From Colarado State University’s Writing Center
http://writing.colostate.edu/guides/teaching/co300man/pop12d.cfm
A fact is verifiable. We can determine whether it is true by researching the evidence. This may involve numbers, dates, testimony, etc. (Ex.: “World War II ended in 1945.”) The truth of the fact is beyond argument if one can assume that measuring devices or records or memories are correct. Facts provide crucial support for the assertion of an argument. However, facts by themselves are worthless unless we put them in context, draw conclusions, and, thus, give them meaning.
An opinion is a judgment based on facts, an honest attempt to draw a reasonable conclusion from factual evidence. (For example, we know that millions of people go without proper medical care, and so you form the opinion that the country should institute national health insurance even though it would cost billions of dollars.) An opinion is potentially changeable–depending on how the evidence is interpreted. By themselves, opinions have little power to convince. You must always let your reader know what your evidence is and how it led you to arrive at your opinion.
Unlike an opinion, a belief is a conviction based on cultural or personal faith, morality, or values. Statements such as “Capital punishment is legalized murder” are often called “opinions” because they express viewpoints, but they are not based on facts or other evidence. They cannot be disproved or even contested in a rational or logical manner. Since beliefs are inarguable, they cannot serve as the thesis of a formal argument. (Emotional appeals can, of course, be useful if you happen to know that your audience shares those beliefs.)
Another kind of assertion that has no place in serious argumentation is prejudice, a half-baked opinion based on insufficient or unexamined evidence. (Ex.: “Women are bad drivers.”) Unlike a belief, a prejudice is testable: it can be contested and disproved on the basis of facts. We often form prejudices or accept them from others–family, friends, the media, etc.–without questioning their meaning or testing their truth. At best, prejudices are careless oversimplifications. At worst, they reflect a narrow-minded view of the world.
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As we approach questions about the collapse of the three WTC buildings on 9/11/2001 we need to base our opinions and our judgements on facts and evidence. If sufficient evidence can be produced then perhaps our beliefs need to be re-examined
This is a fundamental principle of criticial thinking. It is the basis of much of my work and I hope it drives your attendance this Sunday. Bring your curiosity and an open mind to this presentation — (11/15) 7PM at the Hooker Dunham Theater. Listen, take notes, ask questions and draw your own conclusions.
Please arrive early to ensure a seat.
This article adapted from The Little, Brown Handbook which is considered to be the definitive reference guide for writing.
Thank you!
It seems we’ve lost sight of these truths lately.
WW II Ended?
“World War II ended in 1945.”
Is this a fact? From what I hear men sat down in a room and signed an armistice in 1945, and these men were the elected or unelected rulers of certain countries engaged in WW II, but does that mean that WW II ended when the Japanese surrendered on Aug. 15th, 1945? Did it end for the Japanese soldiers holed up in secret hiding places throughout the islands of the South Pacific for decades thereafter? Did it end for the Russian peasants whose villages had been devastated by the German retreat from Stalingrad? Did it end for Germany, where women were raped by the thousands for years afterwards by the occupying forces?
Facts are slippery things, and in my opinion usually say more about the purveyor than the subject itself. Whether it is the ‘fact’ of building 7 collapsing, or the ‘fact’ of 19 unarmed Saudis hijacking four planes and flying them into American buildings and corn fields.
facts vs suppositions
I could not disagree more. This comment makes me wonder if you got the message. The first line of this article which was writteen by CSU states:
A fact is verifiable. We can determine whether it is true by researching the evidence.
The collapse of WTC I, II and VII into their own footprints, are facts. Every major network in print, on radio and on TV recorded these events. They are well established and verifiable.
However 19 unarmed Saudis hijacking four planes and flying them into American buildings and corn fields are not. They are government suppositions not facts.
Big difference.
So you aren't accepting as
So you aren’t accepting as fact repeated reports from the planes that the hijackers were armed with box cutters? Or are you not accepting as fact that four planes loaded with passengers were flown into buildings and in one case into the ground?
facts, opinions, beliefs
Rosa, this is the world we now live in. Fully verifiable facts are treated as theory while theory and government positions are treated as facts.
Our government has been the source for some of the World’s biggest lies. I could list 100’s but I will just mention the most recent and the most devastating — weapons of mass destruction. How many civilians and soldiers died for this one?
That is what this screening with Richard Gage is all about — Here government/NIST reasons for the collapses will be challenged by founders from Firefighters and Architects and Engineers associations for 9/11 truth. I invite all to come, listen and discuss. Decide for yourself what is fact and what is fabricaion.
No point in even trying Rosa
It’s clear that these whackjobs don’t actually value science or evidence so there is no value in trying to engage them.
Just lump them in with the rest of the junk science crowd and hope they don’t vote or reproduce.
Whackjob
First off why is this plural? I alone am the Reluctant Activist and I alone am sponsoring this event. What other wackjobs are you referring to?
I do not know who you are but if you are not prepared to back up your comments with evidence that substantiates this claim — then I will be persuing litigation.
You certainly are free to express an opinion but if you attack me you better stand ready to back up your claims with proof.
In regards to such could you pease specify what I have said that justifies you calling me a “whackjob.”
I sure hope they'll be
I sure hope they’ll be serving coffee made from some of those wonderful 9-11 coffee beans Mr. Gage is offering for sale on his A&E for 9-11 truth web site
Why not RELUCTANT ACTIVIST?
I think all caps would really give your “title” the importance it deserves.
I also consider Vidda and Tom whackjobs based on their comments here.
You gotta laugh
Sometimes you gotta laugh. Your attempt of homogeneity is a bit silly.
Oh and you are an expert at ?
To be able to say this? First off, calling your fellow humans whackjobs merely shows your own level of maturity. Calling names doesn’t address the issue, it deflects it because you cannot answer the questions raised. It seems you are quite happy to debase those who care about the loss of our freedoms over deceptions your government tells you.
Another one for the list...
Sorry I didn’t include you earlier.
About the 9/11 film last night
Chris Pratt and Denise did an excellent job of making this presentation possible.
The turnout was good, the audience attentive. When the lights went on after the film Richard Gage said to the audience, “Your all still here.” That said a lot, as the film was long and filled with interviews, mostly those firemen who responded on 9/11, many of them covered with dust and blood. It was unusually technical and detailed, but the audience stayed with the film to end.
While some Americans, like myself back then, thought the 3 towers were clearly demolition jobs early on, the film presented evidence why the NIST official report was rigged and that the evidentiary materials of demolition explosives present at the site and the pulverization of the 3 towers warranted calling for a reinvestigation.
If anything else was demolished last night it was the notion that people who call for a reinvestigation are not wackjobs.
What I see is that the people who call the people, who doubt the official report wackjobs, are the ones who are really the wackjobs.
About the 9/11 Truther coffee beans for sale
There were none.
But there were DVDs, t-shirts, and hats for sale.
AE911Truth is now a 501c3 Tax-Exempt Non-Profit organization of architects and engineers.
If someone wishes to criticize Gage for having related promos for sale, then that person should criticize most other nonprofit organizations where it is not unusual, normal in fact, for them to sell logo materials to promote their organizations, at events and through the mail.
Coffee Beans and Other Swag
Here’s some truth for you. Mr. Gage’s organization reported an income of $858,000 in 2013. Of that he took a reported salary of $85,000 with salary of $54,000 for other employees. He claimed other expenses of $681,000 with virtually none of that going for any research of any sort. The bulk of the $681,000 apparently went for promotion and advertising. If you were going to buy what he’s selling to the IRS he’s probably doubled his salary as the average salary for project managers in architectural firms at the time of 9-11 was around $45,000 per year. Considering that his company specialized in school gyms and shopping mall buildings he most likely made less than that. I believe that his personal profit is undoubtedly in excess of the reported $85,000.
Even buying what he’s selling that amounts to $681,000 of self promotion. Now if the IRS wants to believe that this is true fine but it’s unlikely that Mr. Gage’s tax reports would hold up to an audit. Even if they did it seems to me that his organization exemplifies abuse of the 501c3 status.
While it’s true that most non-profits sell logo materials they also don’t spend the bulk of their monies on promotion but rather on good deeds of some sort related to their cause. I didn’t see any of that sort of activity in Mr. Gage’s records. Here’s some more truth for you. Mr. Gage is more PT Barnum than he is Mother Theresa. This is hucksterism in the guise of fact-finding, in fact it is probably the best example of using of the 9-11 victims and their families for personal profit. Hence the best of the worst.
https://pp-990.s3.amazonaws.com/2014_12_EO/26-1532493_990_201312.pdf?X-Amz-Algorithm=AWS4-HMAC-SHA256&X-Amz-Credential=AKIAI7C6X5GT42DHYZIA%2F20151116%2Fus-east-1%2Fs3%2Faws4_request&X-Amz-Date=20151116T170412Z&X-Amz-Expires=1800&X-Amz-SignedHeaders=host&X-Amz-Signature=b0a820686676ff12c7005723097461bb643c0738e6eedffbf49fc6121b6bfd5e.
I’d be curious as to whether Chris would be willing to divulge what he paid out of pocket for this almost million dollar road show to come to town.
Shame about the coffee beans. I’m surprised Mr Gage passed up the opportunity to make another buck while he had it. Forget about wackjobs, as PT Barnum put it so succinctly “There’s a sucker born every minute.”
Balance please
Wow how profligate – a salary of $85,000! Now look at the salaries and investments of your illustrious government leaders. For example the Clintons, always been in politics and yet have hundreds of millions of dollars between them.
Mark Warner – one of the richest in Congress; Diane Feinstein, Nancy Pelosi. John Kerry made the most from the war in Iraq than any other Congressman. Diane Feinstein has seen a bonanza from her husbands war contracting company. If you’re going to hold one side liable, surely you must look at the other side, especially when you go calling others who do look at both sides, whackjobs. Make sure you don’t sound like one yourself. By-the-way, sticks and stones…
Rosa, I’m not a truther...
I predate 9/11 A&E Truth. I lived for nearly forty years in NYC and still consider myself a New Yorker. I could see that those three Towers came down by controlled demolition on the morning of 9/11. Everything from that day that casts doubt on the subsequent official story only matched, supported or contributed to my own suspicions.
I think you’ve ably demonstrated your fixation on Richard Gage. I also see that you have some sympathy for the victims and families but I have no way of knowing how sincere that is. Your fixation on Gage is powerful and unrelenting. How do I know that you’re not using the victims to get at Gage? I don’t even know if you knew any of the victims personally. Did you? (BTW, I lost two friends in those towers.)
When I look at any of the various films by various people and producers that call for a reinvestigation, and numerous vivid films captured that morning I see them as a whole and have never singled out one particular one with missionary zeal as you have clearly have done.
Much of that variety cross references each other very well and provides compelling information that should be seriously and sincerely taken into account.
If you really knew me or minimally read any of my numerous etters and commentaries on a wide variety of topics published since 2008 locally you would know that the last thing I am is a “sucker.”
Moreover, I know you like your numbers game , but there’s no real way to know how many people are unified to some degree in thinking that there’s far more to be told then the official report show, and how many more sincerely think that the report was rigged and that we were attacked from within and without.
It’s time to let you spin your wheels going round and round your pet target. We have a lot to do to convince people to reinvestigate and should stop wasting our time with..with…who are you, again??
FYI
I lived through it, up close and personal, lived with the fires that burned for weeks and the stench and the fear. I knew more than a couple of people who didn’t make it out, everyone did. I find it amusing that someone who watched the events unfold on TV would question my sincerity. My fixation, if you will, with Gage is personal in a way I suppose. He’s the one that’s profiteering the most from 9-11 so I find him the most objectionable. Funny you should see this information as a numbers “game”, I see it as irrefutable evidence that he’s simply a good ole American PT Barnum style huckster out to make a buck or rather $800,000+ bucks. That’s a hell of a lot of coffee beans and hell of a lot more chutzpah. But then you’re the one that brought up the non-profit status, just thought we should all know whether he’s profiting or not. Oh, by the way, did any of you see the over 2 million dollars in property he claimed? But heh, I won’t bother any of you with the silly truth anymore, I’ll leave you to your own silly “truths.”
Following your thinking...?
Everyone I know in NYC who was there at the time lived through the same thing. For months afterward my friends would react to any loud sounds, especially, thunder and look up with dread if a plane was flying low.
I’m not really curious about your Gage fixation and I don’t give a tiger’s ass if he’s making money hand-over-fist. It’s that you think he is suckering people, like me, to believe in something that’s not true or doesn’t make sense, as if we are so stupid to be fooled by him and the contents of his film. Yet, the film is populated by many people who were a lot closer to ground zero than you were.
Following your thinking, it would suggest that the people in the film, responders and people on the street, people who were bloodied, covered with dust, etc., in the aftermath that day, were making things up just so Gage can sucker people and make money?
In fact, witnesses and firemen were describing, in detail, why they thought the 3 towers came down in a controlled demolition.
Those are the people you should be paying attention to. Instead, you keep wallowing in your Gage fixation. Even Dan Rather is quoted in the film the day after 9/11 comparing the Tower 7 collapse to a “casino demolition” job. You never heard that statement again in the media.
Gage is not making a huckster fool out of me and others, you are.
In the future I don’t give a damn if you think he’s a fraud. If so, report him to the enforcement division of the IRS and see if your charges stand up. But I wish you’d stop dragging us down with you and him with your unhealthy fixation. You can’t seem to separate his (alleged) profiteering from the thousands of people who know that the ‘facts’ don’t add up and call for a legitimate reinvestigation.
Wow, must have hit a nerve.
Wow, must have hit a nerve. As I said Vidda, you’re the one who brought up the non-profit status, not I. I guess one person’s “unhealthy fixation” is another’s simple looking at the facts. There are so many holes in what you say but it’s pointless. All I did was look up how much profit he was making since you pointed out that he has non-profit status. You seem a bit defensive. And I never said Gage was making a huckster fool out of you or anyone else. The word was sucker. And actually I merely quoted PT Barnum but yes, I guess the inference was there. I’m done, feel free to rant on if you wish. Oh and by the way, I’m not saying that those who were used in the film were making things up for Gage’s benefit, I’m saying that Gage is taking advantage of a few people out of millions who were confused and in shock to sucker people and make money. But rant away Vidda. The proofs in the tax filings. But just rant away.
Rubbish
Yeah Rosa, I guess the (your) inference was there.
And, apparently it’s still there, when you write…. “I’m saying that Gage is taking advantage of a few people out of millions who were confused and in shock to sucker people and make money.”
Your sentence doesn’t make any sense, but at least your own rants are done…for now.