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An impeccable liar

catallaxia — Sat, 10 Jan 2009 22:49:15 +0000

Naomi Klein’s ability to shamelessly spin lies without scorn from the journalistic community is astounding. Despite excellent treatises on her fact-checking and logical ineptitude (here, here, here, here, and here, plus a bevy of YouTube shorts), the media treats her as a serious journalist. In fact, she was – as rocket posted last week - recently profiled by The New Yorker. However, abilities we acquire in childhood stick with us; her skilled childhood mendacity was rewarded, so the trait apparently stuck. When discussing her upbringing, she revealed this gem:

“Since I was an impeccable liar and rarely got caught,” Naomi recalled, “our fights were less about actual transgressions ….

The casual reader’s eye may slip past this statement. However, to those aware of her lack of journalistic integrity, it rings a bell. Now I understand from where her skill derives, why and how she learned to capitalize on it. As she entered the journalistic profession, she no doubt realized that this skill would pay off enormously – as have yellow journalists before her. It’s only too bad that few are listening to the voices attempting to set the record straight. We encourage our readers to investigate history and economics for themselves, and read the counterpoints mentioned above, before buying Klein’s Doctrine.

(and if you need a cheatsheet, check this out (PDF))

Flyer: Correcting Klein

catallaxia — Tue, 07 Oct 2008 15:56:45 +0000

We’re not sure why Klein utilizes so many untruths in her new book. Some of us think she herself is misinformed or mislead, while others of us feel there is something more sinister afoot. Whatever the reason, shoddy scholarship should not be tolerated. Klein has a responsibility to be truthful and investigate before publishing; but if she won’t, we will.

No one has time to fact check everything they read. Therefore, we have created a flyer correcting several of Klein’s more egregious misstatements (PDF). During Klein’s talk at the University of Chicago, she discussed the importance of living in the real world instead of an ivory tower. However, it seems that when confronted with reality Klein’s own arguments simply… dissolve.

Of course, one flyer cannot do an intellectual debate justice. Please refer to Johan Norberg’s report (PDF), the primary reference for this flyer, for more information.

Defaming Milton Friedman by Johan Norberg- Handout!

rocket — Tue, 07 Oct 2008 13:59:51 +0000

We posted before about economic historian Johan Norberg’s October 2008 Reason Magazine article that discusses Naomi Klein’s misguided critique of Milton Friedman and the Chicago School. (Read it in its entirety here).

But now you can download the article as a PDF file to distribute far and wide at your next pro- or anti-Friedman event!

Defaming Friedman handout (PDF)

Friedman Facts Flyer

rocket — Fri, 03 Oct 2008 16:24:37 +0000

There’s nothing like unintentional alliteration in the morning.

Anyway, if you want to print some pro-Friedman literature to put under windshield wipers please consider downloading our flyer. We handed this–and another piece–out on Wednesday at the Naomi Klein event. It defines free markets, gives a little bit of history on Dr. Friedman, and provides an excellent quotation on why he supports limited government:

“One of the reasons why I’m in favor of less government, is because when you have more government, industrialists take it over.” — Milton Friedman

Friedman Flyer (PDF)