country," the former presidential hopeful wrote.

—Jeb Bush (@JebBush)
November 21, 2020

After his initial jab, Bush quieted down for a few days, leaving some to speculate whether he had been serious in his criticism. On Morning Joe, host Joe Scarborough said it was obvious Bush was joking. Scarborough said he knew Bush well enough to know he has a very dry sense of humor. Late in the week, after a few days of speculation, Bush said on Twitter, "It was a joke."

—Room Rater (@ratemyskyperoom)
November 25, 2020

Bush may have been joking about Twitter's problems, but others aren't. Some conservatives have long accused the site of promoting liberal trends over conservative ones, a view that has accelerated since the presidential election. In the last two weeks, some prominent Republicans and conservatives have rallied their followers to leave Twitter in favor of Parler, a competitor that touts itself as a place for unrestrained free speech.

President Donald Trump also chimed in last week, seeking to put an end to Section 230 of the Communications Act, which allows Twitter, Facebook, and other social media companies to regulate content on their platforms as they see fit.

—Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump)
November 27, 2020

While Trump's complaint was with trending hashtags – including #DiaperDon – that he said were biased, Bush aimed his comments at a single account, Room Rater, which used the Twitter handle @ratemyskyperoom. It's a tongue-in-cheek account that's been commenting on the bookshelves, wall art, and lighting in TV pundits' home offices during the pandemic.

As TV news shifted from glossy studios to home offices – or worse – this year, Room Rater became an escape for many, racking up more than 350,000 followers. It's run by Jessie Bahrey and Claude Taylor, who this week told The Washington Post: "We have top 10s and strong 9s from people of all socioeconomic backgrounds.

Most days, Room Rater will post a screenshot of a correspondent or other news guest, saying something like "Love solid wall colors. Nice art. Great frame. Add one more element." Then it'll add a rating, like "8/10" for Politico's Meridith McGraw.

Bush argued that Room Rater was "hyper partisan" in its ratings, essentially giving higher scores to those seen as being more liberal. The Tweet that set Bush off was about a CNN correspondent's room. It said: "Love the port wine posters. Sunflowers. Depth. Add pillow to left. 9/10."

To be sure, a least a few conservatives have gotten low ratings, like former Republican Congressman Charlie Dent, who landed at 3/10. Republican Senator Rand Paul received 0/10, while conservative columnist George F. Will had 1/10. "Awful. Is he under arrest?" said Room Rater.

—Room Rater (@ratemyskyperoom)
October 31, 2020

But it seems liberals earned harsh ratings just as often. That included Pennsylvania Lieutenant Governor John Fetterman, a Democrat, who received 1/10. Room Rater said Fetterman's room looked like a hostage situation.

Throughout the week, Twitter users prodded Bush about his stance on Room Rater. By Thursday, he had cooled down, saying: "It was a joke."

He added: "Yes I oppose hyper partisanship and yes I try not to take myself seriously. I am truly sorry I got you all riled up about something [as inconsequential] as the backgrounds of videos."

The Link Lonk

November 27, 2020 at 03:00PM
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Jeb Bush's Room Rater 'joke' shows conservatives' mistrust of Twitter - Business Insider - Business Insider

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Mailbag: Policies make a joke of science | Letters | democratherald.com - Albany Democrat Herald

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A recently published randomized controlled trial with more than 6,000 participants found no (statistically) significant difference in COVID-19 infection rates between people who wore face masks outside their home and those who did not.

This was the case even though study participants wore high-quality surgical masks with a filtration rate of 98%. This raises a question: If high-quality surgical masks don’t offer a significant degree of protection against COVID-19 infection, how likely is it that low-quality cloth masks will offer any protection at all?

Similarly, a recently published systematic review examined 10 randomized controlled trials in a pooled-analysis and found “no significant reduction in influenza transmission with the use of face masks.”

It’s important to note that randomized controlled trials are the gold standard for medical research. In the hierarchy of evidence, randomized controlled trials and systematic reviews and meta-analyses of randomized controlled trials form the very pinnacle of evidence.

Even the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s own data corroborate the findings of these randomized controlled trials. A CDC report published in September stated the following: “In the 14 days before [COVID-19] illness onset, 71% of case-patients and 74% of control-participants reported always using cloth face coverings or other mask types when in public.” Translation: cloth face coverings or other mask types did diddly-squat to protect against COVID-19 infection.

How can we say with a straight face that science is guiding our mandatory face mask policies? These policies make a joke of science, and the joke is on us.

Luke Yamaguchi

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The Link Lonk

November 30, 2020 at 01:15AM
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Mailbag: Policies make a joke of science | Letters | democratherald.com - Albany Democrat Herald

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Covid-19: What’s the harm of ‘funny’ anti-vaccine memes? - BBC News

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By Jack Goodman and Flora Carmichael
BBC Reality Check

image copyrightGetty Images

Memes, often in the form of humorous images and videos, are a major part of how people communicate on the internet, but they can also be used to spread disinformation.

We've been looking at how these memes can present false and misleading information about Covid-19 vaccines, feeding into concerns about their efficacy or safety.

Misusing a music video to spread falsehoods

A popular meme - including images from rapper Drake's Hotline Bling music video - popped up in a number of local and community online forums in the UK and US this week - spreading false claims that a vaccine will

modify our genetic code (DNA).

A meme labelled "false" it shows rapper Drake gesturing as if he is hiding alongside the text "Chance a virus with a 99.97% recovery rate." and then looking happy alongside the text "Alter my DNA from an experimental vaccine, with NO liability, from a corrupt industry"

It also says the recovery rate from the disease is 99.97% - suggesting getting the disease is a safer option than a vaccine.

We've seen similar arguments against a Covid-19 vaccine shared across social media - asking why we need one at all if the chances of dying from the virus are so slim.

To begin with, the figure referred to in the meme as the "recovery rate" - implying these are people who caught the virus - is not correct.

About 99.0% of people who catch Covid survive it, says Jason Oke, Senior Statistician at the University of Oxford.

So around 100 in 10,000 will die - far higher than three in 10,000, as suggested in the meme.

However, Mr Oke adds that "in all cases the risks very much depend on age and do not take into account short and long-term morbidity from Covid-19" .

Without a vaccine, there will be many more infections - and therefore deaths - before enough people are immune to stop the spread. This is known as herd immunity - when a certain portion of the population have caught the virus.

It's not just about survival. For every person who dies, there are others who live through it but undergo intensive medical care, and those who suffer long-lasting health effects.

This can contribute to a health service overburdened with Covid patients, competing with a hospital's limited resources to treat patients with other illnesses and injuries.

Concentrating on the overall death rate, or breaking down the taking of a vaccine to an individual act, misses the point of vaccinations, says Prof Liam Smeeth of the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. It should be seen as an effort by society to protect others, he says.

"In the UK, the worst part of the pandemic, the reason for lockdown, is because the health service would be overwhelmed. Vulnerable groups like the old and sick in care homes have a much higher chance of getting severely ill if they catch the virus".

Satire or disinformation?

While mainly associated with humour, memes can also carry negative messages on emotive subjects.

Some of the most common memes about vaccines make it appear that a vaccine can have some radical side effects.

A collection of screenshots of memes labelled "scaremongering"- they show disfigured creatures alongside claims like "2 minutes after getting the vaccine"

Images of disfigured people or creatures are shared alongside claims that they show the "first person to receive the vaccine" or captions saying that the jab "didn't even hurt".

It might seem obvious these images are not meant to be taken literally, but they are often shared in groups which are strongly opposed to vaccinations.

It's true that vaccines can have side effects, but these are mostly mild such as a sore arm, headache or a raised temperature for a day or two.

Vaccines go through rigorous safety checks before they can be administered to the public, with side effects closely monitored.

When memes have been appearing on social media feeds for months, some people start questioning if there's anything to these false or baseless claims.

"Memes like these can be disarming, because they tap into fears we all have about trust in science and medication side effects" says Joan Donovan, a lecturer at Harvard University, and an expert on disinformation.

"Tying together negative messaging to pop culture can be especially memorable and drive people to share because the meme is funny, outrageous, or sticky (memorable)."

A collection of screenshots of memes, labelled "misleading"

Another widely shared group of memes links falsehoods about vaccines to freedom and individual liberties.

One we've seen uses images of someone applying clown make-up, suggesting requirements for wearing a mask will be followed by an "experimental vaccine" and then an "implantable microchip".

Other posts seek to downplay the risks of coronavirus and suggest there is an ulterior motive behind the development of a vaccine.

Vaccines must meet a high standard of safety and effectiveness before they are approved for use - it's misleading to call them experimental.

As for the microchip rumour, we've debunked that before.

A scary mocked-up image of Bill Gates dressed as the Joker with a syringe labelled "scaremongering"

image captionBill Gates is often the target of anti-vaccination campaigners' memes

Another example suggests vaccines will lead to demands for people to surrender their firearms, and the confinement of people in "virus relocation centres". There is no evidence whatsoever to support these claims.

A recent report looking at the online conversation about vaccines in English, French and Spanish, found that the theme of liberty and freedom was more common in English, and particularly in the US.

Seb Cubbon, one of the co-authors of the report from anti-misinformation non-profit organisation First Draft, told the BBC this could be down to a number of factors, including America's political history and the relationship that citizens perceive they have with the state.

"As always, we should genuinely respect and appreciate people's views and opinions, such as the one that vaccines undermine personal freedoms" he said.

"But the case can also be made that vaccines actually increase people's freedom to do things they otherwise wouldn't be able to, and can also contribute to safeguarding other people's personal freedoms too."

Additional reporting by Olga Robinson and Marianna Spring.

What Kevin Hart said about his daughter

Filmed in the living room at Hart’s house, Zero F**ks Given featured a small masked-up audience for the hour-long set. The comic brought up his children a few times during the performance, and at one point, he touched on his daughter’s dating habits.

Hart spoke on 15-year-old Heaven’s fickle nature and called her “boy crazy.” Running down how she crushed on three different boys in a span of a week, Hart told the audience by the third one—Tim—something clicked in his mind.

“Instantly in my mind, I said, ‘My daughter’s a hoe.’ This is hoe sh*t. Hoe activity right in front of my face,” he joked.

Hart added that he checked in with a “hoe” from his past to verify the habits and concluded his daughter was on the path. But then he said after seeing all three guys, he could understand why she had trouble deciding between them.

The audience ate it up and laughed. For various reasons, some on social media did not.

Please remind me why your feedback should matter again? I think I’ve done pretty well for myself by doing this comedy that’s NOT funny….Good luck to you and whatever it is that you do tho….Power to the people https://t.co/fzRpjIkDFx
— Kevin Hart (@KevinHart4real) November 20, 2020

Hart criticized in Clubhouse chat

Clubhouse, the invitation-only social media app, became a hub when Hart popped in a chat room called “Is Kevin Hart funny” to talk about his latest special. He promoted the Netflix gig, gave out some business advice, and interacted with those in the app.

Some commenters expressed their dissatisfaction with what he said about his daughter, and said he was degrading women, a sexist, and feeding into negative stereotypes about Black women. When he made comments about Black people tearing down their own, he was accused of gaslighting.

The conversation then spilled over to Twitter on Saturday (Nov. 28) where fans continue to be divided and some are stating Hart was dismissive toward women on the app.

Had an amazing conversation in the Clubhouse app today….Real talks with real people….this is the direction that social media is now going to. Pretty dope
— Kevin Hart (@KevinHart4real) November 27, 2020

Hart reiterated his stance on Instagram

Not long after the Clubhouse session, Hart posted a video on Instagram to emphasize the jokes about his daughter were all comedy, and he wasn’t bashing women in the chat. “Stop with the false narrative,” he said. “If you were in the Clubhouse and part of the conversation, this wasn’t about Black women.”

Hart said his jokes were part of being creative. He added that he was in Clubhouse to promote his work and to have conversation around it since the pandemic’s prevented traditional methods of marketing. He wants the misogyny accusations to stop and would rather people the stream the special on Netflix. “We gotta stop.”

Hart’s supporters believe that some viewers are being overly sensitive about his comedic material, and there’s a segment of the audience who thinks Hart doesn’t take criticism well. Either way, he urges people to stream Zero F**ks Given on Netflix to formulate their own opinions—regardless of whether he agrees.

The Link Lonk

November 29, 2020 at 08:46AM
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Kevin Hart Addresses Backlash Over Joke About Daughter's Dating Behavior - Showbiz Cheat Sheet

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