Free Republic

A simulation based on apocalyptic images designed to highlight “the disastrous effects of climate change” had the opposite impact on those who viewed it and failed to shift attitudes, a study from Singapore Management University details. The work was based on Hong Kong citizens being shown a life-like 3D depiction of a climate-induced six-metre storm surge on their city. It sought to use virtual simulations of future extreme weather events to communicate climate change risk.

Will Americans still cruise if they have to wear a mask and social distance on ships? A few months ago, many were saying “no” in the strongest possible terms, according to industry watchers. But there’s been a sea change, so to speak, in the thinking on the topic as the coronavirus crisis has dragged on. “Back in March, they said ‘no way’ to things like masks and social distancing,” Colleen McDaniel, editor-in-chief of Cruise Critic, said Wednesday at Seatrade Cruise Virtual, an online version of the cruise industry’s annual meetup. “They’re much more prepared to take (it) on now.” McDaniel,...

We are what we think. These seven popularly held beliefs are causing you unnecessary misery 1. Lust and love are the same 2. The more money you have, the happier you will be 3. Any dream can come true, if you want it badly enough 4. Perfection is good 5. My happiness is more important than yours 6. Success is permanent 7. Hope is not a strategy (content snipped out, check article for explanations)

A majority of black Americans blame individual failings -- not racial prejudice -- for the lack of economic progress by lower-income African Americans, according to a survey released Tuesday -- a significant change in attitudes from the early 1990s. At the same time, black college graduates say the values of middle-class African Americans are more closely aligned with those of middle-class whites than those of lower-income blacks, the poll by the nonpartisan Pew Research Center found. And 40% of those surveyed said African Americans could no longer be viewed as a single community. The report said that in 1994, 60%...

ABSTRACT:We propose a model of motivated skepticism that helps explain when, how, why and under what conditions citizens are prone to be biased political information processors. We report the results of two experimental studies that explore how citizens evaluate arguments about two political issues – affirmative action and gun control – to test hypotheses predicting motivated reasoning. As predicted, in situations where participants (Ps) are presented with a balanced set of pro and con arguments, we find strong evidence of a prior attitude effect such attitudinally congruent arguments are evaluated as stronger than attitudinally incongruent arguments. When reading the pro...

WASHINGTON, March 22, 2007 ? A renewed effort to integrate security progress with economic and political initiatives in Baghdad and the rest of Iraq has created ?the potential for a turnaround? in the country, a U.S. State Department official said yesterday. Ambassador Daniel Speckhard, deputy chief of mission for the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad, told online journalists that changing attitudes among key Iraqi national and provincial leaders are enhancing the effects of a coordinated push by U.S. troops and diplomats to stabilize the country and promote national reconciliation. It is ?too early to draw strong conclusions, but there are...

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A new survey shows Arab attitudes toward American people, products and culture grew increasingly negative last year, a finding that underscores the need for a change in U.S. Mideast policy, a leading expert on the region said on Thursday. James Zogby, the head of the Arab American Institute, said the annual survey of opinion in five Arab countries found that U.S. policy toward Iraq and the Palestinian conflict were the main issues driving deteriorating Arab opinion. "Our policies have not only had a worsening impact in terms of attitudes toward us but also in dampening confidence in...

Seven months after the attack on September 11, 2001, Todd Beamer was honored in his hometown of Cranbury, New Jersey. Todd as you recall, was the man on flight 93 over Pennsylvania who called on his cell phone to alert an operator from United Airlines about the hijacking. When he learned of the other three passenger planes that had been used as weapons, Todd dropped his cell phone and uttered the words Let’s roll, which authorities believe was a signal to other passengers to confront the terrorist hijackers. In one hour a transformation (had) occurred among the passengers, athletes, business...

This is an excerpt, see more at link above. Introduction and Summary After a year marked by riots over cartoon portrayals of Muhammad, a major terrorist attack in London, and continuing wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, most Muslims and Westerners are convinced that relations between them are generally bad these days. Many in the West see Muslims as fanatical, violent, and as lacking tolerance. Meanwhile, Muslims in the Middle East and Asia generally see Westerners as selfish, immoral and greedy - as well as violent and fanatical. A rare point of agreement between Westerners and Muslims is that both believe...

After a year marked by riots over cartoon portrayals of Muhammad, a major terrorist attack in London, and continuing wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, most Muslims and Westerners are convinced that relations between them are generally bad these days. Many in the West see Muslims as fanatical, violent, and as lacking tolerance. Meanwhile, Muslims in the Middle East and Asia generally see Westerners as selfish, immoral and greedy - as well as violent and fanatical. A rare point of agreement between Westerners and Muslims is that both believe that Muslim nations should be more economically prosperous than they are today....

The Committee of 100 survey that I have mentioned here in the past asked the question of the American general public and American opinion leaders - Should the US take a more active role in Cross Strait relations? Interestingly enough, the American general public and the American Opinion Leaders were about equal, with 44% saying the US should be more active. Just over half (52%) of the opinion leaders said, "no!", and just under half (47%) of the general public said, "no!" The majority opinion is for the US to mind its own business. One in ten persons in the...

"You can never be optimistic about anything in our country because it will likely end up badly," is the sentiment of the old-timers in Russia. Youngsters who do NOT remember the Soviet times do not share this sentiment-- nor do they have the aversion to capitalism that their parents and grandparents no doubt have. Young girls wear spike-heeled boots and tread carefully to keep the mud off. They also manage bank branches that specialize in giving small loans to entrepreneurs. Start-ups were few and far between just a few years ago-- bank portfolios have tripled and clients doubled in some...

The Committee of 100 survey that I have mentioned here in the past asked the question of American opinion leaders - What is the first thing that comes to mind when you hear "China?" 4. Human/religious/civil rights - 16% (This is the percentage of the US population that are treehuggers and activists.) 3. Communism - 16% (They think this means everyone eating off of the same table and sharing the car.) 2. Population - 40% (Finally someone realizes that China has something the rest of the world doesn't - the largest population in the world) and.... 1. Economic growth -...

I have mentioned the Committee of 100 survey many times in this blog and will mention it again. It has presented numerous insights into American attitudes toward China and the views on China and US-China Relations. Here are some facts about the poll. Opinion leaders - 203 in-depth interviews were conducted nationwide of Americans from diverse fields in leadership positions that influence public opinion and have some US-China relation familiarity - margin of error abt. 7% General Public - 1202 adults at random nationwide - margin of error abt. 3% Congressional Staff - 101 in-depth interviews of US Congressional Staff...

IF you think your boss is a jerk you are not alone, a survey shows. A career website asked 520 people about working for arrogant, incompetent or sexist superiors and found 82 per cent said they had. And torment from the boss from hell forced more than half of them to quit their jobs in search of greener pastures. Only 8 per cent of those surveyed said they had the gumption to complain directly to their boss, while 21 per cent took it to the tea room, whinging to colleagues, supervisors or unfortunate partners. The most common attribute that made...

PARIS – Karen Hughes should be French - it would make her job easier. As the US undersecretary of State for public diplomacy returns home from her first foreign trip burnishing America's image in the world, she might feel a touch of envy at the glowing international reputation that France enjoys, highlighted in a recent study by the Project on International Policy Attitudes (PIPA). In the survey of people in 23 countries across the globe, a majority or plurality in 20 described France as exerting a positive influence on world affairs. The US, by comparison, is seen as having a...

A 64-year-old Alabamian frets about frayed race relations. A Utah software programmer ponders the slow government response to Hurricane Katrina and decides he'll turn to his church first in a disaster created by nature or terrorists. A woman scraping by on disability pay in northern Virginia puts her house on the market because of surging post-storm gas and food prices. Cheaper to live in Pennsylvania, she figures. As the Gulf Coast braces for another monster storm, a new Associated Press-Ipsos poll shows Katrina prompted a rethinking of some signature issues in American life — changing the way we view race...

Monday, July 11,2005 There were two online polls conducted by phxnews.com – a Phoenix,Arizona website, that appeals to a very broad membership. The first poll asked whether the readers felt our troops were fighting on two fronts : terrorists in Iraq ; liberals at home – or just terrorists. The result strongly favored the idea our troops were fighting a sort of “two front war”. Evidently,the wording and findings of this poll disturbed some of the Liberal members of the message board. One denounced it as “hate speech”. A second poll was then conducted for anyone self-identifying as an American...

Liberals may think of themselves as people who believe in certain principles but, if you observe their actual behavior, you are likely to discover most liberals have a certain set of attitudes, rather than principles. Liberals may denounce "greed," for example, but in practice it all depends on whose greed. Nothing the government does is ever likely to be called "greed" by liberals. Even when the government confiscated more than half the income of some people in taxes, that was not greed, as far as the left was concerned. Nor is it greed to them when local politicians across the...

... Zeta's Editor Rafael Poleo says that Chavez’ main problem ... may be that he has so many crises burning simultaneously, that he has no time to worry about ... running the state. Poleo is right and he is wrong. He is right because even if Chavez is really the night owl that he is supposed ... it will be hard for him to juggle all ... he is trying to handle today. He has conflicts about land interventions, company confiscations, the image of hero Danilo Anderson being destroyed, and now the Granda affair. But Poleo is also wrong because...